Hello Friends,

I have been terribly behind in my communication, as usual. I have meant to get this post up for months and just have been so busy I haven't gotten around to it. Here is a brief photographic history of Butler Family Highlights since November 2005. I just want to say a quick HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETHAN, we love you!

Christian's School went on a field trip to a ice cream shop recently. They had a fun time making sundaes and seeing how the food is made.

Nick and Mattie go along for the tour. And the ice cream.

CRAZY HAIR!!! Nicolas had two friends over this week. He ended up not feeling well so I had a "playdate" with the girls. We played Beauty Shop and then the girls kind of went to town on the boys. The kids all really liked their crazy hairstyles. Gabriel even got in on the action.

AWANA NIGHTS

Christian graduates from "Cubbies" to "Sparks" at the end of the year award ceremonies. Awana is a great program that the boys are in . The boys attend their groups once a week and are expected to memorize bible verses and through their groups they develop a better understanding of Bible teachings. It has been a great benefit to them over the past 3 years. Next year Mattie becomes a "Cubbie".

Nick gets his award for his group, TNT (Truth in Training).

THE AWANA GRAND PRIX... Nick's favorite event of the year. He and Dad make a new car each year. This year Dad couldn't get out of work so he was "On Call" for updates as Nick raced.
There is Nick's car... #38, THE GOD RACER!

Christian's Cubbies group has their own little race. He picked a yellow car, of course, it is his FAVORITE color. Grandma and Grandpa got to come see the races. It was fun.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Mom. The boys brought grandma a really good cake for her birthday. Grandma and Grandpa LOVE cake! And so do the boys!
Speaking of cake... my friend Rachel made this fantastic Buzz Lightyear cake for Mattie's birthday. He turned 3 and we all loved the cake. See, Matthew and Christian both think they are Buzz Lightyear!
Gabey likes cake, too.
Matthew opens Christian's present. Christian fills up this funny pumpkin with toys from the toybox (they don't even have to belong to him) whenever his brothers have a birthday. Then, he gives them the pumpkin. The really funny thing is that he gave some of these things to Gabriel for his birthday. It is so cute and Mattie was very happy with his "new" used toys, that he plays with everyday already.
Christmas at Grandma's. Nicolas loves to play chess at grandma's house. Nick and Dad get a game in after Christmas dinner.
Christian - 4 years old
Matthew - almost 3 years old.
I just like the Christmas morning picture, taken before everything gets REALLY messy. Stockings are hung, left to right...

Dad, Mom, Nicolas, Christian, Matthew, and Gabriel

Clean Babies is a group that I started with a few friends in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Through much hard work and many generous individuals we were able to collect, purchase, pack and send 205 kits to affected areas. In addition we also sent 68 extra packages of diaper wipes. Each kit included a diaper bag, diaper changing pad, diaper rash ointment, a complete package of diapers and a complete package of wipes. It was a great success.

Packing up the items for the trailer pickup Saturday morning was crazy and fun. We had diapers and stuff all over our kitchen and living room. Rachel was/is amazing in all she does. I couldn't have done it without her. She exemplifies the meaning of the word, "Friend".
We are only halfway there and the 6 boys running around are getting tired and cranky. We got them off to bed and finished in the wee hours of morning. Luckily the trailer came early because we couldn't even walk through the living room!

That's all for now, Steve is waiting for me to come to bed. Goodnight.

K.

Pictures - better late than never... Christian playing firefighter at the Children's Museum (august 25)

Christian and Nick waiting for the Children's Museum to open.

Nick and Christian, playing at Vetran's Park

Every once in a while I catch the boys rocking together and I just love those little moments.

Steve and Matthew after opening his birthday presents. Mattie loves to wear his hats but will only wear hats backwards... funny little guy!

The back of Daddy's birthday shirt. All the little pictures mean something!

Daddy showing off his birthday shirt.

Christian loved all of his presents but showed the most enthusiasm for these bats I paid $1.20 for.

Steve loves this picture of Nick's shock (and probably jealousy) over Christian's playdough factory.

The boys playing in Kelly's kayaks when we were packing up to leave camping.

Nick and Charli playing something, I think the "wheels on the bus..." song.

Charli and Nick while we were camping. Charli is our neighbor (born 3 weeks after Matthew) and Nick is her favorite Butler Boy! She always likes to sit her little pink chair right next to his.

Charli hanging in our gazebo while we were camping.

Birthdays and Back to School

Well, we have had a busy few weeks. Carol and I had our Park Friends Church Reunion 2 Sundays ago. That was alot of fun as we got to visit with childhood friends. You can visit her blog at www.carolsclan.blogspot.com. It is always nice to see old friends. We had fun. The next day was Christian's 4th birthday party. That was eventful!!! We had Christian's friends Mikayla, Talaina, Bridget & Braden over in addition to all of our own (also Talaina's sisters Morgan and Reagan came - more about that later). Well, as far as the mom's were concerned things were going splendidly while we visited inside while the kids all played outside. Steve was out there the whole time, grilling hot dogs (Christian's favorite) and playing with the kids. Christian had cake and ice cream and opened all of his gifts. Birthdays sure are fun for kids! He got a playdough factory and p.j.s and books and art supplies and all kinds of other stuff. Well, my good friend Marcie, gets up to go. Her baby Reagan needs a nap and they head out to the car. About a minute later there is just tons of screaming coming from outside. I look out the window and see Talaina's face is bleeding. I jump up to go get a wet cloth and they come back in. Talaina is hysterical and is bleeding everywhere. We try to look at her face and there is a gash under her nose and her nose is all skinned up. Worse is that everytime she opens her mouth blood is pouring out. Thankfully our friend, Tonya is there and she is a nurse. Needless to say Marcie had to leave her kids behind with me (one who shoved her little sister down and caused this facial trauma) and take Talaina to the E.R. Well, 3 hours later Talaina went home as her mom described "Looking like elephant woman" and worrying about people seeing her face. They don't call her Princess Talaina for nothing! Sounds like a fun party, huh??!?!

Steve's birthday was on Wednesday. Pretty uneventful. The boys and I made him a special t-shirt and he went to work.

Nicolas had a finger trauma on Thurday evening. He was playing with these 2 neighborhood kids that I hate him playing with and they had their bikes turned over and were trying to "spin gold" with Easter Basket Fluff and their bike tires. I told them to quit doing that and they continued. Soon after I heard the blood curtling screams and I run over and Nick's finger has been caught up in between the chain and the sprockets. It was in there tight and I couldn't get it to budge. He is just screaming and it looks cut and I am trying to calm him while trying to figure out how to get it out. My best thought was to turn it back but it was so tight and he was hysterical. My concern was that it looked cut and I didn't want to make that worse turning it out. Well, after a minute or so he tells me it doesn't hurt anymore and he ripped it out. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it and took him inside. I was sure we were on our way to the ER and I called my mom to come over. While we waited his little fingertip puffed back up and only had a small cut. It was purple and greasy but not cut. I called a good friend of mine (who happens to be a doctor) and she told me not to take him in. She told me what to watch for and we just kept his finger on ice. Nick swore, "I'll never do that again!" but the next day I caught him back at it. He hasn't ridden his bike since.

I have been busy planning my Croptoberfest event and am very excited about that weekend away. If you are planning on coming you need to register soon!

Steve had his fantasty football draft party today. He loves that event and I think it is the only social event he plans for himself all year.

Nick goes back to school on Tuesday and his good friend Tristan was just accepted to his school. That will be fun as Tristan will see Nick every day when I drive them to school and pick them up (and at recess of course - those poor recess aids!!!). Actually, they do well together.

Steve will be in Detroit for training on Tuesday so I am on my own. We leave to visit my parents mid September. The kids are very excited about that.

I have to run. I am going to try to figure out how to download pictures onto this laptop.

Have a great week,
Kaira

Bringing home the bacon...

My friend Betsy, who introduced Steve and I, sent me this picture... had to share it. So, next time Steve feeds you a line about how hard he works...

Vacations Over

We just got home Monday evening from our 3rd and final camping trip this year. We spent 8 days at Mitchell State Park in Cadillac. We refer to that as our second home... we LOVE it there. The boys had a great time. We had a few cool days and a little rain but still enjoyed a bit of everything. We went to the drive in and saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and started to watch the Fantastic Four (I was falling asleep and we left early). We rode our bikes around the lake and went out for ice cream. The boys got to go fishing and to the beach and they flew their new kites. We had campfires and relaxed (think afternoon naps for all of us) and just enjoyed our family time away!!! I wish I could go back today! Well, when we came home, things got busy~ the A/C broke in the van on the way home (about a $900 repair), I have about 50 loads of laundry, Matthew who is potty training peed on the couch, Christian and Matthew removed the cabinet doors in the bathroom (yes, they took them off the cabinets for God knows why???), and so on. Oh, and our microwave died while we were camping so today when I went to heat up my chicken I had no microwave... AHHHHH, it is good to be home. Yes, that is a little sarcasm. On a more positive note, all of my flowers survived the time away thanks to Kassy and Cara ~ I was so happy to pull up and see them all in bloom.

On to other news, Nicolas starts school on the 30th. He isn't so excited about that but 3rd grade is almost here. I can hardly believe he is in 3rd grade already! Christian starts school on the 12th of September and he is very excited about that. He is in the 4 year old "Dinosaur" class. His friends Mikayla and Talaina will be joining him and we are so glad. Gabey is pulling himself up on everything and we think the little guy will be walking in no time.

Christian turns 4 tomorrow!!! I don't know where the time goes but it sure goes fast! He is excited and his Grandma and Grandpa are coming over tomorrow night for cake.

Well, I will get pictures online this week. I have a zillion and one things to do but I will get to it. Right now I have to go switch my laundry and clean up the kitchen and give Gabey a bottle and tell Matthew that it is not nice to pinch Christian and tell Christian that "NO, he can not sleep in my bed because Matthew pinched him".


Have a good week!
Kaira

This week it has finally cooled down a bit. We have had a couple of days in the 70s and that feels great! Steve ended up working his day off on Sunday and the kids were really good and napped all afternoon (me too). Then I cleaned out the pool and we went swimming. Matthew thinks the pool is neat but won't get in it. He likes to dump sand and dirt in it and put his arms in it but he won't get in. Our little pool is 12' wide and about 30" deep and I think it is just too deep for him. I finally settled on colors for painting the kitchen. I am hoping to buy the paint and get it done right before we go camping so the paint has a chance to cure while we are away. After that we are ripping out the carpet upstairs and painting that area so we can move the boys upstairs. That is going to be a big job but I hope to have it done by the end of September. Ultimately it all comes down to time and money but that is my goal. Steve wants to replace the floor in the bathroom and the windows in the bathroom and living room. We have so much work to do and I would like to get much of it done before the snow falls. We leave for another camping trip on August 7th. We will be gone for 8 days and have friends staying to take care of all our pets! For those of you who don't know, we have 3 cats and a crabby dog. Gabriel has been busy crawling all over the place. It is just the cutest and makes me kind of sad. He doesn't curl up and cuddle much anymore. If I am feeding him a bottle or if he is tired we sit in the rocker but other than that he is on the go. Nick has been working hard on a Lego creation that he is sure will win him a contest. It is a transformable car that has wheels that flip around and it is very COOL. Christian and Matthew are busy fighting about everything, as usual. On Tuesday night I had a friend over to crop and a sitter was here with the kids. We were downstairs in my Creative Memories room and it sounded like a war zone above us. Christian and Matthew don't seem to ever want to be apart but they mix about as well as oil and water... very frustrating! Well, Steve has to run up and help unload tables at church and I need to get back to my many chores. I just wanted to put these pictures online and I will get more on soon. Have a good day!
Kaira



Christian's friend Mikayla's birthday party... Nick isn't sunburned it was just SO hot!!! Matthew liked wearing the party hat until it broke.

Christian made his first real friends in preschool this year. Talaina, Mikayla, and Christian celebrate Mikayla's 4th birthday.
Gabriel sleeping in his pack-n=play while we camp. I just think he looks so big here.

Just a quick note

Hello,
We have had a couple of great days here. It has been in the mid-upper 80s - minus all the humidity! Yesterday we went to the "Y" and then we went to the orchards. I took all the boys out when Steve went to work. Matthew fell asleep and Gabey played while Christian and Nick and I picked blueberries. Christian loved it and kept claiming everything "my tree". He did really well and hardly got any green ones. We also came home with 3 pints of raspberries, 12 ears of corn, potatoes, peaches, and green beans. FUN! Then I spent a few hours working in my gardens while Christiaen, Nick and Nick's friend (I was babysitting) swam. We came in around 10pm and took baths and went to bed. Today I had to go exchange the shoes that I was busy buying while Gabriel learned to crawl. Then it was another day in the garden. We all came in when it started to prinkle but it was over quickly. I made a gourmet dinner of spaghetti (it is about all I have time for much too often) and we spent the next couple of hours outside. The boys played/swam with Charli (little girl next door) and I worked in the gardens again. My kitchen is a mess and I am exahusted. Oh, one more thing, Steve has been "released" from physical therapy and back to his usual job. We are so glad that the hard part is over! I think he is anxious to get back to working overtime (like he is right now).

Gotta run,
Kaira

Gabriel's Big News

Goodmorning everyone,
Monday proved to be even busier than I expected. We both had appointments and left Christine with the boys. When I asked how the boys were I got a hesitant "fine". That isn't a good sign. Matthew and Christian attacked her early and she just gave up trying to tell them what to do. Either one of them is great on their own but when you put them together it is a recipe for disaster. I know that all too well. Apparently Matthew just walked out of the house and went to visit little Charli nextdoor. We will let Christine recuperate a while before we have her babysit again. She said it wasn't so bad and she still likes spending time with the boys. When we got home I went out to buy new shoes. I really needed new shoes and enjoyed my 2 hours away but I missed my last baby's big moment. Steve called to tell me that my sweet little Gabey was crawling. And I was out buying shoes! I was/am so sad about that. The beauty in being a SAHM (stay at home mom) is that I always get to see those big events. When I came home he was napping and I had to quick change, get Nick's overnight stuff together for a sleepover with Grandma, and run out the door a little late for a Creative Memories event. This morning I did get to see Gabriel crawling... he is so cute!!! He throws his hands down in front of him (big slaps on the hardwood floor) and gets those knees moving... very cute and uncoordinated. I love it!
I better go. We have a few minutes of quiet here while the boys are playing and I need to use the rest of it to actually get dressed. Lately I just have been spending far too much time following Lance's last ride in the morning... he is having another great day!

Kaira

Hi everyone,
Today is Steve's day off and we all missed church (again) because we slept in. This is a bad summer habit we have and each week we commit to not sleeping in too late and then again the bed just feels too good to leave. Well, yesterday it was a sweltering day and today was pretty mild (85ish I think) so we decided to take the boys out for a bike ride. For most people this is a simple task but we have so much equipment - 3 bikes, a bike trailer, a bike seat, 6 helmets, and water for 6, plus a diaper bag - it takes us forever to get out the door. The boys love it, Gabey hates it. He has become hostile about being strapped into anything lately. We had a good time and stayed out of the house all day. Anytime we are away for long periods of time the house stays a little cleaner and that makes it worth all the work. This evening I got a couple of hours of gardening in and I feel so accomplished. Tomorrow is a busy day. Steve has his last (we hope) physical therapy appointment for his knee and I have a doctor's appointment and my sister Christine is coming to watch the boys. They are a big job and after a few hours she is worn out. I will be picking up more film tomorrow and I will try to get more summer pictures online in a day or two. If you have any questions/comments/requests post them at the end of this message and I will try to answer them right away. I don't have everyone's email in the BIG Vasquez family so please forward this link to anyone who might be interested. I am hoping that this will become a tool for us all to keep in closer contact over the miles. I have to go now and enjoy this quiet time with Steve. I have 4 sleeping boys and that is precious time around here.

Goodnight all,
Kaira

Gabriel whose hair really does that all the time.

The boys playing at the mall in March
Matthew turns 2
Matthew in Feb. 2005

As I post these pictures I see that I don't have nearly enough pictures of Nicolas and Christian... I will work on that. Nick and Christian riding their scooters while we camp in May.
Gabriel's birth day 12-01-2004
Gabey loves camping - may 05
Pajama day for Christian 2-05
Nick and Matthew enjoying the pools at Great Wolf Lodge - may 05
Gabey the Baby in March 2005

Daddy and Gabriel camping in May
Matthew in Feb. 2005
Christian's 1st school picture