Happy Fall

As many of you know, Fall is one of my favorite times of year. I love Halloween, pumpkins, the smells, and the feel in the air. So, we headed out to pick pumpkins at a local pumpkin patch. I thought it was awesome because every pumpkin was $1, no matter the size. They have a little mailbox set up and you go out in the field, pick your pumpkins, and leave your money in the mailbox. We had a great time and got LOTS of pumpkins!!

Click here to see the rest of our pumpkin picking pictures...

http://picasaweb.google.com/slburke7780/PickingPumpkins#

New calling for me

I have accepted a new calling in our ward. This change came as a huge shock to me! I thought that the Bishop wanted to talk to us about who he was calling as my den leader in scouts. Boy was I wrong. I was released as the the 1st Counselor in the Primary Presidency and called to be the Activity Days Leader AND the Youth Sunday School Teacher.

My new callings have proven to be very different than the world I was used to. I was in charge of the Cub Scouts (when the Bishop told me I was being released the first words out of my mouth were "What about my boys?"). Boys are easy going and tend to be on the tougher side. Now I have girls who are soooooo emotional, I finally told the Bishop that I thought he might have the wrong lady as I didn't know what to do with all of their emotions. The Bishop thought that I was funny and said "Now, Sister Burke....". I know, I know, I need to learn how to deal with all of those girls and their emotions as I have 2 girls of my own, one of which is in Activity Days.

My other calling is with the Youth; totally different from teaching Primary kids. This Sunday will be my first week teaching, so wish me luck! I have been told that there is one kid that is a scholar and is very knowledgeable about the scriptures. I am a little intimidated about being corrected by a teenager as I know that I do not know everything about the scriptures. I only know how they make me feel and that I know they are true.

So if any of you have been in these calling before, or are in them now I would love any ideas or advice you have to offer.

College Graduate

I have finally completed my Associates Degree in Accounting. I cannot believe it as it seemed like it would take forever. I started back in the fall of 2006 and have worked extremely hard on this. Obtaining a degree is something that was very important to me and still is. I am such an advocate for education and believe that everyone can benefit from increasing their knowledge. I have benefited in so many ways from going through this experience.


First off, I learned that I had to be disciplined taking online courses. I did not have a set time or place that I had to be in class, so I had to make sure that I set aside time for my classes.


Second, my children have learned what doing homework is. They got so used to seeing me working on the computer that even now they will say "Are you doing homework tonight?". I have to keep reminding them that I am done with school (for now). I am glad that I was an example to my children and that they understand that homework must be done to excel in school.


Third, I am now better prepared to support my family if the need would ever arise. I wanted to make sure that if for some unseen reason Dusty was gone, that I would be able to support me and the children.


Fourth, obtaining my degree has allowed me to move up at work. I went to work temporarily with the purpose of using the money to pay off old debt so that we could buy a home. Since I have been able to move up at work the "drop dead" date for this goal has moved up. There are so many other benefits from obtaining my degree that I cannot list them all.

I just want to say THANK YOU to my husband for putting up with me while I have plunged through my studies. He helped me a ton in the beginning as I got used to the new environment and has been a huge support to me. I could not have done this without him.

What's next? you ask...well I am taking a much needed break doing things such as blogging and being with my kids. I am seriously considering continuing my education and obtaining my Bachelor Degree via online classes. Learning can be kind of addicting as I want to keep learning more and more. So when I make my final decision I will let you know. But for now, I am going to enjoy my favorite season of the year with my family!!

Ear Piercing

Our girls have taken the huge step of getting their ears pierced. One weekend we needed to get away, so we headed to Ft. Collins, Colorado for a little time away. I had been talking about taking the girls on a "girls trip" to go get their ears pierced and be pampered. So we decided this was the perfect time.

Anyone who knows Alexis knows that she has a hard time with pain of any kind. She is also very apprehensive and has a lot of anxiety about things like this. So we decided to have Emma go first. I held her on my lap and they pierced her ears at the same time. She seemed more shocked that anything and cried for about a minute. After cuddling with Dad and looking at her new flower earrings in the mirror she was good-to-go.

Lex went next, but I also had to hold her on my lap. She picked the October birthstone because she liked the color (light pink). She was pretty shaky as they got ready to do it, but once they were done she was fine too. I don't think it is something she wants to do ever again, but she is glad that she has her ears pierced. Now I just have to fight with her to clean them (you have to twist them and clean them for 6 weeks and every time I try she thinks I am going to hurt her).

Below are both girls posing with their new earrings...

Aren't they beautiful?? We think so.

FIRE!!

We have learned a very important lesson in our family...gas cans and lighters DO NOT make a good combination. I know, you are thinking, well duh!!! So let me tell you what happened.

We bought one of those neat fire pits from Cabela's that you burn your fire wood in. So one Sunday night we had decided to have tinfoil dinners and cook them over the fire. I was inside cutting up the veggies for our dinner and Dusty had gone out to start the fire. Well, we started a fire...a BIG one. Dusty had poured gasoline on the fire pit and had then lit the wood with a lighter to start it. He though it had not lit and started to pour more gasoline on the wood. What he couldn't see was that the fire had already begun and before he knew it the gas can and gasoline inside of it caught on fire. I had no idea until I casually looked out the back window and saw flames as high as the power lines shooting everywhere. Dusty was standing there with the hose trying to contain it. With the wind, the flames were getting near Emma, so I ran outside and grabbed Emma from off the trampoline where she was frozen.

I yelled for Lex and Jake to grab the hose from the front and Dusty and I sat there and tried to get the flames to die down. Since the wind was blowing so much, every time we thought we were getting it to go out, the wind would make it pick up again. Dusty was trying to keep the flames from the garage so that we didn't have a bonfire start and I was trying to keep the flames from the grass. I finally called the fire department and we continued to stand there feeling like idiots. While we were waiting for them to arrive, Dusty got some dirt from the garden and smothered the flames (why didn't we think of that sooner??).

When the fire department finally arrived the chief was furious with Dusty. I was mortified about the entire situation and the fact that my husband had actually pulled off something like this. In the end, we learned a very good lesson; our gas can is now only used for the lawn mower, we have had extensive conversations with our children about what to do in case of fire and we now make brownies for the volunteer fire department regularly.

Our situation could have been a whole lot worse. Fire is nothing to joke around with. Follow the safety rules that have been set in place for us all. I highly recommend taking a tour of your local fire department as they will educate you and can show you pictures of exactly what happens when you play with or are careless with materials that can start fires.

And now a few pictures of our eventful Sunday night...

This is the gas can smothered with dirt. Notice the black grass on the right.

Happy Birthday Emma!!!

Miss Emma has turned 4 years old. I am filled with mixed emotions as I think back to when she entered this world.

I can remember it like yesterday. I was not doing well. The doctor had put me on bed rest and had been running tests on me. I had sugar in my urine, I was swollen like an elephant (no joke...Dusty said I had "elephantitis"), I couldn't breathe, my blood pressure was extremely high and I had a 4 year old and a 2 year old at home. The doctor had told me that he wanted to get me as far along as I could but to be prepared he gave me steroid shots for the baby's lungs. He told me that the last symptom of my condition would be my liver failing. When your liver fails you are at risk of having seizures, and if that happens the baby gets no oxygen.

Basically, my body was shutting down as a result of the pregnancy. The technical term was pregnancy-induced hypertension. Well, let me tell you, you know when your liver starts failing. It was the MOST painful thing I have ever been through. So we rushed to Alta View Hospital in Sandy, Utah. As we entered the office around 9 PM the nurse who had been running my tests saw me and immediately rushed me in to a room.

After that it was a whirlwind. They were shoving tubes down me and i.v.'s in me. They immediately called for a helicopter to "life-flight" me to LDS hospital. I was only 30 weeks along and they could not support a baby born that premature. The helicopter would only hold me on the stretcher and the technician. So, my sweet husband sat in the parking lot and waited until we lifted off and followed us all the way to LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, UT. I was in a lot of pain and the technician finally offered me some pain medication. I was able to calm down a little and remember the helicopter circling the Salt Lake Temple over and over. There was another helicopter on the landing and we had to wait for them to move so that we could land, so since the hospital is very close to the temple they circled around in the air until we could land. Seeing that temple was one of the most comforting things to me.

After we landed I was rushed to a room to be monitored. My pain had increased significantly and I had started to vomit. I was begging for more medicine, but could have no more without hurting the baby. Finally, the decision was made to deliver the baby via emergency c-section. On September 3, 2004, Emma Beth Burke was born weighing 2 pounds, 3 ounces. I was so sick that I did not see her. I was taken back to a room where they discovered that I had pneumonia and fluid in my lungs (hence the reason I could not breathe). My blood pressure was through the roof so they put me on medicine which made me very loopy and tired. I also hemorrhaged and had to have blood transfusions.

Emma lived in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) for 2 months. I visited her every day and in the end was visiting her 3 times a day to feed her. After this experience our doctors told us we should not have more children as what happened to us would only happen again but earlier in the pregnancy each time. We were told we were very lucky to have had Alexis and Jacob without any problems.

So I have mixed emotions because my 'baby' is not a baby anymore. But I am so happy to see her thriving and happy and alive. She has been called a "mini Sherrie" and has a personality of a princess. Emma is a spit-fire (I think she had to be from the very beginning of her existence on this earth). Her little feet still have the scars from being poked daily when she was born and are a constant reminder to me of how lucky I am to have her. Dusty and I are truly blessed to have been given the privilege to be her parents. She is the last addition to our family and we love her with all our hearts.

This picture is of Emma in her incubator. The 2 circular openings are what you would put your arm through to touch her.

This next picture is of me changing her diaper. Notice how big my hands look compared to her foot. Her head is a little bigger than the pacifier in the bottom right corner.

This is one of me and Emma cuddling. This is called "kangaroo care'. It is therapeutic for premature babies to be held against their mother's skin. The big cotton ball on her head is actually where her i.v. is. Premature babies veins go bad so quickly that they have to change them every day or so. Every time I came in she had a different spot on her where they had poked her. The i.v. was huge compared to her head and was probably one of the harder things for me to get used to.

And here she is in her blessing dress at about 6 months old.

A busy little 2 year old...

This is Emma at age 3...

And now it is 2008 and she is a big 4 year old that goes to preschool and runs around the house in her princess dresses.

We love you Emma!!!

Slacker...

So I know I have been slacking off on keeing my blog updated. There is a good reason though...we have been extremely busy. So I am catching up on posts this weekend. Just a hint of posts to come:

Happy Birthday Emma!!

FIRE!!

Ear Piercing

College Graduate

New Calling for me...

So don't give up on me. I will work dilligently this weekend in between Conference Sessions to get the blog updated.