Merry Christmas!

Look What I Found

Over the last week, Oliver has discovered and perfected the art of thumbsucking. He now actually prefers it to his pacifier and when his pacifier is in his mouth, he will try to get his thumb in there with it. Who is going to be the lucky orthodontist that gets to fix his teeth?

The Christ Child

What happens when you have a baby boy around Christmas? He is the prime age to play the baby Jesus in The Nativity Scene. Oliver is now well rehearsed at playing the baby Jesus, you might even call him a professional. He first started at the tender age of 3 weeks when my mom and Maddie were in the production Savior of the World. He starred in all 3 shows and here he is with my sister who played Mary the Mother of Jesus.

Then this last weekend, Oliver once again played the baby Jesus at our ward Christmas party. Curtis and I played the part of Mary and Joseph.

I wonder how he will feel next year when they will have moved onto some new baby to play the part...the life of show business is so hard.

All Aboard!

I love all of the holiday events during this time of year. Last Friday, Curtis and I got to babysit our niece and nephew, Grace and Parker. Since we are always striving to be their favorite aunt and uncle, we took them to the Christmas celebration at railroad park. They loved it! When we first arrived, we came across about 20 different characters in costume (scooby doo, elmo, buzz lightyear, and many more). We even saw Santa Claus. The kids were excited but Parker was tugging and pulling us over to the train. The train ride was filled with Christmas lights and decor and they had a bubble machine that looked like snow and the kids really thought it was snowing on them (only arizona kids). My only regret was that when I pulled out my camera to capture all of the excitement, I realized I had left my memory card in the computer at home. So I snapped these two pictures with my phone, hence the horrible quality. I think I might have to make railroad park a new yearly tradition.

Jack's highschool football team sadly lost last week in the semi-finals of the playoffs. Go Mountain Pointe! Curtis and I have been devoted fans all season. When the season started, I was nine months pregnant and I actually went into labor the day after attending the annual "Tukee Bowl" (the game against the rivals, Desert Vista). I missed the next game but made my return the following week with a new fan, Oliver. At two weeks old, we brought him to the game in onesies because it was still pushing 100 degrees outside. As the season stretched out into the playoffs, it got more and more difficult to keep Oliver warm as the temperture continued to drop. Some games we had to get a little creative; inside my dad's jacket seemed to be the perfect temperature for Oliver.

Finally, I decided Oliver needed a real winter outfit to keep him warm for outdoor events. But where in Arizona do you find winter clothes? I searched high and low in many different stores and finally found what I was looking for...

When he wears this outfit it reminds many of the little boy in "The Christmas Story". Curtis and I think he looks like an Ewok from "Star Wars". Either way, he is the cuddliest little thing and now I don't feel so guilty taking him out in the cold.

The Little Turkey

Thanksgiving this year was in Kingman, Arizona with Curtis' family. Oliver, and more importantly, Curtis & I, survived our first long distance road trip with a baby. We ate lots of food, we played many games, and did a little shopping. Curtis and his family woke up at 3:00 am to get some Black Friday deals. Oliver and I decided to stay at the house and sleep, Walmart at 3 in the morning just does not sound pleasant to me. The unfortunate part of the trip was when I dropped my new phone into a cup of water. Luckily we had insurance on our phones but all weekend I felt a piece of me was missing.

Oliver all tuckered out. It was a big day for our little turkey.

zoo lights

My company has their annual party at the phoenix zoo every year. This year they did something different and did it during zoo lights. So we bundled Oliver up and headed to the zoo.

They have some pretty amazing lights. They have a row of trees lit up and the lights go off and on to the rhythm of Chrismas music. Imagine the Bellagio Fountains with the classiness of Christmas Vacation.

My company rented out the whole zoo but it was still packed with people so we didn't stay long. We did stay long enough to touch stingrays and sharks in their Stingray Bay. That is my favorite thing to do at the zoo! Thanks work for a fun night that was free!

Demolition Derby

The roar of the engines!

The screaming crowd!

The smell of fried food!

All of that can only mean one thing...demolition derby! This is our second year joining our friends the Lunny's on their annual visit to the demoliton derby (This was the Butler's first experience at the demo derby). We love it! We were worried about how Oliver would do but as you can see in the pictures he slept through the whole thing. Can't wait until we get to go again next year!

the sweetest treat

candy corn

The last month of my pregnancy, I was really bored, so I decided to make my baby a halloween costume. Of course, I didn't know I was going to have a big headed baby, so by the time Halloween came around the little hat was a tad too small. But we managed to get it to stay on for the night.

We went to my sister Brooke's house for some yummy chili and to see her kids in costume. I love this picture she took of all the cousins in costume. Parker and Grace were the main course while Oliver provided a nice sweet dessert. My mom and dad were there as well to join in on all the fun with their grandkids.

Now onto something really frightening...

The girls were out shopping and saw these great cat and dog masks and decided it would be great to wear to our ward trunk or treat. I think we just wanted to test out our husbands and see what we could get them to do. Well, it worked and here we are sporting our masks.

Notice Oliver crying, wondering where his mom and dad went. The excitement of the night was just too much for him to handle.

Oliver's Blessing

Oliver had his blessing on October 25 at the Camelview Ward.

Curtis gave him the blessing and Oliver's two grandpa's stood in the circle.

Curtis' parents and his brother Blake drove down from Kingman for the blessing. This weekend was their first visit to see Oliver.

From my family, we had my parents, Jack, and Maddie.

After the blessing, we invited everyone over to our house for some yummy Taco Soup.

We love our friends Sean and Paige and were happy they came by to enjoy this special day.

Our precious little boy. Though not the traditional white outfit, I couldn't resist how cute he was in this cable knit sweater outfit.