Labor Day Weekend

So for Labor Day weekend we went down to St. George to see my parents and Kelly and her family came up from Phoenix to spend the weekend as well! I was so excited to see my family again! I just wish that Brett, Lauren, Brick and Mikey could all be there!

I went down early to spend some time with my mom considering I dont have anything else to do...and I took the shuttle down. It wasnt too bad except having to be at the pickup by 7:30am! But it was nice just to spend some time with my parents just me.

Brent and Kelly and the girls came on Friday afternoon and of course we had to do some shopping! Here are the girls saying hello to Annie when they got there!

That night we went to Pizza Factory (a must when Brent comes to Utah...he misses his alfredo tomato and ham pizza! yum!) Scott came down later that night and we all just talked and hung out.

Brent left early Saturday morning up to Provo to go to the first BYU game with his parents and we headed up to Kolob Resevoir. It is much higher so it is not as hot as St. George! It was only 79 degrees up there and it was lovely!

My dad brought his "boat" as the girls called it and Scott was an awesome Uncle and took Hailey and Natalie out on the lake.

Here are some more pictures of our adventure!

On Sunday we all woke up early and went to church. The girls were so excited that they got to be "visitors" because everyone sang the welcome song to them. Brent got home and we had a really good Lasagna that my mom made. It was a white lasagna with chicken sausage, spinich and mushrooms.

After dinner we decided to go for a walk and then ride some bikes. Hailey (my oldest niece) has a bike that Grandpa bought her and Grandpa wanted to see if she remembers how to ride the bike. And of course she did. Kel and Brent also brought Nattie bike to try and get her to ride as well.

Kelly even got on my dad's bike and too it for a ride!

That night we just played some games with the adults, had some nice discussions about politics...and just enjoyed one another.

Monday morning we went out to breakfast at Cracker Barrell that was delicious and then Brent and Kelly and the girls had to head home. We were sad to say goodbye, but hopefully will see them again soon! Scott, me and my parents tried to get my dad an iTouch, but Costco was closed...so instead we just went back home and relaxed. Then for lunch we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Panda Garden. Then we headed home.

We loved the weekend that we got to spend with our family and cant wait until we can spend more time with them! Thanks mom and dad for hosting and Kelly and Brent for coming! We love you guys! And cant wait to have the rest of our family out here as well hopefully some time in the near future!

My Dream Job

So some of you have heard, I was let go from my job yesterday. It was not something that I even remotely saw coming. Just a couple of weeks ago my boss gave me a small bonus and told me that I was doing a great job, so as you can imagine I was floored when I walked into work and was told that they were letting me go. Anyway...whats done is done and there is nothing that I can do about it. However there are some things that I have learned from this, and that is what my dream job is...to be a mother.

When Scott and I first started dating I didn't want to have kids...I wanted to have a career. Scott kept trying to convince me that it was going to be great having kids and I just didn't want that. Slowly job after job I have realized that being a mother is the only thing that I want to do. For those mothers out there who are thinking that I have no idea of how hard it is to be a mom, I do. I see my own mom, my sister, and friends. I understand that it is not going to be the easiest job, and that there are going to be days where you want to pull your hair out, but at the end of the day you have a gift of a human life that loves you. When they hurt themselves, they want their mom, when they are experience something new, they want to tell their mom. How great would that be? To know that you could never be "let go" from being a mom (unless you really are messed up and do something that is super bad) It may not help pay the bills, but what a blessing it is to be a mom.

So until the Lord's timing and our timing are the same and we are blessed with children, I guess I am back on the hunt for a job. I guess we will see what the Lord has in store for us this time! But if any of you know of any jobs that are available in Utah County or in Salt Lake...our course I would appreciate a shout out!

Bless UDOT...

One of the many things that we loved about our apartment when we first moved in was how convienent it was to I-15. And that it was on the west side of town where it was also not nearly as busy. Well that was before we knew there was going to be some serious construction!

This is what we listened to last night as we were going to bed...and this morning when we woke up!

1

How lucky are we...

4th of July Weekend

So we had quite a fun 4th of July weekend! On Friday night we went out by Utah Lake with our friends the Youngs and the Whettens to shoot some guns and have a BBQ. Since we don't have a truck/SUV we had to park down at the bottom of the hill and have Russ take all of us and all of our stuff up in his truck. It took a couple of trips but we finally all got to the top!

Day light was burning real fast, so we decided to shoot first and then eat.

Brad and Russ getting the truck all unloaded

Me shooting Scotts 9mm. I love the look on Russ and Brads face! They thought that I was going to drop the gun! I dont do guns...

Buffy just watching everyone shooting, Shelly taking care of Chloe in the car and Russ

Scott watching Brad use Russ's assault rifle

I love Chloe in the picture! At least Shelly was taking care of her daughters ears!

Russ and Buffy Whetten

We did a bring your own meat BBQ and used our newer grill to cook it on! We absolutley love our grill! It is super portable and just like a real grill that you would have in your backyard!

Scott and I tried Brats for the first time ever that night! And they were delicious! If fact we liked them so much we bought more to have this weekend!

Then on Saturday we just did chores...I cleaned the house, as well as the Thursday night before, and finally got our apartment deep cleaned! We then had some friends over to watch Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Lightening Thief!

Sunday was normal, church and then just hanging out at home...

Then on Monday we went to Cracker Barrell for breakfast and it was of course DELICIOUS! Then we went on a lovely drive up the Mt. Nebo Loop that starts at the mouth of Payson Canyon and comes out up Nephi Canyon. It was lovely to spend all day with Scott with no TV, school, work, or anything else to distract us!

Then it was back to work! Not only did I like celebrating the birth of this amazing country we live, but also a nice day off work and time to spend with each other!

Plans

So for those of you who know me, and know Scott, we are planners. We plan everything and anything that we do! We plan what we are going to do for the week, we plan what we are going to eat, we plan months in advance how exactly a party we are throwing is going to go down to the time we do what.

Not only do we plan the little things, but we are even bigger planners about the big things. I cant tell you how many times I planned for the day that Scott got home from his mission! Almost every day I planned what I was going to wear, what I was going to say, where we were going to be etc. etc. etc. Our wedding was planned even before a ring was bought, our move to Provo was planned before anything ever happened etc.

However, I have found that no matter how hard we plan and how good we think our plan is, the Lord has different plans in store and he never lets us know what they are. However whenever the Lords plan come through it is always for the better.

The only downside is the not knowing what the Lords plan is right now. We try and do what we think is the best, but our plans always seem to be a bad idea, and then once the Lord plays his hand, we are always off for the better. I just hate the waiting time from when our plan falls through and the Lord plans starts. I guess this is the way that the Lord is teaching us patience and you would think that we would have it by now, but I guess we don't. We still need another lesson.

My Brother is a Doctor!!!

This last weekend my mom, dad and sister and I all went up to Salem, OR to see my brother graduate from law school. It was a super fun weekend! It was just too bad that Scott was not able to be there with us!

We flew up early Friday morning, Kelly from Phoenix, my parents from Las Vegas and me from Salt Lake. We all had to get up really early, but it wasn't too bad! We flew into Portland and then rented a car and drove down to Salem which is about an hour south of Portland. It was so pretty! It even smelled good! Once we got to Salem, we checked into the hotel and Mike and my dad went to play tennis while mom, kelly and I went shopping!

One of the greatest things about Oregon is that there is NO SALES TAX!!! It was awesome!!!

That night we went to a restaurant called Chirstos that was the best pizza and italian food that I have ever had in my entire life!!! I am a huge advocate of eating at local joints when you go on vacation because you are bound to find good eats!

The next morning we got up and went to the coast. I never had been to the Oregon coast, and again it was beautiful!!! We stopped at more outlets, I know shocker...the Sperry women like to shop?

We then went on to Depoe Bay and went to a little place called the Sea Hag. I am not a big fan of seafood, but I am warming up to it! We had the best clam chowder, and as you can see we polished it off in about 15 seconds!!!

We also had some halibut fish and chips that were to die for, a crab and shrimp salad, and this thing that is a special at the Sea Hag that was an english muffin with shrimp and crab in a white sauce...it was again, delicious!!!

I was then dared by everyone to go into the water and if I could last then they would pay me $20.00, but I didn't make it. The sand was super course and hurt my feet. Here is a little video of me freaking out!

That night we went to a barbeque celebrating Mike and all of his roommates. They had delicious burgers, and desserts, and fresh crab meat again! It was quite enjoyable spending some time with Mike, Kelly, and my parents.

The next morning we went to church which was wonderful to go to a place that is the same everywhere we go! Then we went to graduation. It was very interesting. The main speaker was not the best I have ever heard, and the chairs were small, but I am glad that we got to be there to scream Mike's name when he walked on the stage!

We just spent the rest of the time hanging out with Mike and talking about life. I really miss Mike, we were super close growing up and he means alot to me...it is safe to say that I love him!

I can wait for a time when all of us can get together again, family really does mean the world to me! So for all of you family reading this...know that Scott and I love you all!!!!

Las Vegas

I know that this is a little late coming but about a month ago, Scott and I went to Las Vegas for a free trip to the Four Seasons curtious of US Bank.

It was so much fun! We flew out of Salt Lake and it was awesome! Scott got to sit next to the window which of course he loved!!! We were picked up at the airport and transported by limo van to the Four Seasons Hotel. Yes you heard me right the FOUR SEASONS!!!

For those of you who dont know, the Four Seasons is one of the nicest if not the nicest chain of hotels. The Four Seasons Las Vegas is the top 4 floors of the Mandalay Bay. It has its own enterance and everything, but is also attached to the Mandalay Bay.

Us looking out the 35th floor!

Once we got there, checked in and then went up to our room. It was super nice!!! There was a bellman that brought our luggage up and everything! The bathroom was all marble, the bed was super comfortable and the view wasnt too bad either!

So that night we decided that we were going to go to the Carnival Buffet at Rio. For those of you who know Vegas the distance from Manadaly Bay to the Rio is quite a walk. So we googled it and it was about 3 miles or 1 hour walk. We thought that it wouldnt be that bad, but it was the longest walk ever!!! And the real kicker is that we had to cross I-15!!! Thankfully we made it there safe and sound although we did have a few blisters.

Dinner was okay, it was a buffet. They had so much food it was crazy! But all in all we had a good time. We didnt however walk back. We took a cab, which was super expensive! But it saved our feet.

The next morning we decided to take the shuttle down to Primm Nevada that has some AWESOME outlets. We use to go there all the time when I lived in St. George because of the awesome shopping. And of course we found some great deals including a new pair of Lucky Jeans for Scott, some clothes from Gap for me, and some perfume.

Us on the bus to the outlets

Once we got back we went to the M&M store and the Coca Cola store. The M&M store was pretty cool, but just that a store. The Coca Cola store was cool, and Scott was able to get the Coke made from real cane sugar. We also did what they call "Tastes Around The World" What this is are 16 different sodas from around the world that you get to taste. Some of them were really good, but some of them were super nasty!!!

Me at the the M&M Store

Us trying the 16 flavors around the world at the Coke Store

That night we had a cocktail party around the four seasons pool. It was the first cocktail party for both Scott and I and it was definatly interesting. When we first walked in they offered us Green Beer, due to the fact that it was St. Patricks Day, and also had some Irish inspired hord'urves. Since Scott and I dont drink...we had alot of Diet Cokes and Shirley Temples.

Us at the Cocktail Party

The next morning we Scott had some training to go to and then we decided to take the monorail to the North part of the Strip. WOW is all I have to say...it was kinda sorta white trashville. We went to Sahara to go on a roller coaster and for Scott to do a Nascar like simulation. He of course totally beat everyone and took 1st place, cause he is amazing like that!

Us on the Roller Coaster at the Sahara

After we went to the Imperial Palace to go and see Vegas's largest car show. It was pretty sweet. It was inside the hotel on the 4th floor and was just tons and tons of cars! One of the coolest ones was Dean Martins Rolls Royce that seriously only had like 10K miles.

This car was awesome!

Us dressed up at the Banquet Dinner

That night we went to the awards banquet. Oh, I forgot to even say why we got this free trip. So Scott was in the top 5% of all the bankers for USBank and thus we got the free trip. So the awards banquet dinner was, of course also at the Four Seasons. The food was awesome!!!

Our Dinner at the Four Seasons!

Scott got to walk up to the stage and get his award and all in all it was a great night! After we just went back to our room and got ready to leave the next morning.

The next morning we had to wake up fairly early to catch the bus to get to the airport. All in all it was a really fun trip! Thanks to USBank for taking us!

Loves

Anniversary Trip

So our anniversary was super fun! We went to Brian Regan up in Salt Lake at Abravinal Hall. We drove up to Salt Lake and checked into our hotel which was AMAZING! Scott got us a killer good deal at the Grand America Hotel.

This is one of the best gifts that Scott got me, an Edible Arrangements. Here is a little photo of our delicious feast!!!

The chocolate peanut butter bananas were absolutly TO DIE FOR!!! I couldnt help but eat and eat and eat some more. Seriously any special occasion that you may have coming up! You have got to try it!

We also went to the Red Iguana in downtown Salt Lake for dinner. It was good Mexican food, but the tables were seriously like right next to each other. I felt like I was eating with the people next to me. And the salsa was really SPICY!

We then went and saw Brian Regan, and all I have to say is that he is hilarious! I think that I laughed the whole time! It was great!

After we went back to the hotel and slept in the next morning and went to one of our favorite Bagel shop for breakfast, Rich's Bagels.

We drove back home to Provo, packed our bags, and drove down to St George to see my family! I will talk about that in my next blog post...

The Butlers

In honor of Scott and mines 2 year anniversary I decided to do something a little fun. I had seen this on other blogs, and thought it was a cute idea, so here it is...

100 Things About Scott and Kenzie

1. We have been married for 2 years TODAY!
2. We have been together for 5 years, 3 Months, and 15 Days.
3. We first meet in 7th Grade. He was in the smart people class with all of my friends, but not me.
4. We hated each other in 7th grade.
5. Scott made fun of my hair in 7th grade, and if you saw my hair in 7th grade you would understand why.
6. I shut Scott down like 6 or 7 times before I would agree to go on a date with him
7. Scott was late, ran a red light and took me for a walk on the busiest road in St. George for our first date.
8. Scott’s best friends in high school were my best friends growing up.
9. Scott and I wrote for the whole two years he was on his mission.
10. “Our” song is “To Make You Feel My Love” any version…
11. I had our wedding basically planned by the time he got home from his mission.
12. Scott is truly like a lost son to my dad. They have so much in common, it is sometime scary!
13. I would go and hang out with Scott's family while he was on his mission.
14. Scott is colorblind
15. I am almost blind…okay not really, but I have really bad eyesight…while Scott has better than 20/10 vision.
16. Both Scott and I have a hard time sleeping without each other.
17. Scott and I already have our children’s names picked out, and our dog’s names picked out.
18. We both love watching anything on HGTV.
19. Scott loves to come up with crazy chocolate dessert recipes.
20. Scott has this weird obsession with anything Adidas.
21. We both are, as our family calls it, “Car Snobs”
22. We both love Mexican food and Chinese food.
23. We both cant wait to be parents, when the timing is right for us.
24. We are both planners.
25. Scott loves playing video games, it relieves stress
26. Both of us love Modern Family
27. Scott recently gained an obsession with electronics.
28. Both of us want to move somewhere new and exciting, preferably where the church is small.
29. Scott and I cant wait to be able to serve a mission together
30. Scott told me when we first meet that he hated music, come to find out he hated my music. Not all music.
31. We have a list of places we want to visit sometime in our lives. A very long list
32. Scott is the second oldest and I am the youngest and as such we had a very different childhood.
33. Scott likes to sing to me in his vibrato voice. It is cute, but kind of annoying.
34. We are anal about getting our car washed.
35. Scott drives a 1990 Civic and absolutely loves it and wants to keep it forever.
36. Scott is a much better sewer than me. When I have problems, I go to him.
37. Scott usually drives because if something happens, he wants to be blamed not me.
38. We both hate scary movies.
39. When Scott first kissed me, I had just told him that I needed to throw up!
40. Our first 2 month of marriage, I had to have 2 root canals and 2 crowns done. Scott was not very happy about that bill.
41. One of my favorite memories of our first couple of months of marriage was dancing in the kitchen in the dark, while Scott was singing to me.
42. I love black people music! Scott cant stand it
43. Scott and I had our first camping trip in Yellowstone where we forgot toothbrushes and toothpaste, we also had a disintegrating tent so when we woke up in the morning we had black pieces of tarp all over us. We put the tent in the trash right then and there.
44. When Scott negotiated our first car purchase, Scott was called a cheapskate about 4 or 5 times in that conversation by the dealer.
45. Scott loves to read, he feels that it stimulates his brain so he won’t get Alzheimer’s when he gets old.
46. Because Scott’s mom was adopted, everyone blames her for everything that’s wrong with them.
47. I lip-sync to everything, particularly in the shower.
48. The first time I meet Scott’s family he had just had his wisdom teeth out and was kind of loopy. That lead to a really interesting meeting.
49. The first time that Scott meet my family he came over for dinner and games. Scott forgot that he was suppose to come over and ate right before he came, but still ate a full meal as to not offend my mother!
50. That same night, my mother called Scott a pig for having too many wilds while playing rummy.
51. During our first year of marriage, we spend almost every Sunday with my parents to do our laundry, eat dinner and play games. Good times!!!
52. Scott loves our nieces! He took a week off of work to go and babysit the girls while their parents were in Hawaii and my mom was at work!
53. Our favorite restaurant hands down in Panda Garden in St. George. AMAZING!
54. I got my wisdom teeth out the day after Scott left for his mission, thus I had a built in excuse to lay on the couch and skulk
55. Scott and I were engaged on a secluded beach in Hawaii on Christmas Eve.
56. Scott's parents planned the trip to Hawaii before Scott got home, including buying me a ticket. That is what you call FAITH!!!
57. Scott is a born salesman.
58. Scott loves the Coca Cola that you get in Mexico because it is made from real cane sugar!
59. Scott's mom is an AMAZING story teller, our kids will love that!
60. Scott had one of the best Christmases last year when he got an remote control helicopter.
61. I told Scott before we had even started dating that I would kiss him before he went on his mission.
62. I had a boyfriend although high school. Scott dated A LOT of girls, but none steadily.
63. I moved the day of my senior prom. I thought my date was going to have to pick me up at a hotel, but a family friend was kind enough to let us stay at their house.
64. My parents moved to St. George the day after my high school graduation, I followed three months later.
65. Those three months were some of the hardest. I learned a lot about being an adult.
66. I am NOT a morning person, Scott however can wake up and be so alert that he could shot an intruder right between the eyes if needed. (PS Don’t even try it…it wont turn out pretty)
67. Scott's Dad and my mom were in high school at the same time.
68. Scott's aunt was married to my dads business partners wife’s brother for a while.
69. Scott's grandpa was my mothers principal in elementary school, and she was terrified of him. How that is possible…I still done know…he is the sweetest man ever!!!
70. The above three show how small the world truly is! (Not to mention #8!)
71. When Scott and I got married I had 2 living grandparents, Scott had all 4. Since the we both have lost one grandmother.
72. Grandma Butlers funeral was one of three times I have ever seen Scott cry.
73. I will cry at a commercial for OnStar…I know I get it from my father!
74. When Scott was called to the bishopric, I was in Phoenix visiting my sister. The Stake Presidency member called and issued the calling while I was standing in the pillow isle at a TJMaxx.
75. Since I was in Phoenix I missed the sustaining vote, what kind of a wife am I?
76. We have meet some of our best friends while here in Provo.
77. I am convinced that my parents moved to Mesa, so that they would then move to St. George which is where both my brother and myself meet our future spouses.
78. I introduced my brother to his now wife. Both of them were visiting their sisters single ward, I asked if he thought she was cute, he said yes and that was the end of that!
79. My family is all over the united states. I have a brother in Salem, OR in law school. Another brother and his wife and son in Philadelphia, PA going to dental school. A sister brother in law, and three nieces in Phoenix AZ and my parents live in St. George UT.
80. Scotts family are all here in Salt Lake except his brothers serving missions in Costa Rica and San Diego.
81. When Catie, Scott’s sister found out that we were dating she fell off the bed laughing.
82. Before Scott went on his mission I went to Lake Powell with his family and passed the test. That was how the butlers saw if the person they were dating were going to work out with the family.
83. The thought of not working scares me and makes me think, what am I going to do all day?
84. I love having family pictures up. If you were to ever come into our house, you would immediately understand
85. If I could have one job it would be to do photography, Scott would be retired.
86. Scott and I are always talking about what kind of cars we want to eventually own someday.
87. Scott wants a big garage in our dream house, I want a big kitchen/family room.
88. Both Scott and I took piano lessons growing up, but neither of us play very well. Because of this all of our kids will take piano lessons, and cannot stop until they can play every song in the hymn book including transitions.
89. We are probably going to be the meanest parents in the world, but we do that because we care.
90. Scott has the pretties blue eyes, but mine are just a ugly brown. Hopefully our kids will get Scott's not mine
91. Dentists love us, I have horrible teeth due to genetics and Scott has missing teeth.
92. Our kids are screwed when it comes to what we are going to be passing down to them!
93. When Scott and I go shopping for furniture, without fail we pick the most expensive item in the store.
94. Scott and I always share a drink when we go out to eat; we probably shouldn’t so we just make sure the waiter isn’t watching when we take a drink!
95. We are planning on always taking some kind of a trip, even if it is just one night, for our anniversary. It makes it that much more special!
96. We love to play games. We regularly have game night with our friends!
97. We never make our bed.
98. Not only do we celebrate out wedding anniversary, but we also celebrate the day we started dating. My choice, not his.
99. The Old Spaghetti Factory is “our” restaurant. It was our first date after he got home, and where we went every time we went up to Salt Lake when we were first dating.
100. Most of all, I love Scott and Scott loves me. Always have Always will.

I know this is kinda long, but hopefully fun for some people to read, and eventually fun for our posterity! But in all seriousness, I am so happy to be married to my best friend and to be "stuck" with him forever. I couldn't ask for a better man, husband, and friend! Scott, I love you forever for always no matter what!!! Loves