Happy Birthday Rosie Rose!

Happy birthday to a great sister and friend! So glad that we were actually able to SURPRISE you this past weekend for your bday! We wished that everyone was here to celebrate- but I am sure we will do it again for the holiday when we go home to Pcola.

We almost didn't pull it off... it was SO difficult to get Rose out of the house in time for everyone to come over before her surprise dinner. Dave was in charge of getting her out of the house by 5pm and to the restaurant by 8pm since most of the guests were coming to the house first and then we were going to walk over to the restaurant so she didn't see any of our cars!

But we pulled it off and she was totally SURPRISED! We had a great turn out and the venue ended up giving us the back patio-- a really nice night to have dinner outside.

It was awesome the her close family and friends could be with her to celebrate her special day and we all hope you had a great time! It was fun putting it together and everyone helped out to pull this off! It was also nice to have Roger here and Dave's family even came to celebrate as well!

Above is a picture of some of our Run Club who came out to surprise Rose as well! It was fun having everyone together- but we did miss Mom and Dad and the Butlers. We will have to tell you the whole story soon! Love you Rose and the celebration will continue on tonight!

Video by Christopher Parsons: Dream Water

Check out this video by my good friend, Christoper Parsons, who you know as CP. He entered this in the video division of the Epson Red Sea shoot out and should have won 1st place! I was honored to dive with him in the Red Sea!

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

We missed the rest of you guys who couldnt be here with us! Dad- we really missed your cooking and really excited to come home for the holidays so that we are all together again! Love you guys!

Jeny and Al- actually Shay- were up to their usual.. shot for everyone!

We couldn't stop playing Mahjong... and we started playing for BIG money-- $1 a game! Ha...

Thanks again to Jeny and Al for hosting everyone at their house and ALL of the good food- I don't think I will be eating for the rest of the weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, we are missing Ron in this picture but we will see him later tonight! We wish we were with you all this Thanksgiving holiday, but can't wait to see you guys for Christmas! I am so thankful for my family and thank God everyday for our wonderful, loving and amazing family. Love you all and we will Skype later from Jenys!

We're Back!

Jeff and I are on the flight back right now to LAX- we land at 10:30ish PST and just wanted you all to know that we are safe and sound (cool they have internet on the flight huh?)

Here are some pics of us in the ancient city of Petra, in Jordan-in front of the Treasury, which was all carved from the side of a mountain- its an amazing view!. Petra (rock in Greek; Arabic: Al-Batr) is an archaeological site in Arabah, Aqaba Governorate, Jordan, lying on the slope of Mount Hor in a basin Arabah (Wadi Araba), the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. It is renowned for its rock-cut architecture. Petra is also one of the new wonders of the world. Petra was also the site for Indiana Jones, The Last Crusade. Check out some more info about Petra here!

It was a quick one day trip- it took about 3-4 hours just to get there- and that includes about an hour alone at the border but we will definitely post more pics very soon! The pic above was in one of the many shops along the way! What an experience we had!

Eilat, Israel

Hey guys! Sorry we haven't been able to post very much but just wanted to share a few pictures with you before we have to head out again... and will hopefully post more tomorrow since we are not diving tomorrow... but traveling to the ancient city of Petra. These pictures below and above are when we first arrived in Tel Aviv and went to dip our toes in the Mediterranean.

This pic below is one of the scenic stops along our 3ish hour journey to Eilat (pronounced Eelat) and although it was all desert- there was a lot of different terrain and the trip over was very interesting. Plus, we had our eyes peeled on wandering camels. Although Jeff and I didn't see any- CP swears he saw about 6.

After a quick journey south- we finally arrived at Eilat and are staying about 1/2 mile away from the border of Egypt. We are staying at the Prima Music Hotel which is next door to the dive shop where we meet for our morning dives every day and where they are hosting the Epson Photo Shoot Out. Jeff and I are both competing- so wish us luck! I will have to post some of my shots first, before you see Jeff's! Just know that mine are with a point and shoot- and Jeff is using a Canon Rebel T3i! I have to run but will post more pics to come.

FYI- The awards ceremony is on Saturday night so we will let you know if anyone from the American Team won-- that's just any of the 9 of us in our group! Ha.. Love you guys-

We made it to Tel Aviv!

Part 1 -Getting there: Riza and I began our trip began with a 8am flight out of LAX, we had a quick s top in ATL and then one more in New York where we met up with the rest of our group. There were nine of us total heading to Eilat Israel to dive the Red Sea. Only one of our group had been there before, everyone of us has had the Red Sea on our bucket list or some kind of list for quite some time. We were all anxious to get there. From JFK to Tel Aviv airport is a 10 and a half hour flight. Once we finally landed in Tel Aviv, Riz and I had been traveling for 22 hours. We both managed about 5 hours sleep each total since we left, but our grand adventure was just beginning.

The Tel Aviv airport was very nice and very modern. But despite the modernization of today’s air travel, the lost baggage average was not in our favor. Out of the 19 checked bags for our group, 4 of them didn’t make the trip to Tel Aviv. We are hopeful that the missing bags will show up within a day or two. Fingers crossed. Once we got the lost luggage forms and rental cars squared away we headed towards our hotel for the night which lays on the shoreline of the Mediterranean Sea. When we reached the hotel we were greeted by a crowded lobby and ensuing chaos of travelers trying to check in after a full day of traveling. After a few minutes we realized why things were so hectic and taking longer than they should. It was Friday after sunset and Shabbat had begun. With Shabbat a lot of things and people are not allowed to work on Shabbat. For instance in the designated Shabbat elevator you were not allowed to press the elevator buttons. It simply went up one floor at a time, stopping at each floor. Until it reached the top, then stopping on each floor on the way down. Needless to say to took awhile for 9 of us and all our luggage to wait our turn to get on the elevator. Once we were checked in, we quickly met for dinner and drinks in the hotel lobby and restaurant. A rum and coke never tasted so good after a day like that and the food was amazing. A perfect way to end our first day of travel.

Thanks rose for taking us this am...

And getting up at 5am with us! Love you for all you do for us! We will be sure to come back with some gifts!!!

Here we go!

Red sea bound!!! We are on the plane- we have a stop in atlanta and new York before landing in Tel Aviv! Can't wait to scuba dive the amazing red sea! Love
You guys!

Rach is now an IRON(WO)MAN!!!!!

We love you Rach and are amazed by your courage and strength! We are SO proud of you- much more than words can say. You are our hero!

My sister is doing the IRONMAN! Go RACH!

My sister is amazing and doing the IRONMAN! Check out her times here by searching for BUTLER! I can't tell you how proud of her we are!!!! You are such a role model to all of us... we LOVE you!

Here is a pic of her and her friend Ana who is doing the IRONMAN too! Be safe and we are all cheering for you guys from the west coast!

TextingForward powers TrackMyRunner via SMS for NYC Marathon

Click here to check out what we are doing!

You can also see how the ING NYC Marathon is promoting us HERE.

Kaycee Canlas

We got to have dinner with Kaycee in New York last night! It was so fun seeing her after 20 years!!! She looks great...

Heading to NYC

Pic flying over Colorado! Can't wait for the snow!!!! A beautiful day to fly. Headin to NYC for the marathon! Cross ur fingers again for us!! Will blog so u can see what we r up to!

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone had a Happy and Safe Halloween!!! We have celebrated Halloween so many times this year.. I definitely got my use out of my costume!

Ethan's 8th Birthday!

Ethan's Birthday was yesterday (on Halloween!) but we had a party at the house on Sunday to celebrate his big day! A good time was had by all.. wish you guys were here with us celebrating!

As you might be able to tell- it was a Star Wars Theme...We are missing Chewbacca "AKA- Jennifer Fosburg" and I think a couple of other Star Wars Characters- but as you can see... the Adults had more fun dressing up than the kids!

Hope you guys had a great Halloween! Just wanted to post a few pics but I will upload the rest on Flickr! Love you guys