Tio and Poppa PLAY BALL!

Tio and Poppa came into town for an extended weekend to play in a baseball tournament that was father and son. What a great privilege I had to be here and that it was located in good old AZ! I was so excited to watch them play the new game of Fast pitch Baseball. More than that though I was thrilled to see how my father would hold up. After a lot (and I mean A LOT) of grief from Ryan for being old, decrepit, worn-out, ancient, accident prone, you name it he got it my father stepped up to the plate. I must say I was very proud of him he did a super job. He played first base and made more than a couple double plays. His catch was rather interesting as his body collapsed around the ball and ended up cushioning it with two arms a stomach and mitt (somewhere) however he DID make the catch so no complaining here! Jacqui and I were nervous for him for probably the firs time ever. Jonathan was wonderful as expected he will always be good at playing ball I think it just comes so naturally to him. Unfortunately they won one and lost three so they barely missed making the playoffs that were on Saturday. So needless to say I got some help around the house this weekend. I loved this weekend and was so happy that Dad and Jon got to come and visit even though it wasn't for that long. I forgot to tell you that the best part of the whole baseball thing definitely was watching them stretch the day of the first game. I thought my father was going to break something then. To let you all know we did end this weekend serious injury free however my Father went home with his wrist in a sling due to the very first play of the very first game in which he rolled over his wrist trying to make one of his stellar catches... Love to all!

First Haircut!

Yes it was time... Jag needed to look more like a boy instead of an in between. I very badly wanted to grow Jags hair out but my patience wore thin. I just couldn't do the comb over look anymore. I enlisted my very handy and talented husband Ryan and his pair of Costco bought clippers. I still wanted a little length which Ryan did by using a four guard. I just held the boy tightly and let the man go for it. I don't think Jag liked it all that much but he didn't mind either. A few days later and I am still cutting some stray long hairs but for the most part it looks great. First haircut for Jag, many more to come. Here are some before and afters. Love to all!

Halloween Party!

Saturday afternoon the girls got invited to a Halloween Party by the 3 M's. Macy Marley and Maddie had a party at Marys house and all the kids got dressed up for the occasion. They had a great time and came home buzzed off sugar. They played games drew pictures ate candy and had contests. Over all the girls and their cousins had a great time. Thanks for having a party and putting forth all the effort to entertain a slew of children. Navie was a BYU cheerleader and Blake was a Barbie of the Islands. Their favorite part was of course the make-up. My girls are girly girls and enjoy make-up like you wouldn't believe! Love to all!

Martha Stewart here I come...

Lately the girls and I have been wanting to do some crafts so the other day we attempted to do just that. They got some picture frames and some paint and went to work. They love to paint and had a great time doing so. I had a super time cleaning up afterwards as well. Blakely decided to paint the counter and chairs to match her pink polka dot frame. Good thing it was just craft paint and wasn't that hard to remove. They have put their frames up in their rooms and are waiting to fill them with pictures of their friends. I am really trying to do some activities with the girls instead of watching cartoons all the time. They love Spongebob and hopefully I will hang in there with this new goal.

Lastly I would like to thank Caryn for her help with my achievement day activity. She came over and displayed her wonderful talents and taught the girls how to glitter pumpkins. The girls had a great time and loved her (no wonder she is in Young Women's) she worked wonderfully with them. Thanks again! Love to all!

Innocent Prayers...

I am sure that you all get a kick out of listening to your little children give prayers at night but last night for us was especially entertaining... Navie offered to give the prayer and it went something like this;

Please help that we don't bite, pinch, kick, hit, punch, scratch, yell, cry, throw fits, scream, pout, be mean, ignore, be bad, sit in time out, or tease. Please help that mom will get more sleep. Help that Dad will feel better. Please tell Jesus thank you for everything he gave me because I love it all. Help Santa to know that I am being good. Help Blake to not pee her pull up tonight so she can get a prize. Help that we don't have dreams about spiders. Help that we don't go into mom and dads room tonight. I am trying to be like Jesus I'm following in his ways. Amen.

Needless to say she got a big AMEN from me. It is such a blessing to have innocent (or somewhat) children in the house. They say the darnedest things. This is one of my favorite things to do is ask for a prayer I love to hear what they come up with. Ryan has also done a great job at teaching Navie about prayer. She prays about everything! If something is lost she wants to say a prayer so that Jesus will find it for her. Whenever I lose something she reminds me that I need to pray about it. Thanks little angels for always reminding me about what is truly important in life! Love to all!

New Home!

I promised my family that does not live here that I would post some pictures of our new home! I am only doing a few because some of the kids are asleep and I don't want to wake them. I have learned that there definitely is a bonus when you buy a house from the woman that I did because she had it fixed up so nice. It was definitely move in ready no painting required. Ironically enough she had two boys and I have two girls and a boy however all the rooms worked out and so like I said it was just perfect. She has a talent in decorating homes and she definitely proved it with this one. My great find however is my brown chenille couch. I found an amazing guy that builds furniture and this was my dream couch but it was in Horchow (a magazine) for close to $3,000 there was NO way I would spend close to that. Lets just say that Pete made it for less than half! I love him he is very talented. Thank you to Ryan for making this happen for our family, he works hard and unfortunately I spend his hard earned money. He really has done a lot to bless us. Love him! I will post some more pictures later but for now this will have to do. Love to all!

Schnepf Farms!

The Burkinshaw family took a trip to Schnepf Farms this past Friday. We actually had a great time it wasn't crowded and the weather was pleasant. All the kids (minus a few that had ball games) rode the train and roller coaster. It seems as if every year they add some new rides to the park. However to balance that out they also increase the price. I must say the highlight of the trip was the pig races. It seems that every year someone that we know gets picked to participate. They called for adults and instantly Ryan's head went down and he started acting busy. That was a big enough signal for the Farmer to single him out. Yes, folks he got picked to participate in the pig races. He cant be too disappointed he was next to two cute girls. They made them yell "SUUUU-EEEEEE" over and over until everyone thought that they had done it loud enough! I think that was Ryan's version of (you know what) he is miserable when he is singled out. I guess he is irresistible to more people than just me. Needless to say our trip was super fun and we made great memories and took lots of great pictures. It is a family tradition and my children are already looking forward to next year! Love to all....

He's Home!

For all of you that did not know Ryan went and spent 10 days in Argentina. He went back to his old mission to do some charity work. I did not tell a lot of people because I did not want anyone to know I was staying alone. Now that he is home and we are safe from the boogey man I will show you some pictures of his trip.

He brought the girls home some hand-made Argentine dresses so of course our girls had to strut their stuff for the camera!