So let it be written...

So let it be done. A long-ago family tradition has been updated.

Merry Christmas one and all.



Bekah LOVED this song the first time she heard me talk about it and sing it. Since then we've been planning how to make it a happy tradition for ALL family members. :)
Some of the words may not be right, but we did our best to remember them all.

They’re creepy and they’re cooky,
Mysterious and spooky.
They’re altogether ookey,
The Burnett family.

Our dad likes his computer,
And he’s a trumpet tooter.
For what is he a rooter?
The Burnett family.

Our mom comes next, of courses,
She finally has horses.
But what she most endorses,
The Burnett family.

Duh, duh, duh, duh…neat!
Duh, duh, duh, duh…sweet!
Duh, duh, duh, duh,
Duh, duh, duh, duh
Duh, duh, duh, duh…petite.

First we have our Nikki,
Her piano is tricky.
Her art is never icky.
The Burnett family.

Next we have our Russell,
In baseball he will hustle.
He’s more than brains and muscle.
The Burnett family.

Duh, duh, duh, duh…proud!
Duh, duh, duh, duh…endowed!
Duh, duh, duh, duh,
Duh, duh, duh, duh
Duh, duh, duh, duh…too loud!

For laughs we go to Dougy,
Big smiles and a huggy.
His jokes will drive you buggy.
The Burnett family.

You’ll notice Angie’s smile.
She triple jumps a mile.
Adventure is her style.
The Burnett family.

Duh, duh, duh, duh…neat!
Duh, duh, duh, duh…sweet!
Duh, duh, duh, duh,
Duh, duh, duh, duh
Duh, duh, duh, duh…complete.

So get a bus to haul on,
A truck to fit y’all on,
We hope you’ll pay a call on,
The Burnett family.

The Burnett family.

The tradition branched

"Celebrities"

Remember when you all responded to Mom's request to get tickets for the Tabernacle Choir Christmas program of 2009 (with Natalie Cole and David McCullough)? Nikki was successful in "winning" four tickets for us, and we drove down to it with our very good friends, Marlin and Cindy Harker.

Well, it's a year later, so the program is now available on DVD, and is being shown on public television and BYU-TV. We first got a call from Joe & Kim Fiske (in Tennessee) to say that they saw us during the broadcast of the program. We also got an email from Karie Brooks saying that she saw us, too.

Before anybody gets too excited, it is all of .87 seconds long, and we're just politely clapping. The big moment happens at about 12 1/2 minutes into the broadcast, right after "For Unto Us a Child is Born". (That was fantastic, and we should have been on our feet wildly clapping!)

I guess we'll HAVE to buy the DVD now... ;-)

Thanksgiving

For the fifth year in a row, we enjoyed a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving vacation at Janet and Allen's house in Tennessee.

This year Russ even got Uncle Allen to stay up "late" (10:00 PM) one night learning how to play "Ticket to Ride".

The girls watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV.

The weather on Thanksgiving was perfect, so Kaylee and Ashlyn spent a lot of time outside.

Ashlyn and Allen had a little heart-to-heart.

Russ got a much needed rest.

The poor kitties were chased around a lot (but they got their revenge this year).

Ashlyn and Kaylee made spice drop turkeys.

Sort of.

The turkey was grilled to perfection.

And enjoyed by all.

Brenna had a particularly nice 'do the morning after.

And Janet won Kaylee and Ashlyn's undying love (if that was ever in doubt before) when she presented them with new Barbies.

We hope everyone else enjoyed an equally wonderful holiday!

Oh-oh, here she comes . . .

She's a maneater

Watch out boy she'll chew you up

Thank you, Dad

Dear Dad,

As today is Veteran's Day, I wanted to thank you for your service in the Navy and helping to defend our freedom in this wonderful land. I know the memories are difficult, but where would we be without those men and women who sacrifice so much to keep this nation free? I am grateful for a father who did his duty and made the most of very difficult circumstances. Though it wasn't easy, I can't help but think the experiences gained in the Navy helped you become who you are today. Bless you for the man you are the and wonderful father you are and have always been!

I love you,

Mary Sue

"And God Said It Was Good"

'Twas a beautiful Summer Sabbath Day,
when first he saw her hair so golden.
But alas, he was sure she was saying "no way!"

He thought that, to another, she was beholden.

On a glorious Sabbath Day in November, (7th, 1976)

he found himself next to this lady in white.

Her roommates arranged a dinner to remember,

knowing their hearts would take to flight.

He hinted of a dance

for a Hawkins named Sadie,

She took a chance

for she was a brave lady.

Selecting music for the next Ward dance,

he decided he, too, would take a chance.

He asked her to come check out a 'rock band' --

when his car 'broke down', 'twas placed on her hand!

There 'neath the lights of a temple so rare,

they basked in the glow of that sacred sight.

A passerby asked "Did they need any care?"

They smiled and said "everything's ALL-right".

Across an altar in Salt Lake City,

their vows were sealed by a prophet of God.

And as they pondered eternity,

they embraced each other... and the iron rod.

I know there are several viewers out there who have been most patiently waiting for this post.

But, first of all, can we all guess who/what this is??

Humpty Dumpty!
(NOT Peeping Tom, like a sister missionary thought at our ward party!)

Sadly, I cannot take credit for the origin of this costume idea. I found it on Google. But, I did take the time to realize that I needed to take advantage of my belly when thinking of a Halloween costume for this year. But I must say, this idea is incredibly creative. The brick wall, at one point, was better positioned but the other suspender broke off.

This is the best belly picture I could get Brandon to take. He is not too keen on taking these (which is mostly fitting since I am not too keen on having them taken). I am about 33 weeks along. So, in theory, this little fish inside of me will come out in 7 weeks (give or take 2 or 3). Kind of weird to put it like that. Mom and kid are still doing real well. Sadly, kid is probably more active than mom. There is no pattern or cycle that this girl lives by, she kicks and moves whenever she wants, which is very often. Though I have nothing to really gauge this with, I am confident that on an activity scale she ranks very high.

I have to refrain from bending over too much (which is inconvenient); that tends not to feel good. I have a difficult time getting up from our couch that sits real low. I have to sit up and back so my rib cage isn't sitting on my uterus, since that tends to not feel good either. Sleeping hasn't been too bad. Overall, I still feel real good and active.

Brandon and I recently received callings: Relief Society Instructor and Priest Quorum Advisor. We are both very pleased to have these callings.

Unfortunately . . .

. . . this is not a rubber snake.

A few weeks ago I was in my bedroom with Brenna while Kaylee and Ashlyn played in the livingroom. Ashlyn came back and said, "Mom, come and see something." I was thinking she must have made some sort of mess or something. But then she said, "There are snakes!" I was thinking, no way is there a snake in our house - it's probably just a worm or something.

I was wrong. She was right.

I glanced toward the livingroom and saw something long and black slithering next to the front door. I put Brenna down and grabbed some shoes and gloves. By the time I got to the front door it was gone. I cautiously looked around and moved a few items, but found no snake. At that point I assumed (hoped) it had gone back outside.

Wrong.

A little while later I saw it again, near the dining room table. I put on my gloves (I had kept my shoes on - too afraid to take them off) and watched it move into a corner. At that point Ashlyn came out and saw it and made some sort of loud noise, which scared it into crawling under the door of the coat closet. I called Russ then, making sure I kept an eye on the closet, and we decided it would be best to trap it inside the closet and deal with it later (like when Russ got home from school). I shoved a big towel next to the door and hoped that would do the trick.

Fast forward a few hours - Russ is home and the girls are all in bed. Time to get rid of the snake. Russ moved things out of the closet while I cautiously watched from behind the couch. He found it near the back of the closet and tried to shoo it out with a broom, which only made the snake mad. We would have let it live, if it would have been more cooperative. But in the end, Russ killed it.

This is the book he smashed it with. Thank you "Don Quixote".

My hero. He said he wasn't scared of it, but I don't believe him, since he wouldn't touch it, even with gloves on.

And this is what our house looked like after the fiasco was over.

IT'S BIRTHDAY TIME FOR DOUG!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DOUG! Just thought you might enjoy a fun memory of early claymation creations. I particularly like the slug! Have a very fun day and know that you are loved VERY MUCH! (Isn't it wonderful that now you get paid to do such work?)

Tradition!

Fall is the time to be a Roses. Roses love the fall season. It probably helps that Laurel's favorite color is orange, holiday: Halloween. Brandon's especially favorite tradition is making cider with his great great grandmother's cider press. No joke. This thing is the real deal and very old. I finally got to participate this year.

It begins with picking a ton of apples. Brandon drove around and found random apple trees on property lining the roads in our Corvallis area, asked the owners if we could pick the apples and then we cleaned the tree dropping the apples straight into the truck.

Next, we cut the apples in half to make the crushing process easier. We picked the perfect day to do it this year; it was warm and sunny, which is a rare find mid-October in Oregon.

The apples are then dumped into the top part while someone hand cranks the crusher, turning the apples into mush/pulp.

When the unit is full of crushings, a round wooden disc, attached to a screw-like rod, is placed on top and pressed down by twisting the rod. Here, Dave is using a long board as a handle to twist.

The juice is then pressed out of the mush and sweet apple nectar goodness (called Apple Cider) comes out and is stored in 16 milk jugs or given as gifts. And let me tell you, home made is even better than the store bought stuff (and not just because it cost nothing but labor).

Mom and Dad got to help out, as well; they had a lot of fun. As did we all!

Pumpkins!

For FHE on Monday, Brandon and I carved our pumpkins! Yay! Brandon carved the pirate one on the right and I carved the one in the middle. Brandon's mom gave us a pumpkin (the one on the left), which I carved the following day. It was pretty fun.

The black tree in the middle is a Halloween decoration I am very fond and proud of :) I painted it and I like it a lot. It makes me feel very crafty.

This is the first time I've done something other than just the most basic face for a pumpkin; I'm not the most creative. So, I feel pretty good about my work.

A Chain of Gratitude

While working on my Primary lesson this morning I came across the following idea that I wanted to pass on. So while I am thinking of it... here it is!

Amy writes, "I wanted to share an idea I heard last year. This is a Thanksgiving idea and it is lots of fun. You take strips of 8"x1" ish colored paper and put them in a jar or can. Each day every family member takes turns writing down something that they are thankful for that day on their own strip of paper. Put the strips in a seperate container. On Thanksgiving day you take turns pulling out random strips and reading aloud the things that your family members are thankful for. As you read them you tape them and make a paper chain. This chain when complete then goes around your Christmas tree so you can remember through the holiday season that we are all thankful for so many things and you can see all of the blessing that God has given us."

I discovered a very handy tool for capturing screen images. It's called "SnapIt", and after a quick and easy install, it's ready to be used anytime without any extra steps.

Perhaps you have used that "Prnt Scrn" button on your keyboard to capture screen images. Whenever I do that, I have to use one of several applications to crop the image down to what I really wanted to capture.

With "SnapIt", anytime I want to capture something on the display, I just press the "Prnt Scrn" button, draw a box around what I want, and it's saved just that fast. It's also stored in the clipboard, so you can immediately paste the image wherever you want.

"SnapIt" allows you to change the default settings to your liking, so there are no extra steps required -- a real productivity booster!

You can go to this link to try it for free: Screen Capture Software

Birthday Pictures

These are a little late, but here are some pictures from Russ' birthday last month:

He wanted to take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese on his birthday (can you imagine a better Dad?)

Opening the gift he practically requested (which was not a CD - gasp!)

Birthday kisses

Russ doesn't really care for cake, so this year we made a "donut cake" (he does care for donuts, particularly apple fritters)

Hooray for the big 3 0!!!

Therapy Update

This video has nothing to do with therapy, it just shows a really cute and happy baby.

Brenna did meet with both her therapists for the first time this week. The occupational therapist came on Monday to do her evaluation. Brenna wasn't in a particularly good mood, but she made it through the poking and prodding and checking. The OT gave me a series of 8 stretches to do with her each day, 10 reps each. The stretches work her shoulder, elbow, forearm, wrist, fingers, and thumb. Two of the shoulder stretches are pretty uncomfortable for her, but she tolerates everything else really well.

The physical therapist came on Wednesday and did her evaluation. She was very positive about Brenna's prospects for improvement as she checked her strength and weight-shifting and "helping" and I don't even know what else. She just gave me one additional stretch for Brenna's leg. It stretches out her calf muscle and is supposed to be held for 20 seconds several times a day (like whenever she gets her diaper changed). She mentioned the possibility of bracing her left leg at night to keep her toes from curling under so much.

Both therapists will be making weekly in-home visits. I am very thankful Brenna's condition was known so early, and that she is able to get as much help and see as many competent specialists as she does. We adore this sweet little girl, and are so thankful to have her in our family!

Happy 30th birthday, Russ! This candle should look familiar to you all... it was first used on Russ' first birthday cake. I guess by then we also knew he loved baseball! I have made better looking birthday cakes, but this one is special because it reminds me of that wonderful little boy that has grown into such an amazing man. Have a wonderful day. Never forget how much you are loved.

Good Things To Come

On this day when we are fasting for family, I wanted to share this Mormon Message. I know the conference address is familiar, but it is beautifully portrayed in the video. It is a message for all of us and applicable in every situation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nczw6xHJ0I&feature=channel

Love to you all.

Also, sorry for another post, but I figure there are some (only a few) who would want to see a picture. We took this a few days ago and I already feel like I am bigger now. Everything is still going great. It is starting to get in the way a bit, but not too bad yet. It is nice being decidedly pregnant; no one hesitates to consider whether I'm pregnant or just abnormally fat anymore. Our new place is going well and we are liking Corvallis!

Celebration!

Preface: I really did try to keep this short but still interesting. Sorry. Long-worded is my nature.

Well, I suppose it is about time for me to share with ya'll about our trip home to Oregon. After the family reunion, Brandon and I both finishing classes, finals, working, my graduation, packing, cleaning, moving, and Brandon's brother's wedding in Salt Lake City, we left for a trip to celebrate my graduating, Brandon's 25th birthday and our one year anniversary! We had a grand ole' time driving about 2,000 miles, throughout 6 states, over the course of 7 days.
On Saturday, 14 August, we headed up to Yellowstone and saw several of the more than 10,000 geothermal pools (geysers, ponds and puddles of hot water). We also saw many waterfalls and much wildlife. We even saw a real bear in the "wild".

Old Faithful

A geothermal pool area. This was Brandon's favorite part.

Despite the fact that we saved $25 on an entrance fee by rushing to arrive on a no-fee day, we were too cheap to spend $15 on a campsite. Instead, we drove around the town of West Yellowstone, just outside the park, until we found an awesome spot...a grassy patch directly behind the LDS church building! We got some weird looks from early morning meeting attenders.

This is at the crest of a humongous waterfall. This was my favorite part of Yellowstone, located within the "Grand Canyon" of Yellowstone and the only place we saw yellow stone.

Sunday afternoon was spent in the park and Sunday night was spent in the car. We intended to drive through the night but didn't make it. We napped in a gas station parking lot and woke up next to a street sign: Roses Lane!

Monday: We then drove to Crater Lake which was absolutely gorgeous! Though there isn't a whole lot to do unless you are geared up for really intense hiking, it is definitely worth seeing.

Turns out it's hard to take a good photo in a dark cave.

After, we drove to Cave Junction area and camped at a site at the foothills of the Oregon Caves. The following day (Tuesday), we toured Oregon Caves and Redwood National Forest. The Oregon Caves are just incredible! I'd been there before and I would gladly go many more times. They were just awesome. I suggest everyone go there.
Redwoods were awesome and we had some real good times taking pictures and walking around exploring.
On our way back, we stopped at an RV campsite and showered. 8 minutes of hot water for $0.25! Sweet!

We slept in the same campsite that night, then packed up and headed off the following morning. (Wednesday) First we stopped at the Oregon Vortex. It's this crazy cool place that they place naturally warps weight, height and other such things. You should look it up for a better explanation. It was actually really really cool. Just a teaser: they push a glass bottle downhill and when it loses momentum it rolls back up the hill. Backwards.

White Fallow Deer (I think they originate in Asia)

Our trek continued up the I-5 corridor to Winston, Oregon where we stopped at Wildlife Safari. Totally rad. You get to drive around this large area filled with animals from all over the world! Sparing the bears, lions, tigers and cheetahs, all are roaming free on a large plot of land and can potentially walk right up to your car. Antelope, lions, ostrich, rhinos, zebras, giraffes, bears, elephants, emu, alpaca, white deer, cheetahs, tigers, turkeys and a ton more that we'd never heard of! They also had a petting zoo and small-cage animals so you could see them up-close.

Dude, this emu was scary looking. I thought he would peck right through the window!

You can't actually tell from this but the giraffe got about 18" from our car. I thought for sure he was going to walk right on top of it and crush our little chevy!

Taking HWY 42, we journeyed to the Coast and camped at a side just outside Florence. That night, Brandon cooked us some way delicious chicken alfredo. Camping is great. Thursday was spent slowly. Upon my request, we did basically nothing. I was tired of the go-go-go approach, so we just chilled. We ate at Mo's (and claimed it was in commemoration of our honeymoon, since we did it then, as well).

This is actually the last picture we took with this camera. It broke right after.

Friday morning, we ate, packed up and drove to Mulino and a few hours later were at Brandon's brother's second reception/most red-neck night his brother's in-law's had ever seen. It was held at the bottom of an intense gravel road, next to the Molalla River were the night included swimming, shooting guns, horse shoes, badminton, riding around in a Gator, bonfire, bbq pulled-pork, baked beans, watermelon, tiki torches, OFF!, and personalized Jones Soda.

Our trip ended with a night spent at the padres, but only to begin another adventure in the book of our lives.