Zeus and Bethany's Birthday

This is our new kitty, Zeus, on the first day we had him.  Bethany found him in the bushes in our yard after a thunder shower.  We thought he was a stray but found out a few days later that he was our neighbors new kitten, the 3rd kitten they had lost!  The dad came by to take their kitty back and Ryan kept going on and on about what a nice kitty Zeus was and how much he loved him.  Our neighbor didn't have the heart to take Zeus back so now he's ours.  We love this little cat and he gets lots of love. Pets are great therapy!

Ryan and Zeus relaxing together.

Camille saying goodbye before leaving for BYU.

On the prowl...

Bethany turned 9 on the 13th of September.  She had a super hero/heroine party. 

Bethany practicing her skills on the obstacle course.

Super agility!

Great friends!

The Ladder of Death!

Making big wishes.

Butler Family Reunion

We had our reunion this year at Heber Valley Camp.

Bethany and Camille before they went on the zip line.

Camille and Deena

 Rex

Crafting with the kids

Gathering before our hike.  We saw lots of deer at camp, plus some bunnies and a pair of moose.

Mom and Dad

Smores!

The cousins built a lean-to.  This was just the start.

Grammy's House

After going to Imperial Beach we drove to Prescott to see Grammy and Pa.  This was the highlight of our trip!  Everyone loves Grammy's house.

 

Playing card games with Grammy

Grammy and Bethany sewed a pretty a pretty vest for school.

Bethany is wearing her new vest.

Kaci, Tiffany and Gary came for a night to see us while we were there.

Girl's day out.  We had lunch and supper yummy cheesecake!

Window Shopping

The boys made catamarans for the pool.

We enjoyed seeing Tami and Rich's family.

We stopped by David and Melody's on the way home.  We love seeing all the cousins.

Imperial Beach

We visited the Maritime Museum while on vacation in San Diego.  Our favorite ship was the Star of India, the worlds oldest active sailing ship.  The kids enjoyed climbing around and looking up at the tall masts.  I don't think I would make a good sailor.  I started feeling sick even with the slight lull of the ship in the harbor.  

He would make a good pirate, don't you think?

The Star of India

The submarines were fascinating.  It's amazing the instrumentation  they can fit inside those machines.  It was extremely claustrophobic to say the least.

We love Imperial Beach!  The beach was wide and sandy with no rocks or crowds.  This is definitely the best beach we've visited by far.  The weather was a little cool (68 degrees) but it was still fun. I had a great time boogie boarding while Scott and Carter discovered skim boarding.

Carter and Scott skim boarding.

 Ryan loves digging big holes.

Unfortunately we got burned on the first day of three at the beach...  

City of Rocks

We explored City of Rocks this week.  It is a national preserve located just north of the Utah-Idaho border.  It was such a neat place!  I didn't expect it to be so beautiful.  We couldn't take our eyes off all the amazing rocks.  Rock climbers come from all over the world to climb here.  There are  also good climbs for families.

Posing at Window Arch.  This arch is wimpy compared to Arches National Park but still fun.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Super Carter!

Camille climbing "Five cracks".  She was awesome!  I wish I had more pictures of her, I feel like a bad mother.  But she doesn't pop in front of the camera like Carter and Bethany and I don't have to chase her down like Ryan, so no pictures....  Sorry Camille, you really are a very important part of our family!!

Scott belaying

Carter is a natural like his Dad.

Bethany was so brave!

King of the  Mountain!  This rock was much higher than it looks.  Ryan loved climbing all the rock piles.