MOVING AGAIN!

Moving again!

So, finally a new blog post.  Somehow I forgot the address and password this account was under and have not been able to get in!  I really want to start blogging more though.   I am sooo glad I figured it out.  Now, if I can just get it written down while it is in my head. 

We have moved again.  I think we have been in Idaho for 9 years.  I guess it was time to move.  Seems like we move every 8-9 years.  Weird!  We moved from Pocatello, ID to Sandy, UT.  It has not been easy by any means.  Previous to all of this Greg was laid off from his job.  It was close to a year he was not employed for.  He finally got a job in SLC and was traveling back and forth, coming home to see us on the weekends.   

This was a hard decision to make mostly for the kids.  Haden is a senior this year and Valeri is a sophomore.  I was so worried about Haden his first few days.  He was so mopey and sad.  I hate when he gets like that because that is so unlike him.  He gets a little ornery when not fed but other than that, he is usually happy all the time.  My heart seriously broke for a while.  

Suddenly Haden met a friend.  Haden has a certain obsession with the group, Avenged Sevenfold.  He found some one just like him!  They both have Avenged Sevenfold guitars and have both been playing for about a year and half.  It is amazing.  It is like they were meant to be friends.   Now Haden says he is glad he is here and would not move back if we gave him the choice.  It didn't take him long to like it around here.  Like I said, he is usually a happy and go with the flow kinda kid.  I feel much better about it now.  

Then there is Valeri.  She was pretty upset about it because she has a boyfriend back in Pocatello.  She misses him.  It is pretty hard on her not to be around him but overall she is doing great too.  We have done a lot of traveling back and forth between the 2 places so she has almost seen him more than she did before we left.   I still thinks she is much to young to have a boyfriend.  He seems like an awesome kid and even brought me a rose when we moved.  

  Everyone in her school tells her she looks just like Taylor Swift and that she has 'SWAG'.   She always looks like a movie star walking out of school.  Haden always teases her about her movie star walk, it drives him nuts.  Ha ha.  The other day she had to get up and sing in theater (which she put off as long as she possibly could) the teacher told her she sings a lot like Adele.  She was pretty excited about that.  I knew she could do it if she just tried.  I am proud of her!! 

Taylor is also living on his own in an apartment in SLC.  He was scared to do it but Greg lived with him for a while and that helped him to adjust.   He has this little basement apartment that looks like it was made for hobbits.  So cute.  It is painted a bunch of strange colors though and me and Bug want to go fix that.  He also just started working/volunteering at the Fear Factory.  It is a huge old factory that is supposedly haunted.  It takes 1 hour to go through the whole thing.  It is pretty neat.  

 We are all trying to adjust in different ways.  We have a big 4 car garage that is full of boxes and stuff.  This place is not nearly as big as our last one.   I still don't feel quite like it is home yet.  Greg went to see the house today in Idaho and that is partly why I didn't go.  I cannot stand to see it.  It just makes me more homesick for it.  Anyway, things are good but crazy.  

Anyway that was a short update.  Hopefully I will write more so I can get our fun bits of everyday life written down.  If you have made it this far, thanks for reading! 

Holidays of 2011!

Oh my gosh!  I am so embarrassed.  How did this happen?  It has been almost a year since I have written.  The good thing about a journal is that everyone cannot see you not write in it, but with a blog it is out there for everyone to see.  Not that everyone is dying to read my blog... but you get the idea.  I am such a procrastinator.  I did not used to be.  I am not sure what happened.

Well this year has been a heck of a year. Lots of great stuff, lots of crappy stuff and lots of stress!! I don't think I have the energy to go over all of it.

One thing I am happy about is that my guts got so bad I was forced to have a colonoscopy.  NOT FUN but it was definitely needed.  The doc saw something in there he said he has never seen before.  I was so scared for a few days that it was something bad.  It turned out to by lymphatic colitis.  It causes lots of problems but is really not that big of deal when treated.  I now have a pill I take day and night and it is wonderful!  I feel so much better I cannot even be thankful enough.  Seems like my guts have ruled my life for at least 10 years or more (definitely more, it has just slowly gotten worse til I didn't realize how bad it had gotten).  Now I can finally rule them!!  I am so happy about this even if I had to go through crap to get there.  Colonoscopy prep was like giving yourself the stomach flu on purpose.  My stomach didn't appreciate it at all.   It was all worth it though. So now I am pro colonoscopy!!  And I do not have to have another for 5 years!  Yes!!

Christmas was really fun this year.  We had so much going on during the holidays that we didn't even get the tree decorated. That is the first time I have ever done that.  Oops!

Taylor did not get to spend it with us so there was a huge gap in the day.  He was in the hospital in the mental health wing.  It was extremely hard but he needed to be there and now looking back is very glad he went.  I think we have him on the right meds and stuff.... FINALLY!  I think he appreciates life a little more too since he is not 'locked up'.  He absolutely hated that. 

Christmas pretty much consisted of an Ipod for Valeri with a case and headphones, a Wii for Haden (he thinks it is extra special cuz it is blue) and some games, and a super nice expensive watch for Taylor.  I must admit it is a beautiful watch. 

  I love this pic of Valeri and Haden.  They look like twins! One is just a little smaller than the other!

All the kids knew what they were getting for Christmas this year.  I miss so much when they were little.  I am trying to appreciate this stage too because pretty soon there will be no kids at home on Christmas.  How awful that will be.  It is coming too fast!!  How did they grow up so fast?

Here is Taylor and his awesome watch!  We had a separate present opening time for him after he got home from the hospital.  It was nice to see him open those presents that had been sitting there so lonely!  He was also happy to spend New Years with us. 

Other things that  were given: a 'Kid History' calendar and shirt for Valeri, a nice scale for my kitchen, some tool doodlies for Greg, a mug with Shade on it, and some video sunglasses which Haden refuses to wear, some remote control helicopters, socks and wallet from my mom, and some awesome bread pans! 

Later we went to my sisters Wendys house where we always have lasagna, bread sticks and lots and lots of goodies!  We had a gift exchange and had a bunch of laughs which is always the best part! 

I recieved the coolest Bosch Mixer cover from Cassie.  I told her I need something to cover my new mixer and she whips something up really fast with Watermelons on it to match my kitchen.  That girl is too smart!  Love it.  I need to get a pic of it. 

Here are the boys (Haden and Jaren) with Cassie and Curtis.  How in the world did they get so big? I definitely think there is some cousin alikeness in there.  They almost look like they could be brothers.  Taylor fits in pretty good too.  It is just weird to see them all grown up.  And can I say that Cassie always looks too cute in her pics!  Blech!  Not fair.  Ha ha. 

Anyway, that was a short excerpt of Christmas at the Butikofers house!  Christmas went by in such a whirl I cannot believe it is over already.  I am not ready for my kids to go back to school tomorrow.... or am I?  Ha ha.  I will miss them and Greg while they are at school and work.  I wish they could be home all the time.   Then again my house would always be a disaster if they were always here.  It has to get cleaned sometime!!   Here is a to a Happy New Year in 2012!

2011 ALREADY?

Oh my goodness!  It has been much too long since I have written.  I am not sure how time goes by so fast.  2010 has come and gone.   Let's see.. maybe I should do a fast review of 2010.  What has happened?  Here in not any particular order.  It may go backwards since my memory is better for the more recent things. 

- Taylor graduated  from High school.  (Hello?  Didn't I just graduate high school)???

- Taylor now works at Walgreen's in Chubbuck.  Not fair.. that is where I always wanted to work!

-  We bought an SUV for the first time ever!  It is a sexy black Envoy.  Not new but new to us!

-  My sweet Grandma Margaret died.  I am missing her but think it is neat she is reunited with so many!

-  Our basement flooded 2 times this year (one just being the other day and we are currently without       carpet...ICK!).

-  Haden started High School and joined the marching band.  (Hey!... wasn't I just... nevermind)  Highland Band is awesome.  Has brought back so many memories of my days in marching band. He ended up being in the drumline this year because we joined later and there was not room for another trombonist during marching band.

-  Greg got a new job in Idaho Falls.  He hates the travel but it is a good, dependable job.  He works with INSEI.  I wonder how long til we move to Idaho Falls... NOT!

- We got a new bird.  She is a Severe Macaw and was 9 months old at the time.  She is a beautiful green among many other colors so we named her Shamrock.  So now we have Shade and Shamrock. 

 

-  I read Grapes of Wrath.  Seems like not much but I think I am pretty cool for reading a classic. Ha ha  More classics to come!

-  Taylor finally got his driver's license!  Because we have a new vehicle he takes the van to work.  That is nice.
-I got the cutest things from my mom for Christmas.  She is really getting into quilting and I love every minute of it.  She made me this watermelon thing to match my kitchen among other things.  Yes!

- Valeri started playing the Baritone Sax instead of an Alto Sax.  It is almost as big as she is!  The last concert she had I was sure she was going to kill herself.  She had high heels, nice clothes and was carrying this huge sax!  She didn't though.  Better than I would have done.  She must not have gotten my 'graceful' genes.

- Haden was asked to play the Bass Trombone by Mr. Ronk.  Pretty good for a freshman.  We absolutely love Mr. Ronk.  He is one awesome teacher!  

-  We were able to travel to St. George for a band competition.  It was fun and pretty much our only vacation this year.  

- We are working on finally finishing our basement.  Our family room just needs painted and floor put in.  Good thing this was not done before the flood!  Whew!

- Cimmie is doing GREAT!! Here she is doing one of her many big puzzles.

I know there is more.  I will have to add it as I think of them. When you look back like that a year seems like a long time even though it feels like it flew by.  I am going to try better this year to write in my blog!

CINNAMONS 4TH OPEN HEART SURGERY

I cannot believe this much time has passed and I have not written anything! Wow! I keep thinking I need to get on every night and write a little or even every Sunday and it never happens. Soooo much has happened!

I guess the biggest thing is that Cinnamon went in for open heart surgery again. It was quite an ordeal and I was completely stressed out. I dont think I ate anything for 2 months or so. I have never been so NOT hungry in my whole life. Poor Cim went through so much. It is amazing what the human body can withstand when it has to... and the spirit! After she finally came home she had to go back in because she had fluid on her lungs... actually they could not drain it with a regular tube because they said it was thick like tapioca. Thus began a series of many surgeries. They tried one tube... decided it was not big enough. Then put two more larger tubes in. Then they were not working so she had to go and have surgery to clear out the stuff which is supposed to be an extremely painful surgery. This does not even count the first few surgeries she had the first time she was down there... first there was the open heart and then a series of surgeries to put a pace maker in. Anyway, that made a long story short but I just wanted to say how much I learn from Cim every time she goes in for surgery. Of course she doesn't have much choice to go in but the way she goes in is amazing. She is so stoic and strong that she doesn't want anyone to see how scared she is. So with a mixture of laughter and smiles she goes in covering up her fear and pain. The nurses say they have never seen anyone so happy to head into surgery but the do not know the girl beneath the facade. She knows dang well what she is headed into and does everything in her power to try and make us think she is okay with it... but you know she isn't. With a kiss and a hug we send her off smiling (with tears just below the surface) and the next time we see her she is hooked up to every tube imaginable with bandages over her chest to cover up the place they cut open to miraculously fix her sweet heart. She is in severe pain but still tries to be funny and do a little dance with her arms while the nurses are telling her she needs to hold still. It is almost more agonizing to see her pretend to be happy than to have her just let go and give in. What a trooper! Whenever I do something hard in life I tell myself... "look what Cim can do.. you can do this simple thing". She is really an inspiration to me. It blows me away sometimes how much I love that little Frodo! I don't know what I would ever do without her. Photo above: Cim getting her two chest tubes out. They were a foot into her lungs... it was purely shocking to watch them come out.

The second time in the hospital was a little better than the first because she actually started to get better. There were the times I could make her giggle but at the same time it hurt her to giggle so in between her giggles she would say "mom... giggle giggle... mom" and hold her chest. It was so funny. Like mom was supposed to help her to not giggle. One time we had just had with being at the hospital. There were some craft supplies sitting around for Cim to use if she wanted to. The craft she was going to make next was a butterfly... so suddenly my uncontrollable craziness took a hold of me and I stuck the pipe cleaner antennas in my hair and put stickers all over my face. I put on the wings and started dancing around the hospital room singing and flapping. Cim and mom were laughing so hard the nurses were wondering what was going on. I think we were truly nuts at that point but it was so wonderful to see Cim coming back to being her old self. One of my favorite sounds in the world is Cim's uncontrollable and contagious laugh. Later I heard from them that after they got home they were still having laughs about it. What a fun memory of a terrible place! :) That made me happy to know they were still laughing about it. I mean if you are gonna make a fool of yourself do a good job... one that people can remember!

Cim is at home now doing really good. This Thanksgiving I was so happy to spend time with her. She could have so easily not been there with us. Today is her birthday and on Sunday we are throwing a party for her. She loves her birthday and told one of the nurses in the hospital that her favorite part of Christmas is her birthday. ha ha! I think that might have been the same nurse that Cim called "Tinkerbell" cuz she wore a Tinkerbell scrub one day. (Picture on left) Anyway... there were lots of tears and believe it or not good times... but I am just glad it is over and she is safe with us once more! Love you Cinnamon! We are all sooo lucky to have you in our lives!! You are a true blessing.

BASEBALL SEASON!!!

Well baseball season has started over a month ago! It is one of my favorite times of year since summer is coming and the weather is getting warm. More sunshine! Hooray! We are also doing softball this year since Valeri decided she wanted to follow in her big brothers footsteps.

Haden had to try out for an older team this year since he is now in the Pony league. All of his teammates seem so big!! Everything about this bigger team is different... the size of the players.. the speed of the balls... everything! When we first started with this team they brought out a trophy from last year and said they were the champions for 2 years in a row! The coaches said it was all about winning which scared me a little... cuz I think it is about a lot of other things.. least of all being the winning... although that part is nice too. So far they have played about 10 games and lost every single one of them! Surprise! Haden is discouraged but I guess in its own way this is also a life lesson... it will teach him to keep going and trying no matter what. I am very proud of him for this because this is exactly what he is doing. He is a little discouraged that he is only playing right field this year but I told him that is to be expected since he moved up to an older team and he is one of the least experienced players... things will be different next year and he will be able to try more positions. Last year he was able to play all the out field positions. He really wants to play a base... that is his goal. He did get to play a base one time this year. He has gotten to the point that no matter where he is he always has to have a mitt and bat with him. It is pretty cool. He was very excited. I spoiled him a little the other day and bought him a nice bat with my ebay money. Now his whole team is jealous of it and uses it everyday... he barely has time to practice with it. At least we know it is a good bat... just wish he could use it sometimes... I keep joking that he needs to tell them they need to play rent on it. Ha ha.. Haden is a great player considering he never had even picked up a baseball or bat before 2 1/2 years ago. A few more years go by and he is gonna be an expert. I just regret not starting him earlier since he loves it so much. We bought a pitching net and boy has he been practicing! One good thing about his team... he has always wanted to be a "pirate" that is what his team is this year... the pirates!!!

Valeri has also decided to try fast pitch softball this year. It is her first year ever! Leave it to Valeri to have it be her first year and she gets picked as a pitcher! Wow! She is amazing! She is talented at so many things.... and so gutsy! :) Her team has only won 1 game this year. Most of her teammates this is their first year also so she has a pretty new team. THey are getting better and better all the time though. It is awesome to watch them improve every game. Valeri is the cutest pitcher. She smiles the whole time like she n a stage. Everyone comments on what a darling girl she is... and I have to agree. She is also lovingis o softball and I am sure she will continue with it. It is so fun to watch her play. Sometimes we have to skip around between her games and Haden's games though. It seems like they always have games on the same night. I want to be at all of their games!

Taylor has fininshed his driving instruction class and now has his permit to drive with adults. It seems so strange that he is old enough to do this. It seems like I was a a lot older than him even though we were the same age. Amazing the different perspectives an adult and teenager have! We went on his last drive with him. He was so proud of himself and we were proud of him. So far he has driven to Utah, Idaho Falls and around town a lot. These pics are from his final class drive when we were able to go with him.
WATCH OUT ON THE ROADS EVERYONE!!! :)

I know it has been a month since I have written. I am gonna get better at this... I promise! Well.. seems like lately.. thanks to Valeri... our lives have revolved around Robert Pattinson and Twilight. I have posted a picture she has taken with her camera of her and a poster in her room. Believe me... there are many more like it! This is only one of a million of her and 'Robert'. Ha ha. She is so funny.. whenever her eyes come out black in a picture (like this one) she gets exctied and says she has vampire eyes. She also plays with her eyebrows to make them look 'vampiresh'.... like in the picture below. She also enjoys the fact that her skin is 'pale white'. She is such a funny girl! She is obsessed.. it is so funny.

We have been to see the movie 3 times and it seems like Valeri is constantly watching him on YouTube. The boys are getting quite irritated with her! They finally got to see the movie the other day though and they said they actually liked it. Which was amazing to both of us! We never thought we would hear that out of their mouths! ha ha! We told them so.

Right now we are both starting on the 4th book, Breaking Dawn. I have to read it before Valeri cuz I hear there are some parts that she cannot read. She is dying for me to read it quickly though. I like to read books a little slower though and enjoy them... where Valeri has been devouring them (literally.. like Robert Pattinsons says with a British accent) in 2 days. We also have my mom into the books and right now she is on the 2nd one.

Anyway... that is all about Twilight. I wonder how many more times we will see it before it is out of the theater. :) Oh dear.. I wonder how many times Valeri will watch it when it comes out on DVD!!

Christmas and New Years 2008 at our house!

Well Christmas and New Years have come and gone. Christmas was fun but kinda sad cuz we didn't get to spend it with my mom and sis and her family. The weather was awful here. It started Christmas Eve Evening and didn't stop until Christmas evening. We spent Christmas trying to decide if we should brave the weather. It was probably a smart thing not to go... but Greg said he would take us if we decided to go. Turns out they had a major sleep over at my sister Wendy's house. I was kind of sad I missed that although if I had been there I would have wished for my nice warm bed!!

New Years we spent with just our family too. We played a few games, drank sparkling blueberry and cherry juice and ate crackers with cheese. We started a Monopoly game at 11:00 PM that ended at about 3:30 AM. That was wild. By the time it was done Haden and Greg and I were the only ones left playing. We ended the game early and Haden was upset! He wanted to keep playing. He was not as upset when he found out he had won us by more than $11 million dollars!! What a brat! He keeps reminding me that he won. Fart!

Today it started out raining and windy, then started snowing huge flakes with wind, then just the wind blew... and it just keeps going back and forth between all of those. People always say "Just wait a sec and the weather changes". That sentence is more true in Idaho than anywhere else I have lived. It is so strange around here! I should have taken pics of some of our storms like Cassie but didn't. Oh well. :)

Happy New Year everyone!!