Here's a couple more pics from the 'Big Snow Removal!' This is a view of Randy's legs from the front door window as he shovels snow to make room for the snowblower to throw it off the porch. By the way, the window is almost 6 ft from the floor! Right before I took this pic, I'd been out there walking along bending over to take my Christmas lights down.
Randy breaks through and is heading for the front door.

This is what he had to deal with. He'd chop down snow then blow it away. Chop, blow, repeat, for 3 hours.

Aaron has been in Ghana for a little over 5 months. He his loving his missionary experience, fishheads and all! He has had several baptisms do date. Anyone can email him at aaronbutler07@myldsmail.net He will love to read your letters, but cannot write back to everyone.

We really got hammered with snow in January. There was so much snow we decided to shovel it off our roof before it caved in! We hired the basketball team to do the job and 17 boys showed up.
Randy tried to keep up with the snow they were pushing off the roof, but it was futile. The front of our house ended up sealed off for three days. It took Randy 3 hours to punch a hole into the front door. He said that when he reached the door he felt like he was rescuing someone!
Monticello hasn't had this much snow since the 1960's.

Our trip to Tennessee for Jason and Sarah Jane's Reception.

We saw fields of cotton ready for harvest.We stopped and we all picked some cotton to take home.I can just hear the poor farmer when he sees his cotton field has been picked, "Damn Yankees!"



The Mississippi River

October Trip to Rainbow Bridge on Lake Powell

Aaron's Farewell Weekend August 2009

We moved! After 24 years in the same home we moved 5 blocks to the north and we love our new home. It's all on one level and has a 2 car garage. It's just the right size, especially as we prepare to become empty nesters later this year. The hardest thing was moving to a new ward, but we do like our new ward and know that with some time it will feel like home. We closed on February 9th (We're so grateful to Quinn for his expert help and advise-it really got things moving along fast) and went home and decided to sleep at the new house that night. That was a 5;00 pm. Adam, Randy and I started loading beds and dressers and later Andy and Aaron got home and helped. By 11:00 pm we dropped into bed in our new home-it was very exciting. As we drifted off to sleep we realized we had failed to call Nate, our insurance agent, and insure our new home! I laid awake making sure nothing bad happened and called him first thing the next morning)!I realized that none of our neighbors or friends actually knew we had moved. We were determined to do it on our own-so didn't call for help. I felt like Lehi and his family sneeking off in the night! Friends were very surprised when they discovered that we had actually moved out of our old house. It took several weeks to finish the move, but we are settled in. I would suggest that everyone at least pretend to move every 10-15 years so that you can de-junk. I thought I wasn't a keeper, but after cleaning out closets, etc I discovered I kept far too much.
The family room and kitchen are the reason we fell in love with this home. Shannon had sent me looking for homes for her when I found this one. When she and Brad bought their home we decided to pursue this home and we're glad we did. There is room for our children and their families to gather!


The kitchen is spacious and well designed with room for many to work and lots of cupboards space for 'stuff'.' I have always wanted a lazy susan and this kitchen has one-unfortunatley Randy and the boys have nicknamed it a 'lazy laura'-I think I'm offended by that.

This is our office/music room



I have a laundry room-which sounds like a little thing, but I love it. The utility sink is great for bathing the dog.

Our bedroom is our sanctuary. It's on the opposite end of the house from the other 3 bedrooms and is quiet and peaceful. Shannon gave me the 2 swags and I was able to match the drapes, but when I got them home I also discovered that the pattern in the drapes matched the pattern in the quilt! I'm actually an accidental decorater.

Adam is a senior, but was asked to participate in the Jr. Prom's Promanade. He was able to dance with Jena Bailey and he had a great time. Jena is a special individual and her classmates know this. They crowned her the Prom Princess!
When the dance was over Jena got a smile on her face, but until that moment it was strickly business!

Jena took her role seriously and practiced hard. During the dance she was very serious and didn't miss a step. Adam was a great dance partner and said he had a great experience.

Shannon-Avery-Nicole

Nate-Abby-Bracken

Abby got snug as a bug in a rug.

Brooke and Bracken

On March 20th Nate and Brooke and Chad and Kelly came for a visit. We had so much fun at The Falls on a picnic. We cooked Hobo Dinners and played on Chad's 4 wheeler and Papa's Pampera. Shannon and Brad were there on a camp-out so we had fun with them too. Nana enjoyed roasting hot dogs for everyone. On Sunday we all had dinner at our house before we had to say goodbye!

The Triathlon was held on March 7th. It was a new course for the biker and runner this year and it was great. Andy started us off with a 3 mile cross country ski run. He got a new pair of skater skis and even got some instruction and he was an animal on the hill. Next Jason Livingston raced for 17 miles on his bike. He always does an excellent job. I finished up with a 5 mile run down the Montezuma Canyon road. Our team finished 5th overall for the teams and we all had a great time and look forward to next year.

Adam completed his Eagle Project in 2008. He worked with the City of Monticello to lay a patio for picnic tables and a pathway at the baseball park. He is one of 7 Eagle Scouts for our family.

This was another wonderful Christmas holiday; a little quieter than passed years when the kids were little, but fun all the same.

Andy, Aaron and Adam seemed to have a great Christmas morning. Everyone but Dad and Adam wanted to sleep in, but we compromised and were up at the 'early' hour of 7:30 am.

We had a fun-filled Christmas Eve Dinner and talent show.

Adam competed in his last State Cross Country run for his high school career. He ran the course faster than he's ever run it with a time of 16:34 earning him third place overall. (He was 31 seconds behind the first placer). He worked hard this year and accomplished his goals.

Adam we're proud of you.

Adam on the starting line.
Adam cheeses it for the camera before the race starts

He runs the course.

Top ten 1A State Cross Country runners

Adam finishes State Cross Country in third place.

Time: 16:34!! Best time in four years on this course!

Adam ran Region X Country at the Monticello golf course last week. This is the first time they've run Region on the golf course. His time was 17:43 which is a good time for this grassy, hilly course. He's excited to run State X Country on Wednesday.

Here's the start.
Adam crosses the finish line. Those 3 or 4 runners you see behind him are the girls he lapped. You can't even see the second placer who was several hundred yards behind him!
The team wrote notes on their legs in honor of their coach who's nickname is 'Scooter.'

Aaron recently returned from 18 weeks at Fort Leornardwood in Missouri. He finished Basic at the head of his class for PTs. He was first out of 210 soldiers. AIT was a great experience as he put all his training to the test. He likes blowing up buildings and knocking down doors! Toward the end of AIT the soldiers had to turn in their weapons. That night Aaron woke up in a panic because his weapon wasn't next to him. A couple of his buddies told him he was probably the only soldier that would be sorry to go home! We're glad to have Aaorn home. He will serve one weekend a month with our local National Guard Unit, while he prepares to go on his mission. We're proud of him for his decision to serve his country. Aaron has a deep sense of patriotism.