Flowers vs. Weeds

Every summer I weed weekly. I don't know what happened this summer, but I rarely weeded. I was almost overwhelmed when I'd go outside to weed and see what had happened to my flower beds. Usually my mom sends me money for my birthday and I use that money to buy annuals to fill in the beds wherever there aren't perennials. I don't know what happened this year, but the money never arrived and I never went out to buy any flowers. I'd get home from work and it would be too hot or I would be too tired to go out and weed, so my flower beds became overrun with weeds.
I finally took some time, since it's gotten cooler outside, to finally get after those weeds. The score is now 2-3. I have 2 beds down, 3 to go. I also need to plant tulip bulbs. Each June Thanksgiving Point sells their premium tulip bulbs $3/dozen. You never know what kind, color, shape, etc. that you're buying, but it sure makes for a beautiful display the next spring. I try to buy some each year, and I have about 3 dozen to plant now. I forgot last year and they molded, so I don't want that to happen again this year. It's supposed to be nice out this next week so I'm hoping to get them in the ground before we have snow again.

What Would We Do Without These Little Things?

It will totally never cease to amaze me as to how much information can be contained on one of these little flash drives. It makes it so convenient to transfer information from one computer to another. I know this will date me, but when I was in college, a computer took up the WHOLE ROOM!! Now they fit in the palm of your hand.

Hawaii Here We Come!!

I was sitting on the couch January 29, 2010 when Dave told me to close my eyes and hold out my hands. He put something in each hand and then put something around my neck. He told me to open my eyes and he was standing there in flowered board shorts, t-shirt, and a lei around his neck. He said "You've just been lei'd, baby!!" I looked in my hands and there was a bottle of water in one hand and a bottle of aloe in the other. I had a matching lei around my neck. I looked at him like he'd lost his mind and asked what in the world was going on. He said they were doing something different this year at work - they had picked a "Man of the Year" and a "Woman of the Year" and he'd been selected this year's "Man of the Year". As his "award" they were giving him an all-expense paid trip for 2 to Hawaii. I was in shock. I've never been to Hawaii and didn't think I'd actually make it there any time soon. This is courtesy of Midwest Flooring, and we're going as part of a group. We'll be staying at the Fairmont Orchid Hotel in Kona, Hawaii. I am so excited.

We got a call this summer telling us that if we wanted to go earlier or stay longer we could at no additional airline expense. We'd have to pay for hotel, food, etc. Dave and I talked about it and decided we'd ask if we could stay longer and travel to the island of Oahu and see some things on that island. We were told we would have to pay for airfare to the other island and then they'd fly us home from Honolulu instead of Kona at no additional charge. Sounded like a no-brainer to us, and since it would only cost us an additional $125/person to fly from Kona to Honolulu, we went ahead with those plans. We found a room at a Marriott employee rate on Waikiki Beach for the 3 days in Honolulu and also rented a car.

October 6 I came home from work and Dave had these sitting on the bed. He'd received them earlier in the day. Inside of each one is a knit blanket. I guess we're supposed to use these as part of our carryon on the trip to Kona. This trip is becoming more real!! It seems like we've been looking forward to it for a long time (well, in reality we have!!)

We recived our tickets, boarding passes, and instructions last week. I am so excited!!

Brie & Amanda

Aren't these 2 young ladies beautiful? They are very close and we've certainly enjoyed having Amanda live with us since August. She arrived in Utah at the beginning of July from Minnesota to go to beauty school. She and my sister-in-law Beth found an apartment for her to live in throughout the school year. Before too long she discovered that she really didn't like beauty school, and she started spending alot of time at our house. Brie came to us one day and asked what we'd think about Amanda moving in with us. I told her I was surprised they hadn't come to us sooner since Amanda was always here and she and Brie did just about everything together. They went to movies, out to eat, read their scriptures, went to activities, talked until all hours of the night, etc. They were just about "joined at the hip". So, when Amanda got homesick and decided to move back to Minnesota we were all sad because we'd enjoyed having her live with us. She left October 22.

The morning Amanda left.

However, I was not too happy to learn that Brie wanted to move to Minnesota sometime in January and live with Amanda and her family. After all, she's my baby, and I will more than miss her. I've cried several tears, but at the same time, I guess it won't be forever, and she will be with family. She'll be 21 in March, so I really can't stop her, and maybe it will be good for her to be away from all of us and "have an experience" as she calls it. However, I will worry about her and, like I said, miss her to pieces.

Love Your Body 6K

Tonya asked if I'd like to run a 5k with her at Thanksgiving Point October 9. Sure, I said, I'll give it a try, but don't wait for me once we start running. I'll just hold you back. So, I "trained" for the next 3 weeks or so. I was exercising anyway, so I thought I'd add running to my routine. However, the amount I ran was only a few minutes at a time. I think the most I ran at one time without stopping was 10 minutes. I knew I wouldn't be able to run the whole 5k, but it didn't bother me to run/walk the distance.

Then they changed the distance of the race to 6k so the runners would be able to run through at least a little bit of the gardens (there was also a 10k that started a little earlier. Because of not marking the course very well, some of those runners ended up running almost a mile farther than they were supposed to.)

It was a cool morning, which actually worked out perfect for the race - it was cloudy, but no rain, and as we ran we warmed up, but we weren't overheated. Tonya's sister-in-law Sheila (who runs half-marathons) also ran with us. She was off and ahead of us in no time. Tonya stayed with me for the first few minutes until I told her to go ahead and run at her speed and not wait for me. She asked if I was sure and I told her yes, so she took off and I lost sight of her pretty fast!!

I definitely was not in the kind of shape I would have like to have been in, but at the same time I feel like I did pretty good for not having "trained" for very long. I ran the 6k in 45:05.4 seconds. I came in 8th in my age group (out of 50) and 412th overall (out of 1067 runners). So, I was happy with my performance. I'd like to run more 5ks next year, but I hope by that time to be down about 20 pounds. My time, with a lower weight and more practice, should improve a fair amount.

Sheila's mom was kind enough to take pictures, but wouldn't you know it - by the time I crossed the finish line the battery went dead and she wasn't able to get a picture of me - just those 2 faster girls. Even my phone wouldn't cooperate, so I guess the final pic wasn't meant to be that day!!!

I got myself a new pair of Asics running shoes at the end of September. I also got a pair of inserts for high arches to see if that might help my feet not feel so sore after working out. Once I put my feet in the new combo they went "ahhhhhhhh!!"

Dr. Butterfield!!!

Dr. Butterfield!

The Butterfield clan that was there for the graduation - Warren & Sheila and their boys and Jim & Nancy.

During the party Branson lost a tooth - I mean really lost it - it's in the grass somewhere!!

Tonya and Margo (She's family now - her sister is married to Jeff's brother)

Packed and ready for Iowa

This is one of those "inserted" posts. Brad graduated from Ohio State University's School of Dentistry in June of 2009. Dave and I were so thankful to have the opportunity to travel there and be able to be a part of it. There was tons of hard work and sacrifices, another beautiful daughter added to the family, great new friends and experiences, growth togethe and as a family - all while being too far from us here in Utah. However, we are very proud of both Brad and Tonya - Congratulations on a job well done!!! After the festivities at the school, they and a bunch of their friends and their friends' families got together for a party back at Abbey Church.

After graduation they went to Burlington, Iowa where he took worked for Aspen Dental for a year, and now they've bought a practice here in Utah. We're all so glad they're back in the area so we can see them more often.

Taylor and Marianne

I work with Marianne, and she just loves it when Taylor comes to visit me, 'cuz she just loves Taylor. When I told Missy that it was Marianne's birthday, they ran to get her a couple of things to wish her a Happy Birthday. She was leaving the next day to go to Kansas to visit one of her daughters and her family.

Branson's New Bow

What do you do when you have Cabela's Bucks? You take your 8 year-old son to Cabela's to get a new bow. That's what Brad did yesterday. Branson was SO excited, and very willing today to show us how it works!! I think it's such a good idea to start teaching them at a young age to respect "weapons" - whether it be a bow or a gun, and to teach them how to use them and how to use them safely. While I was taking these pictures Branson made sure I was standing in the right place and wouldn't pull the string back until I was away from him.

Dave took our kids duck/goose hunging when they were quite young (they got to go on their first trip to Canada hunting when they were in 1st grade). He taught them about shotguns, how to carry them, shoot them, and to be careful when around other people.

Brad & Krista Knudsen

Today Todd's brother Brad was married. The bride's name - Krista. Go figure!! What are the chances of having 2 Krystas in the same family?! Our Krysta is Krysta A, his bride is Krista B!!

The girls were the flower girls, and they looked so dang cute.

The Chalkboard Wall

Brie and Amanda decided they wanted to paint one wall in Brie's room with chalkboard paint. I was not in favor of it 'cuz I thought her room was so cute the way it was. But, she persisted - told me it looked like a little girl's room (ah, no it did not) and they promised they would do the painting and clean up. I told them I was worried about what would happen to all the chalk dust since we had new carpeting in her room and the rest of the house. They promised they would put a towel down and keep the dust cleaned up. So, I relented and let them paint the wall. It actually turned out better than I thought it would, and they are very happy with it.

Conference was Great!

There are times in the past that General Conference has depressed me - because it reminds me of all we should be doing and I feel like I'm not doing those things I know I should be doing in life. However, over the last couple of years I've had an attitude adjustment! I now enjoy conference and listen to the talks and use them as motivation to do better. When you hear a prophet of the Lord talk about how much more he could do and how he has to improve, you know you yourself are not a "loser". We're all here to live good honest lives and lead them the best we can by doing the right things. I try to do those things I should, but there are many times I am lazy or am a slacker. That's where conference comes in - it helps me get back on track, set new goals (or reset old ones), get motivated to be a better person, and know I'm not alone in these things.

Girls Night Out

Trying to get 7 children to cooperate during picture-taking is not an easy task, and I didn't accomplish it in this picture! The girls seem to love getting their picture taken, but not so with Branson. He hides frequently!
I had to take this picture quick because Branson wasn't aware I still had my camera out!

While the menfolk of the family go to the priesthood session of conference, we girls in the family have a Girls Night Out. It used to be we'd go out to dinner and maybe do some shopping, but as there have gotten to be more of us, the girls have chosen to not go out but to order supper and eat it our house (that way they don't have to battle the kids while eating out). It's actually worked out better because the kids can eat and then play with each other without having to be "good" all the time.

This year Tonya is back in the state (after being gone for 5 years while they were at school and then Brad was working for a year in Iowa). She invited us up to her house and she made salad and ordered pizza. We fed the kids first and then they went downstairs to play while we ate and visited. I'm so grateful for the daughters and grandchildren I have been blessed with and that we're able to spend this special time together. This year our niece Amanda was able to join us also.

After priesthood was over every Butterfield male over the age of 12 (including the only son-in-law) stopped in to the house for a quick minute. There were 11 of them that had gone to priesthood together and were now going out to eat together. That was awesome to see them all together - teens, adults, and Grandpa Jim.

Dave and Mitch and Jeff went together after priesthood session to Texas Roadhouse in Lehi. It was Mitch's first time to eat at Texas Roadhouse - oh yeah, he's hooked!! 2 of Jeff's friends joined them there also (Brian had gone to Logan to watch it with a couple of his friends up north.)

I am thankful for the men in my life that honor their priesthood and always try to be worthy of it.

Best Husband in the World!

I was at work September 19 and Dave walked up to the window. Totally surprised me by doing that. He brought me this rose, card, and in the wrapped box are some of my favorite See's candies. Why did he bring it - cuz he loves me and just wanted me to know he was thinking of me. We'd been talking earlier that morning about some things and I was trying to explain something to him. He tries so hard to be understanding and to understand me and my feelings. I am so blessed to have him as my husband. I love you, Dave!

Scripture Goals

We did not read the scriptures hardly at all when I was growing up. One of the goals I set recently (again) was to read them on a daily basis and I'm doing pretty good at that!! This set of scriptures I've had since becoming a member of the church 33+ years ago. They are so well-marked, so when people tell me I should get new ones, I tell them no - I like them marked the way they are! I may have to break down one of these days and get some (these are falling apart) but I really like reading them and seeing what I've thought was important enough over the years to have marked. It's almost like I pay special attention to those scriptures.

Cancer Sucks

Hailey & Mom, Dad, brother, sister

Kamdyn in hospital
Cancer is sure rearing it's ugly head alot. Recently my niece Hailey was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma and is currently halfway through her chemo. (If you want to read about her journey, go to http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/haileyolson/journal - she's been journaling throughout this trial). Tonight is the 2010 Light The Night Walk at Target Field in Minneapolis. She and her family and many friends are going to participate in it to raise money and try to bring attention to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. My brother ordered t-shirts that say CANCER SUCKS on the front and Hailey's Hope on the back. I ordered one for me so that even though I'm not there to walk with them, at least I can lend a little support. My sisters-in-law Beth and Michelle are both cancer survivors as are my good friends Lena and Teresa. I know many other people that are cancer survivors (my dad had bladder, prostrate, and skin cancers, yet he died from something completely unrelated.) I so admire their strength and courage as they battle this ugly disease.
This past week Krysta called to tell me her niece Kamdyn (Todd's sister Lindsey's 3-year old daughter) has been diagnosed with a rare kind of liver cancer and was started on chemo right away. Her tumor is the size of a grapefruit. A special fast was held for her today - it's always nice when you can help out by participating in a fast. Our thoughts and prayers go to her and her family.