Construction at the Van Natter's

 These are some photos from the two days the addition was framed, June 22-23.

You can click on the photo to read what I've written. Sorry it's so small! (except for that first one!)

Since then we've had the plumbers and the window guy come. Next week will start with the electrician. Still hard to envision all this finished. 

Using the Bonus Room trusses has allowed us to keep the house from looking lopsided with the addition far above the rest of the house. From this direction, all that will be seen is the sloped roof. To the right, which is the south side, will be two large windows with a fireplace between.

Buhler Blog

Hi Family!

We've had quite an eventful month filled with all sort of fun things and new things!

I finished another long term subbing position at Mountain Ridge Junior High in Highland, UT.  I was teaching Utah History for a friend who had a baby in January.  She was able to work it out where I was able to teach pretty much the entire semester!  It was fun to feel like I had my own classroom again.  Unfortunately, the economy is such that I still don't have an official teaching job for next year.  Going on 3rd school year with no teaching job.... not happy 'bout that.
I am the YW's 2nd counselor and am loving it.  This month has been all about camp prep and my girls are so excited.  The stake is in charge of camp this year and it has been very easy on us.  Hopefully it all goes well!

Nic has jumped the Kiewit boat FINALLY!  The 105 hour weeks are no more!  He went to a company called JWright as their lead estimator.  He thought he would enjoy the smaller company, but realized he missed being out on site.  He then left JWright for a bigger company called Flatiron which he enjoys a lot more.  They are nation wide company that primarily focuses on roads and bridges.  That is Nic's bread and butter!  Loves it!  Not sure I understand why :)  He was put on the Timpanogos Highway project which is in its last few months (hopefully).  It has had some bad press in the past and that has made it a little difficult for him.  We are hoping everything finishes out ok and he can start a new project and actually make a difference in the beginning.

We have had such a fun month with family!  For Mother's Day we were able to head up AF Canyon and hang out with the family.  We road four wheelers and just enjoyed the scenery!

We also got to go to the Nationals BYU Rugby game at Rio Tinto Stadium!  It was our first rugby game and we were not disappointed!  It's crazy how tough these guys really are.  Not fussing about getting hit.  BYU won!

Toward the end of the month we flew out to DC to meet with the Buhler side of the family for a reunion.  Nic and I first spent some time in Baltimore and the inner harbor.

View from the freeway.  Love this temple! Where Nic proposed :)

There was a fudge shop with singers and I guess they have been there for years!  It was fun to watch them make the fudge and then hear them sing.

Then we went to the Outer Banks, NC and rented a beach house!  It was absolutely beautiful!  The weather was great every day but one, and we were 500 feet off the beach! 

 Check out the view!

We basically relaxed the whole time.  It was a 3 story house with a theatre room, a huge kitchen, pool table, a pool and hot tub which the kids took over, and several beautiful decks with porch swings.  It was nice to get away and see family we haven't seen in a long time!  Each family had a day they were in charge of meals which made it very affordable and fun to see new recipes.  We went to the beach everyday without fail!  Nic's brothers took their boys to the beach every night to go crab hunting.  We were sad to leave, but have wonderful memories to take from it.  Here are some more pictures of our trip!

Playing 500 with Nic's brothers and nephews.

Sunrise

View from Outer Banks Lighthouse

View from top of lighthouse 

We had a great May and hope you all did too!  

Love you!

Nic and Marianne

Happy June from Mark and Linda

Hi everyone,

I am really enjoying the new family blog, especially because we can now easily share a lot of photos. It’s such a good way to stay connected. And the new look is great Kath! Thanks for all your efforts to keep this going! Sorry in advance for all the pics in this post....i'm making up for lost time and because.....

...I just realized that I missed writing in May….oops…the last blog post about our trip must have done me in!

We went to Omaha last month for Sarah’s dance recital. Lindsey mentioned it so I won’t write more except to say she was adorable! I got to go to Adam’s school and have lunch with him.

We watched Kaitlyn and Keira for several days and mark and I were both zombies by the end of the week…ha! We played in the sand, went to the park, had a tea party, painted bird houses and played in the wading pool. Now it is a fun memory!

We got to go to lots of Austin’s  t-ball games this spring. Jeff was one of the coaches, so it was fun to see him with the boys. Austin is a great little ball player- Jeff plays with him a lot.  Austin (and Sarah too) both have big “holey” smiles these days. They are soooo cute.

Baby Brayden gave us a scare when his intestine collapsed into his bowel…(Kelli if you read this, don’t die because I know I didn’t explain this right!) He was a very sick little guy, but came through it eventually. Thanks to  everyone for your prayers…we were so grateful when he recovered.

Greg and Lindsey and family came for a little visit after we got back from Israel. We always have a lot of fun….sand box fun, painting birdhouses, playing Twister and with my new Play Wonder dolls and their fab clothes, going to the park in our old neighborhood and getting to see inside our old house (!), playing “shops” and having a puppet show. The kids always come to my Primary class when they are here on Sunday and it is always special for me to be their teacher.

It was so FUN to get to see Kelli and Joseph when they came through here. I mean it was great to see Claire and Calvin too but it had been years since we had seen Kelli! We had a fun visit and a great dinner- due to mom’s yummy contributions. Joseph did really well due to all the toys here. I cracked up when we went downstairs to discover Calvin inside the under-the-stairs playhouse with Joseph--- just chatting away. 

James hosted a BBQ for the whole fam and it was super fun to get everyone together. Never mind the fabulous spread he created…we had so much fun just hanging out and visiting and watching the kids play. Eileen was one of the star attractions as well as baby Brayden .

B and B

 (we needed something for the kids to do and gave them all chocolate pudding for finger painting!)

the "littles"

the "bigs"

I’ve been super busy with 2 main projects. The one that has been making me crazy is  trying to get my etsy shop ready to open. I’ve decided to start with my flannel bd stories since it seemed to narrow the “products.” But this meant getting patterns ready for the 8 sets I have created so far, and they were so labor-intensive. They are all done now. You can check them out here

http://lindyjdesigns.blogspot.com/

As soon as I get the shop open….which I hope will be in July after we get back from Yellowstone/Utah …I want to make all the pdf patterns  available to all my nieces (sisters too) for FREE. Just let me know if you want any and I will email them. They really are a wonderful teaching tool and the kids love to play with them too. If you like making things like this and like felt …you  will like these sets! 

The other thing I have been busy with is giving our home a face lift. I’m keeping the “bones” of the house but changing the color scheme to red, yellow, gray. It has been a lot of fun to find ideas on Pinterest. Today I made new valances for the sunroom and love how they brighten up and freshen that room. I couldn’t find a large yellow/white floral fabric so I bought and cut up a duvet cover from Target. I love how they turned out. Just wanted to also say how much I have enjoyed the summer so far and my favorite thing to do every morning is sit out on the deck in the sun and eat my breakfast, read the paper and do the Jumble puzzle…and make some vitamin D while I am at it. 

Mark is doing a great job in the yard and likes the exercise. After seeing Julie's neighbor's yard he added a river rock border around all the berms. He continues to travel quite a bit.

Hope you’re all having a great summer too!

Summer Greetings!

It's hot hot hot! Already looking forward to Fall!

Jess planned a family outing for "Mothers Day" on the Sat before so we all went up to Tibble Fork reservoir up American Fork Canyon. It's gorgeous and fairly close! Jess brought the canoe and 4-wheeler. Luke was hoping to catch a fish but no luck! Marianne and Nic rode up to another lake on the 4-wheeler but everyone seemed to have a good time. Afterward, we found a picnic spot where Jess grilled burgers. It was a fun way to spend a day with the family. On Sunday, we got a call from Boy #2 in Houston so that was especially fun! Sure love my family! The kids gave us tickets to the Scera (outdoor theatre shell) where we saw Vocal Point and several other a capella groups perform. It was so fun! And we had great seats! Oh, and Scott made a donation to the Romney campaign which he knew I'd appreciate! Today is actually Primary Day in Utah: last one! What's up with that? Guess Utah doesn't matter! But I placed my vote and can't wait till November!

Jess and I drove up to Manti Canyon where the Trek/Exodus is supposedly taking place next month. We found a trail and drove up to the top where there was still snow! Not sure that's the exact trail but at least we know the general area. It was a beautiful drive. However, as we were driving up the canyon, Jess' truck stopped abruptly and started smoking. Oh no!!!!!!! He looked under the truck and it was leaking and he said, We just lost the transmission. OH NO!!! We called Jess' dad to give him a heads up so that he could come pick us up since the truck wasn't going anywhere. Luckily, 3 guys on 4-wheelers came by and were able to turn the truck so at least we were facing down and then we coasted back to town. One of the men then towed us (from his 4-wheeler) to a repair shop while he waved to all the neighbors. We figured he was the stake patriarch or something: older friendly man! ha! Anyway, then the repair place guy said he couldn't fix it because he had another obligation and had to leave but at least he filled us up with a little more transmission fluid and noticed it wasn't leaking. He said, Drive it around the block and see how it runs! So we did and it ran just fine. I was holding my breath the entire time. He said it looked like it got really hot and just boiled over and out but once we refilled it, it was fine. Whew!  I was ready to head home but Jess didn't want to waste the day so we went up the canyon: this time only on the 4-wheeler and left the truck parked on the side of the road. It was a beautiful ride! Crazy day but we're thankful for 'tender mercies'.

It's tradition to go to Heber on the Saturday before Memorial Day. We ended up driving up with Jess' dad ( never again! He was NOT driving well and I couldn't wait to get out of the car!!!) Jess' niece, Naomi and her husband  came with us. We met Bryce at the cemetery and put flowers on all the family graves. It was freezing. Seems to always be cold on Memorial Day for some reason. We met up with Jess' cousin and Dad's sister and had lunch. It was a nice day but cold.

We're still hiking the "Y" every week and trying to get ready for Exodus. I ended up making 44 padded lids for our 5-gallon buckets. That's what we'll carry all our 'stuff' in as well as use as a chair. I had the kids cut the foam and also thread the elastic thru the casing. It was a crazy month getting it all ready: trying to find cheap fabric, cutting and sewing it all, while still working but I managed to get it all done. THEN I quit work. Ha! I'm enjoying my freedom again and now I sleep like a baby. What a difference! It's heaven!

Enjoy summer and eat lots of watermelon!

Jess and Annette

Greg & Lindsey Cottrell Family

Well it has been a while since we have contributed to the family news letter, so it may be time to give you all an update on what we have been up to the past few months. The beginning of April the kids had spring break and Greg had good Friday off so we made a 3 day trip down to Kansas City. After afternoon of traveling we went to Chuck E Cheese for dinner. On Saturday we visited the Hallmark Kaleidoscope Creative Center, Hallmark Card museum, Fritz's Railroad Restaurant (train themed restaurant and the food be delivered by a larger model train to each table), the Animal Tales and Trails exhibit, new Lego Store, all at the Crown Center. Then it was to the American Girl Store to get Samantha's (Sarah’s doll) hair done. We head back to the hotel for a quick swim in the pool before attending the temple open house. . It was very special to attend the temple as family and very special to have our entire family sitting in the brightly lit Celestial Room and reflecting on Heavenly Father’s plan for us, Eternal Families.

The next day was Easter Sunday and on our way home we made a couple stops. The Independence Visitor's Center, a great place to visit and learn a lot of Church history. They full-sized office "set" of the Times and Seasons printing office, a panoramic Missouri frontier "set" which includes trees, a log cabin and a frontier family dressed in period clothes using tools and artifacts common to farmers, millers, blacksmiths, tailors and ferrymen of the time, a place the kids to “play,” a interactive touch screen learning center, and some great films. Then it was on to Far West where the Saints planned to build temple. Our last stop was Adam-ondi-Ahman.
We had wonderful Easter Sunday even though most of the day was traveling. We did Easter baskets and died the eggs the day after.

The beginning of May Sarah had her first ever Dance Recital and did a wonderful job. It was special to have Grandma and Grandpa Cottrell, and Julie and Kaitlyn there to support her. She loves dancing. We even made had a little trophy made for her.

Another thrilling event was Lindsey was able to go see Mitt Romney speak in Omaha. She even had was able to get the closest seat and was able to shake his hand twice. She even made the news. : )


Adam enjoyed his end of the year field trip to the zoo and Sarah went the Children’s Museum in Lincoln.

They also enjoyed ending the school year with a Hawaiian Dress up day, field day, and school picnic. It is hard to believe that Adam with be 3rd grade(the upper grades) and Sarah will be first Grade. Thank goodness Isaac has another year of preschool left. Our kids are growing up too fast. They each had a successful year and did very well.
We’ve also enjoyed wonderful Saturday at Wildlife Safari and Monhey State Park as a family. We saw elk, deer, bison, turkeys, ducks, geese, bald eagles, and feed the goats. It was also fun to hike a little.





We also conquered the 70-foot observation tower. It is a beautiful view at the top overlooking the Platte River Valley.

The next weekend we headed to Johnston to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We always love to visit there and this time the kids all enjoyed the new sand and water table.
June has been a busy month. We helped watch Kaitlyn and Keira for few hours one day. Been visiting the zoo, playing at the parks, running through sprinklers, slip and slide, Elkhorn Days, library, swimming, lessons, Father’s Day and a recent trip to Nauvoo. 

On our way to Nauvoo we stopped in Johnston over night. In Nauvoo we enjoyed the Black Smith shop, Nauvoo movie at the visitors' center, pizza in the park, Sunset on the Mississippi show, Living Legends performed by BYU performing arts, a wagon ride, the brick yard, just Plain Anna Amanda Show, Family Living center (rope making, candle making, pottery, and bread making demonstrations), Pioneer Pastimes, The Printing press, Carthage Jail, Dairy Queen (for dinner), Rendezvous at Old Nauvoo show, Joseph movie, Women’s Garden and the Temple. There is so much to do in Nauvoo, we wish would have had more time there. We love the spirit there and the history.