News from Dominica...

It's hard to believe that Ryan has been gone almost a week! We were a little disappointed that what we thought would be a daily connection through a Verizon international plan turned out to be an impossibility in the area where Ryan is staying. I really wanted us to be able to 'feel' the excitement of what he is doing each day, so we signed up for PennyTalk.
Tonight we plugged the phone into the stereo, turned the volume up, and had a family chat. :-) He is having a blast! I want him to do a post when he gets home, so I'll not share any of his stories beforehand.
The Leadership Conference is over, and the missions rep has left the island. It's just dad, mom, and Ryan at the mission house now. Tomorrow and Thursday someone will be helping them tour the island, and he is super excited about going to the ocean and the city.
So...continue to pray for their safety. They fly to Antigua on Friday to spend the weekend.
We plan to call each night for a minute, at least until they leave Dominica. I'm not sure about communication on Antigua.
Until next time...

Happy Valentine's Day (a bit belated)!

Since February 14th fell the day before Ryan had to leave, we didn't make any plans beyond the normal school Valentine's Party.  Then we received a surprise snow day, and didn't have to go to school at all! 
We spent the evening picking up last minute needs for the trip, and the kids had fast food between shopping stops.  I think it was about 9:00 before Greg and I set down to a meal of take out Chinese at our dining room table.  :-)  Not exactly the most romantic scenario, but since real life takes precedence, it was the best we could do.
On the 15th, we had our Valentine's party at school.  The kids always look forward to making their boxes, writing out Valentine's cards, making crafts, and eating pizza.  Here are a few pics from the day -

Lined up and waiting for pizza

Kaitlynn with a couple of her friends,
Arianna and Emilee

A 'special' occasion, to say the least  :-)

Allison with some of her classmates,
 Karys, Leyton, and Austin

Valentine's Day is also the birthday of one of our favorite people.  Happy Birthday, Valerie!

I'm guessing she was three years old here!  :-)

The Adventure Begins!

There are Valentine posts to be written, but our biggest excitement of the week is to be able to send Ryan off to the islands of Dominica and Antigua for 12 days!  As his momma, I have never flown or been out of the U.S. except to Canada.  Packing and preparing him was a bit of an adventure for me, as well! I'm guessing that since 9/11 things have tightened considerably, and so I have learned a bit about what/what not to pack, how to pack, and which bag to pack it in!
Last evening, Ryan and my parents left for Indianapolis.  Ryan said he had 3 hours sleep...the had to catch their shuttle to the airport at 5:30 this morning.  I talked to him as he was sitting on the big jet...in the back, over the engines.  He is amazed.  :-)  He flew over Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma to land in Dallas at about 10 a.m.  He is in the middle of a layover right now, but they board again in a couple of hours headed for Puerto Rico.  After another layover, they will move on to Antigua to spend the night tonight, and awaken early tomorrow morning (5:30) for their last flight to Dominica where they will spend a week.

Good until 2017...wonder how many stamps
it will have by then?  :-)

He chose Western Sizzlin' for a hearty supper before leaving
for Indy.  Probably won't see that much food in Dominica!

Bags packed...ready to go!

Sayin' goodbye to dad...

Baby sis...

And little bro...

 We will be a little anxious while Ryan is away, but he was totally ready to do this and it seems to be the right time.  We are praying that God will use this trip to fertilize the seed of openness to the will of God in Ryan's heart.  Of all the desires that we could have for our kids, their obedience to God is at the top of the list.  So...if you think of it, breathe a prayer for him over the next couple of weeks!

Happy 11th Birthday, Evan!

Evan turned 11 years old on January 23rd.  We celebrated with dinner at Texas Roadhouse, and his favorite cake - triple chocolate from Sam's Club!

Growing up!

One wish...a PSP

Embarrassed to death at Texas Roadhouse!

Silly Alli

His other wish...a new suit.  Mama ordered it,
and sent him home with two of his favorites...
a jar of pickles and 2 half gallons of chocolate ice cream!

Celebrating with Annie, who turned 1 a couple of days later

Happy Birthday, Evan! We are happy that God gave you to us - even if you do steal all my dark chocolate!

Christmas Memories Part 5

It still feels like January, right? So I guess it's ok to go ahead and finish out blogging our Christmas!
:-) We typically have our Christmas celebration with the Burley side of the house on New Year's weekend. This allows Grandma and Grandpa to get their fill of grandkid madness before they head to sunny Florida to spend the rest of the winter! It was so good to be with the family again. We had a group photo session, and I had hoped to have at least on of the pics before blogging this, but I'm not sure where they are at in the process. Who knows...maybe we broke the camera.

Mom and Dad Burley

The first "real" smile I was able to capture
after the removal of the braces

It wouldn't be a celebration without all the extra calories!

Dad, Greg, Uncle Dave,Gene, and Mark

Ryan and Evan had fun with Kaden

Harmony and Chris

Amanda and Scott

These kiddos waited all weekend for snow,

and right before we left, it came down!  They

were able to have one good snowball fight!

~Good memories~