December Days...

On December 3rd, we attended a benefit concert for Heritage Christian School in Marion, OH. It was fun to see the Booth Brothers perform in a smaller, more relaxed forum, and we enjoyed their music. Afterward, we were able to spend some time with our friends, Phil and Stephenie Brugger, and their sweet little family of three boys and one princess! We did get some wierd looks, coming into Applebees with 8 kids at 10:00 at night...
The boys had part in our school Christmas play this year, and they were lucky enough to get to wear pjs!

Kaitlynn with some friends before the program...

This girl is definitely sporting happy smile! She waited 6 1/2 years to lose her first tooth, and boy, was she thrilled! Daddy offered to pull it early (it was sitting almost sideways by the time she finally pulled it), but her philosophy was, "It'll fall out when it falls out!" Smart girl...she found a small wooden box, lined it with tissue, and put the tooth in it. The following Sunday she took the box to church, where it was promptly filled with $1 bills by those who were charmed by her toothless smile. :) All 3 of the remaining front teeth are loose, so by Christmas, who knows?

The recent snowstorm has given us a few more hours at home than normal, and we have enjoyed sitting around the tree, fire blazing in the fireplace, listening to Christmas music. This season will fly by all too quickly, so in between all the sickness and the busyness, we are trying to maximize our time! The first of our three Christmas gatherings happens this Saturday with our family here in Lima. We get to have one a week for the next three weeks, and that spreads things out nicely. We hope that you're days are "merry and bright" and that your Christmas shopping is almost finished...only 11 days!

11 years ago, our hearts were opened as we welcomed Baby Burley to our world. He really was "Baby Burley" for awhile, because we thought we had a few more days to decide a name! But when a routine checkup turned into, "I'm getting you a wheelchair to give you a ride over to the hospital cause you're having a baby TODAY!", names weren't really at the top of our priority list. Being young and naive, we didn't know the risks that the next 26 hours would bring (thank goodness), but we were so thankful that those traumatic moments ended in the joyful addition of

Nathaniel Ryan Burley!

Ryan is a special kid, one who cares about some things that most kids wouldn't even think about.

On November 18th, he told his dad and mom to be sure that the whole family was home by 4:05 p.m. the following day. Daddy didn't understand his request until Ryan reminded that 4:05 was his official time of birth, and that we should all be together. :)

So, this pic was taken at 4:05 p.m. on November 19, 2010.

Faithful (and maybe slightly jealous) observers at the party...

As Ryan opens this gift, his brother says, "You are what you eat!" Thanks, Ev...

This looks like some fun!

1st grandchild...

The big milestone...passing up momma...he's getting very close!

Happy 11th birthday, Ryan! We can't believe you are two years from being a teenager...love you so much, and hope your day was a special one!

And Baby is 3!

We find it pretty difficult to believe that it has been a whole 3 years since our baby Allison was born! She brings so much joy to us each day, and we are so thankful that God blessed us with #4!

Our own version of the 'princess and the frog'...

Her birthday, November 13th, was a little different than most. Daddy and the boys went hunting in the morning, so mommy took the girls to Bob Evans for a birthday brunch!Then we met with Eric's family at mama and papa's house to celebrate with Uncle Eric, who turned the big 30 on the same day!

Baby Will and his momma...

Enjoying some DQ ice cream cake...

Our angel...

Just in from the woods...

Classic Suzy!

Alli loves music, and will sing or try to play about anything. We weren't quite brave enough to get her a real instrument (although it is kind of pitiful when she randomly turns two objects into a violin and bow, then hums the tune - and her vibrato lately is hilarious)

Reality is, they are growing up...so quickly!

And she's off!

Happy Birthday, Allison! We love you, and we cherish

every moment that you grace our lives!

Nice, Quiet Day Off...or NOT!

October 26th was a much anticipated day at our house, at least for one exhausted momma! Since report cards were already completed, we were able to use our Records Day as a rest day, and it would be our first day off, at home, of the school year.
That Tuesday morning, the kids were watching videos and playing quietly, and momma was taking advantage of a rare moment to sleep in. Word came that there were heavy thunderstorms on the way, and we were under tornado watch. Knowing that at least two of the kiddos are intensely afraid of storms, we decided to ride it out at papa's house, just in case something wacky would happen. Within just a couple of hours we began to receive lots of calls and texts from people who were worried about us. Because we were about 8 minutes north of our house, we didn't realize that our town had experienced an EF2 tornado that had ripped through from one end to the other. Greg kept in touch with us, letting us know what he knew, and I called the neighbor to see if we had damage. Other than power outage, she said we were fine. Eric and Meg had been at dad's with us for awhile, and Eric was able to drive by our house to check things out, also. By the time he reached the other end of town, all the emergency vehicles were coming in and the roads were being closed. After another hour or so, we were ready to go exploring, and thanked God for His protection as we viewed the damage. These photos are just some of the minor damage. Roads were closed to the buildings that were demolished. The bulk of the damage was done one block south of Main Street. 3 families from our church live within 1-2 blocks north of Main Street, so you see how fortunate we were! Even though there were trees through windows, at least a dozen houses totally destroyed, two nursing homes and a school damaged, not one person was killed or even injured. It was pretty amazing, and we were thankful that our town acknowleged God's protection through this dangerous event.

Random Pic Update :)

Allison's first horse ride. She has always been scared, even of the tiny little ponies in Holmes County. Maybe she was just waiting for us to put her on a "real" horse!

Mama had a sleepover for Olivia and Kaitlynn, and they made beautiful fall cupcakes. Kaitlynn took hers to school to share with friends...

Playing in the straw in the barn...

Missing child alert...

Participating in an egg relay at the school picnic...

The camera cord is still evading me. Two more have been ordered from ebay. We shall never again be cordless...