A Great Weekend with Cousins!!

Can you tell she's excited to be included!!

Here comes trouble! Andrew and Austin

Best buds from the beginning- Tan and Shan

Food Storage: Victory and Defeat

I was so pleased to finally get our Walton Foods order in last Saturday. It was my first experience ordering in bulk from a co-op. The delivery took months longer than we expected, but now that it is here and organized in the basement, I am so glad we did it! We mainly ordered long term (20+ yr.) items in 6 gal. buckets. They arrived sealed and ready for storage. This is something we have thought about and wanted to do for a long time. It always seemed overwhelming though. But last spring I had a fire lit under me and I was determined to get prepared. Now I am reaping the benefits! I'm not saying we are complete, but we are well on our way.

So, one of the tasks I completed last spring was compiling real, working 72 hour kits. You know with backpacks, extra shoes, glasses, diapers, etc... I did the very best I could. I was so proud of myself, until yesterday when I opened the big rolling tub where they are stored. Evidently one of the sealed water jugs cracked and leaked out a gallon of water and festered and molded and grew lots of hairy stuff on EVERYTHING!!! So now I have the lovely chore of digging through a huge tub of mold and determining what to salvage (the cash) and what to pitch (probably everything else). Well, at least I found it now, and not during a real emergency.

Happy Birthday Tanner!

I could not be more pleased with the comments and emails I received today. Thank you so much for letting us know that you care! It was so much fun to check my computer throughout the day and see a new comment each time. I felt so loved!! Keep the comments coming and I'll try to be a good friend and send them your way as well.
Jason and I have both been blessed with great families and friends that are as good as family. From siblings and college roommates to mission companions and study abroad bunk mates- Thanks for growing with us. Then there are those who have mentored us through our adult years. Your examples as we have experienced marriage, parenthood, career changes, and church callings have helped us decide the kind of people we want to be.
So here we are now with three children, and just trying to do our best everyday. As Tanner is turning 7 this week- yes 7- I want to include a few pictures of him from this past year. But first, just a bit of remembering... Tanner is the little one who transformed me into a mother and turned Jason and I into a family. He is growing into a strong, smart, and valiant boy. I love when I have time to sit back and watch him: reading to Margaret, playing with Andrew, or just kicking his soccer ball in the backyard. As I look back, I also must look forward. In a year I hope to see him dressed all in white at his baptism. In 5, he'll be off on Scout campouts and in 9 it'll be off in the car. Now I realize that time is racing and each day is a treasure. So I am glad that for now we are still all about dirty handprints and pulling out baby teeth. Happy Birthday to my Tanner!!

As an awfully proud big brother!


Perhaps his biggest accomplishment-
pulling that first tooth!

Go Gators!! My little swimmer!


Who knew there could be snow in July!

We loved Oregon.

Its hard to hit the pinata when you're a pirate with just one eye!
Happy 7th Birthday "T"!

Let's try that again!

As you can see, blogging and I were not an instant hit. So, I am going to take another stab at it, and try to be a tad more dedicated this time around. (It won't be hard to top one entry!) I actually did have a freeservers site a couple of years ago, so I am not totally out of the loop. Lately though I have been feeling guilty for enjoying the blogs of my friends while contributing zip.

So the Burke bunch is busier than ever and so excited for fall (our favorite season) to be setting in here. We are in the middle of soccer season (Tanner), preschool (Andrew), and trying to walk (Margaret). I pulled out our Fall decorations last night and you would have thought is was Christmas morning. Everyone, including Margaret, got into the pumpkin spirit by digging through our boxes and hauling out flashlights, scarecrows, and bats -oh my!

Jason is working as a sales engineer for an electric distributor. Learning the ins and outs of this industry is a good challenge for him. As with any new career, this first year is keeping him hopping.

I am up to full-time mothering. You all know that includes a lot of driving, cooking, baby-rocking, birthday-partying, and a little time-outing too. So, I gave myself a big treat and attended Time Out for Women in St. Louis last weekend. It really was worth it. I especially loved Jason Wright, the author of Christmas Jars and Wednesday Letters; Hillary Weeks, I bought her new album and am loving it; and Cherie Call, a young mother and singer/songwriter with a real voice. I had attended a Time Out before and enjoyed it, but there was something different this time. The day just seemed to give me something I had been lacking. It made me realize how blessed I am to have the wonderful family that I do, and that I can try a little harder to be a better wife and mother.

So that is the Burke bunch in a nutshell. Leave a comment and let me know if this is worth the effort.