Sadie Hawkins Dance

"Sadie Hawkins" is a girl ask guy high school dance. At HHS, the girls don't ask the guys to the dance though. They "tag" them like an animal instead, and if you're caught, you don't "answer" the girl back - you just go - because you were tagged. The boys have a fun time with this. They all act like they don't want to be caught (but secretly, I think they do). They plan quick get-aways in case they are targeted, so they can run if by chance they really don't want to get caught by a girl.  Trevon went to Salt Lake City last week with the band for a high school football playoff game. While eating dinner, someone very easily placed a "tag" around his neck, from behind. He didn't even have a chance to run. It was Anna Forsyth. She is also in the band and Trevon was happy to go to the dance with her on Saturday, November 12th.

Their date included two other couples (Summer, Jacob, "Yo" and Zac). They all met together at Summer Stout's house for lunch. Trevon said the table was decorated elaborately with sparkling apple cider in glasses and then the girls served sandwiches to eat. He thought it was fun to have simple sandwiches served on such a nice table.

After lunch they played three games: "Minute To Win It," an Oreo cookie challenge (move the cookie from your head to mouth without hands), and an m&m catch and toss game (try to throw the m&m into your partner's mouth). Then, the group headed to Wal-Mart to play a scavenger hunt game.

Mike, Kristi and I happened to run into Trevon and his date at Wal-Mart. We went there to get some things for Cameron's birthday. It was fun running into Trevon on a date! We tried not to embarrass him too much and made sure he knew we were not spying on him! 

The group went back to Summer's and played foosball, pool and ping-pong ball before the girls took the boys home. Then, that evening, they picked them up and took them to the dance. Trevon said he had a good time. I'm glad Anna tagged him for the date. 

Halloween 2011

We grew pumpkins in our garden this year. I've used some of it to make pumpkin spice bread, but mostly they were grown for carving. As usual, the kids enjoyed creating their jac-o-lanterns.

They turned out great! Trevon painted a glass jar to look like a pumpkin and lit it up as well.

On Halloween day, the elementary school kids had class parties and a parade. I'm the room mom for Cameron's class and we had lots of fun. We played "Don't Eat the Creep," "Halloween Bingo," a matching game, "Ghost Bean-Bag Toss," had "Spider Races" and made a craft. I had two other games planned as well (a mummy making contest and one called "Halloween Hunt") but we just ran out of time!!! At the party, one of the kids put their costume on Corban...pretty scary looking! I preferred the little pumpkin inside.

Cameron went to put his costume on for the parade and realized he had Kristi's pants instead of his. I told him not to worry about it and that his shorts would be just fine. How he ended up with Kristi's pants is a mystery to me - but in the long run he lucked out because it was a really warm day.

There were two Dorothys in Elise's class. We saw Elise at the parade. She had a fun day as well.

Ready to trick-or-treat:

SURPRISE! Cari decided to come home for a few hours to help the kids trick-or-treat. We had pizza for dinner and then ALL of the kids went out together to have some Halloween fun.

Kristi borrowed this uniform for her costume:

Trevon got into the Halloween spirit too. As they took the kids trick-or-treating, he would linger behind and stand perfectly still near a house. Some people thought he wasn't real and even poked at him. Boy, did he surprise a few with his "BOO" as they walked up to collect candy. I think he really scared a few kids.

Cari had Sadie spray paint her hair fluorescent pink, as part of her crayon costume.  She had so much fun being with her siblings. She ended up getting some candy of her own too. (Sadie quickly put on an apron and dressed as a waitress before going out with the rest of the kids - I didn't get a picture of her.)

Mike and I had the house to ourselves while the kids were out. Sometimes that in itself is a nice treat!

This morning when I went out for a jog, I expected to see a smashed pumpkin or two. To my surprise, I did not see a single smashed pumpkin! I think the fact that Halloween was on a weekday might have had something to do with it. Either that or I just live in the best neighborhood ever!

The Week's This & That

ATTENTION!

This posting is what I would call "graphic."

So before you look ahead, be warned that you may see a swollen and stitched bare foot and a hanging deer carcas as well. To me, these things are part of the "adventures" our family is experiencing.  If you have a queezy stomach, you may just want to skip this particular posting of The Beutler Times!

Last week, on October 25th, Mike's cast was removed. He was so very happy to have it taken off. The picture below is of Corban holding the cast after it had been removed. The kids enjoyed coloring pictures all over it while Mike had it on. I had to take a picture for memory's sake.

The stitches from Mike's surgery were removed. His foot was still swollen but I thought it looked pretty good considering. The doctor did not recast it this time and Mike was thrilled to be put in a "boot." He is now undergoing physical therapy. He is still not allowed to put any weight on his foot. His therapy involves trying to rotate his ankle and move it forward and backwards. He also has been working on moving his toes. At his first therapy session he was told to pick up some marbles with his toes. It was impossible for him to do. It is amazing how much we take our bodies for granted. We really do lose what we don't use and Mike has made progress in moving his foot this past week as he has worked on his exercises at home. His leg and foot still swell up on a regular basis, but he is making progress and looks forward to the time when he will walk again.

On Wednesday, October 27th, Trevon and Sadie had a combined concert for band and orchestra. They both dressed up in Halloween attire - Sadie in a robe and slippers and Trevon in waders and a fishing hat.

The Hurricane High School Orchestra played:

Night on Bald Mountain (Mussorgsky)

Slavonic Dance (Dvorak)

Egyptian Legacy (Soon Hee Newbold)

Then, the HHS Band played:

Mobbusters! (Holsinger) and

Northpointe Fantasy (Swearingen)

Together, they formed a Symphony Orchestra and played:

Pirates of the Caribbean (Klaus Badelt)

Our family enjoyed going to the concert together and seeing the many costumes there. It was a fun family outing.

Cameron was able to hear the Southwest Symphony Orchestra play this past week on a fieldtrip. He dressed in his Sunday best and enjoyed himself at the concert. He came away declaring that he was going to play the trombone someday. That's something to look forward to!

Sadie, her friend Emily, and I also attended a Southwest Symphony Orchestra concert on Friday night. When we first arrived, we saw MANY bands on the college campus for THE RED ROCK FESTIVAL OF BANDS. We stopped to watch a band from California perform their field show. It brought back many memories for me and I wished we could have watched the competition. I'm going to have to try to attend it next year - I know I would really like it because a long time ago, I was the one doing the marching.

We enjoyed the concert we attended. When the symphony played "JAWS," a remote control shark loomed above the orchestra in front of the audience. It looked like it was swimming above us and I almost felt like I was watching from under the water, looking at it above me. It made for a GREAT effect.

Now, to the carnage I was warning you about...the deer Trevon shot was gutted right away and then after he brought it home, Mike gave him a lesson in skinning it. These photos are of him skinning the deer.

He said to me the other day, "Mom, aren't you glad I provided meat for our family..." He is pleased with himself, I think. I'm thankful for his safety and for the "deer" meals we will enjoy around the table together in the coming months. We packaged/sealed the meat using the FoodSaver machine and put it away in the freezer. Mike and Trevon still plan on making jerky with some of it in the near future.

2011 Deer Hunt

Trevon had a great experience this past week. He and Mike both drew out for a deer tag in Southern Utah this year.  Mike was down for the count with his broken foot and word got out that Trevon needed a hunting partner this year.  Neighbors and friends offered to take him out on the hunt if he could work it into his schedule - that was the hardest part for him.  He hates to miss school and other activities at home.  On opening morning, he had to take the ACT test (College Entrance Exam).  He did not think "the hunt" was going to happen for him this year.  Thanks to our neighbor, Joe Holland, Trevon went out one evening during the week for a quick drive.  They did not have much time, but saw some small doe at sundown.  He came home excited and said, "Now, I'm ready to hunt." 

Joe and Trevon arranged their schedules to make one last attempt at it on the weekend (the last two days of the hunt).  Trevon got out of school early on Friday, met Joe and headed east of Zion National Park.  There, they meet up with Kory Wright and a few others that had been hunting and watching the deer all week.  Kory and Trevon got on the four wheeler and started out for the evening hunt.  As they were heading to the planned hunt area, they spotted some deer (just doe).  They continued on and soon, they saw another group of deer.  They stopped and watched as the deer slowly came out of the trees.  Kory was glassing the group (watching through binoculars). He said, "Doe,doe, doe...there's a buck!" Trevon was off the four wheeler in a flash, cranked a bullet into the chamber, put the deer in his scope, and BANG!  That was all it took. Trevon's First Deer!  Trevon said it all happened so fast, he did not even have time to get nervous.

A nice 2 X 3 buck!  The rest of the group caught up with them on the road and could not believe Trevon had already downed a deer.  They were just getting started. "Trevon, you got a full 15 minutes of hunting in," they said.  Trevon could now relax and enjoy the rest of the evening and next day.

Day of Rest

Last Sunday, Sadie and Kristi played some hymn duets on their violins that were soothing for the soul. I attempted to accompany them on the piano and then after a while Sadie played the piano while Kristi played her part on the violin. They played "I Am a Child of God" and a medley of "I Need Thee Every Hour/Sweet Hour of Prayer."

In Sunday School class today, our teacher had a list of items on the board and asked us to remove the items we could live without...until one remained. "Music" was one of the items listed and I REALLY didn't want it taken off the board. For the purposes of the lesson, it was removed though. How thankful I am to have music in my life and in the lives of my family, and that we don't have to live without it.

Trevon couldn't resist joining in while the girls played...you could say the spirit of the music was contageous!

This past week was an eventful one. Cari visited us as she had a break from school. On Tuesday I went to Cedar City and helped her in her efforts to find a job. She turned in some applications and we had lunch together before I headed home. This was the day that Mike's biological grandfather, Clark F. McIntosh, passed away. He was 91 years old. Mike has had some wrestless nights with his foot swelling and leg aching at times. When he keeps it elevated, the swelling seems to go down. Still, he felt able enough and wanted to travel to Arizona for the funeral. We decided to go.

On Wednesday, Cameron received his wolf badge for cub scouts. This was a big accomplishment for him and he will spend the next year working on earning the bear badge next. He thoroughly enjoys going to scouts each week and has some great leaders too.

Trevon ran in the State Cross Country Meet in Salt Lake City. He had a wonderful time. Out of eighteen teams, his came in tenth place. Trevon ran a great race and was pleased with his cross country experiences this year. His personal record for the year was 16 min. 40 sec. in a 5K (3 mile) run. His team was the fastest team that their coach has taken to State. They have made great "strides" over the past few years. Trevon came in 62nd place overall (out of 120+ runners). He plans to continue running in city sponsored races and such. Who knows, maybe next year he will run on a college team but he says it just won't be the same without his friends.

Thursday was the day Mike and I traveled to Arizona with Cameron, Elise and Corban. The older children stayed behind. Sadie had her first private lesson with Dr. Paul Abegg and Kristi had an Orchestra Concert.

In Arizona, we drove to Papa and Grandma Beutler's (Mike's parents) and spent the evening with them. We went to dinner at Serrano's Mexican Food Restaurant and had a treat at Mesa Frozen Yogurt. We visited Mike's sister Amy and met our newest niece, Nicole. It was great to see the Trent family. We enjoyed visiting with our extended family.

We woke early and headed to Phoenix for the funeral. It was good to see friends and family show their love and support for Connie and Lynn and pay their respects to Clark. He was a kind man and I'm so glad we were able to know him. As I looked at him, peacefully lying in the casket, I studied his face and noticed some resemblances between him and Mike; Things I never noticed before, like similarities in their facial features. The previous week I had attended a funeral that was very saddening to me. This funeral however was one that was almost comforting as Clark had lived a long, good life and was now at rest from his ailments. I became emotional when Clark's neighbor mentioned what a nice and wonderful man he was. I wholeheartedly agreed with her and then I felt that pang of missing him. At Sunland Memorial Park and Mortuary, the kids enjoyed watching the ducks and swans swimming outside. Canadian Geese were also on the lawns and the kids couldn't help themselves, having to chase them a little bit!

Clark Froding McIntosh

After the funeral, Connie showed us her new home and then we went to lunch at Arriba's Mexican Food Restaurant. We were glad to spend some time with Connie, Lynn and Rance (Fladeland) and catch up on what has been happening in their lives. It was a good reunion.

We then headed to Prescott Arizona to visit my mom and Doug. I had Mike move to the back seat of the car as his foot was noticably swollen. He just needed to elevate it. He was able to find a comfortable position to travel in and it made all the difference. We enjoyed a homemade roast dinner at mom's and watched a couple of episodes of "SING OFF" together. It was so great to spend time with mom and Doug. We felt right at home and really enjoyed our visit there. I was able to go on a run the next morning before we headed home.

Trevon took the ACT college entrance exam on Saturday morning. We arrived home from our trip at about 4pm. The girls had cleaned the house and it was nice to be home and back together again. I had just enough time to get things prepared for Sunday before the day was over. How glad I was today for a "Day of Rest." It has been nice reflecting on the week: thankful for loved ones, for helpful friends, for the gospel, for safety, for MUSIC and the many blessings that our Heavenly Father gives us daily.

Taking it Easy ... NOT!

The day after my birthday, Mike had surgery. I had a marathon of a day. After getting the kids off to school, I took him to the hospital for his surgery. We were there at 10a.m. and after he was admitted, Corban and I sat with him as he waited his turn.

At 11:15a.m. the doctor had not been in to see us yet, but I had to leave Mike with a kiss as I needed to pick up Sadie for an important meeting she had scheduled for noon.

I dropped Corban off at a sitter and picked up Sadie and rushed over to Dixie State College to meet with Dr. Paul Abegg (her soon to be violin instructor) and Keith Sorensen from The Music Opportunity Network. Sadie applied for a scholarship and the Music Opportunity Network granted her a great opportunity. They are not only helping to pay for violin lessons, but also provided her with a new violin.  At this meeting, Keith had 5 violins for Sadie to try out and choose from. Dr. Abegg and a student from Dixie helped her to make her choice. She will be under a "contract" to practice, attend her lessons, and make continued improvement in her playing. If she keeps her end of the bargain, she will be able to keep the violin for her own when she graduates from high school. If she does not uphold her part of the contract, she will return the violin to The Opportunity Network.  We are so thankful for this great opportunity Sadie has been given to improve her talent and continue to learn and grow in her music. This is the first contract of its kind that the Music Opportunity Network sponsors have offered. We feel it a great blessing. After this meeting, I ran Sadie back to school in time for her last class and headed back to the hospital to be with Mike.

Thankfully, Mike was still in surgery. I waited about 45 minutes and then Dr. Leon Reber came out to tell me how it went. He put a plate and four screws in Mike's foot. He said Mike's foot was pretty busted up, but he was able to fit the joint nicely into place and everything went well. I was pleased with the news. Shortly after talking to the doctor, I was called back to sit with Mike in recovery. He was shaking as the anesthesia was wearing off, and did not make very much sense. He felt terrible and all I could do was talk to him. At one point he mentioned to me that he thought he might stay overnight in the hospital because he was feeling so bad. He said it was the worst he has ever felt in his life. It was hard to watch him in his discomfort. It took almost 2 hours for him to feel ready to go home.

In the hospital, before surgery, he was given a nerve block in his leg. After about 24 hours, this block wore off and made Mike extremely uncomfortable. It took him a couple of days before he felt somewhat "comfortable" and able to manage the pain. The blue Polar Care contraption on his cast is hooked up to a cooler filled with ice and water. The cold water circulates through the loose fitting boot, acting as an ice pack, aiding in the reduction of swelling.

By Tuesday Mike was feeling so good, he went outside and ended up taking a tumble too. Luckily, he didn't mess up the surgery! Wednesday, Dr. Reber removed his cast, checking the stitches and such. I thought his foot looked great.  The doctor put him in a fiberglass cast and told him he would not need to return for two weeks. He would still need to wear the polar care on his foot, to keep it cool and stay off of his foot. At his next appointment, he might just have Mike wear a boot home on his foot, so that he can begin rehabilitation exercises. He will still need to remain off of his foot until the very end of the year. Mike has a hard time "taking it easy." He is not one to lay around and do nothing. Last evening, I found him in the backyard and asked, "WHAT are you doing?" His reply was, "This is how I take it easy!"

He was throwing firewood closer to the woodpile so that it would be easier for Cameron to stack.

Another Birthday!

I had a birthday last week. I really enjoyed the day. My friend, Tonya Beutler, picked me up in the morning and we went to a temple session together. Then, she treated me to lunch. I had a veggie burrito at Bajio - one of my favorites! It was so nice to visit with Tonya. She is a wonderful friend. She also gave me a kitchen apron, dishtowel and hotpad set. I felt spoiled!!! It was a great morning.

My dad sent me some flowers:

Sadie and Kristi made dinner. We had a salad with Italian Cheese Bread (a recipe that Sadie introduced us to. She made it in one of her foods classes last year). Kristi made it for the first time, for my birthday.

She did a great job! It was as irresistible as ever!

The kids shared some gifts of love...

and I enjoyed opening cards and gifts from loved ones far away.

My "cake" was a pazooki (or BIG COOKIE), baked in a round cakepan and served with vanilla ice cream. That was Mike's idea, and it was a good one!

I was able to visit with Cari, my mom, my brother and my sisters on the phone. Sara sent me some sweaters too! It was a happy day. Thanks to everyone who thought of me and made me feel special!

Italian Cheese Bread

2 1/2 c. flour

1 t. salt

1 t. sugar

1 T. yeast

1 c. warm water

1 T. vegetable oil

Combine the first three ingredients in a bowl. Combine water and yeast and let sit for 5 minutes. Add oil to liquid and then add to flour mixture. Add additional flour if needed to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface: knead for 2 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 15 minutes. After rising, punch the dough down and place on greased 12 inch pizza pan and pat into a 12 inch circle.

Brush the top of the dough with 1/4 c. prepared Italian salad dressing. Then, sprinkle the dough with:

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. garlic powder

1/4 t. oregano

1/4 t. thyme

dash of pepper

Then sprinkle with:

1 T. grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 c. shredded Mozzarella cheese

Bake at 450 for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.