So I haven't posted anything in a while.  My cameras been in Johns car I don't like to write anything without a picture (too boring) yadda yadda yadda...  I really should be in bed right now but it's hard to give up the peaceful quiet in my home at this late hour.  Nothing too exciting going on here.  John and I have been working on putting in a patio in our backyard.  Well, John has actually been doing the "work" part but I have tons of great ideas to contribute!  I'll post pictures soon.  We are moving our hot tub from mom and dads house to our house which I'm really excited about.  I'm sure mom and dad aren't too excited about that.  It will be quite the ordeal to move it.  That's why we haven't done it yet.  It's presently on a second story balcony.  We had it placed there using a crane a few years back when we lived in what is now my parents house.  So we'll have to have a crane lift it over the house again and bring it to our current house.  It'll be worth it.  I got John to finally make the improvements in our yard because Wendy and Rocky are coming in a few weeks.  So we'll need lots of oohs and aaahs from you Butlers when you come.  We are really excited to have the Butlers come.  They haven't been here in quite sometime.  We're gonna do lots of fun stuff.  

Today Branson ran in the house all excited yelling "mom mom look what my friend gave me!!!"  He had a little ziplock bag with a lizard tail in it.  How can you squash that enthusiasm?!  I can't.  He is such a dirty, bike ridin, knockin on all the neighbors doors, climbing on the "mountain", fort building, dad tool stealin, weapon makin, fun lovin boy!!!  He is so funny and so cute.  Tonight he decided for whatever reason to get naked, when I saw him I said to him very seriously "why are you naked, where are your underwear??"  (It was bed time and he usually sleeps in his underwear).  He paused for a minute to think and said "they fell off and they've disappeared"   lol  I continued to press him and he was so insistant that his underwear (whitey tighties) just fell off and disappeared.  He stuck to his story lol.  He's always been a streaker lol.  Lets hope he grows out of that SOON.

This Emily and her friend and team mate Alex Johnson participating in the Pole Peddle Paddle last saturday.  This is Emilys' third year in it.  What is the Pole Peddle Paddle you ask?  Well, it's a race with lots of different legs that people either compete themselves and do the whole thing or people have teams and do different legs of the race.  Emily is on a team so she does the rowing or "paddle" part of the race.  The race starts up at Mount Bachelor.  The first person sprints part way up the mountain wearing ski or snowboarding boots and carrying either skis or their snowboard.  Then they either ski or snowboard down the mountain.  That's the "pole" part.  I might mess the sequence up here a bit but I believe next is the cross country skiing.  Then the next person bikes down the mountain 20+ miles to town.  That would be the "peddle" part.  Next comes the runner.  I believe that's around 5 miles.  Next is Emily and Alex' part.  They row in their boat up stream then down stream then back up stream (maybe a mile or two).  That would be the "paddle" part.  Finally comes the sprint to the finish line and that's about 1/4 of a mile.  It all takes about 2.5 hours.  There are hundreds of teams and/or participants.  Maybe a thousand people.  I could be way off here I'm not sure all I know is there's a lot of people.  Some of teams have a theme that they dress as.  So there's lots of people dressed really crazy while they are participating.  It's pretty funny sometimes.  What's really impressive about Emilys team is that they participate in the adult full race.  On sunday they have a kids version.  They had several articles in the paper about their team last year with some funny quotes from Emily.  It was such a hot day.  A record here.  I think it was about 96 degrees.  So miserably hot for the participants (and the viewers). 

Look what Sophie did today!

This is Branson with his best buddy Gabe.  Branson plays so hard all over the neighborhood.  He has lots of friends and loves to ride his bike and play "on the mountain" behind our house.  As you can see he gets pretty dirty.

around the house

around the house

Mothers Day

Branson informed me yesterday that I have a "pig nose" lol.  I asked him if he's always thought that and he said "no, just since we learned the song piggy oink oink at school".  I had to stop laughing so I could tell him that wasn't nice to say lol.  

Alrighty then.  So I haven't written for a while.  I've been waiting to download my most recent pictures but I can't find the thingy (is it a usb port?)  I'm so computer illiterate.  I can pretty much do what I want to do but I don't know the exact lingo.  The one thing I don't know how to do that I want to know how to do is make this blog cute!  I look at all these blogs and they're like really cute scrapbook pages.  Wish I could figure that out...  Anyway.  Mother day was good.  I think I've finally recovered from a full day of actually doing nothing (domestic).  The house WAS    A    MESS!!   It even started clean on sunday.  The kids were so sweet on Mothers Day.  When I woke up in the morning I could hear someone down stairs in the kitchen furiously working.  I forced myself not to get up because I knew that Emily was downstairs preparing me breakfast in bed.  So I waited, nervous that I'd end up late for church.  I was pleasantly surprised when Christopher brought me breakfast in bed.  He beat Emily to the punch and she was not happy I might add.  He Made pancakes, fruit and scrambled eggs and brought it to me using the highchair tray lol.  He even put a pretty little flower in a little tiny vase on it.  Sitting through sacrament meeting was interesting lol.  Our family has recently graduated to one of the prominent middle seats in the chapel.  Having another baby and the kids just getting bigger has forced us to vacate the more discrete side seats.  So there we were pretty much front and center and I allowed John to give me a mothers day break.  So I sat on the other side of him and the three little ones lol.  After the sacrament the bishop stood up and commented on Johns struggle with Sophies headband lol.  THe boys were out of control.  The people behind us kept laughing and I wasn't sure what exactly was going on on the other side of John.  It couldn't be any worse than the old days when Branson used to scream in church "I have to go poop and it's diarrhea!!!"  He knew how to get me movin.  After church the kids and I took flowers to a couple of nursing homes for the ladies there.  The first nursing home was not very fancy.  Clean but run down.  I was surprised how many women were there in their rooms alone on mothers day.  Their faces sure brightened when Jack or one of the other kids gave them a flower and said "happy mothers day".  The second nursing home was so much different.   The parking lot was full and it was hard to find a place to park.  The facilities were so nice.   The staff directed us to a big room where they were having a special mothers day program.  It was full of families visiting their loved ones.  What a difference.  The kids walked through the room starting in the back working their way to the front handing out a flower to all the "grandmas".  They're faces lit up when one of the kids gave them a flower and wished them a happy mothers day.  I was getting nervous because we were running low on flowers and all these ladies were watching us anticipating their turn.  It was amazing, we had exactly enough.  Not one more flower left and everyone got one.  It was a great experience for the kids and I.  I think I've started a good tradition.  No one can argue with me about doing it because it's mothers day and it's what I want to do lol. 

I'll post an old picture just so this isn't quite so boring.

 So I still have not figured out how to add links to my page.  I'll just have to tell you about this one.  Christopher along with his cousins Jacob and Preston have been making some pretty funny little movies and posting them on you tube.  The latest one they made while we were gone is my favorite.  So to see it go to www.youtube.com  and type in thesonicyes   All one word.  Enjoy!

Bless her heart....

Just a picture I didn't upload while we were in Paris.  This lady stayed at our hotel and one day went on a tour group trip with us to Mont Saint Michel.  REally, the makeup was like nothing I have EEEVVVEEERRR seen before.

We're home!  I'll tell a little about our last day in France (sunday) just so I can have it all recorded.  Sunday we took the train to Versaille.  John had never been and I loved my time there in the past looking and wondering around the huge gardens.  It was a sunny warm day, the first day like that in over a week.  I used my umbrella (that I had been using most days for the rain) as a shade.  There were So many people there.  It seemed like a crazy amount to me.  The first part of the gardens with all the big fountains was for people paying to get in.  We did that.  They piped in classical music all throughout that part.  It was very beautiful and again, surreal.  The flowers weren't overly impressive like they had been when I was there in June.  As we traveled further down the gardens we entered a part of the gardens that was open to the public for free.  That's when the real crowds began.  So many people picnicking, riding bikes, rowing boats in the huge man made pond.  Lots of families which made it interesting but not exactly tranquil.  We walked I think for miles.  I really wanted to see Marie Anntoinettes "cottage"  that she liked to escape the formality of the main house for.  We never found it.  

last night I google earthed it and we were so close!  Just yards away in a garden that expands for miles!  Oh well.  A good day regaurdless.

So today we took the high speed train from Paris to London.  It only takes 2 hours on the train and you go under the English Channel.  I've posted some highlights from our day below.  So much to see in only one day.  We'll just have to go back another trip!

The Tower of London.  Built in 1070!  Very cool.  We went in and toured it for several hours today.  So much fascinating history there.  Anne Boylen was beheaded there along with many others.

How beautiful is that bridge in London?  It's NOT the Tower of London (I thought perhaps it was).

how cute are those lights with the crowns on them?

Big Ben and the house of Parliament.  It's amazing and sureal in person.  We walked across the bridge and got on a boat for a ride down the Thaimes  (sp) River.

this is at Au Lapin Agile (the nimble rabbit)  a very famous and OLD cabaret on Montmartre.  We spent our evening up there and stopped by this famous night spot.  I felt like I was in Les Miserables in the "master house".  Like Paris 150 years ago or so.  Mostly French people in there drinking and having a big sing along.  Quite entertaining.

What a day.  We stayed in Paris and slept in.  We were so tired from our recent excursions.  Today in France was Labor Day.  Probably not the best  day to be in France.  Everything was closed except the restaurants.  When we walked outside of our hotel it was chaos.  People everywhere!  Some pretty scary lookin ones too.  I held onto John tight.  There were all kinds of political groups with their flags, music, dancing, yelling, banners, costumes, food....  Some parts I felt like I was in the middle east somewhere.  We walked all around.  There was actually a very large group calling for the fall of capitalism and viva la communism.  Pretty scary to think that there are so many of them living in a capitalist country fighting for communism.  An interesting walk for sure.  Maybe not the safest place for us to be.  We stood out like crazy, esp me!  After that we got on the metro and went to the eiffel tower.  We figured with everything closed it would be a nice place to walk.   We weren't the only ones with that idea lol.  SOOO many people out today.  We walked for a long time, stopping for lunch along the way.  We ended up on the champs-elysees.  We walked down a really fancy blvd where we saw some amazing cars.  One was a bullet proof Bentley.  We took the metro back to our hotel after our long walk.  So we didn't do a lot today but we saw some interesting things and enjoyed ourselves.  Brenda, I think that you and emily are the only ones reading this lol.  I love your comments! Thanks.

Don't park in his driveway!!!!  btw I did flip this picture, I don't know why when I go to post my pictures it's no longer flipped.

It's really hard to do this place justice with photos.

Once again, I'm awake and John is still sleeping.  I'm not sure what time it is here but it's morning.  I ran out of time last night to post pictures and write about our day yesterday.  I have to pay for our time on the internet at the hotel.  I pay for an hour at a time.  So yesterday we went to Brugge Belgium  We took a bus early in the morning and got back to Paris last night.  All I have to say about Brugge is WOW (okay, so I have more to say about it).  I hate to overuse the word but it's the best word I can think of to describe it.  That word is MAGICAL.  It's like you're at Disneyland but it's all real (and bigger).  Think Mr Toads Wild Ride (yeah, I'm probably way too familiar with Disneyland).  It is called the "Venice of the  north".  It was raining and yucky but we still went on a boat ride through the canals. I loved Brugge so much.  We will definately go there and stay a couple of days on another trip to Europe.  It was so beautiful.

Mont Saint Michele.  Miriam, you were right, it's real!  Not a great picture of it.  Just google it people.  You won't be disappointed. It is magical.

Our walk down the hill in Paris.

So I forgot to rotate the picture.  John looks like James Woods lol.

awwwwww

I couldn't sop laughing when John had to pose and everyone was watching.

sacre-couer

Notice all the tiny people bellow???   Uh yeah, that's because we CLIMBED so dang high! lol

Not a great shot but I believe I was gasping for breathe when I took it.  Okay, this was monday  we went to Montmartre like I said.  It's the hill in Paris and at the top of that hill is a cathedral, Sacre-Coeur.  We went through the church, sat for most of mass and walked outside.  We saw a sign outside with an arrow pointing down some stairs into like a basement that said "Crypt".  Sounded cool, so we went for it.  After purchasing a ticket to go DOWN to the crypt we went through a little wooden door that they told us to go through.  There, my nightmare began.  We walked straight up a tiny, narrow spiral staircase that would NOT end!!!!  I had been had, dooped!!!  No warning, no nothing!  We walked straight up 1000 steps!  Take a brake you  say?  Noooo people behind us, no place to stop.....  No crypt just stairs.  When we finally reached the top we were at the top of the cathedral on the top of the hill in Paris with the most fabulous view!  Pictures ensued....  When we went down another spiral staircase, at the bottom it entered into the crypt.  Those French, making us Americans excercize!

Looking through the stained glass window into the bay at Mont Saint Michele.

Okay, so it's hard to understand what I'm saying in my video  I'll explain.  That was part of our lunch today just outside of mon saint michele.  It was an omlette and it was filled with raw whipped eggs. EEEEEWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!

What 27 U.S. dollars worth of coke looks like!  No Joke!!!

Well, we're back at our hotel for the night and we are exhausted!  I wrote last night about our adventures for the day and it got deleted.  Typing on this lap top is driving me crazy!  I'm not going to write a lot but I will post some pictures.  Enjoy!  P.S.  Emily, this is how I write you back honey.  I love you, kids!

So I'm sitting here in the dark bored out of my mind!  John is asleep still.  Seems I'm the early bird in Paris lol.  Emily asked me to post more pictures and believe it or not we haven't been taking much pictures.  Last time we were here 2 years ago we took something like 2000 pictures.  John (in my opinion) was overly preoccupied with taking photos.  This trip we only brought one little camera.  We've really got the place documented from our last trip here.  You should have seen all the huge camera bags we lugged everywhere!  So now, it only occurs to us to take a photo when we see something or someone particularly strange. Camera bag freedom feels good!

So today we are planning on going up to the hill in Paris called Montmartre (sp?)  It's one of my favorite parts of the city.  It's where all the artists live and work on the streets.  Lots of interesting eccentric people.  The architecture is also quite old.  It looks like a mideveil (sp) village. Should be fun.  Tomorrow we have decided to go to Mont Saint-Michel.  It's a few hours outside of Paris.  We'll take a bus to get there.  I've wanted to go there since I was a little girl and got in a fight with my best friend Miriam about weather or not it was real (she had a picture of what looked to me to be a floating castle).  I just couldn't believe a place that magical looking really existed and that SHE had actually been there (I would have already known about it myself if it were true) lol.  I hope you're reading this Miriam!!  so now I get to see for myself.  The fight can finally be resolved.  

W e spent some time today on the avenue des champs elysees.  We mostly strolled and went into a few shops.  We spent quite a bit of time in Sephora one of my favs.  Poor John, it's completely hair, make up and body.  One of the sales ladies convinced me to try some hair extensions (okay, so it didn't take much convincing).  So I sat in her little chair and let her work her magic putting in very long blonde extensions.  I was quite popular with the other customers.  They were all very interested in the beautification that was happening with my hair.  After they were all in she then curled each piece.  I was well on my way to my Paris Hilton or Lindsey Lohan look.  John was sitting waiting patiently the whole time.  So when my new look was complete I examined myself in the mirror and I look absolutely ridiculous!!!!!  So then I had to walk around like that for a couple of hours! lol So sad.... so lame.  They're out now lol.

So many interesting characters in Paris.  This guy was playing his tiny piano on wheels at the flea market we went to today.  It's so strange I saw this guy on u tube like two weeks ago. lol no joke.  He was actually selling cd's and we bought one!  The ONLY thing we bought at the flea market.  For those of you that know us well, that's a big deal lol.

We always see weird vehicles in Europe.

Paris!!!

Okay, so we are finally here!  Such a super long couple of days.  Or  day, I'm not sure lol.  It's after  midnight here in Paris so that makes it Nine hours earlier back home in Oregon on saturday.  We left our house at 4:30am friday morning.  We tried to stay up today (we arrived in Paris saturday morning local time) but only made it until 2pm lol.  Now I'm awake and I can't sleep!  Just like home. lol  We didn't do a lot today.  We got our Metro tickets and mostly walked around.  We did discover a free little museum at some ancient roman baths and a church from  ages. I still have haven't figured out exactly where we were yet lol.  I did buy a book there though so I can figure it out.  Most things are in French even in the museums with so many English speaking visitors.  The gardens outside of the church were SO beautiful.  Very English actually.  That was what drew us into the museum.  

Okay, I can't write anymore!  I had a bunch written here and my computer deleted it, more than once..... grrrrrrrrrr

Oh the shame...

That's my boy!  Chocolate and marker fun!!!   Notice his toe nails . So funny.

The Birthday Princess