I am so proud of my husband!!!!  He was in doing the dishes and I could hear that the garbage dispossal sounded funny.  I called in to see if everything was ok.  He said that the garbage dispossal was broken.  My first thought was to call my Dad (THE DAD OF FIXING THINGS!!!) but Burgess sounded like he was working on it so I went back to relaxing on the couch (I have been really dizzy lately and was sent home from work today, so Burg is taking care of me).  A while later I could hear that the dispossal was still broken so I called in there and just suggested that he could call my Dad (maybe to get some ideas on where to start) but he quickly said “No, I’m working on it”.  I was thinking, what could he be doing to “work” on it?  How does he even know what he is doing?  But I just let him do his man thing, honestly assuming he would give up after a while.  Then just a few minutes later I I hear Burgess exclaim with great excitement that the dispossal is fixed!!!  I COULDN’T BELIEVE HE REALLY FIXED IT!!!!!  He totally did!  He fixed the garbage dispossal all by himself!  I AM SO PROUD OF MY MAN!!! Burgess has often told me that he really admires my Dad for being so smart and always knowing how to fix things and that he really wants to be a Dad like that.  I guess he is making his way.  Burgess is going to be the best Dad in the whole world!  Burgess is already so much like his AWESOME Dad and now that he is a Mr. Fix it as well, I guess Burgess is THE Dad. 

Something that I can learn from Burgess is that he works so hard to improve himself, to learn and to grow.  I tend to want to find the fastest and most efficient answer to things (Call my Dad, he’ll know how to fix it!) But Burgess knows there is a better way. I know he will be the very best that he can be in everything he does, but he already takes so much pride in being the best Dad ever that I know he will be ‘THE’ DAD.

This is Burgess displaying his wonderful dancing ability. This is his interpretation of the Oompa Loompa dance.

Kerstin is my BEST sister!  I have been so lonely and bored lately with not much to do around here and not really feeling like doing much since being pregnant anyways.  BUT, I have felt a little energy lately, and I think I have learned how to handle the nausea a little bit better so I have really been feeling the need to get out and do something.  Well Kerstin must have been inspired, because she found this BEAUTIFUL state park in PA called Shawnee State Park and asked if I wanted to go up there with her on Saturday.  Luckily the park is just about 2 1/2 hours from both of us so we were able to just meet there and spend the whole afternoon swimming, eating, laying out in the sun, and having a good old time.  This park is pretty much awesome.  There is a huge lake with a swimming area roped off for families.  It has tons of biking paths and hiking trails.  It has huge picnic areas with places to grill and eat, and huge grassy fields to play games.  There are softball fields and volleyball nets to get big games going.  There are places to rent kayaks and boats for relaxing and fishing.  You can camp up there or just hang around for the day.  It is just such a fun place.  Everything was so well kept.  All the grass was cleanly mowed, and it even looked as if the sand was trucked in ( )!  Kerstin and I just hung around on one of the beaches and went swimming a few times.  The water was surprisingly pretty warm.  The weather was perfect.  We thought we might get some rain but it never came and the sun was out and it was in the low 80′s while we were there so not too hot, but not cold when wet either.  We just hung out in the sun (making sure to apply Kerstin’s 50 SPF sunblock) and swam and ate a lot.  It was such a fun day! I am so glad Kerstin had the idea to go up there not only because I really needed to get out, but because I can’t wait to go up there with Burgess and family for more fun times. (p.s. seeing a bunch of little babies in water-wings with their moms and dads made me so excited to take our little one up there next summer!!!)  Burgess and I are already planning one last camping trip there before he goes back to school in August.  Anyways, it was an awesome day!  THANKS KERSTIN!!!! You are a great sister!!! THE BEST!!!!!!

Here are some pictures:

Burg and I have had an eventful past few months and we realized we haven’t posted very many pictures, so here you go!  Enjoy….

Every day I get these little pregnancy updates from WhatToExpect.com that explain what is going on in my womb every week and things I could be feeling, symptoms I may have, tips and tricks and all sorts of little things.  It’s actually really interesting.  But I’ve come to look forward to Thursdays because that’s the day I graduate to a new week.  Today I got an automated congratulations from the internet because I am now 7 weeks pregnant (which means I’m fully 6 weeks and now working my way through my 7th week).  It was actually really exciting.  So far I don’t feel very pregnant….I just feel sick.  I don’t feel a baby inside me, I just feel gassy and bloated and sick to my stomach all the time.  It’s hard to get excited by that when I wake up every morning….but today I felt like I had accomplished something.  “Yay, I have made it through one more week of yucky 1st trimester pregnancy.  Good job me!”  Anyways, I just wanted to share my celebratory joy with someone, but I’m pretty lonely these days with my husband working so hard to bring home the bacon so I thought I would send my happiness back to the place it came from….the internet

Why is March 11th of next year an important day for us?  Well it happens to be just a little less than 9 months from now……

Yes, yes, Burgess and I are going to have a baby!  We just found out on the 4th of July actually.  We were a little surprised by this so it is still sinking in and we are pretty scared, but we also feel very blessed.  We are getting excited, but we know that this is going to be a long road with lots of ups and downs so we are banking on the fact that we have amazing family and friends on both sides to walk us through this as it is our first time.  We love you all and we have never needed you more!  We appreciate all your prayers on our behalf and the behalf of our little one.

This is not just a really fun holiday, but it we  is a very sacred one as well.  The Lord had his hand in the founding of this nation and prepared the way so that the gospel could be restored to the earth again.  This is a very special holiday and it is one of our favorites.  This year we don’t have anything really big planned.  Burgess has to work BOTH jobs today, so that is kind of a bummer, BUT I have been remembering the good old days of 4th of July’s back in Oregon, and I just don’t think it can get better than that. 

In Oregon we used to get together with all the neighbors on our street and put all of our fireworks together and just have a blast all together.  It was fun when we would do barbeques and just hang out on the nice summer day and then wait for it to get dark and then enjoy the show.  It was especially fun when the neighbors would bring the illegal fireworks or when Dad would build fireworks that were probably illegal too.  Those were the best times!  I don’t think anything will get better than those young years when we had no worries and could just enjoy the holiday.  Thanks Mom and Dad for those awesome years!