Minivan Miracle

Most people have heard our van story by now, but I thought I'd post up an official version anyway. The process involved one miracle after another, and Russ and I are still astounded to consider how perfectly everything has worked out for us.

Mid-February Russ and I discussed our car situation and decided we were ready to begin looking for a minivan. We talked about what we wanted and how we could finance it (with the majority of the money coming from a hefty tax return). We began casually searching online for available vans. All of the vehicles we found were some distance from our home, near either Philadelphia or Baltimore. Three weeks later, on a Thursday evening, our car died. Thankfully, we were home at the time (I had been out and about with the girls most of that day). Friday morning the car was towed to the mechanic, and Friday afternoon we found out the repairs would cost more than the car was worth. Some wonderful ward friends loaned an extra vehicle which we assumed we would need to use for a week or two.
Saturday evening Russ glanced at online listings again and found a 2000 SIENNA (we were looking for a Sienna or an Odyssey made between 2000 and 2003) located in NEWARK, DE. He sent an email to the owner indicating that we would love to see the vehicle and would be available any day but Sunday.
The next day (which was Sunday) Russ received two emails from the van owner. The first informed him that another individual would be looking at the van that day. And the second indicated
that the van was still available. So, we scheduled to meet at 10:00 am Monday morning. The minute we met John and Ellen Vanderburgh we knew they were good and honest people. This sweet retired couple with Southern accents adored our children and answered all of our questions before we could ask them. When we got in the van to go for a test drive we just looked at one another and sort of laughed. Everything was working out too perfectly. The price of the van (thousands below Blue Book when considering all of the luxury features) was $500 less than we currently had in our savings account. We were able to do a wire transfer from bank to bank and drive away with the van the same day. There are more details to this story, but I hope what I've written is sufficient to testify how thankful we are for this miracle in our lives, a tender mercy from a loving Heavenly Father.

Easter in Delaware

Called to Serve

So...I'm going to POLAND!

Family pedigree

You all have probably already discovered all this but Emily and I just discovered how cool familysearch.org is. We found a pedigree chart of our family back to 1675. It's amazing that we can look up anything like that in just a few seconds. You can see the chart with this link, typing in Ivan Burnett and clicking the pedigree link. We love you all and are grateful for our family heritage.

I've got a website

I've been looking for jobs so I thought I would make a website for my portfolio and resume. Its dougburnett.com. I'll improve it soon but its still fun. It's currently ranked #3,123,856 in all of the world's websites. That means that .0000001% of the world has seen it! Obviously its not a big deal but it just something fun to share.

Birthday Wishes

Bekah got her wish...

We had the ultrasound this morning and although Jason wanted to have it be a surprise again, he let me go ahead and find out the gender. Among other reasons, I just felt that with the move and all the unknowns coming ahead this summer that anything that could be a "known" for me would be really nice. Well...Bekah all along has said she wants a brother so she can play prince and princess and she got her wish! I don't know how much he'll want to play prince, but Bekah will probably try her hardest to convince him. We have a few names on the list but haven't settled on one yet. That could be another decision we discuss right up until the day before! We feel so much more busy this time around that we haven't had as much time to even think about a baby coming. Just last week we were discussing the option of moving in July instead of August and we both looked at each other after thinking about it for 5 mintues and said "We can't do that...we're having a baby!"

Other news is that we are planning a trip to Chicago the first week in April to look at housing. We may end up buying a house, but I'm also applying to be a hall advisor in Chicago, so we'll see what happens. Jason starts school on August 25th but has a mandatory orientation on the 20th, so we'll probably move around the 11th or so. We'll see what happens! Exciting times!

My Future

Well, I am sure you all already know (since I bring it up all the time), but today I submitted my mission papers! I met with the bishop this morning for the last interview, just organizing the papers, and then after church I met with President Kearl. He is a wonderful man! I really enjoyed our time together. We discovered that his son served with Russ in the mission. Anyway, they will be in tomorrow and then a few weeks after that I should have my call. It will be very exciting. I think you are all aware this has been roughly 16 years in waiting, which feels good to be able to say. That's the update. I'll be sure to keep ya'll posted. I was thinking, maybe I should just post on the blog where I am going for my mission instead of actually contacting each of you personally; it just seems much more efficient. :)

Out of Practice

This week Russ learned that the movie "Enchanted" (a film for which we had heard rave reviews from family and friends) would be playing in the UD campus theater both Friday and Saturday night. Knowing that I really wanted to see the movie, he got tickets for us to go to the 10:00 pm showing on Friday. He found some friends to come over and stay with the girls (who were already asleep) so that we could go on an actual date together. I was excited about the date and excited about the movie, because we had heard such great things about it. The show was enjoyable, and of course I enjoyed getting out with Russ . . . but I found myself feeling very impatient and antsy about halfway through. I just wanted to arrive at the end.

It wasn't because I was worried about the girls - they were asleep.
It wasn't because I didn't like being with Russ - I love spending time with him.
It wasn't because the storyline was slow - it moved along just fine.
It wasn't even because I wanted to find out what would happen - the plot was fairly predictable.

So, I decided it was because I'm way out of practice as a moviegoer. I'm just not used to watching an entire movie in one sitting and having only that to focus on. When Kaylee and I watch movies I'm always busy doing things around the house and taking care of Ashlyn. And when Russ and I watch movies we usually only get about halfway through before we decide we are too tired to finish.

Maybe next time I want to see a new movie I'll just wait a few months for the release, then Russ and I can watch it in two blocks, or I can at least find some busywork to do at the same time. :)