Lindsey's Baptism

Our sweet Lindsey was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday, August 23, 2014. She has been looking forward to this day for a long time! The Saturday before school starts is a hard day for inviting people, so there were not a lot of people in attendance, but Lindsey had a really great attitude about it. She also said it was probably better, because the few people who came managed to eat 9 1/2 dozen cookies, and we would have run out if more people came. (: Lindsey is such a good girl. She has been reading the Book of Mormon for a little over a year, and finished a few weeks ago, specifically so she could pray about it and get her own testimony before she was baptized. She was absolutely floating after the baptism, and has been trying extra hard to make the right choices since "they count now." We are very proud of her and all the good choices she has made so far. We love you, Lindsey!!

 Lindsey and Robert (who baptized and confirmed her) before the baptism

 The whole family before the big event

I love the look on Lindsey's face in this picture after her baptism. (I also love the little photo bomber behind her--I took another picture without him, but Lindsey's smile in combination with the look on Blake's face make this one priceless to me (:)

Buried Alive!!

 Alan was the first brave soul who agreed to be buried in the sand.

 Mermaid Lindsey (thanks to Ashlynn)

 Claire loved being buried until the sand got in her mouth. (:

Blake wasn't interested in having his arms buried, but he wanted to stay in the sand for a long time.

A Surprise Day at the Lake

Last Friday Robert told me to get dressed and come with him. We loaded all the kids in the van, and he started driving. Without giving me any clues, he and our friends the Braleys planned a day at Hickory Run State Park. They had food, swimsuits, everything needed for a day of fun in the sun! It was very sweet and we had a wonderful day.

 What Natalie did all day (:  She is wrapped up because it was actually quite cool in the shade.

 The big kids had tons of fun trying to catch minnows and tadpoles with Ashlynn

 Blake was super proud of his sand castle

 Claire like making sand castles, but liked destroying them even more. Surprisingly, she left the other kids' castles alone and only destroyed the ones she and I built together.

 The never ending battle with Blake's shorts

 Ashlynn (a.k.a. the most patient cousin ever!) carrying Lindsey and Alan double decker style into deeper water

Seven Tubs Nature Park

 Clockwise from left: Ashlynn (Robert's niece), Lindsey, Alan, Robert, Natalie, Blake, Claire

Visiting Palmyra

 Visiting the Priesthood Restoration site with Aunt Teressa, Grandma Butler, Ashlynn, and Grandpa Butler

 Aunt Teressa and Lindsey at the Peter Whitmer Farm

 At the hill Cumorah

A very sleepy one week old Natalie (who was a champ the whole trip)

We visited the Priesthood Restoration site, the Peter Whitmer Farm (where the church was organized), the hill Cumorah, the Palmyra temple, and the Smith family farm and Sacred Grove. It was a wonderful trip!!

Natalie

Natalie Jennae Butler (her middle name is for two special women--her Auntie April Genee and her Aunt Jenny)

Claire and Grandma Butler meet Natalie

Our growing family (who really are happy to meet Natalie, in spite of the long faces)

Mommy and all the kids (from left: Alan, Lindsey, Natalie, Claire, and Blake)

Proud Papa

Natalie all ready to go home

Natalie Jennae Butler was born at 9:43 p.m. on Tuesday June 24, 2014. Other than a sluggish start to labor (I was induced at 9 a.m. and things finally got going only after the doctor upped the pitocin to 20--yikes! 8-12 is what they usually use) everything went very smoothly. I surprised the doctor by only pushing through 3 contractions before Natalie was here. Everyone always comments on how beautifully round my baby's heads are--I guess that's a result of how short a time I spend pushing. She has no jaundice (a first for us), and seems especially tiny since she is almost half a pound smaller than any of our other babies.

All of the children love Natalie, and constantly want to hold her. Claire is utterly enamored with her, and though she definitely want me more, doesn't seem to begrudge Natalie my attention. It is a little crazy at our house, between a new baby, remodeling the family bathroom, and Robert's new calling in our new branch, but we are extremely happy!! Much love from all of us!!!

Self-Portrait

I have mentioned a few times that Alan is obsessed with taking pictures. His most recent escapade resulted in the kissable lips shot of Claire and this self-portrait. He doesn't usually have a double chin, but I think it captures his earnest and sweet personality. He is trying so hard to be a good boy! A few days ago I was having one of those days and suddenly heard water running in the kitchen. I ran in, sure that someone was misbehaving, and there was Alan rinsing the dishes and loading the dishwasher. I asked him what he was doing, and he said, "You work so hard all the time, and I want to help, so I am doing the dishes." It honestly made me tear up a little. He is my child who will drop whatever he is doing and get me a diaper, or let the dog out, or move Claire away from the bookshelves, or anything I ask. I am so grateful for my wonderful children. They are sometimes naughty, never neat, occasionally nutty, but always mine!

Sunshine and Sunbeams

We have (finally) had some spring-like weather, so I have been working on clearing out the forest behind our house, which comprises most of our property. The other day, the boys and I came in for lunch, and they begged me to let them eat out on the back deck. This is how the conversation went:
Me: I would rather not, because I don't want to have to put on sunscreen and you'll get sunburned.
Blake:But Mom, I am a sunbeam! The sunshine won't burn me!!
Oh little boy, you are too precious for words!! I only wish that were true, but as I am sure you will discover sometime this summer, the sun doesn't discriminate between sunbeams and the rest of us.

Trying (and failing) to get a picture

Two weeks ago we went to the temple in Washington DC. The flowers were blooming, the birds were singing, and it was a lovely, sunny spring day, perfect for a picture. Can't you tell?!? I was inside the temple at this point, but when I looked through the pictures Robert took, these two (and many more like them) were priceless to me because they are the essence of trying to do anything with four children ages 6 and younger. I hope whenever I am feeling at my wits end because I can't get them in line that I will look back at these pictures, take a deep breath, and smile. Because, really, aren't they fantastic!? I wouldn't have them any other way!

We love to see the temple

Here are the pictures that made the cut. I love pictures of the children at the temple because invariably they are happy and it is beautiful! I am so grateful for the gospel and for the temples that allow us to be sealed as a family forever!!

Twins

Last Sunday, Lindsey and Claire wore similar outfits to church, and Lindsey insisted I take a picture because they looked like twins. It really is almost ridiculous how much the kids dote on their baby sister! Lindsey's comment on twins made Blake ask what a twin is, and I explained that usually twins are children who are born together like Alix and Erin, but that sometimes people use the word to mean that there is something the same about them, like Lindsey and Claire's clothes. Blake thought hard for a minute and then said, "So me and Claire are twins, too?" Then I had to think a minute to figure out what he meant-he loves that she has hair that matches his, and that finally someone else gets comments about red hair. (: I know it's not the best picture of Claire, but I can't get enough of Blake's facial expressions!

Easter egg hunt

The kids had a lot of fun at the community Easter egg hunt. All three big kids were in different age groups, but luckily the sponsors had each age group go separately, so Robert supervised Alan and Blake while I went with Lindsey and her friends. They advertised 30,000 eggs, and I believe them. It was a lot of fun, and everyone came away happy. Blake's age group was allowed to have parents help, but he did it all by himself so he got a few less eggs than everyone else, but he was the only one to get an egg with a prize number in it, and he got two! His prizes were a ball and a bucket full of random Eastery stuff. He made me proud by saying that he got what he wanted with the ball, so he gave away something to all the other kids so that everyone got a prize. He really is a sweetheart! It was a very fun day.

Easter

We had a lot of fun around Easter this year. I neglected to take pictures at our first annual Easter craft night, but we painted trees with wet chalk, made eggs out of embroidery floss around balloons, and decorated sugar cookies. We have a tradition of celebrating the commercial side of Easter on Saturday, so we went to an Easter egg hunt, decorated eggs, and made egg bunnies out of the eggs that didn't survive the boiling water intact.

Kissable

In my personal opinion, there is nothing more kissable than a little rosebud baby mouth! Alan continues to be fascinated with taking pictures, and this was one of his. I know it is a little silly, but I figured at least a few grandparents would appreciate the view. Every time I see it, this picture makes me feel a need to go love on my littlest sweetie! It kind of looks like she has bags under her eyes, but they are just irritated as a result of her still plugged tear ducts.

Hats

What do you do when you have no hair and strangers think you are a boy? Wear hats, of course!

Big brothers

From my experience, big brothers are usually pretty great. Alan is no exception. Claire spends a large portion of her time being carted around like this:To her credit, she rarely complains about it, and often rewards her biggest brother with grins whenever he walks into her line of sight. She is definitely not short on love! (And Heather, anyone who has as many little bodies around as we do deserves a break for a little mess in the background! I officially give us permission to not worry about any mess in pictures. Let's face it--I would have a total of maybe five pictures of all my kids if I waited to take a picture until my house was perfectly picked up! (:)

Getting Older

So, today at lunch Alan and Blake were chattering on as usual, and I was doing dishes and not paying much attention as usual. I am honestly not sure what they were talking about, but suddenly I hear Alan say to Blake: "No, I wasn't talking to you! I was talking to the old lady!" WHAT!?!?! He couldn't possibly mean his lovely young mother, could he?!? Oh yes he did! To his credit (or his charming father's training(:), he did say afterwards, "Don't worry, Mom. I was just pretending. You're really not THAT old." If I am old at the ripe age of 32, there is no one to blame but my beautiful children!(: I include the picture of Blake because I am pretty sure that's what my face looked like, and plus, it's just funny.