Year in Review

Ok, so I know it has been a long time since I’ve written a blog update, so here goes… It has been a very eventful year. We lost more family members this year than the last decade combined, Emerson hit the big 3, and Brent and I hit the big 3-0. The economy tanked and we are grateful to have wonderful jobs. I’ve actually been quite busy lately working on a design build project in Utah. I’ve had to be out of town for the past few months in our Redding, CA office, but that should be over for at least a little while. It is hard being away from my hubby and our little man for so long. Emerson is growing up so fast and I don’t want to miss even a minute.

In January, I made the trip to Portland with Emerson and my parents in tow for the funeral of my great-grandmother, Iva Meacham. It was a beautiful service. She was a very spunky woman with so much character and life. She made my great-grandfather very happy and brought many smiles to the faces of all of those who surrounded her, including all her spoiled grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Emerson and I stayed with Tom and Cindy. Hunter and Lawson are so good at playing with Emerson. He talks about them all the time. This past weekend he was mad at Brent and I because we told him Portland was too far away for us to travel for the day so he could play with Hunter and Lawson.

February brought the superbowl and some more of Brent’s delicious hot wings. He has become quite the wing connoisseur.

Charlotte organized the annual Easter Egg Hunt in April. The kids all had fun finding tons of treasures in the grass, and the potluck dishes weren’t bad either.

I had surgery on my foot to correct a birth defect in May. I wrote an extensive blog about this earlier so I won’t repeat all the gory details again. I’ll just leave you with the following picture:

Brent and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary in June at Cool Hand Luke’s in Boise. We both had the prime rib and it was delicious! We were going to plan a “7 year itch picnic” in the park to celebrate with family and friends, but my grandfather’s death halted our plans. My parents had to go to Hawaii to take care of all of my grandfather’s affairs.

June was also the month I made Brent dress in a bikini in our backyard while gardening so I could enter him into a radio contest. It was called the “Baby Daddy Bikini” contest. Entries were dads dressed in swimming attire for a chance to win a rafting trip for 2 in the beautiful Idaho mountains. Since Brent was the only dad who actually dared wear a bikini, he won by a landslide. He had more votes than the rest of the entrants put together! He took a friend from work and the two of them had a great time.

In July we celebrated Independence Day by watching the parade. Emerson loves watching his granny play the pipes. We did our fair share of hooting and hollering for her. Then we went to the Robinson’s house and ate some fabulous ribs while the kids played together. Emerson was especially enamored with Grace’s bunny.

We took a much needed vacation in July to the Oregon Coast before ending our trip in Portland for my grandfather’s memorial. We found some crazy creatures on the beach, got sand in our toes, and ate Tillamook ice cream… YUM!!! The memorial for my grandfather was so wonderfully done. He would have been proud of all of his girls putting together quite the party for him. I learned so much about his very full life just by helping create a photo slide show to show at the memorial.

In August, we partook in Beer Fest with my mom, Luanne, and Jane, which was loads of fun. The food was great, and I’m told the beer was also. We even saw tons of people there we hadn’t seen in ages.

We also went camping in August with Mom and Dad Butterfield, Rob, and Jody… oh, and the two crazy dogs, Spike and Sadie. We went on a very steep hike and I couldn’t believe that Emerson walked the entire way up the mountain. He had to be carried down, but I was so proud of him.

The Western Idaho Fair also comes to Boise every August and we have gone for the past three years with the Solecki family. Steve was out of town so he couldn’t partake, but we had a great time with Andrea, Kylie, and Kierstin.

September was consumed with Emerson’s 3rd birthday plans and party. We had a pool party at Mom and Dad Dietz’s house. I made spaghetti since that is Emerson’s favorite and thankfully it was a big hit. Emerson loves trains so I made a train cake for him.

October brought Halloween and a very indecisive child who wouldn’t make a costume choice. After letting him stew over his decision for a few weeks, he told us one day after we picked him up from preschool that he wanted to be a red power ranger. We were totally shocked because he had never even watched the show (we don’t watch it at home and at preschool they aren’t allowed because it shows fighting). Apparently, a friend of his at preschool loves the show and told Emerson he was going to be a blue one so Emerson should be the red one. We were just happy he even picked at all!!!

In the fall every year they take school pictures at Emerson’s preschool. They turned out so well this year!

I started working on a project this winter that has helped me gain a whole new bundle of experiences. I had to travel to our office in Redding, CA for three weeks, then back for two more. This was my life for quite a while. I can finish it at home now, which makes me very happy.

Well, it has been quite the year and I hope I didn’t bore you all too much!

Rest in Peace:
Sean Butterfield (Brent’s cousin)
Iva Meacham (Elizabeth’s great-grandmother)
Jerry Dietz (Elizabeth’s grandfather)
Chuck Dietz (Elizabeth’s grandfather)
Richard Hall (Elizabeth’s uncle)