update

Where has the time gone? I feel like it was just yesterday that we had Joshua and now here it is the middle of December! Here is a little update on what has been happening in our lives.

1. My little cowboy turned 5!

Here is the byu football cake, made by Heather! And we threw a little party for him with his friends

everyone dressed up in their Halloween costumes! 2. Halloween
Here is Sara as a cat/leopard. She wanted to be a leopard, but what she wanted to wear was more like a cat.

Here is our storm trooper, and spidey

3. Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving this year was yummy as always and there aren't any pictures to prove it but this one of Curtis at the kids table. We did thanksgiving with the wirth family this year and then had our annual Saturday after thanksgiving with my family dinner. Both were yummy!

5. Joshua's blessing

We blessed Josh this last Sunday, it went just perfect! However I will say that 4 children equals not enough time to coordinate matching outfits for pictures (or money)!

He is such a good baby and we love his addition to the family, I love the spirit that he has brought into our house!

Baby J

All my boys have looked newborn for maybe the first week of their life and then they look like they are a month old and keep that look for a while. Here J is 2 wks old. These pictures were taken by my sister-in -law Tiffany and we just love them, I'll post more later. He is now 6 weeks old and looks just the same, with a little less hair on top. Isn't this just the cutest baby picture? We are so in love with this little one!

my boys

I posted this picture on facebook the other day and just thought I would put it here too, Oh how I love these boys. Who would have thought I'd have just 1 girl and 3 boys! I always thought I would have more girls than boys. The first 2 wks of baby J's life were really good, he was so mild natured and slept mostly, then we had a bad week of me eating things that his stomach didn't like. This past week has been back to wonderful, with my eating under control,(meaning no milk, cheese, chocolate, salad, and spicy foods), he has been a really good baby! We can't get enough of him!

It's a boy!

Introducing: Joshua Blaine Wirth

7lbs 6oz

He is absolutely perfect in every way, we are so excited to have him here!

paradise

I just wanted to post some pictures of our finished deck! Matt sure does a great job doesn't he! He built this deck with the help of uncle scott, and his dad. And it really feels like paradise when we are out on it!

is it time yet?

I kept getting asked the same question over and over this morning! Is it time yet, mom? Zack's 1st day of preschool was today and boy was he ever ready! He came into my bedroom all ready at 7:30 am! He couldn't wait all morning to go! Isn't he the cutest preschooler ever! He didn't seem apprehensive at all, which made things very easy when dropping him off. Boy do I love this kid.

Zack's biggest fan, and favorite brother Zack's good friend Colby

Them walking off to preschool!

It's funny how you find yourself at times wishing for them to grow up, and other times wishing they were still yours to keep at home! Curtis did so well with his brother going to school, I didn't do as well, but very much enjoyed my time with Curty for a few hours. Overall a successful day!

P.S. 2 more weeks till baby number 4! We are very much anticipating this event....especially me!

mixed emotions

Today is the first day of school. And boy do I have some mixed emotions! Let me just replay to you this mornings events.

I go in and wake Sara up, now I honestly expected her to either already be up and dressed out of excitement for the first day or to wake her up and have her jump out of bed and get dressed quickly. Neither of which happened. I took me a good 5 mins to get her out of bed...and then another 10 mins to get her dressed in the out fit that was laying out on the floor already to be put on! Now she wasn't upset or ornery about it, just slow. She acted as if she had been going to 1st grade for months and this was just another morning. I on the other hand was always so excited/nervous on the first day of school. Then we do her hair....I gave in and did her hair how she wanted, then we went downstairs for breakfast. I told her that today I would make her a special breakfast of whatever she wanted. I expected to be making pancakes or french toast this morning, but she wanted oatmeal. Which to me is not a special breakfast, but she informed me that it was her favorite. (I am glad that she chose it, only because I know that it is so filling and will keep her full until lunch, but still a bit surprised.)

Then we got ready to leave. She has insisted all week that she wants to ride the bus, and I am all for that especially have a baby due soon for her to be riding the bus. However I kind of wanted to take her the first day and take pictures at the school and make sure she knows where she is going. She didn't want that at all....(where did she come from!) I told her that I was at least coming to the bus stop to see her off.

Now the way the kids walk to the bus stop there are 2 small fences that they climb over to cross through a neighbors yard. I told her that being as pregnant as I am could not climb these fences so we would be driving to the bus stop. She didn't love that idea either so she said. "Look mom, can I just walk by myself and I'll take the camera and have someone take my picture? I'll put the camera in my backpack for the rest of the day and not take it out and bring it home to you, I promise." (Did my ears deceive me, or did my daughter just tell me in a round about way that she didn't want me to even come.) My, she is independent! This child is so not like me or her father is many ways! Well I told her I am sorry but my first child is going to first grade for the first time and I am at least going to the bus stop to see her off. And here I thought I would be crying about her being so old and growing up so fast, not because she didn't even seem to care if I was there. I told her I was going to miss her today, and asked if she'd miss me. She said I think I'll miss daddy today and you tomorrow. Man, she kills me!

When we got to the bus stop, her little friend ended up missing the bus so I had to send her alone, which didn't seem to bother her at all!

So here is her picture waiting for the bus, in the outfit she picked out, and a new lunch box. Her new shoes that she had to wear today! I didn't fight this battle either.Her and her brothers. In a form that her teacher had me fill out, one of the questions was what bothers your child the most. When I asked her, you can guess her answer.....her brothers.
Getting on the bus...the beginning and the end.I'm going to miss that little sassy pants during the day, but am so happy that she is as independent as she is. I should be grateful, I can't imagine sending a crying daughter to school, what a terrible day that would be!

the smallest things...

Sometimes the smallest things make me smile! Today it was my little helper Zack. He helped me vacuum today. The thing that made me smile the most is that he was moving things all around to vacuum under them...like the couch, a table and the speakers. I was so impressed that he even thought of moving those objects. It also added to the list of things that make me believe he is a perfectionist, like so many of his relatives. (Both Gpas come to mind, and a few others)

a blur

Matt and I were talking the other day about how the past 6 weeks have been a blur! So much has happened that 6 weeks ago feels like a year ago! But I am going to attempt to record them!

First up we have the 4th of July! One of my favorite holidays! This years felt very different, due to Matt trying to prepare for his first week long campout as scoutmaster. But it was memorable! It began Friday at 5:30 in the morning. I took the kids to the hot air balloons down in provo, and met alli and chris and kids there. It was so early in the morning I forgot my camera! (and I'm pregnant) My kids have been there before, but they are at that age where everything is so much fun, because they understand things and comment on the things they see so well. (I don't know if that made sense, but every event this year is more exciting because they are older.) As the balloons were being blown up, my kids were afraid that they would fall back down on them. Matt went hiking that morning with his dad and brother, and enjoyed the balloons from up on timp. We then met up at the Ranch, where my mom cooked all of us, and my siblings a delightful breakfast! I then took the Sara and Zack with me to provo and met Laura. We went to all the different booths they had downtown. Then we went to the Provo Parade Saturday morning, again I forgot the camera....did I mention I'm pregnant? I then the kids and I headed up hobble creek canyon to my favorite place to be on the 4th, Watkins cabin. Matt went home to pack and get ready. We spent the afternoon there and then came home to watch the staduim of fire's fireworks at a park near Paul and Shantel Gehrings house. It was a busy day but so much fun. Poor Matt was trying to have a fun weekend, but was a little stress about the week to come.

These are the only pictures I have of the 4th...how sad I know! Sara had a matching tank top too. My mom got a good one of them up at watkins...you should post that mom!

The next week was scout camp. Hooray for it to finally be here, yet sad to have Matt gone a whole week with no cell phone coverage to even talk to him. My Family was a great support that week though with my mom taking one child a day that week, and then planning plenty of activities that week made it not seem so long. We headed to a Griffiths reunion up in Clarkston that Saturday, which was nice.

The next weekend we headed up to silver meadows for the Ford Reunion. I told Matt earlier this year that if he wanted me to go camping to his reunions there was one rule. We had to borrow my parents trailer so that I had a bathroom to use in the middle of the night. So we borrowed the trailer and had a wonderful time. It is so pretty up there. To reiterate what I said earlier, camping this year was so fun because of how excited my kids got. They so love the outdoors and are just at a great age where I don't have to be looking after them every sec. They can play and I can relax. We did some shooting and 4-wheeling.

Lets not forget Pioneer day. Thanks to Jenny and Jared we had a wonderful time going to their house for dinner and fireworks! I'm starting to really enjoy that holiday too.

On the 25th we headed up to Bear Lake! Our Kids absolutely love bear lake and talk about it year round. This year was a bit windy, but one of my best bear lake trips since we started having kids. I know that sounds weird being 7 1/2 months pregnant and enjoying a camping trip where your husband is out in the boat practically the whole time, but it was. My only reget was not spending enough time chatting with my cousins. I feel almost guilty for how cool of a summer we've been having, it has made my being pregnant much easier.These first few pics are from Sarah's camera, thank goodness she went I now have alot more pictures!Blake and the boys.Matt surfing the wakeThe pics of wake boarding are of Matt, he's getting pretty good!

The following weekend I took a girls trip to Park City with my sister-in-laws. We had alot of fun and got to spend some money! What girls wouldn't love that! We plan to make it an annual thing! Laura was suppose to go too, only Matt's Grandpa Wirth died the wednesday before and stayed home to help out with the funeral arrangements. It was somewhat of a difficult death for us, even though it was expected. It was fun however to visit with all the relatives from Baker, Oregon, that came out to the funeral. What a wonderful family. We had a busy weekend with them and the funeral. Matt and his brothers all spoke at the funeral and did an incredible job!

That following weekend (Aug. 7-10) we went to the Leo Ford reunion, down by fish Lake. We weren't able to make it down until Friday night, but it still was worth it! And can I just say....Dusty!!! My daughter....takes the cake when it comes to getting dirty! It is amazing at how quickly she can get dirty. It doesn't take long for the boys to follow suit. The highlight for Matt and I that trip was seeing our kids, Sara and Curtis, catch their first fish all by themselves. Zack caught one too all by himself, only it was his second fish he's caught. (All by themselves meaning they reeled them in by themselves.) Zack fished last and it was getting dark so his fish picture is taken at home, where we fried up the fish and ate it! Yum!

I thought I would take a few pictures of the "rigs" that went up to the reunion, along with a random picture of Zack:) The white buffalo is Gma Jenny's, the 4 wheelers are Blaine and Laura's, Ours is the other one with my parents trailer of course! Now there were alot more great "rigs" up there, but I didn't get my camera out in time.

And now you know why I haven't blogged in a month!

Don't worry I haven't forgotten to breath during the last few weeks, but I do feel very exhausted!

a day to remember

I don't really remember celebrating Memorial Day when I was younger, other than going camping. But Matt always went to the cemetery with his family. The Ford side of his family is all from Utah so naturally he has many relatives buried in the Orem and Provo cemetery. So this past memorial day we decided to spend it at the "place where dead people are" (from the mouth of Zack.) We had a great time. We went to the orem, provo, and wallsburg cemetery. Hopefully next year we will be able to go around to some of my relatives grave sites. Here are a few pictures.

hukilau princess

Can you guess what song and dance the kindergartners did for field day? The "Hukilau"! It was fun to watch all the kids and their dances! Here is a pictures of the hukilau princess herself!

fishing anyone?

There are 2 more May activities that I wanted to get up on my blog. The first is fishing. Matt and I have been in charge of the planning of the "Buttars family activities" this year, and for the first one we decide to take everyone fishing. Mainly because all the in-laws (Matt, Chris, and Scott) love to fish, and second our kids saved up their money and all wanted to by fishing poles with their money so they now needed to go fishing. We decide to go to Maple Lake, up past Payson. It was very fun, even though none of the kids caught anything. Zack probably loved it the best of the kids, but all had a great time. Matt, Chris, and Sarah (Jared's girlfriend) were the only ones to catch a fish. Here are some pics:

Sara and her barbie fishing pole!A group pictureMatt and Curtis holding the fish, it wasn't very bigOur strong guys, Blake, Zack, and Curty

(I told them to show me their muscles. Alli and Chris you need to teach Blake how to do that;)Chris was right there to help the kids, but did most of the fishing himself. (Of course he had to fish with Blake's pole.)I missed getting the picture of all the girls so these 2 will have to represent all of us.I saved one of the cutest pictures for last! Baby Ty sat in his stroller most of the time and was content, but you could tell he sometimes just wants to be older and do everything else the other kids are doing. He is a doll and we love him to death!

We missed Scott who had to work, however everyone else came! Even the padres were good sports and came up and sat in chairs and commentated!

I must add that Matt took the boys later this month with some of his family (Sara and I stayed home) up to Strawberry to fish and Zack was the only one to catch a fish. 18 inches!! Zack really did catch it all by himself, of course Matt was by his side telling him what to do. Matt was a bit busy helping him to take a picture, Laura however stepped right in for him though! (a surprise to anyone?) Unfortunately I have yet to get it off her camera, so you can imagine the fish as big as you'd like!

curtis, curtis, curtis

A month ago we celebrated Curtis' 3rd birthday! He has done nothing but bring us joy and laughter in the past 3 years! I honestly can't imagine life with out this sweet thing! He is the most gracious little boy, thanking me constantly for the things that I do, and telling me that he loves me and that I make him happy. He is rarely in a bad mood, and loves to laugh and tease. He reminds me alot of my Grandpa Richins...quick to smile and quick to joke! Although I see my Dad's teasing nature in him as well. He is easy to please, especially when it comes to food! He LOVES to sing, and catches on to lyrics very quickly! He loves playing with Sara and Zack, and yet can entertain himself for hours. His latest saying is...."actually, i change my mind." Here are a few pics, of my favorite "curty" faces! This child can put a smile on your face in an intance!

We celebrated his birthday with the wirth's at home and then with the buttars the next day fishing. Here are a few of those pic's:

I ended up video taping most of his birthday at home this is the only picture I ended up taking.

Here is his pirate cake, made by his aunt HeatherHe loved this cake so much and talked about it for days!

He would get so excited when he received his gifts!

We love you Curtis! Happy Birthday!

***More fishing pictures to come!

graduation

3 cheers for Kindergarten graduation!!

Sara's class along with the other kindergarten classes had their program last week, and oh what a great program it was! They sang songs and had little speaking parts, of course shy little sara (yes, you read that right!) had a dancing part not speaking. It was so great. I felt like crying through the whole thing, one song in paticular, I'm proud to be an american (is that even the title of the song? if not you know what song I mean right?) had almost the whole audience in tears! They sang that song so loud and proud, just thinking about it brings tears! After the program it was off to the classroom for awards and the graduation hats!

Doesn't she look thrilled in this photo! She hate's things around her chin.

We all made it including Staci and the Grandmas!
This is Sara's wonderful teacher, I was very happy with her! She does a great job!

And Sara's #1 fans!

Now it's off to 1st grade!!