Duncan Thomas

That's the name we're currently thinking about for the new one. Thoughts?

Shovel No More

After the first snow storm of the season Mat decided "That's it, I'm buying a snow blower." It's something Mat has talked about for years but I would never give in. I always used the excuse that I do most of the shoveling anyway, but for this year I won't be doing any of that so I have no excuse to give.
Mat was so excited about the purchase that for the first few days after he just kept saying he hoped it would snow. (you can all blame Mat for the excess of snow we are receiving)

I was a little sad for Brock because he loves to "shovel" the snow. After seeing him help with the snow blower I don't think there is any reason to be sad. He loves it!

Good at Keeping Secrets

Christmas has been fun with Brock this year. One thing we've been learning is how to keep secrets and how to tease. It doesn't matter what he really bought, but Dad's always getting a Barbie Playhouse. Last week, Brock went shopping with Grandpa and bought gifts for Mom and Dad. He was so excited to come home and tell someone about his adventures at Cabela's, so he told Dad what Grandpa helped him buy for Mom, and vice versa, told Mom what he got for Dad. He's been so good at keeping secrets, and has yet to slip in any way.



It wasn't until yesterday that we were at Grandpa's house and Grandpa made sure Brock remembered to take home the gifts they bought together. We both noticed the wrapping looked like both gifts might be the same, so we asked Brock "Did you get the same thing for Mom and for Dad?"



You guessed it, his answer was an absolutely innocent "Yes". Good thing we still don't know what each other is getting.

A Burnside Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was certainly enjoyable this year. I hope is was for everyone else as well. Allow us to share a few of the great moments we enjoyed this year.

Mat's family made the journey from West Jordan to be at our house. In total, that consists of 8 adults (well, adult age anyway), and 8 kids, plus grandma and grandpa. Mat seems to think he's an aspiring chef. Right now, he has a knack for finding a good recipe and being able to re-create it pretty close to how it looks on TV. This year, it was a brine turkey. Boy was it good. The most moist (just try saying that a few times fast) turkey we've ever eaten. The turkey was slightly overshadowed by the sourdough bread stuffing. WOW!!! can't get enough of that. I hope it freezes ok. Here's a picture of the beautiful 25 lb. bird straight out of the oven.

Now for two great stories: It's been tradition the last few years to open the Christmas season with a little gift from Grandma. Grandma gathered all the kids together and had them all talk about what they were thankful for, and even asked a few of the adults to kick in too. Then moved on to what Christmas is all about, leading the story down the lines of understanding we should celebrate Christ's birth and not think about Santa Clause all the time. She did a fantastic job laying out Mary and Joseph, ending up in a stable. Then, the most comedic moment of the evening. Grandma proceeds to talk about Jesus being born in a manger, with a bed made of hay. But the word hay doesn't quite make it out of her mouth properly. Unfortunately, the following sentence does: "Jesus was born in a manger, with a bed made of Hell". Had the room only been filled with the grand kids she may have gotten away with that. There was not a dry eye in the room, nor a butt in a chair. Every one of us was on the ground laughing and crying. Oh, the moments you share with family... (sorry mom, I'm sure you're mad, but you'll laugh at this with the rest of us in a year or two)

Onto the next story. The gift Grandma handed out was advent calendars. You know, a piece of chocolate behind 25 cardboard doors, so thick no ordinary child can get through on their own. Somehow, every normal 2 year old is born with that instinct that says "Hey, there's chocolate in here somewhere, and I'm supposed to wait 4 more days, then eat one chocolate per day until Christmas!" yeah, right. Here's the picture that just puts it all into perspective...

That's right, according to our nephew Beckham, today is at least Dec. 9. If we had a camera available 10 minutes later, it would have been Christmas eve already.

Being Thankful

When you look at that cute Pilgrim face how can you not be thankful for him! (Oh sure he brings plenty of struggles but the joy he brings out weighs all of the struggles) I am also so thankful for Mat and how hard he works for our family! I am of course so grateful for all our extended family as well, we have the best family ever and we appreciate all their support!

Most of all as I look at the challenges this year has brought I am so grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am grateful for the guidance that we as a family have received this year and the things we were blessed with because we listened to the spirit! I know that Jesus Christ lives and loves all of us. What more can there be to be thankful for? Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

99%

It's a boy! The Dr. was 99% sure, Mat was 100%!

Rollerskating

Brock has been learning to roller skate. (or roller walk is what Brock does) We had the knee pads and the Elbow pads but as we quickly discovered they should sell rear end pads!

Scaling!!

Scaling is Brock's new favorite thing to do. He has been practicing on his fire pole in the backyard and last week he even tried to scale the coat hanger at my office!

Brocks 1st Soccer Game

Brock had his first soccer game on Saturday. It was so much fun to watch him. He mostly just followed the group of kids running around the field but he did have a chance to kick the ball once. We had so much fun Cheering for all his team mates the Green Cheetahs!

7 weeks and 3 days

For all those wondering we went to the OBGYN yesterday and here is our baby. Thats right just one!

5 day old embryos

Our in vitro story

It's been a crazy few months for us. As many of you know we made the decision to try to have another baby and for us that meant trying in vitro fertilization. This was a very big decision and it was made with a lot of prayer. We started the process of taking the shots on June 29th and from that moment on our lives have not been the same. On July 25th fifteen eggs were removed from my ovaries and I thought the hard part was over, it wasn't. Only July 30th we transferred 2 embryos. Now the waiting game begins. I spent the next 5 days on bed rest and thanks to my wonderful family who took Brock I was able to stay in bed the whole 5 days. On August 7th I was feeling very sick (and looking 4 months pregnant) so I decided to go into the Dr. office. (this is when it gets harder) I found out then that my ovaries had been overstimulated by all the hormones and they were leaking fluid into my abdomen. I was again told I needed to be on bed rest and again my wonderful family came to the rescue! I kept filling with fluid and had to be monitored by the doctors and have blood work done almost daily. On Sunday August 10th I had to have some fluid removed. (It was a wonderful way to spend our 13th wedding anniversary) The fluid was back in just a few days so I was drained again on August 13th. Little by little I began to lose the fluid weight and get back to wearing my normal clothes. Which won't last long because we found out we are PREGNANT! We are blessed even in our struggles! Thank you to all of you who prayed so much for us! We know that many of you placed our names on the temple prayer roll and we received so many meals and tons of help with Brock during this time. We are so grateful for all you have done to be the hands of the Lord in our lives at this time!

Lagoon!

We took Brock to Lagoon for the 1st time. He had so much fun, he rode so many rides I could not believe it. He enjoyed the kids rides but also had so much fun riding the "big people rides". He rode Tidal Wave three times and he really enjoyed the Haunted Houses! He is fearless!