The Burks Family

Christmas 2011

2012-01-10T21:58:00.001-06:00

Just like the weeks leading up to Christmas, Christmas itself was filled with lots of events. Every holiday of the year, we typically spend them with one of the two families, if not both families. This year we decided that we wanted to spend our Christmas Eve's at our house with Luke each year and wake up to spend Christmas morning at our house as well to start OUR Christmas Tradition. Luckily, my mom & dad, my granddaddy, and Stephen's mom & dad were all able to come up to enjoy Christmas Eve and Morning with Luke. Stephen cooked pork chops and I made a green bean casserole, a corn casserole, and homemade mac & cheese.

Growing up, my family always did presents from my parents and grand parents on Christmas Eve and then Santa on Christmas morning. Knowing that we were going to be rushed on Christmas morning due going to Booneville for church, we decide to do the same thing with Luke this year. So, Christmas Eve Luke got to start opening presents. He was so funny!!! Five months ago at his birthday, he wanted nothing to do with opening present but this time, he was good with it. As he would unwrap the present, he would pull off one piece of paper at a time. Each piece of paper he pulled off, he took it to the trash bag that his Poppa (Stephen's dad) was holding. After he had thrown that piece away, he would go after another piece. It was so precious! Below are some pictures of us trying to capture all of his excitement!

Yay!! All these presents are for me!!

Notice that there is NO paper on the floor!! I love this kid! I just wished he would clean up his toy mess in the living room this way :)

After Luke opened his presents, we ate supper and then put him in the bed. This was around 7:30. We were kinda loud (all the adults) while eating desert (chess squares, chocolate fudge pie, Oreo balls or just a 2nd helping of supper) so it was around 8:15 before he finally laid down and went to sleep in his bed. Since we had all the company, Stephen and I decided that we would sleep on an air mattress in Luke's room but waited until about 10:30 before going to bed (seemed like plenty of time for him to get good & asleep for him not to be aware that we were in there). Well........ you can probably tell with all the details here that things did not go quite as planned for the remainder of Christmas Eve night :).

So, about 11:00 pm, Luke decided that he would wake up. When he woke up and saw us laying there on the floor in his room, we heard a little giggle and then a "Hey". In efforts to allow the rest of the house to sleep that night, I got Luke out of his crib (I knew that there was no way he was going back to sleep once he saw us) and let him lay down in the bed with us. Which, for us, was not a problem. It was a king size blow up mattress so, there was plenty of room (or we thought). Luke is a WILD sleeper - He flips and flops all over the bed and so with others in the bed with him, that made it hard for him get to sleep good (my opinion). This went on until about 1:30 am. At this point, he sat up in the bed with us, gave one of "his laughs" and was ready and wanting to play! (So far, I think that Stephen and I were the only ones in the house that had not slept - Neither sets of parents or my granddaddy had heard Luke so all was good with everyone else.) So, it was clear that this sleeping arrangement was not going to work if Stephen, Luke or myself were going to get much sleep. Therefore, Stephen and I decided that it may work better if we moved the air mattress into the dinning room and put Luke back down in his crib. Luke did not think this was a good idea at all! He sat in his crib and threw several fits, woke up both Mimi and Grammy, and got several spankings from his daddy (which broke both Mimi & Grammy's hearts) before deciding about 4:00 that it would be okay if he went to sleep! So finally after 4:00 am on Christmas morning, all were sleeping soundly at the Burks household. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that neither Poppy (my dad) or Poppa (Stephen's dad) EVER heard Luke scream and throw his fits that night!!!

Good Morning & Merry Christmas!

Stephen got up at 7:00 to start cooking sausage casserole and I got up at 7:30 to make cinnamon roll. Our party animal was up and ready to see his Santa at 8:00 am! Below are some pictures of Luke with his and Reeses presents from Santa!

Hey Ya'll - Look what Reese got! Yes, this was the first thing he went to :)

Yes, Luke is still holding on to one of Reeses's milk bones while checking out his Rocking Dinosaur

Oh - I almost forgot to share this story! One the presents that Luke opened on Christmas Eve was MSU Snowman outfit that Mimi made for him. She had it in a gift bag with tissue paper. Luke pulled out the tissue paper and took it to the trash. And then, he pulled the outfit out of the bag and took it to the trash can as well. I promptly pulled it out, told him NO, Mimi made that for you! At this point everybody in the room started laughing and therefore he thought we were playing a game. So, he pulled it out of my hands and took it back to the trash can!! He kept doing this over and over and just thought that it was the funniest thing (And of course so did everyone else in the room!!). I will admit, I was laughing as well - This kid is a hoot!

Luke with Mimi in the outfit she made for him

After we got back from 10:00 am Worship service at the church in Booneville, we loaded up the truck to start our journey south to spend Christmas with the Burks Family and then with the Jones Family.

First stop was at Stephen's mom & dad's house for Lunch and Christmas with them, Mary Beth, Michael, and Thomas. The lunch menu included grilled chicken halfs, dressing, cream corn, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes casserole, and rolls. Here are some pictures of Luke & Thomas while opening presents.... (please ignore the shadow in these pictures - I do not know why my camera kept snapping pictures this way - I missed several photo opportunities trying to figure out what was going on)

Well, that is one way to empty a stocking!!

AWESOME - 100 extra balls to go with the 45 balls that came with the MegaHut tunnel and tent set! THANKS Grammy & Poppa :)

Thomas is loving all the balls!!

Is the banana peel good for you just like the apple peel??

Look daddy - more books for us to read together!

After we finished enjoying Christmas with Stephen's family, it was time for a Steak Supper and Christmas with the majority of the Burks family (Nanny, Pa, Uncle Stan, Uncle Doug, Aunt Cindy, and Uncle Keith). Sadly, none of the other cousins were able to join in these festivities this year due to other family gatherings. We were able to video chat with Becca, Bryan, and Martin (there stayed in Arlington, TN due to being "attacked" by that awful stomach virus.

Hey Becca & Martin - we missed ya'll!

Luke is so proud of Uncle Doug's shirt!

Grammy and Luke playing with the LeapFrog Fridge Farm Animals!

Thanks Martin for my very own music set!

Thomas knew exactly what this present was and neither one of them could wait until we got it opened! These two boys LOVE them some music!

When the Burks' Christmas wrapped up around 8:30 pm on Christmas night, we loaded up the truck with all of "goodies" and headed south for Christmas with the Jones on Monday. So before I knew it, it was Monday morning, the day after Christmas, and time to spend some time with all my sisters, nieces, nephews, parents, grandaddy, and even all the brother in-laws! This is a rare occasion for all us to be able to get to spend time together! Luckily, I was able to take an extra day of vacation and therefore we were able to spend 2 whole days in Forest. I love this time and just wish we could spend more days like this together - there is just something special about that sisterly love!!! Tradition for Jones Christmas is finger foods, pizza, and entirely too many presents! And, as expected, this year was no different (even though we were "cutting" back). Below are some picture from Jones Christmas....

Grandaddy with all of his Great Grands! Such a special picture!

It was goofy smile time! This kids are a hoot - including the "center of attention"!

Elizabeth Tew (Kristin's oldest)

Corban Tew (Kristin's middle)

Joshua Tew (Kristin's youngest) - sorry, he was too busy opening presents to actually look at the camera :)

Madeline Henderson (Ronda's oldest)

Katie Ann Henderson (Ronda's youngest)

My sweet baby boy (sitting on his awesome Zoo Talkers!)

Well, I hope that you enjoyed our Christmas 2011 Story but more importantly, I pray that each of you truly enjoyed the "REAL" Christmas story - Celebrating the Birth of Our Lord & Savior!!!

Christmas Tour 2011

2012-01-08T20:47:00.001-06:00

Well, just like our typical life, our Christmas was filled with lots of family and traveling! This year, our Christmas parties actually started the weekend before Thanksgiving! The "girls" at work decided that we would have our party before Thanksgiving due to all the conflicts that we seem to run into with having it during the actually Christmas season. As the past parities have gone, it was a true blast - we had great presents, lots of Chicken and tons of laughs!

The first weekend of December, we had Barlow Family Christmas. This is Christmas with Stephen's mom's side of the family. We had it in Shuqualak, MS at Aunt Edna's house. It is always nice to get to visit with Stephen's aunt & uncles from that side of the family. Christmas is typically the only time of the year we get to visit with all of them. Below are some cute pics from the weekend....

Luke giving Thomas a hug :)

Thomas and his modeling pose!

My two favorite boys!!!

The following Monday, we drove to Starkville to take Luke's picture with "a real looking Santa". It was definitely an encounter with Santa for us to remember with Luke. He loved Santa as long as Santa was not trying to hold him! It was precious and below are some pics that we captured to remember this moment!

Checking out Santa from a distance....

Still walking around checking out Santa....

This is Luke smiling and laughing at Santa....

But when he got in Santa's lap, he did not want any part of Santa!!

Get me out of this strange man's arms - I only like him from a distance!!!

I love this picture, even though my baby boy is upset! I gave him some marshmallows trying to make things better! Better luck next year?

Then, on the second weekend of December, we drove to Burnt Oak (just south of Arestia - between West Point & Macon) on Friday night for a Christmas party with Mrs. Patsy's work (Stephen's mom) and then on Saturday we drove back down to West Point for dinner at Anthony's for a friends birthday. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures at any of these two events.

On the 3rd Monday of December, we drove to Booneville for the Christmas parade. Luke absolutely loved the parade! He just sat in his wagon and watch everyone that drove by. He even started waving and saying "HEY!" to all the beauty queens that rode by. The loud sirens from the firetruck or police cars did not bother him one bit. He even wore his sweet moose toboggan the entire time!

This Ty Stephenson and Allie Wilburn (member of the church) posing for a picture with Luke before the parade starts in their cute tobboggans !

Yes, they are gonna be up to no good together soon!

Allie loves Luke and loves playing with him!

I got my juice and snacks so let the parade begin!

The weekend before Christmas, we drove down to Forest to visit with my Family. I had picked up some Christmas present for Amy to give to her in-law side of the family so she needed them before the next weekend. Stephen and I went with Amy & Chris to play Bunco with Amy's Bunco group (it was their couples Christmas Party Bunco night) while Luke got to spend some quality time with his Mimi & Poppy (my parents). And thankfully, Luke finally started playing with Poppy! It made Poppy's weekend! Usually when we are down visiting my family, Luke only wants to see his Aunt Amy or his Mimi and would squeal when Poppy tired to hold him. But this trip, Luke & Poppy got to play doctor with Poppy and I hope that the next trip down that Luke will continue to want to play with his Poppy. (Sorry, no pictures from this trip either - I forgot the camera).

And now we have finally made it to the week of Christmas - are you tired yet? By this point, we were very tired and had put over 2000 miles on the "new" car (new to us is). Speaking of being tired - this seems like a good place to stop for the night. I promise I will post tomorrow about our Christmas weekend for anyone that is still following us!!!! :)

Sadly - 15th, 16th & 17th Month Updates

2012-01-08T15:52:00.002-06:00

Well, I came to the blog to update it today for Luke on 17 months when I realized that I have not updated it since he was 14 months! Wow - I did not realize that - must not have too many followers. I am sure that few that I once had are no longer following. But, if you are, I will try to give a brief update on the last 3 months of Luke's life :). I will try to be a better blogger - but no promises! I love spending most of spare time with my little man - he is growing & changing so much everyday! I am scared of the day that I wake up and he is all grown and wants nothing to do with his mommy so I am tried to soak ever spare minute I have up with him!

Here is what was new at 15, 16 & 17 Months for Mr. Luke:

He has 10 teeth with 11 & 12 knocking on the door. 3 of his 1st molars are all the way in and the 4th is cutting through now.
He started walking around 16 months and is now off to the races! The boy is running now - it is so cute when you see him kick it up a notch while walking because he sees something that grabs his attention.
He is wearing size 18/24 months in pants, long sleeve shirts, and jumpers and 12 months in short sleeve shirts. He is really getting lanky - I am hoping that he will be tall like his daddy!
He is still wearing a size 3 diaper.
He is still wearing a size 3 in his camo boots, a size 4 in his lil MSU squeaker shoes and a size 5 in his maroon Nike tennis shoes.
He still weighs about 24 lbs.
His favorite words are still "HEY", "BYE", "Yeah", "Momma" when I am not around according to Stephen. He is trying to say lots of words like "Reeses" (the dog), eat, Aaaeee, more, this, up, and who knows that else the kid is saying! He does a lot of talking to who ever will listen.
The kid does not meet a stranger. He says "Hey" to everyone and will continue to say Hey and even yell Hey until the stranger responds back! The kid is a nutt!
He loves to pick up any of his cell phones and act like he is talking on them. He even used the shoulder prop for holding his cellphone between his ear & shoulder!
His favorite foods are pizza, gold fish, marshmellows, raisins, dried cranberries & blueberries, eggs, waffles, pancakes, and Cuties (the little seedless tangerines)
The kid still loves music! He got a music set for Christmas but has already lost one of the drumsticks that came with it.
Passy Update - well, he still has his passy.
He LOVES the outside and does not understand when you tell him that it is too cold to go outside and play! At that point, we have experienced several melt downs!
His favorite toys right now are of course the toys he got for Christmas - you read our post on Christmas to see what those are.

And now, just a few of my favorite pictures over the last 3 months :)

Christmas Card 2011

2011-12-06T13:33:00.002-06:00

Strictly Ornamental Christmas

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Christmas Card 2010

2011-12-01T07:38:00.001-06:00

With Love Chartreuse Christmas Card

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Lights, Balance, & Football - 14 Months Update

2011-10-02T16:02:00.000-05:00

Last Tuesday, Luke was 14 months old. Just like the previous 13 months, his 14th month came and went before I knew it! October was filled with lots of BULLDOG tailgating & football, eating new foods and just getting too big!

Here is what is new at 14 Months for Mr. Luke:

#4 tooth is very close to breaking through on top. And I have a feeling that #5 (3rd one on top) will be right behind it. You can see it coming when you look at his gums under his lip.
He is still just "Furniture" walking. He is now standing without holding on to things but not sure about taking any steps yet. And when he does stand up with out holding on to anything, he likes to cheer for himself! He is so proud (yes, we cheer and clap with him - brings the cutest little smile to his face)! His balance has improve vastly over the last month. He will stand, squat, and bounce all in the same motion! He is even standing without hold on to anything (from floor to stance).
He is wearing size 18 month jumpers, 12 months in shorts, and 18 months in shirts. He is just like his daddy with long sleeve shirts on - he hates them! He is fine with the sleeves on this jammies, but every time I put him in a long sleeve shirt, he is constantly trying to pull his arms out!
He is still wearing a size 3 diaper.
He is still wearing a size 4 in shoes and has the cutest lil MSU squeaker shoes. We only hear one squeaker (since he is not walking) though with his crazy crawl. Love it!
He still weighs about 24 lbs.
His favorite words are "HEY", "BYE", "Yeah", and "Babababa".
He loves to pick up any of his cell phones and act like he is talking on them. He even used the shoulder prop for holding his cellphone between his ear & shoulder!
This month, he got introduced to pizza, gold fish and animal crackers! And of course he loves them all! He can eat half of one of the individual frozen pizzas. He loves slice cheese and breakfast bars as well!
The kid loves music! He dances (bounces) and throws his hands in the air every time he hears music. I think that he got this from his daddy! So precious when you catch them dancing together.
Passy Update - well, he still has his passy. With all the teething going on, there were lots of restless nights and naps. So, we hare on passy removal hold. He only gets his cut passy when in the carseat for long trips and his real passy when going to sleep at night.
He LOVES the outside. When I get home from work in the afternoons, I pick him up to give him a hug and then he starts pointing towards the garage. He wants to go outside to play with his toys - and the weather has been beautiful for playing outside as well.
He has found the light switches! When changing his diaper and getting him dressed, he thinks it is the greatest thing now to flip the switch on the lights and fan in his room. This is only switches that he can reach thankfully! And, it is kinda helpful now because it is easier to grease him up after a bath and put his pant/shorts on. But, it does create a challenge when trying to put on his socks and shoes.

Luke's favorite meat - Bologna!

PIZZA!

Look momma - yummy pizza!

This is our Wednesday night suppers since daddy is not hear to cook for us since he is at work!

Luke and Thomas enjoying their 1st of many tailgates together.

This is the look when lots of people are shouting "Luke Thomas Luke Thomas" over and over

Luke with a bulldog (not THE bulldog)

Luke's 1st iced cookie!

Thanks Aunt Amy - you have created a cookie monster!

Luke and Thomas sporting their outfits made by Mom (Mimi's Magic Needle). They are super cute and reversible.

Yay Bulldogs!

Still such a HAPPY kid!

13 Months

2011-08-31T21:00:00.000-05:00

Well, Luke has survived another month! He was 13 months this past Saturday and still can't believe that he is already a year old. So, what's up with Luke at 13 months?

He has finally got his 3rd tooth - it was it first top tooth. It broke through last week while we were in Boston.
He is still just "Furniture" walking. He can stand without holding on but once he realizes that he is not holding on to anything, he goes straight to his knees/bottom on the floor. He will sometimes hold on to your hands and take a few steps, but not often. I am fully confident that he will walk when he is ready and that he is just a stubborn and hard headed as both of his parents.
He is wearing size 12 & 18 month jumpers, 6/9 months in shorts, and 12 months in shirts.
He is wearing a size 3 diaper.
He is still wearing a size 3 in shoes (that is when he wears them).
He weighs about 24 lbs (not real sure because our scales at the house aren't the greatest - I don't believe my weight on it :-) )
His favorite word is "HEY" and likes to yell it quite loudly.
He definitively has his daddy's social skills and is not socially awkward like is momma (according to his daddy).
When he toots on you, he starts laughing - his daddy is teaching him bad habits too early!
On his birthday, we started giving him just a sippy cup (no bottle) and he has not checked up once - never missed it all. He will only drink from sippy cups that have straws but he will drink from the side of your cup at any time.
On his birthday, we also swapped from formula to whole milk completely - and he drinks it better than he did his bottle. He also gets water cups and 1/2 water, 1/2 juice cups during the day. I did not want to start giving him the 1/2 juice this early, but it works best for his digestive system (without the juice, he will break your heart when he has to make a dirty Rebel - Stephen says this is worse than having to hold him while they give him shots at the doctor's office). He also loves Sweet Tea!
This past Monday, we have started the transition from the passy. Instead of just straight up taking it away, we have cut the tip out it. He was not the happiest camper about it on Monday according to Stephen but really has not made to big of a fuss over it. I went into his bedroom last night before going to bed to straighten him up in his bed and he did not have it in his mouth (which it is typically glued to his mouth when he is sleeping). So, we will cut it again next week and then hopefully be passy free in a few weeks!
He loves food! He is going to eat us out of the house! Now that he is just on milk, water, juice and real food, he is eating faster than I can get things ready for him. He will eat an entire hotdog wienie in about 2 minutes and only has 2 teeth that can help him!
His favorite food is bread (yes, just like his momma)! He will scream at you to give him bread and more bread if it is within his sight.
His favorite toy is anything that he can get into his mouth!

Fenway & Plymouth Rock

2011-08-30T21:13:00.000-05:00

Well, Luke got to spend his first vacation in the Boston, MA area. I had to go to Foxboro, MA for 2 weeks of training for work. So, since we were not able to go to the beach this summer and I didn't want to be away from Luke for two weeks, Stephen & Luke went as well. I flew out for Foxboro on Sunday and they flew out on Tuesday from Birmingham. Luke did very well on both of their flights - he slept the first leg from Birmingham to Baltimore and then ate snacks the last leg from Baltimore to Providence, RI. I drove to Providence and picked them up, dropped their clothes off at the hotel, and then went to Fenway to watch the Red Sox play!

The Green Monster!

We got to witness history! They just turned a TRIPLE play - so cool!

There were two couples sitting behind us. Luke kept flirting with the girls then entire time we were there. They just thought he was the cutest thing and could not believe how good he was being! He would stand up and dance (bounce) in my lap when the music was playing and look at the girls to see if they saw him. He would then just grin at them. One of husbands used to work in the club house for the Sox's so when he went to get more beer, he went to the club house to get Luke a souvenir from the game - a baseball! I thought it was extremely nice and cool!

Yes, Stephen and Luke were both in Maroon for the ballgame - Stephen was hoping that Papelbon was going to get to close the game. Little did we know was that he had pitched in the 1st game that afternoon so we did not get to make an appearance in the game. Some smarty pants had to make a comment towards us about Luke's Mississippi State shirt - something like "Mississippi State who?" And then Stephen promptly yells back - "That is where Papelbon played college ball" and then they guy yelled back "Mullen is the Man - You Guys got a good coach." I thought that was kinda funny!

One afternoon I got out of school at 3:30 so we decided to drive down to Plymouth, MA to visit the Mayflower and see Plymouth Rock. When we got to the Mayflower (actually Mayflower II), they wanted $10 a person, including for Luke, to able to get on the boat and take pictures. Well, I was too cheap so we figured we would just walk around the outside and take what pictures we could.

The "wall" they put trying to get you to buy a ticket to see the entire boat.

Stephen and Luke on the pier - such a happy kid!!

Front view of the Mayflower II

Other side of the Mayflower II

Luke & I with the Mayflower II in the back ground.

I was tying to get some picture of Luke with the Mayflower and water in the background but he was not to sure about it - I just wanted to be held.....

Please mommy - hold me ;-(

or just give me my passy and I will be okay.

After the Mayflower, we continued to check out more history. We saw Plymouth Rock!

Bet the pilgrim were shocked to see a rock with the year they landed on shore - how cool

totally disappointed in the size of this rock! I was expecting a "big ole rock!"

After we ate supper, we walked along a stone pier and enjoyed the sunset and awesome weather! Luke had a full tummy and was a happy camper! The photo session in the rocks was a lot better than the grass!

My favorite picture! I order a canvas 8x10 from Canvas People online! LOVE IT!

Luke's "YES" expression!

Well, it is my bedtime - 9:00 pm! So, I will post more on our Boston trip soon!

Luke's 1st Haircut!

2011-08-30T20:33:00.000-05:00

HAHAHAH - I just saw where I never posted this to our blog! He has already had to get another haircut! So two haircuts within 25 days. The boy has a head full of hair that grows fast just like his daddy!

Well, Luke has gotten his first haircut! Aunt Amy (my twin sister for those who don't know her) is a cosmetologist so she of course got to give him his first haircut! Honestly, I not want to cut his hair - I loved the curls!!

But, since I knew it would be while until we would see Aunt Amy again, I let her cut his hair after his birthday party. But bless his little heart, he was not a happy camper! It was 9:30 at night, he was still up and was trying to make a dirty rebel (yes, he still has issues pooping even with drinking juice and solid food). So, Amy and I did whatever we could to make him "not scared". It was priceless! Aunt Amy said that she had never cut anybody hair while they sat in her lap!

Luke's curls! BYE BYE :-(

Mommy's turn to hold him while Aunt Amy cuts the back of his hair.

Look at the BIG BOY haircut - and YAY for making a dirty rebel (yes, I took a picture of him pooping - didn't realize it at the time - Sorry) :-)

The big boy with Aunt Amy!

Luke's 1st Birthday

2011-08-09T20:53:00.000-05:00

On July 30th we had Luke's 1st Birthday party! It was definitely a party! It was a swim party at Jamie & Susanne Lindsey's house in Brewer, MS. We had lots of friends & family show to celebrate this awesome occasion - THANKS!!

Luke's birthday party shirt made by Mimi!

Luke's Birthday Jon Jon also made by Mimi

Luke even had his own personal clown! I love you Gran Gran and so glad that you are able to enjoy these special moments!

Luke's awesome cake (half vanilla & half chocolate cake) made by the awesome Marina!

Luke's cake also made by Marina!

The kids really enjoyed playing on the water slide and swimming in the pool. Aunt Ta (aka Mary Beth - Stephen's sister) took Luke down the slide - or should I say she attempted to take Luke down the slide. Thanks to Aunt Amy (my twin sister) I got see this attempt through pictures. They thought it would be okay if they took him down the water slide for his first time while I was putting on dry clothes - really?? Oh well...

After swim time, it was cheese puff time and then cake time. Cheese puff time and the crown went great.

And let's just say that this part did NOT go as momma had planned! Luke did not like his crown...

Even though Luke did not want to eat his cake - he did think it would be funny if I tried some of his cake. This was the only way I could get him to eat it.... The boy just doesn't know what an awesome cake he is missing, Marina!

After he was calmed down from the cake experience - it was present time! Thanks everyone for all the gifts - he still hasn't gotten to play with all his new toys! The "bigger" kids at the party really thought that Luke got some awesome toys! But of course Luke was the most entertained with all the paper and boxes!

I still can't believe that my baby boy is already 1 year old - he is growing up too fast! I will post on his 1st haircut hopefully tomorrow! Thanks for the few faithful followers :-)

Happy Birthday Day Baby Boy!!

2011-07-27T09:00:00.004-05:00

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY

JACK LUCAS BURKS!

Where has the past year gone? It seems like yesterday when we first found out that we were expecting our little booger! This past year has been such a blessing! I thank God daily for trusting Stephen and I to raise his child. I never knew that I could love someone like I love this little boy. I can't believe how much Luke has grown so quickly through out the past year. Love at first sight..... Below is a quick year in review of some of my favorite pictures of him each month - watch his grow and change so much each month!

Welcome - Jack Lucas Burks!!!

Our 1st Family Picutre

2 days old

My Little Bulldog

On our way home from the hospital - he was such a little feller!

3 weeks old

1 Month Old

2 Months

3 Months - Luke's 1st Halloween. There's nothing scary about this sweet boy!

4 Months - Luke has the best Da-Da-Da! We have been so blessed for Stephen to be able to stay at home with Luke this past year! He is the best dad and husband - he has been a huge help from the moment we knew we were pregnant!

5 Months - Luke's 1st Christmas

Luke's 1st Snow!

6 months

7 Months - this is when Luke actually conquered the act of sitting without tumbling over!

8 Months

9 Months - started crawling and then quickly started pulling himself up to things!

10 Months - wow how he is growing up! In May, is when Luke got 2 teeth!

11 Months!

12 Months - he is getting too big too fast!!!

At 12 months, he is crawling and scooting all over the place. He still only has 2 teeth. He is walking holding onto things, but has yet to take a step without holding on. This past weekend, he started putting his hands on the floor, booty in the air and looking under himself (towards his booty). He thinks this is the funniest thing. His favorite "toy" is anyone's cell phone. He has even started putting it between his ear and shoulder and talking (his version of talking). He loves to clap for himself and wave bye bye! As Stephen says, our kid is such a hoot!!!

We are having is birthday party this week so more fun times ahead! I post pictures soon!

10 & 11 Months

2011-07-07T21:50:00.002-05:00

Wow - it has been a while since I last posted on our blog. If there is still anybody out there following - Thanks! I still can not believe that our baby boy is now 11 months old - will be 1 year in 20 days! WOW - where has the time gone. Now, let's see if we can recap what has taken place over the last 2 months!

Let's see if I can catch you up from where we last left off at 9 months..... Luke has 2 teeth and is loving walking all over the living room while holding on to the furniture! He has not yet taken a step without holding on to anything. But that is just fine - he is hard enough to keep up with his "cralking" (he is crawling with one leg and kinda walking with the other leg - so funny to watch but boy can he really get around like that!).

He still loves to get into the refrigerator EVERYTIME the doors are opened. So, the items on the bottom 2 shelves (the only within his reach at the current moment, but not for long) are "kid friendly". 1000 Island dressing and Chocolate shell sundae topping! He loves to "teeth" on the the topping bottle.

When you catch him on the move, he always has that sweet innocent up to something look in his eyes! It is so precious right now but I just know it only a matter of time before the mischief begins!

He is such a talker and gets intense about it at times! He will sit in the floor for hours and just play and talk with all his toys, socks and remote controls. The socks and the remote controls are by far his favorite toys - starting to wander why I spend money on toys.... He is not really Mommy or Daddy yet but he is making great noises that we tell ourselves are Da-da-da-da-da and Mum-mum-mum-mum.

The weekend before Stephen's 30th birthday, his parents, his sister (MaryBeth), her husband and their little boy Thomas can up for a visit. Poppa is reading "How to Hug a Porcupine" to Luke. They are both very intently focusing on this book. Luke decided that he was done but Poppa said that he could not stop until he knew how to hug the porcupine!

For 4th of July weekend, we went home to Forest to visit with my parents, sisters and all the nieces and nephews. While in Forest, we got to help my twin sister, Amy, with the garden. (The rules are: if you want the veggies, then you got to pick them. She will plant them but you are responsible for picking your share). Well, thankfully, Stephen decided to let me sleep in on Friday morning while they picked the garden. But, this meant that Luke got to go to the garden as well! I did not get any pictures of him looking like a boy covered in mud from garden, but below are pictures of Stephen hosing him done in the sink at Aunt Amy and Uncle Chris's house. And, as you can tell from his facial expressions, he is loving every minute of it!!

Luke enjoying his ear of corn from Aunt Amy's garden - it appears that a 3rd tooth is coming in so this is a great teether :-)

And now Luke has found the bucket of water on Aunt Amy's porch and is having a blast playing in it!

He figured out he could blow bubbles in the bucket of water like him and daddy do in the swimming pool!

While in Forest, we took Luke out on his first boat ride! He was not to sure about the life jacket but loved the boat ride (as long as the boat was moving) and playing in the water with daddy! I think we have ourselves a little fishy - I am just praying that he continues to enjoy the water when he gets older!

Well, I think that gets us up to date for the past 2 months on Luke! I will attempt to do better at blogging a little more often but between trying to exercise, traveling to Boston and Houston for work, and just wanting to spend time with my baby boy, it is hard. Thanks for still checking in on us!

Stephen's Father's Day Card

2011-06-19T09:00:00.003-05:00

Happy Father's Day Stephen! Luke is a lucky boy to have such an awesome daddy! Thank you for being so great with him! Sorry I wont' be here to spend Father's Day with ya'll!

Happy Day Cocoa Father's Day 5x7 folded card

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Grandaddy & Pa's Father's Day Cards

2011-06-19T08:55:00.002-05:00

Dad Collage Navy Father's Day 5x7 folded card

Find unique birthday and Valentine's cards at Shutterfly.

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Baby Food

2011-05-22T18:47:00.000-05:00

Well, we are still making our own baby food. This month it was...

Fresh Blueberries

Blueberries ready for freezing

Zucchini (spelling?)

Squash

Squash & Zucchini ready for freezing

Green Peas also ready for freezing.

We also did carrots, sweet potatoes, green bean, broccoli and cauliflower. For his fruits, we are adding Kiwi to mix this month! So far Luke is loving it all - he has yet to refuse a food. Hopefully he is not going to be a picky eater like his mommy! And now I will leave you with Luke enjoying his Blueberries!

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T07:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Day Mint Mother's Day 5x7 folded card

Find unique Mother's Day cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Luke and Thomas Meet

2011-05-07T18:50:00.000-05:00

Mary Beth, Michael, and Thomas finally made there 1st trip to Mississippi. This was the first time that Stephen has gotten to see his nephew and the first time Luke has gotten to meet his cousin - Thomas! It was also the first time that Nanny & Pa (Stephen's grandparents) got to see them both together. Nanny refused to let Pa hold one of them!

Since Grammy & Poppa (Stephen's parents) gave them their Easter buckets, we took pictures of the "boys" in their Easter outfits with their buckets! Poor kids - they didn't know who to look at for the pictures! There was about 9 adults yelling at them and trying to get them to smile at the many cameras!

Thomas said he has had enough!

Is it supper time yet?

Luke got to enough some good Aunt Tay (Mary Beth) time while some one else was keeping Thomas entertained.

Aunt Tay is "sharing" her water with Luke!

For what ever reason, he insisted on putting the whole top of the bottle in his mouth to drink out of it!

Cousin Thomas enjoying some tummy time on Nanny's lap!

Aunt Tay and Uncle Tator reviewing the pictures from the Easter photo session to ensure atleast 1 good picture

We enjoyed getting to visit with them and look forward to them moving home this summer! I am sure there are lots of posts to come about these 2 getting into lots of trouble together!

9 Months Update (it's only 1 week late :))

2011-05-07T18:20:00.000-05:00

Well, we have survived 9 months! I can't believe it - time is moving very quickly and Luke is changing. He is really on the move now. He has his own version of crawling! He is grabbing on things to pull himself up. He loves standing up & holding onto the coffee table while we are eating supper. (Yes, we eat supper in the living room on the coffee table.)

But, he has not really learned how to sit down or let go yet. When he is standing and gets tired of it, he just screams until we come and sit him down. Teeth update: Still none! Stephen says that he has decided to go through life gumming things :)

Luke had a great first Easter! He got to attend his 1st Hunt at Brewer United Methodist church.

But daddy, I can't find any eggs

Can I put the this piece of grass in the bucket?

He was not to sure about putting the egg in the bucket.

He woke up at 3:30 on Easter Sunday morning and was ready to play! Finally at 5:00 am he decided he would go back to sleep - just in time for me to have to get in the shower.

We had to leave the house at 6 to be at the Sunrise service in Booneville @ 7, Breakfast at the church @ 8, Sunday School @ 9 and then the Easter Contada (don't have a clue how to really spell that) at 10. The poor ladies in the nursery had their hands full with Luke - he was not a happy boy - so tired! They wanted to know what we did to "their" sweet boy?! But, when we got home, he was back to his happy self so we got some cute pictures.

Thanks Grammy & Poppa for my awesome Easter Bucket.
Thanks Mimi for making the cutest kid in their Easter outfit!

This Hot in April?

2011-04-11T18:44:00.000-05:00

Wow - Luke says, if it is already this hot in April, how hot is it going to be in August? His hair is a hot mess because of sunscreen that I tried to put on his head :). The pics below are from the 1st Weekend in April while we were at Aunt Amy & Uncle Chris's house having a garage sale.

But, thanks to Granddaddy (Luke's Great Granddaddy), he can be "cool" riding in his new toy!

It is the Disney Winnie the Pooh 4-in-1 Rock and Ride. With four stages, it can be used as a safety walker or rocker (a curved board comes with it to add to the bottom), go-as-you-please waker (with a seat back handle and finally a fun-filled ride-on - you can remove the safety shield from around the top and the he can steer it. He loves it! It also has buttons on the inside on the front that make all kinds of noises. Yes, Luke is still in his jammies in this picture :-)

This past weekend was Luke's 1st Super Bulldog Weekend! He got to attend his first baseball game - too bad we got kicked my Florida! But Luke still enjoyed himself - he got to visit with his Mimi and Grammy!

But, I think that he enjoyed his stick from Aunt Amy the most!

What's New @ 8 Months?

2011-03-28T20:49:00.000-05:00

Well, there is not really not much new since the 7 month update. But, there are few things:

WEIGHT - It is not question when you look at him to know that he loves to eat. He is just a chuck but a happy, handsome, adorable boy!

SLEEPING - yes, this has changed so for him over the last month but mainly the last week. As I have mentioned before, Luke has been a great sleeper and has been sleeping through the night since he was a few weeks old. But the last month, things have changed and not really sure as to why. It started a few weeks ago when he refused to let us put him down in his crib awake. We would get him to go to sleep in our arms or laying down in our bed and then just have to transfer him to his bed once he was asleep. Then, he wasn't having any part of any of that! He was not going to sleep either way unless he just stayed in our bed. We continue to try each night to put him in his bed and let him go to sleep and then when I couldn't handle it anymore, we would let him fall asleep with me. Well, last week, he finally started going back to sleep in his bed but waking up between 1:30 and 2:30 every morning ready to play until about 4:15 (about 15 mins before my alarm would go off for work :-)) and then sack out in our bed. Then he started sneezing, coughing, and wheezing so I am thinking that is what was waking him - he sounds so bad when he coughs! I just breaks my heart because I know he is sick (sinuses) and there is nothing I can do to help! So for now, we are doing what we can to get him to sleep and help him sleep comfortably.
CRAWLING?? Well, maybe not exactly crawling on hands and knees but definitely using his tummy, arms, and right leg to get around now. It is so funny. Below are some clips from him this afternoon (yes, those are his jammies from LAST night!!!) (the clips below are in order - It would not load in one clip so i had to break it down into several clips.....)

No changes on:

TEETH: Still no teeth :( but I think that he is getting dangerous close. He is drooling so much and is chewing on the side of his passy alot more.
Being the so stinking cute!! I love this kid!

Peas, Sweet Potatoes, Avocados and Abe

2011-03-24T20:29:00.000-05:00

Well, Stephen and I have decided to try out the making our baby food! We are starting small and going to see how things go and go from there. We are currently feeding him just the Gerber 1st Stage foods and he is loving it. For the most part, they are still very good for him. But, you know me, I want to make sure my baby has the best when possible. With doing our own baby food, it is more likely that he will be get more nutrients and vitamins, instead of fillers and water. So far, Stephen has fed him fresh bananas and avocados and Luke ate them just like any of this other baby food. Tonight we cook fresh (frozen from last summer) lady peas from my sisters garden and sweet potatoes. We also cut of some avocados.

We are freezing the avocados in slices. We pureed the sweet potatoes and the peas. We only had to add a little bit of water to the sweet potatoes (none to the peas). After they were pureed, Stephen put them into ice cube trays and into the freezer. In about an hour, we have prepared 30 meals for our little feller - this is 15 days worth of food! Not bad for an hours work in my opinion :-)

And now for Abe!!! On January 5, 2011, Abraham Thomas Gurner blessed us with his presence. Abe is the son of Chris and Marilyn Gurner. Chris and Stephen already get in a lot of "trouble" together and it is only a matter of time before Luke and Abe join them. Friday's is going to be boys day for them - Chris is off on Fridays so has been play day for the 2 big boys since Marilyn and I are working. Abe is such a sweet, lovable, handsome boy. Below are pics of them together from the softball field this past weekend....

Abe chillin at the softball field

Sweet boys!!!

O Boy - I see another passy!

Of course, Luke was not happy on his blanket with all the toys - he still wanted Abe and his passy

Momma, I'm gonna get um......

7 Months Old Already?

2011-02-28T21:38:00.001-06:00

Yep, Luke is already 7 months old! He is really enjoying his sitting up playing with his toys and entertaining himself. I think that his daddy is enjoying it too - seems like Stephen is playing a lot more XBox360 during day!

The week of February 14th, I had to leave this sweet little face for 8 days to go to training for work in Houston, Texas. I was not prepared for how hard it was going to be. But, I only cried one time and that was when I was leaving him at the airport in Tupelo. Thankfully, I have a wonderful husband and knew he was in great hands. Stephen took lots of pictures and sent them to me on my Android and I even got to see him in video chat a few times while in Houston. I think Luke was starting to think I was living inside of the black box (Stephen's cell phone).

I finished with class on Friday and then drove to Dallas - Ft.Worth on Saturday to visit Mary Beth and Michael (Stephen's sister and husband for those of you who don't know her) and their new arrival - Thomas Edward Ketchum. He arrived on February 11, 2011 at 7 lbs 15 oz and 23.5 inches long (I think those are his right measurements). He is a sweet little boy and looks just like his daddy!

Luke went for his 6 month check on February 15th. He was 16 lbs 2 oz and 26 inches long. The doctor said that all looked good!

Now that he is sitting up and trying to feed himself some, we decided to start giving him some rice mum-yum snacks. Boy, does he like them!!

He even let Reeses clean off his hands when he got finished - it for sure won't be long till Reeses decides that she likes Luke. He sure does like her - he squeals when he sees her and his jabber goes up a notch when he is "talking" to her.

Luke is starting to "try" to crawl. He just can't figure out how to get moving besides spinning in a circle on his tummy! When he starts to move, he just straightens his legs and tries to push with his tip toes. It is so cute until he gets frustrated. Once he figures out to get those knees down and under him, I think he will be off to the races - I don't think I am ready for that yet! He is growing up too fast!

Well, off to bed! Will post later about Luke and his cousin Martin!

Fresh Fruit!

2011-02-12T19:11:00.000-06:00

Well, today was another first! I got this awesome fruit holder as one of Luke's baby gifts. The green handle has a slot filled with water to put in the freezer and on the bottom part of the blue ring is a net. You put any fresh fruit in the net and then attach the green handle to it. A tasty little treat for his afternoon snack! Today was our attempt at giving it to Luke - surprisingly, he did pretty good - especially when I was holding it for him to chew. We are going to have to work on this independent eating and drinking thing.....

Then, I tried to add the sippy cup - as usual, that did not go well! Look at that said face.....

Well, that's it for the Luke updates for atleast a week. I leave tomorrow for training in Houston, TX for a week and the to spend the weekend in Dallas with Mary Beth, Michael and Thomas Ketchum! Yes, Thomas has arrived! He arrive last night 7 lbs 15.5 oz and 22 inches long - perfectly heathly! Mary Beth is doing well! Please keep us in ya'll prayers this week as this is the first time I have spent a night away from Luke, much less 8 nights!!! Also keep Stephen in your prayers as he will be Mr. Mom all day and night for the next 8 days!!! Gosh, I'm gonna miss this cute little fellar!!!

Thanks Shutterfly for Our 2010 Christmas Cards

2011-02-12T17:56:00.000-06:00

Hahaha!! I saw in our Edit Post section, that this blog never got posted! A way belated THANKS to Shutterfly for our 50 FREE folded Christmas Card!!!

As most you may remember, I posted a few weeks ago about Shutterfly offer 50 free christmas card to bloggers. Well, they actually came through with the promise. I was able to pick any 5x7 greeting card that I wanted, order 50 of them and only pay the shipping and handling! I think that our cards turned out so precious - but what else would i suspect - it has several pictures of our sweet little Luke on it :).

Conquering the Art of Sitting Up

2011-02-11T12:59:00.000-06:00

Well Luke does not have teeth yet and still hates to be on his tummy so therefore not crawling yet but he does like sitting up and playing with his toys! Over the last few weeks, he has been working real hard to stay sitting up when sat up. When laying in our bed on the pillows (slightly inclined) or sitting in his bouncy seat, he will pull himself up. Today we decided to set him on an old comforter on the hardwood floor in the living room. We placed a lot of his toys around him and he has been so content for the past hour! Isn't he just precious?!

We are now working on learning to drink from a sippy cup! So far, no luck because he refuses to hold his own drink. But, I will keep ya'll posted on the progress!

Today, we are awaiting the arrival of cousin Thomas! Thomas Edward Ketchum is scheduled to be here as some point today - proud parents are Mary Beth and Michael Ketchum!

6 Months Old

2011-02-01T20:10:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it, but my baby boy turned 6 months old last Thursday! The time has flown by - he is growing and changing so much each and every day! Mom can't keep me outfits for him to wear - when she makes something, he gets to wear it once before it is too short! So far, it looks like he is not going to be a shorty like his mommy! But, he still has those beautiful blue eyes that he got from his mommy! His hair has really lightened up to a light brown but is starting to curl on the top like his daddy's did when he was a little boy.

He is such a happy baby and has the most enjoyable personality! He loves to laugh at loud when you talk to him and when you tickle him on his chest! Such a cute little giggle! But when he sees Reese's, he just squeals! He loves for her to give him kisses. I am sure it will not be long before he is grabbing her ears and making her squeal! Reese's has already figured out where he eats and is sitting beside him on the floor as we feed him his baby food and cereal.

He is still not crazy about tummy time. He has gotten better but refuses to roll from his tummy to his back, even though this is how he started rolling! His favorite game is to lay him down on his activity gym face up, within a minute, roll to his tummy, stay there for a few minutes, scream until someone rolls him back over to his back, and then start all over again! But, he loves to stand up while you are holding him - I am worried that he may try to walk before crawling...... Time will tell! He is also really enjoying his Jumperoo - he is just long enough so that his tippy toes touch the ground. It won't be long before he is jumping up a storm. Well, it is time for some Luke and Mommy cuddle time - my favorite time of the day!!!

(Oh, he loved the icing from our Birthday cake!!)

Shutterfly is Doing What?? 50 Free For Bloggers??

2010-12-06T20:16:00.001-06:00

For the last few years, we have used Shutterfly for different things. We've always been very pleased with the results and the prices. In addition to using Shutterfly for Christmas cards, Stephen’s aunt makes calendars each year using their templates. After Luke was born, I decided capture all of the pictures from his 1^st month into a photo book. I used the book just as if I was making a scrapbook – with captions and all. It was so much easier using Shutterfly for this “scrapbook” than having to find the time to do one myself. With a newborn, my time was better spent with him and making the photo book. I'm excited about creating a Christmas card this year with Shutterfly because I will get to have Christmas card with our handsome fellar – Luke! I am sure we will use their products to document his growth throughout his life and as gifts for grandparents!

This year, as always, they have lots of new cards to choose from! The styles range from simple to elegant to cute! You are sure to find something that fits your family! There is even a promotion for bloggers--hence the reason I'm writing this blog! If you blog about Shutterfly's Christmas/Holiday cards, you can get a promo card for 50 free cards!! Check out Shutterfly's website to see what they have to offer. Here are three of my favorite things:

Use Shutterfly for Christmas Cards!!!!

http://shutterfly.com/

I am thrilled about Shutterfly's offer to bloggers...50 FREE CHRISTMAS CARDS!
Bloggers Check It Out HERE

Luke - 4 Months Old

2010-12-06T19:54:00.000-06:00

Wow - I can't believe that Luke is almost 4.5 months old!! Each day with him is such a blessing. I wake up every morning and can't wait till I get dressed so that I go into his room, kiss him on the check to, tell him and I love him but then have to follow with be good for daddy!! Then, I find myself looking at my clock bout 3:30 and ready to leave the plant to come home and give him another kiss!

Last Thursday, Stephen took him for his 4 month checkup. He weighed 13 lbs 12 oz and is 24.5 inches long. Stephen that Luke was the only one that cried this time :).

At the doctor's visit, she told us to start him on cereal. So, we tired...

It did not go very well - he opened his mouth for the spoon, but didn't know what to do with the cereal inside his mouth. So, he just screamed and demanded the bottle and he got what he wanted. We said that we would try again the next night. He is getting better but still doesn't really know what do - and if one more person tells me to put it in his bottle, I may scream :) We are trying to teach him to eat from the spoon, not just to eat cereal because as you can tell - he's a chunk with just his formula. Well, off to Luke's favorite time of the night - bath time and then cuddle time with Mommy :). I'll to post again soon!

Tummy Time

2010-10-09T17:09:00.000-05:00

Well, today I tried to spend some tummy time with Luke! He was okay for few mins and then just got frustrated! But, he did stay down there long enough for me to get some good pics! He is laying on his surf board and suppose to be looking at the fish!

After he got upset during tummy time, I put him in his swing and within mins all his worries were gone and I had my happy baby back!

I'm so in love with this lil feller! He's my buddy!

Luke - 10 wks

2010-10-08T15:40:00.001-05:00

Wow, it's hard to believe that Luke is already 10 weeks old! It seems like it took forever for him to get her and now time is flying by now that he is here!

Last week he had his two month checkup. He is 10 lbs 10 oz and 22.5 inches long! Doc says he is growing good and healthy. At the checkup, he got his first round of shots. Poor daddy had to take him! Stephen said that Luke did great and didn't stay upset long :)

Luke is loving his bath time, swinging, being talked to, and his Daddy! (Yes, I'm a little jealous). He just smiles and cooies (don't know the spelling of that) when you talk to him! He loves to be on the move and move his arms and legs! He is not enjoying tummy time though - I think it's because he can't see :). But, his daddy says he is working with him each day.

Below are some recent pics!

Luke enjoying his first Mississippi State Ballgame! He slept for the first 3 quarters and then ate his bottle the 4th quarter!

Laughing at his daddy!

My big boy in his first polo outfit!

Loving Some Bulldog Tailgating!!

2010-09-05T04:57:00.013-05:00

Luke's first trip to Starkville for Mississippi State Bulldog tailgating! He had a great day and was such a happy baby all day! (more pics & post to come later)

Dont worry, Mimi's gonna fix my shorts - she said it's hard to make me shorts 3 hours away when she hasn't seen me in a few weeks! Aunt Ta (Mary Beth) says that I look like a muscle man!

Cowbells ringing - music to my ears - it makes me wanna dance!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-01T19:03:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Pa!!

2010-08-29T13:31:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we went to Columbus to celebrate Pa's 83rd Birthday (Stephen's grand-daddy).

Below is the birthday boy with Luke and all the men (excluding Michael):

And now for the birthday boy with all his ladies (excluding Mary Beth):

While in Columbus, Luke got to get some "Love Kicks" from his cousin Martin while snuggling with Becca. Luke was napping but Martin thought it was play time. We can't wait till Baby Martin makes his arrival in September!!

Luke Meets His 1st Cousins

2010-08-29T12:38:00.000-05:00

Luke has gotten to meet all of his first cousins. My oldest sister, Kristin, has 3 kids: Elizabeth, Corban, and Joshua. They live in New Orleans, LA. Elizabeth and Corban just loved holding and kissing all over Luke. Joshua was a little unsure. He like Luke as long as Kristin was holding him but was not up for any pictures with Luke. Corban was so excited the day they came up to meet Luke that he told his class during share time that he was going to meet his cousin Luke.

The next oldest sister, Ronda, has 2 kids: Madeline and Katie Ann. They live in Rockledge, FL. Madeline has been ready to see like since she knew that I was pregnant. Ronda told her that when Luke was born, they were getting to come back to Mississippi to visit so she has been sitting on go since February! When we had the 3D sonogram, Ronda asked her if she wanted to see what Luke looked like and she quickly responded with No because she already knew what he looked like. She said he was that baby on the Pampers Blue Jean Cruiser commercial. Every time that commercial came on the TV, they had to stop what they were doing and watch Luke on the commercial!

Luke will get meet his other first cousin in 2011 when Baby K (Mary Beth and Michael's baby - Stephen's sister) makes his/her presence.

I can't wait till Christmas when Luke is a little older and they all get to start playing together. Fun times ahead.....

Just a Swinging

2010-08-24T21:17:00.002-05:00

Luke swinging after a nice bath & 4 oz bottle.

Luke's First Bath!

2010-08-24T19:14:00.003-05:00

Luke actually enjoyed his first bath in his Whale of a Tub! He did not cry until we got him out of the tub :)

Our Sweet Little Boy

2010-08-24T18:36:00.009-05:00

Below are some sweet little pictures of our little boy:

Luke with Poppy:

Luke with Poppa:

4 Generations of Burks Men:

Luke with his Granddaddy (Great Granddad on Jones side):

Luke with his Pa (Great Granddad on Burks side):

We are obviously better at Facebook than Blogging......moving on

2010-08-24T16:53:00.013-05:00

Well it is official we have got our little fella home and into a semi routine. We went to the Ped yesterday and the little chunk had gained 1lb 4oz he is up to 7lbs 15 1/2oz it is amazing what happens when you feed them regularly. We appreciate all your thoughts and prayers while we were figuring out the feeding thing and a big thanks to family for all your help and your understanding when we had to send everyone home and have some time for us.

We are living on a 3-4 hr schedule and lovin it. Luke is growing to fast already. If anyone was wondering Ash and I are doing well also.

As I am typing this I am trying to remember what else has happened since our last post but the last 4 wks have been such a blur it is honestly hard to remember anything before that. Ash is still at Tronox she has switched jobs in house to a new position working with DCS which is the computer system they use at the plant and that is all I know. I am still at Calvary in glorious Boone-Vegas and am looking forward to a new year hanging our with students. For whatever reason I am running 3 times a week so there is that. We both turned 29 this year and celebrated 5 wonderful years of marriage this past August. So we held to our 5yr deal that we were going to wait and in our 5th yr we were going to start on kids so we are a little early on that but close enough.

Sooo that is us in a nutshell for the past 7 months and we will now slip off into another black hole till prob Feb givin that Dove, Deer, Rabbit, Turkey, and oh Football seasons are coming up. Ash gets to have our little buddy at football this yr but me, I gotta wait a couple years but as soon as I can get my little huntin buddy cleared for action we are gonna be off!

Soooo yeah it is February

2010-02-10T13:59:00.002-06:00

Wow it does not seem like it has been 6 months since we were last updating this thing but i guess it has been. Well I guess if we do it more often then there won't be so much to talk about at once. Anywho, if you haven't heard or noticed the countdown to BB's arrival at the top of the page Ash is pregnant with our first we are expecting BB to be here July 28th. She (Ash) is currently 16 wks and it has been pretty uneventful up to this point. Luckily she has had no nausea or morning sickness just some acid reflux and wanting to sleep A Lot! According to the now famous e-mails we get each week the baby is now the size of an avocado (ummmmm guacamole). We are hoping to find out the flavor next month which will be the first of March. The Doc said last visit the baby wouldn't sit still long enough for him to check the heartbeat that BB was "an active little booger" and I though GREEEAAATTT. We are pretty sure about names already but these are not in stone but don't steal them either Lillie Dawn for a girl and Jack Lucas for a boy. So that is about all that is going on in our world right now sooooo maybe it won't be another 6 months till next time.

Home again! Home again!

2009-07-13T17:55:00.018-05:00

Well it has been a long time it seems like since we have been home. We have been on two trips since we last blogged.

The first of which was summer camp with our students. This was really kinda fun for me also Because I got to meet up with a lot of guys from Seminary and their student ministeries. The camp was FANTASTIC I enjoyed myself very much as did my students. One of the "funnest" parts of the trips for both the girls and guys was the Blobbing. (As you can expect, Stephen became very popular very quick! Everyone wanted the "fat guy" to be behind them :)) There were however some casualties of the week. We took 6 students and hurt 3 so I think that is a 50% rate for anyone keepin score. I had one fall and scartch her face up pretty bad during a relay race. Then another student tore the cvast majority of the bottom of his big toe off playing basketball in the pool. To top things off my only incoming 7th grader broke his arm on the last day of camp so we took an unexpected tour of the Emergency Room in Paducha KY. AWESOME!!!!

The second trip we just got back from was Cajamarca, Peru. We took a team from our church and met a team from Fellowship Baptist in Batesville, Ar. We flew out of Little Rock on the 1st of July and landed in Lima then took a 2nd flight to Cajamarca on the 2nd. The facilities we stayed in was nothing less than fan-stinkin-tastic. It was great for 1st timers but also bad cause nothing else on a mission trip will be that nice. The man who runs the place, Larry Johnson, said his philosophy was if he keeps you feed good and a good place to sleep the short term folks work harder. Well he did and I hope we did. The 10 days were filled with passport checks, donkey tastings, VBS, market shopping, and of course futbol. The first 2 days were spent doing odds and ends work at the school linked with the local church and VBS. Then we took the first of our two trips the the market in which we were given money and family lists and got to buy food for needy families that we delivered that afternoon. If we did real well with our prices we could buy extras like candy and cheese for the families. Sunday we went to a church service and then that afternoon we did a hot dog (calor pero thanks Celso) roast for kids at an orphanage complete with marshmellows and ice cream. Monday we went back to the market and I wish I could say I did better but I didn't (should have listened to Ash). Delivered those groc. and went home. That left us with 2 full days of VBS with A LOT of Peruvian children. Tues. afternoon we ended up just given everything extra we had away and playing with the children. Then it was up eary Thurs. to catch a flight back to Lima. We had some time in Lima to go to the Indian Market where I FINALLY found a Peru Jersey that was Doce eche cele (sp?) which yes mean XXL. We then had a great dinner of Argentinan Beef which was different but good. Finally home again home again jiggity jog.

THANKFULLY we have nothing for the next few weekends. We are looking forward to a baby shower for Grabba and Jess and Thomas's party for his 1st Birthday.

Peru Mission Trip

2009-07-03T12:02:00.004-05:00

Buenos dias mi famalia y amigos. We are currently in Cajamarca, Peru having a great time. We have had one VBS session at the school and done a little work at the school and saw the new medical center that is currently under construction. Sorry this one is kinda short but just givin a brief update on what is going on. Below is a link to the blog for the Miracle Village you can check on the team there also and hopefully we will have a link to some pics either here or on our Facebook soon.

Hasta Luego
Stephen & Ashley

http://www.miraclevillage.blogspot.com/

link to pics

Peru Mission Trip

More Peru

It is summer already...what?

2009-05-28T13:21:00.004-05:00

Ok so here is the quick look at what we have been doin since you last heard from us. Snow was the last thing significant in our lives evidently and that was a couple months ago and I am gonna try to remeber everything and forcast a little. Here we go....

April went by without a hitch. May is barrelling on through and summer is getting started. We are spent Memorial Day weekend on a tour of La. We spent some time in Monterey at Cj's lake house, some time in Natchez at Ro's camphouse, and finally went to a ballet recital in Norco for our neice.

This week we are having VBS at the church. Then at the begining of June we will be taking our students to Harden, KY for summer camp we will be back for a bit only to get on a plane for Peru in early July. Then in August we will be meeting our other MattnNat (the ones we don't work with) for a weekend retreat with their students and there is even some talk of returning to Monterey to buy furniture before summer is over so we will try to keep you posted

We Got Snow!

2009-03-16T19:18:00.004-05:00

Yes, a few weeks ago - We got Snow in Saltillo! It was beautiful! Everyone gets to share their stories of how their kids reacted to the snow - but we get to share how the dogs reacted! This was the first time that either dog has seen snow. It was a Sunday morning and Brotherhood at the church so Stephen was up earlier than me. He got up and got dressed and then tired to put the dogs outside to go potty before he left. When he opened the door to let them out, they both immediately we outside. But before Stephen could even shut the door, Rolo bolted back inside. She ran into our room and hide under the bed and was just a whining. Reese's just stood on the patio and looked. When Rolo would not come from under the bed, Stephen let Reese's back inside. He came into the bedroom and told me that they were mine - he had to go to Church. Knowing the "girls" had to go potty and not wanting our bedroom to smell like pee, I got up and attempted to get them to go outside. When I opened the door, Reese's went outside. Rolo came out from under the bed, still whining, and jumped on the bed. I had to go pick her up and tote her outside. She was shaking and whining the whole time. When I got them outside, I just shut the door and hide till they went potty. Finally Reese's walked over to her normal spot and Rolo just backed her butt off the patio and pottied! It was so funny - I wish I had a picture but I was laughing so hard that I forgot to get a pic! Below are pictures of the house & yard from the snow. It was very pretty and all gone before Stephen got home from Church!

Barbie Cake

2009-02-23T18:57:00.006-06:00

Well, folks - I know that it has been forever since I posted and there is so much more that I could be sharing with all of you like: Jones' Christmas, Stephen's Trip to Yemen, Ashley's work filing Bankruptcy, DNOW with Calvary, etc. These past several months have been very busy for us. But, I will do my best to post some pictures from Jones Christmas soon. It is so much fun at Christmas with nieces and nephews!

Anyways - back to this post. I wanted to share with y'all the Birthday cake that I made this weekend. Amy Webb, one of the girls that I work with at the plant had a birthday last week. Things were so horrible at work that we were not able to take her out to celebrate over lunch. So, we decided last Friday that we would just bring the birthday party to the plant today. (Taking people out for their birthday is tradition at the plant - we like all the opportunities to get away for lunch that we can think of.) Well, Amy is by no means a "girly" type girl. She was the girl that would burn Barbie's with a hair dryer going up. But, it was decided that we would surprise her with a Barbie Cake for her birthday cake anyways! She has a great sense of humor and we knew that she would appreciate us trying to make things fun. Therefore, I got voted to make a cake (everyone else said that they would just go buy one and I just couldn't have that). And it was so much FUN making it! This was my first time every to make this cake - I have heard about how easy it is to make the Barbie cake with the Pampered Chef Batter Bowl but never tried had a reason to try it. It was actually very relaxing and stress free for me! And we all know that is not normal for Ashley! :) But, none the less, it was great and Amy truly appreciated and enjoyed it. I have made a collage below of the pictures from the process.

Happy Valentines Day Baby!!!!

2009-02-14T14:29:00.003-06:00

This is a post to let all you folks know that I have the bestest wife in the entire world. There is not a day that goes by that I am thankful for her being my wife. I love her more and more everyday and can't wait to spend the rest of my life with her. Ya'll just wish you had a wife as hot and smart as mine. So go on and be jealous. Love you baby.

Stephen Burks

Jones Christmas 2008

2009-01-30T14:05:00.009-06:00

Yes, I know - I am a little late posting this post. The past few months has been very busy for the Burks house! But hopefully, I will get everyone caught up with everything THE Burks have been doing over the last 3 months. (With this family, you just have to snap pictures when most are Happy & Looking!)

Jones Christmas was celebrated over New Year's this year. This was the first week that Ronda and our new niece, Katie Ann, were going to be able to travel. We all meet at Mom & Dad's house in Forest, MS. Kristin (Kiki), Ken, Elizabeth, Corban, and Joshua traveled from New Orleans, LA. Ronda, Jason, Madeline, Katie Ann, and Tank (the Rottweiler) traveled from Orlando, Fl. Amy and Chris just journeyed on over from good ole Lake, MS (about 10 mins from Mom & Dad's). Jones Christmas is always entertaining! This year, there was presents galore! Suppposedly everyone was cutting back, but there were some presents in the room that there was not a place to sit! There were lots of Barbie's, cloths, trucks, a MSU cheerleader outfit, MSU football uniforms, 2 battery powered drum sets, 2 quitars, Snuggy blankets, GPS systems, etc.

One of the best presents of all, was the picture that Kiki gave Grandaddy. She transposed a picture of Granddaddy giving a flag to a high student to make it look that Granddaddy and Obama were exchanging flags! It was so funny!!!

One of the best things about Jones Christmas is being with my sisters! We just don't ever get to all 4 hang out any more. But when we do, we do try and make the best of it. After all the kids had finally gone to sleep, we finally got to play a little bit of Rock Band! And some how there was a camera war in the middle of the songs between Kiki and Ronda!

Last but not least, I will leave you with the Faces of Jones Christmas!!! You never know when there will be camera in ya face!

Oh, The Faces of Burks Christmas!!

2008-12-29T21:01:00.005-06:00

From Drop Box

Oh, yeah - we can't forget to mention that Ashley got Rock Band 2 for Christmas and how much fun we had on Christmas day playing! Between Mary Beth singing, Becca playing the drums, Stephen on Lead guitar and the others of us swapping turns on bass guitar, occasionaly drums and singing.... I wish so bad that we had a video clip to post of that adventure. But, we don't so just enjoy the pictures :)

From Drop Box

Burks Bumpin Christmas

2008-12-29T19:57:00.005-06:00

Well for all of you who follow this blog I have to let you know up front this is not Ashley it is Stephen. Yes I feel since my family is responsable for Burks Bumpin Christmas I need to be the one who tells the story. So anywho christmas started as usual way to early in the morning at 9 with breakfast at Nanny and Pa's house. After way to much food we cleared out the card tables that we "children" sat at and congregated in the living room to pass out presents. This is when the crazyness began. (sorry had to pause for an M&M break) So here we are the Burks, Burks JR, Bentons, and Ketchums all there for the christmas presents. As always Marbeth was Santa (the person who hands out presents) and comensed to givin out the goods. At some point someone of the older generation of our family (40+) asked for bumps on a good present. Now "bumps" are known as different things by different people. They are also know as daps, pounds, or the one we choose fist bumps shortened to bumps. It was kinda funny but the entire family errupted into laughter to the point of bursting abs, gut, stomachs, and otherwise peeing on ourselves when Pa the grandaddy of this bunch asked for bumps. Why was this so funny I don't know but it was. So from that point forward everyone was asking for bumps on good presents Pa wanted bumps from Daddy, Cindy wanted them from Dad, air bumps were given by people across the room and of course Ta (as in Fat-Ta aka Marbeth) has to go and complicate things by adding the blowing it up after the bump. It all cullminated when Pa asked for bumps from Nanny and we had to explain bumps between married folks was a whole new Ball Game. This was our Christmas it kept us in stitches hope you enjoyed it also.

From Drop Box

the Jones Family Grows Again

2008-12-11T18:39:00.005-06:00

Congrats Ronda & Jason Henderson and Big Sister Madeline!!

Here is the latest addition to the Henderson family, Katie Ann Marie. God blessed them with a healthy little girl on November 28, 2008. Katie Ann was 7 lbs. and 10 oz., 21 inches long. Her big sister Madeline, 3 1/2 yrs, is extremely excited.

Madeline is finally getting use to having a baby sister around. She does not like to have to share her mommy! Mom went down to Florida on the Wednesday before Katie Anne was born to spend Thanksgiving with them. While mom was down there, Madeline did tell Mimi (that is what she calls my mom) that she could take Katie Ann while mommy played with her. But, I talked to Ronda today and she said that Madeline is learing to share a little bet better.

Thanksgiving in Forest

2008-12-02T20:06:00.006-06:00

This year was the year to spend Thanksgiving in Forest. It was alot different than most Thanksgiving in Forest. Instead of having lunch on Thursday at the house, Stephen and I help dad set up and serve Thanksgiving Lunch at the Methodist Church. We fixed take out lunch for all the city employees who had to work the holidays, people in the hospital and nursing home, in-mates, and some shut-ins there in Forest. We served lunch at the church for everyone. We probably served about 300 people. This event began about 4 years ago when a specific father's daughter had to serve time in the city jail. He wanted his daughter to still enjoy a Thanksgiving lunch. He donated the Turkey, Ham and gave $1000 to provide a Thanksgiving to not only his daughter and but also the others within the city that would also not having the opportunity to enjoy a nice Thanksgiving lunch. Below are some of the pictures from the event at the church. These pics were taken by Stephen with our new camera!!!!

After lunch at the church, we hung out with Amy (my twin) and Chris (her husband) at their house in Lake, MS. Below are some pics of them along with thier dogs - yes friends, she loves all of her doggies just like I love my Reeses and Rolo! We also got to go hunting with them. Stephen and I attempted to take pictures of us in the shooting house. Amy did kill a deer but I only killed time but it was killing time with my hubby!

iPhone and Suprising Husband

2008-11-15T10:21:00.003-06:00

Oh, my! I know it has been forever since I have updated our blog. But my friends, I think I have found something that will make updating easier! I am currently updating from my iPhone.
Stephen tried to suprise me with it Wednesday of this week! I say tried because AT&T sent me an email at work right after he bought the phone because I am the authorized user of the account. He got so mad because feels like he is never successful at suprising me! I tried to tell him that I was suprised but he was still mad about the email. But I still have the greastest husband every! How many of you have such an awesome phone all because of your husband?

Oh, and to add to his suprising, he has also purchased me a phat camera. It is a cannon digital SLR with 4 lenses. That should be here first of next week. I'll keep you posted on it's coolness as well. :)

Trunk Show for Mom's Business - RAGALAK Designs

2008-10-01T19:39:00.008-05:00

Everyone is invited to a.....

This the sewing business that my Mom and Mr. Bill Rigby of Forest have started - Even my daddy is helping them with some sewing!

Visit their blog for more pictures of their work:

Email me at the follwoing address if you plan on coming or need directions:
Ashley.Burks@tronox.com

Look forward to seeing all of you :)

Sea World in Orlando, FL

2008-08-17T17:50:00.004-05:00

On Saturday, August 17th, Stephen and I went to Sea World in Orlando. On this trip, my sister, Ronda, and my sweet niece, Madeline got to with us! We has so much fun, even though it rained on us and was very humid. We got to see Turtles, Stingray, Penguins, Sea Otters, Dolphins, Sharks, and Manatee. Stephen and Madeline were able to touch the Stingray! Below is a slide show of the animal pictures from Sea World.

While at the Penguin encounter, Madeline wanted to show all how Penguins walked. It was so precious!

Due to Ronda being pregnant, she was not able ride with Madeline on the rides at Shamu's Happy Hour. Therefore, next in line was Aunt AE! We rode the Shamu Express (a pretty rapid roller coaster for a 3.5 year old). As soon as I sat Madeline in the seat and got her lab bar down and locked, she raised her hands high in the air and yelled "Go Shamu Go!" I was laughing from the get go with her on this ride. To my surprise, she kept her hands straight up in the air through out the entire ride and was also laughing! After the Shamu express, we rode the Jazzy Jellies. This ride lifted us straight up in the air in a "egg" and spun around the middle pole. And of course, she kept tell Aunt AE to spin it faster! The last ride that we rode was The Flying Fiddler or as Madeline called it, the Crab ride. This was a giant, bright red fiddler crab that took us 20 feet up in the air. It then begins to jump in a vertical descent in a quick series of short drops. During each drop, she just giggled! Riding these rides with Madeline was so much fun and I know that I have made my other sisters, mom, & dad very jealous of having shared such an experience with Madeline! Sorry Family! Below are the pictures of Madeline and me on the rides at Sea World.

Busch Gardens Africa in Tampa Bay, FL

2008-08-15T21:38:00.005-05:00

Stephen and I went to Busch Gardens Africa today while we were staying with my sister in Rockledge, FL. Rockledge is about bout 45 mins southeast of Orlando. (We came to visit Ronda and my niece, Madeline, for our anniversary). Stephen decided that we would go to Busch Gardens because of the animals at the amusement park. He said what better combination: Safari animals, roller coasters, and water rides! But, little did we know when we set out for Busch Gardens that Tampa Bay was 2 hours from Ronda's house. But, at this point, we had already purchased the tickets online so we buckled our seat belts and told "Lucy" (the Garmin) to get us to Busch Gardens.

While at Busch Gardens, we took a train ride through a scenic habitat of hippos, hyenas, meerkats, vultures, a Nile crocodile, giraffes and oh such much more. We also walked through the Jungla where we saw Monkeys and Tigers - Oh My! Below are some of the pictures of these animals.

We rode the Montu - one of the tallest and longest inverted roller coasters in the world. It had the thrill of an inverse diving loop and a 60-foot vertical loop while we were enduring speeds of over 60 miles per hour and a G-force of 3.85. Wow what a ride! We also rode the SheiKra and the Kumba. The SheiKa is a one-of-a-kind experience: 200 feet up, 90 degrees straight down, traveling at 70 mph! It has a true 90-degree drop, an Immelmann loop and a second vertical dive into an underground tunnel. Oh, and did I mention that it was floorless? Kumba has an initial 135 foot drop, plunges from 110 feet into a diving loop, spirals 360 degrees, and also has a vertical loop.

We encountered the swift-flowing white water of the Congo River Rapids. And, of course, our side (me and Stephen) spinned through a geyser and face an ominous waterfall. So, as you can see from the pic below, I was not a happy camper and I did not like Stephen at this point! This was the only reason that I did not want to ride this ride.

But, besides being soaked on the Congo ride, we had a great trip. It was fun and a great adventure with Stephen! Tomorrow, we are going to SeaWorld..... I'll keep ya'll posted (hehe) on how that adventure turns out for us!

My Silly Niece and Nephews!!!

2008-08-13T20:00:00.002-05:00

Below are video clips that a some girls record of my niece and nephews this summer. These 2 girls were staying with Kristin and Ken this summer in efforts to help Kristin out with them. As you can tell from the clips below, they had their hand fulls!

Joshua with Daddy's guitar and cackling!

Weird mask that Elizabeth got for her birthday!

Joshua and his monkey bread with his broke arm! Sugar makes him very hyper!!!

Story time with Elizabeth and Corban. Be prepared - you never know what is coming out of their mouths!!!

Happy Anniversary Baby!

2008-08-07T20:29:00.008-05:00

Well Baby, we have made 3 years and they have been wonderful! Over the past 3 years, I have learned what love really is and each day, I love you more and more. I have learned that Love is not always easy, but that it is AWLAYS worth it when it comes to loving you. The Lord could not have blessed me anymore by putting you in my life.

Looking at the past 3 years, I could not have asked for a better adventure. And I do mean an adventure. Each day with you is a new adventure and I never know what that adventure is going to be :) But this is one of the many things that I love about you. I love the fact that you can make me laugh and you always know excatly what to say when I am down and out. I love that you keep me on track and focuses on the important things in life. These only begins to scratch the surface for why I love you.

I love you baby and I do thank the Lord daily for placing you in my life. Thank you for being the leader of our relationship and family. You have kept us grounded in our Faith and I have truly loved serving the Lord with you over the past 3 years. But, I do know that this is only the beginning of a wonderful lifetime together. And I am looking forward to each hour of the lifetime ahead of us! I love you Stephen!

Love,
Ollie

Oh, yeah - Thanks for watching the Olympics with me every night and all afternoon when we are at home! That reallys means alot to me!

PaNaMa CiTy BeAcH '08 with Calvary Youth

2008-08-05T21:27:00.003-05:00

Well friends, we have survied another youth trip! This past week, we took 8 youth from Calvary to PCB for the week. Lucky for us, we surived this trip to the beach with zero pending lawsuits and no one from our group having to be rescured from the ocean! So, as most of you know, that is an improvement from our last 2 trips to the beach.

With this trip, we took 3 8th grade girls, 2 8th grade boys, 1 9th grade girl, and 2 9th grade boys. Stephen and I chaperoned while Nick Mobley lead the sessions. Nick brought along his wife Courtney and their 2 year old son Samuel.

All was going well on the drive down to the beach until about Montgomery, AL. This is when Nick and Courtney began having issues with their van. So, we pulled into Stephen's Garage in Lurverne, AL and let the mechanics take a look at it. They determine that it was an issue with the thermostat and therfore decided to replaced it. Below are pics of the girls trying to pass the time on the van while waiting on Nick's to get fixed and pics from the Park where we spent time while waiting on the van. Look close and you can see Breanna laying under one of the seats - Yes, laying under a seat and not between two seats! The perks of being little!

Fun Fun in the Sun Sun @ PCB

2008-08-05T21:25:00.001-05:00

We stayed at Laguna Beach Christian Retreat, in the Levi House.

During the week, Nick talked to kids about the single most important relationsip in our lives: Me and G-O-D. He did a really great job and I actually saw the kids paying attention! The kids would actually respond to questions that he would ask them during the sessions and outstide of the sessions! That is a huge improvement for our kids :)

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we took the kids to the beach in the AM. The water was rough both days and on Tuesday, they put up a double red flag. This meant they could only enter the water ankle to right below the knees deep. During the afternoons, the girls went to enjoy the sun at the pool with the boys stayed inside playing XBox 360! Even though no one had to be rescued from the ocean, we did have one girl that was attacked by a jelly fish. But fear not, Luke was able to capture one of the many jelly fish around. This jelly fish did not make it back into the ocean - it was chunck'd (like my spelling, huh?) over the fence of the Levi house to behind one of the other dorms! Poor Luke - he was trying to do a good thing and did not relize that was one of the dorms that belonged to Laguna Beach. Below are pics from the beach and pool...

One Tuesday night, we took the kids to ride go-carts. But as you can see from the pics below, only the boys plus Stephen and Nick enjoyed the gocart riding. The girls were to busy playing around in the arcade and in the photo booth! I love my girls - they are such a mess!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Putt Putt Golf, Zero Pending Lawsuits, and Only 1 Injury :)

2008-08-05T21:22:00.004-05:00

On Wednesday night, we took the kids to play Putt-Putt golf. Yes, we did play 18 holes without any pending lawsuits! But, we did still have one injury - one of the girls forgot about the rule of NO RUNNING! She was running back up to the top of hole 17th (from fetching her ball off of hole 18th where it some how landed when she was on hole 17) when she tripped over the hole for the 17th hole. She landed flat on her face - I was really expecting a bleeding nose if not a broken one. But, luckily she only hurt her ring and middle fingers on here right hand right at the fingernails.

My Hubby and Our Crazy Kids @ PCB '08

2008-08-05T21:18:00.003-05:00

But, the true entertainment for the week was from our new friend, Samuel Mobley! The kids were great with him and truly enjoyed hanging out with him. They played chase, toot toot tain (choo choo train), Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Soccer, etc. Samuel was such a good kid, then entire week! Stephen even told Nick and Courtney that if their next one turned out like Samuel, that we were taking him! He is all about taking the good kids :) Below are random pictures of the many adventures with our Samuel, pictures of the girls being crazy, and Stephen beating up on the kids!

As you can tell, we did enjoy our tip to PCB but I am thankful for us returning on Friday! I have been competely lazy today! We slept till 11 am this morning and I have only gotten off the couch to cook a pizza for lunch, to wash cloths, and then to fold them! It was a nice vacation from work but it never fails that now I need a vacation to recover from the vacation!

Youth Adventure Trip '08

2008-07-23T21:10:00.009-05:00

Last week, we took the youth at Calvary to Chattanooga, TN! We went rock climbing on Friday. It was a mile and a half hike into the rocks, they climbed 4 rocks and walked about 2 miles and then hiked the mile and half out. I say they because I was not able to climb due to my toes! They are still all the way healed. The 3 slide shows below show the pics from Friday.

On Saturday, we took the kids to Rock City, Ruby Falls, and then played 36 holes of putt-putt. Even after another long day, they were still wired at night and were not much on sleeping! Oh, how I miss those days when I could stay up all hours of the night and never skip a beat the next day! But instead, I am still trying to recover while having to be a grown up and actually go to work at 5 am every morning :) Any ways, the album below is from Rock City and Ruby Falls.

And just when you think thing can't get more tiring, we headed out to the Occee outside of Clevland, TN to go White Water Rafting! We rafted the Middle of the Occee River. It was a blast. At first, the girls we scared to death but quickly after the first rapid they were pumped. They quickly learned that White Water Rafting was so much more fun that canoeing! It was great! Below are the pics from the part of the weekend.

So, as you can already imagine, the kids are ready to go back to TN!

Ashley's Trip to New York - Easter 2008

2008-07-22T13:46:00.006-05:00

This is where I spent Easter Weekend! While in Foxboro, MA for some training with work, I got to visit New York. This was my first trip to New York and I am looking foward to my sweet hubby taking me there sometime.....

Pics from Ashley's trip to Amsterdam

2008-07-22T13:43:00.001-05:00

Mom's Blog

2008-06-16T08:14:00.005-05:00

Hey Ya'll! I just wanted to let all you mom's know that my mom has finally setup a blog spot. She will begin posting graphic of the different items that they are selling over the next several days. She is in Orlando with Madeline (my precious niece) this week and is going to start taking pictures of the different outfits. So, check out the site and let her know if you see something that insterst you!

You can either click on Ragalak Designs under my Friends Blogs or visit www.ragalak/blogspot.com

New Year's Eve Party

2007-12-19T11:04:00.000-06:00

Yes Friends - We will be having a New Year's Eve Party again this year!!! It will be at the new house in Saltillo. I am going to do my best to get an invitation sent out by the end of this week with all the details and directions. All are invited and got 2 beds and a couch available to the first who ask! :) The grill be hot and bring your favorite dish :)

Okay - So Maybe I am Not So Good At This!

2007-12-19T10:57:00.000-06:00

Yes, I suck really bad at trying to update this thing! I have thought about it many, many times but never actually get the chance to! Here recently, I have just been working alot so by the time I actually should have time to update, I just want to lay on the couch at the house in be really, really lazy!

Well, the move went very well for us! I LOVE our new house. We have so much more room and to me, it is just so much cutier as well! Things at the church are going really, really well as well. Stephen says that he loves his new job - but that could mainly be due to having the ability to play the XBox 360 or the WII all day long at the youth house and get to call it work! All I know for sure, is that he is not at home or in the woods like he used to me - haven figured that out but oh well!

Well, I promise to attempt to be better at keeping our Blog updated on a more regular basis. Also, I will try and get some pics of the house and Christmas decorations loaded onto this thing - that is if I can figure out how to add them to the blog spot ...... I'll talk any suggestions!

Love ya'll and miss ya'll!!!

Moving to Tupelo/Saltillo area....

2007-08-20T10:01:00.000-05:00

Well, now that yesterday (Sunday) is over, I can finally share with everyone the changes that are going on the lives of the Burks family. Stephen has put in his 2 week resignation at Ackerman Baptist Church yesterday morning - it was a very emotional day! We are very sad to be leaving our church family in Ackerman, but are also very excited about the new doors that are being opened for us.

As most of you know, we put our house on the market in April just due to the fact that I (Ashley) wanted little bigger house - or kitchen mainly I should say. Originally, we were just looking at houses in Starkville. As time went on, Stephen begin to know that God was about to make some changes in our life, but we didn't know what it was. One of Stephen's friends from seminary is a Senior Pastor of a church in Booneville, MS and has been after him for over 2 years on coming to Booneville. But, the church there has not been in a position to staff a youth minister. But, over the last 3 months, great things have been happening in that church. In a nut shell, they have been given enough money to buy two lots right next to the church with 2 houses on them, money to re-do the interior of the sanctuary, money to pay a youth minster's salary for 1 year, and money to get the youth program off the ground in running. With these changes in Booneville, the church there began seriously talking to Stephen about being the youth minister there.

So now the committee in Booneville is meeting and are going through all the proper procedures to make things happen and hopefully it will all be done in a couple weeks and if not then we are still sure that God wants us in this area for a reason. So at this point we a currently packing up our house and trying to nail down close dates on both houses inevitably we will be moving at some point in the next week sprinkle in some furniture shopping, Season opener for MSU, and Hopefully but probably not realistically some dove hunting and you begin to get an accurate picture of what our life is right now.

We are torn up about leaving our friends but are excited about what the future has for us and are positive that God has it all worked out. We have plenty of room to entertain now so all of you who loved trying to eat with 20 other people in the House in Stark-vegas rest asure there will be plenty of room in the new House.

Certified and 2

2007-08-15T10:21:00.000-05:00

Well, I passed her certification dives for being about to Scuba Dive. So, now all I has to do is get Stephen motivated to go diving. Actually, I think that Stephen has decided that he wants to get his dive master. With his dive master, he says that he can give Jenny her "refresher course" and then her and Justin can go diving with them.

Also, on Monday we celebrated out 2 year wedding anniversay! We decided to go to Louisiana to visit a friend of ours for our anniversary. And it was very nice to get away - I had no cell phone service so the plant could not get in touch with me. And the little times that the wind may have been blowing in the right direction and phone did ring, I just ignored it! It was so nice! Our friend has a cabin on the lake so Sunday, I got to attempt to learn to wake board. And, I did get up on the wake board (actually on the first try), but I took 2 major face plants! I think my head is still hurting from that! They forgot to tell me that if I got both fins out of the water, then that would happen!

Well, that is all for today! I have to get back to catching up at work! Take care and God Bless!!!

Scuba Diving

2007-08-09T21:21:00.001-05:00

Well, tomorrow is finally almost here. Since Stephen and I first met, he has been waiting me to get certified to go Scuba Diving with him. Well, that time has finally gotten here. Over the summer, I have been taken the Scuba Diving class at the "W" so that I could be get certified and tomorrow we head out for my first 2 certification dive. Then on Saturday, I will do my final 2 dives. So, I will keep ya'll posted with the results on whether or not I pass or not! Please keep us in your prayers, I am a little bit nervous and Stephen hasn't been since he met me in September of 2001!!!

The Burks are Trying the Blog World!

2007-08-01T19:45:00.000-05:00

Well, I am trying to figure out how to set up one of these silly things! So, if anyone wants to helps, feel free! This is just a post to see what it looks like on our page!