Camp Clark Raiders Rendezvous - September '08

We spent Labor Day at the Camp Clark Raiders Mountain Man Rendezvous. Our family attended the Rendezvous held over Memorial Day and we really enjoyed ourselves. So we packed up our stuff and headed up to Courthouse Rock and Jail Rock for some more camping.

Since the last rendezvous Dusty has been working faithfully on his "garb" for this event. He made himself leather buckskin pants and moccasins, I sewed him a shirt (thank you Jeremee for all of your help!), and we added a hat and a new "mountain man" was created. I think he looked really handsome!!

Dusty headed up early to camp, but I had to wait until Saturday to go up. So the kids and I arrived on Saturday morning and were immediately drawn in to the activities. I started off doing the 'Women's Shoot' and did horrible. I was so frustrated with myself. I get myself psyched out when all of those seasoned men are watching me shoot and I just lose it. So I got only one shot. I told Dusty that he and I need to go up and practice alone so that I can feel more comfortable next rendezvous.

Dusty and I also ran the kids shoot that day. We bought watermelon and cantaloupe and tied them up for the kids to shoot at. It was a little unnerving running our first shoot but I think everything turned out o.k. Emma was so tired that she ended up falling asleep on a stranger's lap. Though, when you are at rendezvous everyone looks out for everyone's children. I got really tired too and took a nap. The temperature got really hot while we were there and I think I may have had heat exhaustion, because I was pretty darn tuckered out.

That night we did the potluck meal; the club provides the meat and then everyone brings a dish to share. We had some really great bbq pork with lots of yummy salads and treats. After that, we headed back to the camp and lit a fire and took it easy.

The next day, Sunday, proved to be just as hot as Saturday. In fact, it was so hot that we ended up going for a drive. We headed East and drove to Crescent Lake, near Oshkosh, Nebraska. I took a shot at trying to take some photographs of the scenery.

After that we headed back to camp, ate dinner, and got ready for the raffle that night. When you come to the rendezvous they ask you to donate prizes for the raffle. When the raffle comes you can buy kids tickets, men's tickets, women's tickets, or grand prize tickets with all money going towards the club. We all ended up winning something; Jake and Emma got insulated lunch boxes, Lex got a camping chair/stool, I got some fall pot holders and towels, and Dusty got a new knife set. I also stopped at the 'Trader's Tent' and the lady was selling her daughter's old rendezvous/pioneer dresses and they just happened to be Alexis and Emma's sizes. I bought both dresses for $10 and the girls were so excited to put them on.

Sunday night turned out to be super hot! We stayed up pretty late waiting for it to cool down before we went in the tent. We had finally fallen asleep and woke up to a flat air mattress and rain. Needless to say, we didn't really sleep much so when Monday came we were ready to go home. We packed up everything and made it home about 11 AM. I think I had about 10 loads of laundry to do with all of the blankets, camp clothes, and other home laundry. We got everything unpacked, everyone showered (boy did we stink!), ate lunch, and then I told everyone that I was taking a nap. I love napping!!!

We became members of the Camp Clark Raiders Club just last month. Before we were able to become members we were required to help with 'work days' (cleaning the property), running shoots (they have monthly shoots), and to basically prove that we were willing to be active members of the group. Now that we are we are able to have access to the land and will be able to go up and practice our target shooting at the range.

I am so excited to start working on outfits for me and the girls. I am hoping to have them done for Christmas presents. When I say outfits I mean "period" clothing or as I call it "Pioneer" clothing. I also want to make me a leather dress too. We will only wear them at rendezvous, which are Memorial Day and Labor Day. I have a huge list of camping items I want to get before next year too. I have to say that we really enjoy going to these activities and have a lot of fun as a family. Our friend Jeff, invited us to these activities and we are so glad that he did. I would have never known that I would like something like this, but I do! We all do!!

Visit my 'Burke Family Pictures' link to see all the photos from Rendezvous.

Dusty

The culprit behind Dusty's mysterious cough has been identified, hopefully. Dusty currently takes a long list of medications for his health problems, one of which is 'enalapril'. Enalapril is used to treat high blood pressure and is commonly given to patients with diabetes because it can improve survival after a heart attack. This medicine also has a side effect of producing a persistent cough. Our Doctor here in Sidney took Dusty off of it "just to be safe" when we discovered he had the bronchitis again. Wouldn't you know that his cough went away a couple days before we went to the specialist. When we told the specialist this he said he was almost certain that this medicine was the cause as he has seen many patients that happens to. So we left the clinic with samples of a different blood pressure medicine; he said that the only side effect of this medicine is 'poverty'. We will be asking for samples of this one! The good news is that there is nothing seriously wrong and the Doctor said that if the cough develops again to call and get in to see him when he comes to Sidney. We just need to keep managing his diabetes and working on loosing weight. Our advice to everyone is to watch what you eat, exercise, and be aware of your current health situation. Diabetes is not fun. It is extremely dangerous and causes many other problems. So get on your treadmills, drink water, watch your portions, and take care of your bodies. We love you Dusty and are glad that you are o.k.

P.S. Since the doc said that Dusty was fine we headed up to the 'Mountain Man Rendezvous' for Labor Day. We had a great time and I will be posting the pictures of Dusty in his leather soon.

1st day of school

The Burke kids 2008 summer vacation has come to a close. Our children returned to school on Monday August 18, 2008. Jacob is in Mrs. Pilger's 1st grade class. Alexis is in Mrs. Clark's 3rd grade class and Emma started preschool with her new teacher Miss Jeneal. All 3 were extremely excited to be going back to school!

The week before I took the girls to get their school hair cuts. Alexis cut about 10 inches off of her hair into a cute bob. Emma got her hair trimmed with some wispy bangs. And I got mine cut into a bob too. We had a great time hanging out and getting pampered at the salon. Jake made it very clear that he did not need to go to the salon and get his hair cut (That's girly!!).

We didn't go school shopping this year other than to get the supplies they needed. We had planned to, but Dusty ended up getting sick. He has been having some health problems and we are going to see a Pulmonologist this week to see if we can figure it out. I don't want to worry our families so call us if you have any questions. As soon as we find out what the doctors say I will post to keep you informed.

We made it through the first week of school and are excited to see the kids learn and grow. We love you all. Bye.

'Dot'

So I am pretty sure that most of you back home will be quite surprised by this post. I, Sherrie Burke, rode a horse and loved it!!!

Our friends Jeff & Donna bought 2 horses for their girls for Christmas and we were finally able to ride one of them. We met Jeff up at the range and got to meet 'Dot'. I was a little nervous at first, but that didn't last very long. You will notice that I didn't wear the best shoes for riding (but in my defense I wasn't planning on riding the horse). My flip flops kept slipping which made it a little difficult to keep my feet in the stirrups (those of you who have ever rode a horse know that you have to kick the horse, with your legs in the stirrups, on her sides to get her to move). But I finally figured it out and got her to a trot. She was tired from doing a cattle drive that morning so we didn't ride long. I got to brush her down and pet her too. She was beautiful!

Below is a picture of me riding Dot.

Happy riding everyone...Giddy-Up Cowgirl!!!

It's All About Me!!!

Emma has learned a new favorite song. Dusty got a Toby Keith c.d. and on it is the song "I Wanna Talk About Me". She has been wandering the house in her princess dress and dressup shoes singing "It's all about me...I'm number one"... This seems to be a perfect song for her. She has this hip move down now where she puts her hand on her hip and and tilts her head to the side. It is really, really, really cute!! We are defenitely considering putting her in ballet this fall. She also has been calling Dusty her "King" and she is the "Princess". Every morning she wakes up and runs to Dusty and says "Good morning King, can I have a kiss?". What a sweetie! She has her Dad wrapped around her little finger. What can I say, we love her. I thought you would all enjoy reading about how funny Emma is. Love you all...

Happy 4th of July

We had a great 4th of July! It began with watching fireworks on July 3rd. Our town has volunteer firefighters and they do the fireworks on the 3rd so that the firefighters can be with their families on the 4th. We headed over to the church because it has a great view of the fireworks and not a lot of people. We took Jacob's bike with us and I was determined to teach him how to ride without training wheels. I have to say it was the easiest job ever. After only a couple tries he was off and riding with no help at all. I tried to help and he would just say "I don't need help Mom". Thinking about his response I realize that we are passing milestones every day. Time is going by quickly and my children are growing way too fast!

The next day, July 4th, we participated in our Ward's first ever triathlon. Dusty was on a team where he did the swimming portion. I was on a different team where I did the running. The race was set up like so: the bikers raced from the church to the end of the walking/biking trail at the fairgrounds and then back to the pool. The biker would then tag their swimming teammate who would then swim 10 lengths of the pool. After this, the swimming partner would tag the running partner. This teammate would run from the pool to the soccer fields, one lap around the soccer fields and then back on the trail, past the pool, and all the way to the Sidney Pond. Dusty's team took Bronze. My team was pleased to just finish the race. Let me tell you, I don't think that my thighs have ever hurt that bad! I could not even move the next day after running that far (2.5 miles).

Our kids also participated in the kids race, which was to run around the pond 2 full times. Jacob and Alexis were fierce competitors with their friends and did awesome. Emma ran the race with Dusty. She was such a trooper and did the whole race. Just imagine her little, teeny legs running like crazy. All the other kids her age only went once around the pond, or got bored. But she was determined to finish. In the end, all the kids lined up and gave her high-fives as she ran by them. Everyone was cheering her on. She was so proud of herself, but I think Dusty and I might have been even more proud. This just proves how much fight she has in her (from the day she was born she had to fight to live). I believe that doing this race as a family has instilled some positive seeds in all of us. I came out of the race realizing that I need to run more often. The kids came away from the race knowing that they can do this type of thing and succeed. And Dusty came away planning on swimming laps at the community pool when they have adult swim time.

We went home for naps after the race and then went to the pool later that day. Emma and I relaxed by the kiddie pool and Alexis and Jacob swam with Dad in the big pool. This was when Alexis tackled the high-dive. She looked so big up there jumping into the water!

We did fireworks later that night as a family. We did lots of sparklers and then watched all of the fireworks going off in our neighborhood. Living in Utah we never saw fireworks like we have here. Many of our neighbors were doing huge fireworks and we just sat and watched the view from our driveway. In the end, Jacob ended up falling asleep in his chair.

The next day we tried to go fishing but had no luck finding a good spot at any of the local lakes (We tried Bridgeport Lake & Lake Minitaire). We decided to try fishing after church on Sunday and headed out to Chapell Lake. Our attempts to fish were laced with good intentions but our children and the lake had other plans. The lake was extremely mossy so we had a hard time finding a good spot. The kids brought stuff to play with and ended up in the water playing. They had fun but weren't really quiet. I think that Dusty had visions of sitting peacefully by the lake catching fish after fish while the children sat quietly playing in the sand giving each other hugs and kisses. Let's just say that the kids ended up wet and we didn't catch any fish. But I am not giving up. This is what I wanted to do for my birthday so I am going to see if we can try fishing the Sidney Pond tomorrow.

All in all we had a great weekend!! We had so much going on that it flew by and now here we are on Sunday night wishing we still had 3 more days of weekend.

Utah Trip

After Alexis' baptism Alexis and Jacob went back to Utah to visit with family for 2 weeks. Let me tell you it was the LONGEST 2 weeks of my life. I have never been away from my children for that long! I missed them so much. Dusty and I drove back with Emma to pick them up and stayed in Utah for 4 days doing vacation stuff.

First we went to the Hogle Zoo. My favorites were the monkeys. The kids loved seeing all of the animals. We rode the Merri-go-round and the Train and were quite ready to be done after wandering the zoo in 100 degree temperatures.

Next we went to Lagoon, an amusement park. Grandma and Grandpa Burke watched Emma while Dusty and I took Alexis and Jacob. Jacob was tall enough to go on most of the rides and might I add brave enough too; so all 4 us took advantage of it. One of our favorites was the new Octopus ride. It is a water ride and it was a blast trying to dodge the water squirting at us.

The next day we went to the Bee's Game with family. My sister Julie and her kids (Skyler, Kaylee, Mariah & Cayden) went and Dusty's mom went. It was fun to take part in seeing a professional game and to let the kids bond with their cousins. Snowcones were one highlight of the game as all the kids loved adding their own flavor to their snowcones. Another highlight of the game was meeting the team mascot "Bumble". Alexis had him sign her arm, the other kids had him sign their tickets and Jacob had him sign his new Bee's hat and bat.

A Visit to Raging Waters topped off our trip. We took my sister's kids with us and boy did we have fun!! Dusty and all of the kids (except Emma) immediately were drawn to the tube rides. So me and Emma hung out at the kid pools and played. She wouldn't go down the slides unless I took her. Let me tell you, there is nothing like a grown woman standing up from a kiddie slide with a "melvin". Those slides hurt your butt (I am not sugar-coating this at all). The wave pool also turned out to be a huge hit. I think Alexis and Mariah spent over an hour playing in there. In the end I had to be the bad guy and hauled us out of there around 5 PM.

We thouroughly enjoyed our vacation in Utah (visit our Burke Family Photo Gallery link to see all of our fun trip pictures). Thanks to all of our family for lettings us stay with them, helping with the kids, and hanging out with us.