something in the wAteR?

This may sound like some sort of announcement.... but its not, so don't get excited. 

Moving out to Iowa you would expect to be in a family ward with a wide variety of elderly, families, young couples etc..... you know the typical ward when living outside of Utah.  Instead we attend a Married University Ward.  I never went to BYU but I imagine that this ward equally compares to their typical wards.  Here is one bit of information to prove my point. (I'm not trying to dog on our ward because I can honestly say it is one fabulous ward with so many amazing and great people.)

So the Relief Society has something they call the "Stork Report."  (this may not be something new, but seeing that I have been single for the majority of my adult life I have failed to ever see one of these 'reports' before, although I highly doubt it is an official church approved report. :)  This report is passed around with other announcements in Relief Society each week and goes out in a weekly email to all Relief Society sisters.  In short, it is basically a way of announcing to the rest of the ward that you are expecting a little bundle of joy.


This is what the today's email version of the 'stork report' looked like:

Stork Report: (all names have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals...)
Jenni Silvester, October 8, girl
Danica Oliander, October 14, girl
Meesha Dastrup, October 21, boy
Mikelle Hainsworth, October 23, boy
Tina Goodspell, October 24, girl
JoAnna Jacobsen, October 26, girl
Katrina Kinsworth, November 22, girl
Melanie Peabody, January 4, girl
Melissa Thomas, January 17, boy
SaraJane Jensen, January 24, boy
Tiffany Raymond, February 5, boy
Sabrina Talbot, February 8, girl
Mindy Ford, March 3 
Whitney Carrigan, March 12

Samantha Rider, March 15

Trudy Samuels, March 30

Trisha Jarods, April 20

New Arrivals:
-Congratulations to the Thomas family!  Their new baby boy, Joshua, was born on September 3, and weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces.

-Congratulations to the Xavier family!  Their new baby boy, Michael, was born on September 6th, and weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces.

-Congratulations to the Daniels family!  Their new baby boy, Georgie, was born on September 19th, and weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces.

-Congratulations to the Stevenson family!  Their new baby boy, Henry, was born on September 22nd.  He weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces and was 20 inches long.

Yes you counted it... that was 17 announced pregnancies and 4 new babies since the first of September.  For those out there that have been in married student wards before... is this normal?? I am pretty sure more of our RS sisters are pregnant than are not. I am starting to get a little worried that the Bishop is putting something in the water at our church...  Or maybe it is peer pressure coming from the other sisters in the ward to keep up with them.  All I know is that I won't be drinking out of the drinking fountains anytime soon. 

Anyway I am not quite sure how i just wrote a whole blog post on that.... but I did and you read it. Lucky you. 

my LIST.

It isn't a fair comparison to compare my life over the past few years with my new life in Iowa.  You see, they are just too different. You can't compare an apple with ice cream. It just doesn't work. Both are great in their own way. So being in Boston, I was always on the go.... seeing new places, traveling to random destinations, checking out the city life... constantly with a list of things to do, to see, and places to eat..... In St. George I had my family around and Adam had more free time :) .... now here we are in Iowa trying to make the most of our surroundings.  It's not that this place is bad..... just different. I am having to train myself to come up with activities around these parts. So today I came up with a small TO DO list of activities I'm going to accomplish.  
1. Head to Dyersville, IA to go to 'The Field of Dreams' movie site.  "If you build it, they will come"  Right?  Awesome movie.   

2. Visit the 'Amana Colonies .'  These colonies are a group of settlements of radical German Pietists (or I guess something similar to the Amish settlements?)  I don't really know what exactly there is to see here but I'll find out. I imagine just a lot of little shops and places to eat good home cookin' food.

3. Kalona Historical Village - and cheese factory. More Mennonite and Amish stuff.   
4. John Deere Factory Tour- this is for my Dad when he comes back to visit. I had to have something to draw him out here. 

5. Herbert Hoover Museum: --- this one really isn't on the top of my list, or really the bottom either. More of just something to do.    
6. Pella Tulip Time Festival  I have to wait to May to do this one..... but when the time does it should be a good time.

7. Chicago. Since it isn't too far away I am hoping to make multiple trips..... and I have lots on my to-do list once I get there. (any one have favorite things to do in chicago?)  
8. Also since Nauvoo is so close, hoping to make many more trips down there. Especially to go to the temple.  

I've really been putting off these things because I know when someone actually comes to visit they are going to want something to do.....  so these are your choices! 

Also here's a little of what we have been up to the last few weeks.  We celebrated Adam's birthday by going on a "Hike."  Not our typical Utah hiking...  I would call it more going for a walk around a lake and up hills.  It was very beautiful and it was good to get out and see more of the green rolling hills of Iowa. We then went up to Mechanicsville to visit Adam's Grandpa and some other relatives.  We finished up the day by having some birthday cheesecake.  I figured if I made a whole cake, it would only be the two of us, and I would eat way too much. you make less, you eat less. I think his Birthday was a success.

Last weekend I was able to go back to St. George for a quick trip to do Family stuff.  I left Adam here to get smarter, while I enjoyed time with my family. I got to meet my new little niece, Claire for the first time! She is adorable.  I had a great time just hanging with the fam.  Always good times and good weather. Love and miss ya family.    

As for here in Iowa, I think we are all settled in.  Adam stays pretty busy with school-learning all kinds of useful and some not so useful stuff, doing homework, group projects, MBA activities, and trying to keep up with college football and politics. I love Sundays cause its the one day I get him to myself...  As for me I can't say that I have grown a deep love for Iowa... yet... I would consider it more in the Like category-- improving every day. :) The people out here are great and we have already enjoyed getting go know lots of new people in our ward. We're looking forward to making many more good friends.  


So thats that.  

hapPy birThdaY to my MAN

Adam turned the big 30 years old today... more than anything, I think He is just excited that he doesn't have to spend this big day as a single man. Well babe I am so glad that we get to spend it together....

So in honor of YOU on your BIG day, here are REASONS why I love you more and more every day.

1. I admire your desire to return to get your MBA after all those years....  you work harder at school than anyone I know.... and I know you will be successful.
2. I love cooking with you side by side in the kitchen. May be one of my fave activities. I love our kitchen creations.
3. You are still so young at heart... and think you can compete (and you probably can) with the 20 year old college students at wrestling.
4. You love your family.... both in Utah and now here in Iowa.
5. You honor your priesthood and are a true inspiration to so many.
6. You would do ANYTHING I asked you to do, if it was what would make me happy...
7. You LOVE college football.... and even tolerate my love for the Red Sox.
8. You love little babies and kids.... Sometimes I wonder if you love your nieces and nephews and kids sitting by us in church more than me. :)   jk
9. You made an awesome decision in choosing your wife... she is the hottest and coolest it will get.
10. You continue to make me laugh everyday...
11. You are cute when you are mad, and even cuter when you are happy :)
12. You love me and I love you.

Happy BirthdaY! I hope your day and your 30th year is the best ever. I am so blessed to be married to you. 

Love You More!

New Additions....

Last month we got a new nephew and a new niece! They are both so adorable. We are just bummed that we moved away just before they were both born.
Congrats to Brian and Julie for our new little nephew.
Welcome Christian Butterfield born on Aug. 14th weighing 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 20 inches long.


and to Tim and Heidi for my new little niece.
Welcome Claire Amelia Thorley born on Aug. 20th weighing 7 lbs. 4 oz. and 20 inches long.

We can't wait to see the little ones.

Congrats guys! We are so excited for you all.

Iowa or Bust.

If you would have asked me a year ago where I would be living..... Iowa would have probably been one of the last places I would have said. But life comes at ya with all kinds of twists and turns, so here I am living in Iowa City, IA. I guess those are things that come with getting married.... So Adam has always wanted to get his MBA and had been thinking about it for a few years. This just happened to be the year that it all came to past. So why Iowa City? First of all Adam was born the small town of Anamosa, IA, which is located about a hour from where we are living. He lived there til he was five years old...... Adam still has lots of family in this area so he was always interested in coming back here to get to know all of them a bit better. Second the University of Iowa has a really great MBA program. Just when I thought that I was done with the student life.... here we are back to living the life of poor college students. Oh the Joys. :) It is very exciting to be in a new place, full of new adventures though. I am super excited for Adam and actually a bit jealous that he is going back to school! He is especially excited for Big Ten football and the great Wrestling Program. He thinks he is going to get me to a wrestling match or two... I'm not sure about that. Go Hawkeyes.

Now onto our first week in Iowa--

Adam's mom, Penny met us in Nebraska(she was awesome help with moving in and being a tour guide of the area) We next went off exploring the cities where Adam was born and where he spent the first five years of his life. It was fun to explore and see the hospital where he was born, one of the houses he lived in, and where he grew up playing. We also made sure to stop at the Family Restaurant there in Anamosa, and as much as Iowa has so many good fruits and vegetables..... the hometown restaurants def. don't take advantage of all the fresh produce. I have yet to see a salad bar that has more than Iceberg lettuce, Cottage Cheese, Potato Salad, Macaroni Salad, and Jello. mmmmmm... oh ya and lots of butter on everything. I also think it is hilarious that on every menu you have the choice of cottage cheese instead of fries etc. They also love their Brown Gravy and White Bread. Example-- I ordered a hot beef sandwich thinking it would be like a typical roast beef sandwich and this is pretty much what I got.

I am sure that some people love this.... but its not my style. :)

I plan on taking advantage of all the good produce though.... especially the SWEET CORN! There is corn everywhere and anywhere you look. Miles and miles and miles f it. Thanks to Adam's relatives we were hooked up with all the corn we wanted for Free. So we went picking, then husking, of course eating, then with the surplus of corn we went about freezing a bunch so we can have corn all year long. I am getting so domestic.


We next took a trip down to Nauvoo and Carthage, Illinois which is just a couple hours south of us. I hadn't toured Nauvoo for a good 15 years or so... and I had never seen the temple. We did some touring, and did a session at the temple. It was beautiful and neat to learn more about the saints that suffered so much for their beliefs.





At Carthage Jail.



Other than that we have been doing lots of unpacking, organizing, and trying to decorate our little apartment to make it feel like home.
Adam started Orientation this week at school so he is busy with that. Most days he is gone from 8-5 and even has an overnighter at a Scout Camp. I am just hoping to see him once in awhile.

Now onto the Next Task--- Find Marci a Job.

ZIONS!

Rachael and her girls and Laura and Jeremy took a little mini vacation to St. George--- so we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and explore Zions.  We thought the Emerald Pools hike would be do-able with a stroller, man were we wrong.  The boys had to use their muscles and haul the stroller up the mountain.  We made it to the top though.  I think we got some pretty strange looks from other hikers.  We are hard core what can you say?

Jeremy and Laura Winn ~ Love!

Another wedding!  So fun and neat to be able to attend Jeremy and Laura's wedding sealing in the Salt Lake Temple at the end of June.  They looked so happy and Laura was beautiful.  Although it was a crazy rainy day, everything turned out Great!  CONGRATS Guys!

The whole Butterfield Clan! 

Mellow Yellow! 

Jeremy and Laura's Families. 

Luncheon at the Lion House. Delish as ever. 

Adam and Sammie at the reception. 

One Month Anniversary.

Tradition is to wait a year to eat some of your wedding cake.... but because we know we are moving and didn't want to haul our top layer of wedding cake to Iowa we decided to celebrate on June 29th.... our one month anniversary.  It was still so delicious..... We didn't get any pictures of the cake but we also saved some of our Martinellis from our wedding to toast with our cake.  Happy One Month. I love being married.