Christmas Morning!

There is nothing more wonderful than Christmas morning with kids I decided! I get so excited the night before setting things up and finishing up wrapping. Then my favorite part is when they wake up and can't wait to go in. Jaxon woke up at 5am and then proceeded to wake up Jake and we postponed them till the grandparents and Jace got there. They were so excited when they walked in and saw the train table. That was all they could think about and we really didn't open up anything else until after breakfast with the cousins. Breakfast was great, thanks for appeasing me and letting us have scones! Jax got his prized bow and arrow he has been asking for since September and Jake was happy with his trains and cars.

These are the towels the boys got from G-ma and G-pa Burgess, a cowboy and pirate!

Bozo the clown was a hit and the boxing gloves I am sure will come in handy when they need to release some tension!

The beloved train set the sits in the same place as Christmas morning because they refuse to have it anywhere else, I suppose its okay for me. It really is awesome, Jeff and I took 2 hrs. on that baby, we aren't real talented when it comes to putting it all together...

Post Christmas morning damage, I love this kind of a mess with kids happily entertained for hours on end with new things while I get to catch up on sleep.

We stayed home the rest of that day because Jeff wasn't feeling too hot, mostly due to 3 hours of sleep and lots of excitement. I am so thankful for what we have been given, I know the Lord has blessed us much more than we deserve. Happy Christmas!

Christmas Eve

We had our first annual Burgess Christmas Eve party. It was a riot. We were lucky to have Mari's parents and brother with us to add to the fun and we definitely needed the good voices that they have. We had a great dinner thanks, Bev for all your hard work! It tasted great! Then we had our nativity seen, you should have seen us trying to get those kids into it. The only ones who cooperated were the girls, Jadyn was Mary and Lilly was baby Jesus and Lauren was the angel. The boys were shepherds and Joseph.

Jake couldn't be a shepherd without something to take care of so the bear was our enticement,

Jaxon was a shepherd with a little Chinese umbrella and in pink, he wouldn't stand to have anything but!

Here are our three kings, too funny! They even did a solo! Notice the donkey that Connor(Joseph rode instead of Mary) :)


And this is how Jadyn was the whole time, the perfect Mary!

It was so fun! Mari and here mom sang after our theatrical review and they are amazing, if only I had that kind of talent, good thing we are sisters so I can at least here it often! The kids opened their pajamas like usual and the party was ready for the kids to be asleep so Santa could come!

First trip to the NFR

We had a great trip to Vegas to watch the NFR! Never been much of a rodeo fan before, I just went and liked being there with the people but I loved the NFR. I don't know if I can stand to watch any other kind! Jayme, Logan, Jeff and I took a quick two day trip to Vegas. The guys went deluxe on us and we stayed at the Bellagio which was fantastic. It was great to stay on the strip and just walk around and play and never have to get in a car. The first night we went the the Phantom of the Opera and it was so much fun. I had never been to a play like that! We were on the sixth row, front and center! Good tickets Jayme! The NFR was the next night and I wish I would have bought some cowboy boots because I was the ONLY one! I recommend going to this to everyone! It was a fun trip overall. Thanks to Kristina and the grandparents for watching the kids. We love you. Jayme and Logan there couldn't be better vacation partners, you guys are great!

The two cutest gals at the rodeo!

These were the Christmas decorations at the Bellagio, made entirely of pecans! No joke!

US!

Christmas in O-town

We were so excited to go up the Ogden right after Christmas and we had a blast, they always keep us busy when we are up there. After we got up there we exchanged gifts which was fun! We were a bummed though that Mitch and Cami couldn't be there, we missed you guys! The kids loved the bowling game Uncle Nate gave them as well as the dinosaur slide show from the grandparents as you can see...

We went sledding the next day which was fun for the kids. We went to El Monte Golf Course and boy was a glad when we moved over to the smaller hill. It was so steep and icy too. Brought back bad broken collar bone memories from sledding in college! The kids loved it, though Jax was more into snowshoeing like dad. Jake wasn't much for the sled he just went face first on his belly and said WEEEE the whole was down.



We took Jaxon skiing at Wolf Mountain which wasn't the plan at first but it turned out to be absolutely perfect. What else worked perfect was renting our skiis the day before at Alpine(my new favorite ski store). Jaxon was a little beastly to say the least and wanted to prove to us all he could do it himself. After a few falls he was a little more willing for some help. They have a perfect kids hill and a "magic sidewalk" as we were informed from a friend Jaxon made. We even took him on the big hill and I held him while we both snowplowed. He learned to snowplow, which is making a pizza, and to go fast which looks like two french fries! He even turned a little bit at the end. Jake went down with Grandpa a few times. My dad, Jeff and I went skiiing at Snowbasin the next day and it was a perfect day! I forget how much I love to ski. Thanks dad for a great ski trip! It was so fun to see my family, I love them so much! Oh yeah, and thanks Mitch and Cami for Christmas, we missed seeing you Cami!

Bowling! Go for a strike!

Christmas in O-town

We were so excited to go up the Ogden right after Christmas and we had a blast, they always keep us busy when we are up there. After we got up there we exchanged gifts which was fun! We were a bummed though that Mitch and Cami couldn't be there, we missed you guys! The kids loved the bowling game Uncle Nate gave them as well as the dinosaur slide show from the grandparents as you can see...

We went sledding the next day which was fun for the kids. We went to El Monte Golf Course and boy was a glad when we moved over to the smaller hill. It was so steep and icy too. Brought back bad broken collar bone memories from sledding in college! The kids loved it, though Jax was more into snowshoeing like dad. Jake wasn't much for the sled he just went face first on his belly and said WEEEE the whole was down.



We took Jaxon skiing at Wolf Mountain which wasn't the plan at first but it turned out to be absolutely perfect. What else worked perfect was renting our skiis the day before at Alpine(my new favorite ski store). Jaxon was a little beastly to say the least and wanted to prove to us all he could do it himself. After a few falls he was a little more willing for some help. They have a perfect kids hill and a "magic sidewalk" as we were informed from a friend Jaxon made. We even took him on the big hill and I held him while we both snowplowed. He learned to snowplow, which is making a pizza, and to go fast which looks like two french fries! He even turned a little bit at the end. Jake went down with Grandpa a few times. My dad, Jeff and I went skiiing at Snowbasin the next day and it was a perfect day! I forget how much I love to ski. Thanks dad for a great ski trip! It was so fun to see my family, I love them so much! Oh yeah, and thanks Mitch and Cami for Christmas, we missed seeing you Cami!

Bowling! Go for a strike!

First trip to the NFR

We had a great trip to Vegas to watch the NFR! Never been much of a rodeo fan before, I just went and liked being there with the people but I loved the NFR. I don't know if I can stand to watch any other kind! Jayme, Logan, Jeff and I took a quick two day trip to Vegas. The guys went deluxe on us and we stayed at the Bellagio which was fantastic. It was great to stay on the strip and just walk around and play and never have to get in a car. The first night we went the the Phantom of the Opera and it was so much fun. I had never been to a play like that! We were on the sixth row, front and center! Good tickets Jayme! The NFR was the next night and I wish I would have bought some cowboy boots because I was the ONLY one! I recommend going to this to everyone! It was a fun trip overall. Thanks to Kristina and the grandparents for watching the kids. We love you. Jayme and Logan there couldn't be better vacation partners, you guys are great!

The two cutest gals at the rodeo!

These were the Christmas decorations at the Bellagio, made entirely of pecans! No joke!

US!

Arizona Pictures

McCormick R&R ParkThe next generation of Firemen and Women

Phoenix Zoo, Jake loved the giraffes and birds

Mesa Temple

Turtles at the Zoo

Arizona Air

Don't you love this! This is the trail if you couldn't already see that for yourself Montezuma's Castle

The kids favorite part, don't you love Jake's goggles!

Our day hike, isn't it beautiful

Navajo Bridge

We decided to take a little trip to Arizona to enjoy the nice warm air. And it was a great trip. We left on a Thursday and drove to Sedona. Unfortunatley we drove through SEdona in the dark. But the next morning we took the boys on a little hike to this mountain and it was beautiful. It was like having fall twice in one year. We then met up with Jayme and Logan at a national monument called Montezuma's castle. It was pretty interesting to see. We continued on to Scottsdale when we were staying and the first thing Jaxon wanted to do was swim. It was so nice to bein the warm air. The next day we took a trip to the Pheomix Zoo and it was fun for the kids to see the animals, but in my opinion not as good as the Hogle Zoo. After the zoo surprisingly all the kids except Jake stayed awake to go to theHall of Flame Fire Fighting Museum. I stayed in the car with Jake while everyone else went in. He finally woke up and we went in to see loads of fire trucks. Logan is a volunteer fireman so it was neat for him. The kids played on the fire trucks and pretended to be firemen. We came back and swam for a little. The next day we drove to Mesa to see Kade and Maddie and they were so great to let us all invade. We were lucky to be able to have a playground right by their house, so we played and talked while the guys went golfing. My old roomate Rachel lives in Mesa and she came over and it was so so good to talk to her, love you Rach! We then drove back to Scottsdale and went to the McCormick R&R park. The kids rode on a train and we ate ice cream, it was a huge park. That night we went to this ghetto Fiesta Fun place and all the kids could do was bumper boats which was funny. This one little kid kept trying to push everyone into the waterfall and it ended up that he got soaked. Too funny! On Sunday we went to church and were obviously the loudest but it was so nice to be there, I love being a member of the church! We then got back and were headed to the Goldfield Ghost Town when we couldn't fin d the keys anywhere! We searched everywhere it was pretty tramatic considering it was Sunday no one would be open till at least 9 on Monday and we had planned to leave at 8am or so. So we all piled in Jayme's car and saw the ghost town, which was interesting except for the fact that everything cost money. We headed back and Jayme and Logan left to drive parway home. So we put a movie on that night for the kids and Jeff patted down the entire beds. The kids fell too sleep and I got up and then flopped back down only to here this slight klinck. Did you hear that I said, I turn on the light and look behind the bed and there are the keys, An answer to my prayer literally. We packed up the next morning and came home. It was a great trip overalll and the kids were so good in the car!Goodbye Arizona!

November came and went and where were we?

For all of our friends that check our blog you probably stopped since we've posted nothing since Halloween. I can't believe November is over and I didn't even get time to blink. We have been busy. Basketball season in now underway and we are there at least twice a week cheering on CHS and Coach "Daddy". The boys love it and since I am no basketball player I am learning to love it more every year. It does help not being pregnant or having a baby like the past few years! We went to Arizona the week before Turkey day and it was so much fun, I'll will get pics soon. No promises though. I have been all about christmas and trying to get it all done early which I am succesfull with minus anything for Jeff. We love hearing what everyone is up to. By the way, some of you, not mentioning names (j/k) have gone private and we are missing everything about you so invite us if you want to our email address is lina77_7@yahoo.com. We would love to see what you are doing.

Happy Halloween

What a halloween! Its so sad that it ends so soon sometimes with nothing but candy to remember it by. Jaxon has been waiting for Halloween since Walmart first got their costumes in. We were going to be spiderman and not knowing how often we would want to wear the costume I let him and we wore it everyday. Much to his dismay we lost the mask so we went looking for another like 2 weeks before and couldn't find one so he decided and was just as excited to be a knight in shining armour. Jake was a monkey, fitting his personality perfectly. We made some homemade chilli and cornbread for dinner and started trick or treating at 5:30 or so. The kids had a great time and we even kept Jake interested until he remembered he could eat the candy and not just keep it in his bag. Jax and Connor ran to every house and had to ring the doorbells even if we knew they weren't home. We then ate and hopped in the car to go see Dennis. He always has this scary and funny set up and this year he was dressed up as a witch standing next to a fake witch and he looked fake. While we were there I think he scared as many adults as parents. The boys fell asleep early like 7:30 so Jeff and I got to actually relax. We dressed up as well as Denver Bronco fans. If you didn't already know we all have personalized jerseys we wear every Sunday in honor. So glad Jeff is a good sport he even let me draw lines and his face. Happy Halloween!

I want a turn!

So today in fast and testimony meeting. I was just listening and trying to entertain the kids when Jaxon starts paying attention to the speaker. Ok, no big deal, that is great I think. When the guy finishes he says; "Mom, I want a turn!" And I said, "To bear your testimony?" Yeah! What am I supposed to do? I know that they have said you shouldn't take your kids up there. They have to be old enough to go by themselves and say their testimonies all alone. I keep trying to think of ways to postpone this. He isn 't old enough to do this yet, is he? I've never seen a three year old get up and do this. Finally two more people go and he says is it my turn next. I tell him that it is for older people. Then I start to get this feeling that I should just get up and he can watch. No that won't do, he wants to and he is starting to throw a fit. You can't have a fight over bearing your testimony, is that sacreligious? Then this like 7yr. old gets up and does so good, talks about the scriptures, his family, the prophet. And Jax says, but he is little and he did it. I want a turn! So I keep asking him what are you going to say when you get up there and he says, "I want to bear a testimony, i like scriptures, i love my family, Amen. So we walk up to the first row and I am trying to coach him so he says it the same. I know mom, let me go first. So I mouthed to Bro. Brinkerhoff and asked if he could and he said yes. I say, its your turn! He goes up to the microphone and he started to talk but the stand wasn't lowering fast enough so all you heard was Amen. He said, " I want to bear my testimony. Name of Jesus Christ Amen!" He skipped the middle but was so excited. I bore my testimony afterwards. It is just amazing that a three year old would want to do that! I guess it was Heavenly Father's way of getting me to "have a turn" when I haven't for three years gotten up. The Lord knew that I needed to do that and I have already felt the blessings of getting up. That is why the Lord, tells us to be as little children. In Relief Society I was thinking about all of this and realized that for the past three years I have felt spiritually lost, it doesn't help having two kids in those 3 yrs. and not really paying much attention to any sort of lesson or meeting due to entertaining. I have felt to spiritually lost, even when I am reading my scriptures and praying. And today was the first day in so long that I felt the spirit prompting me as a mother and as a person. I think that testimony meeting is so important, bearing your testimony brings blessings that nothing else can, and it opens your heart to the spirit. I am so thankful for my little prompting angel Jaxon today. He has opened my eyes and given me the spiritual strength I have been needing!

Watch out Vegas, Here we Come!

What does Vegas equal? Loads of fun for three and a half girls to shop till we drop! Jayme, Mari and I and Lilly went to Vegas. Bev was going to come but was so sick and we missed her but we proved ourselves as good of shoppers as she is! J/K We left for Vegas early Friday morning. We left the kids home with the guys and we were set to shop. Lilly was our only accomplice and she was a shopping angel. Seriously she slept the whole time and we thought it would be a rough night, no way, she slept all night and the whole next day. Couldn't have been a better shopping partner, you taught her well Mar! When we got to Vegas we went to Fashion Show, I had never shopped in Vegas, and I was in for a treat! It was awesome, any store you could ever think of was there! We even stepped foot in Neiman Marcus, we could only afford the bathroom there. It was so much fun to shop the three of us, we have never done anything like this before, its usually the whole family so it was a blast. We shopped for ourselves mostly, the kids got some too. Who could resist Janie and Jack and Gymboree! That night we ate dinner at the buffet at the Wynn. It was great, I even got creme brulee, my favorite dessert! We went to our hotel and added up the damage for the first day, I was ahead, much to my own surprise! Saturday we shopped at the outlets which was a little chilly but so fun, we got some good deals! We ended the day at Fashion Show again to return some stuff and get some more. It was so fun. Thanks girls, you are the best to shop with, it will have to become a yearl outing I decided! Love you both!

A quick break for lunch!
Never made it in there but had to take the picture!
Dinner at the Wynn! You can't really see the flowers behind us but all the way to the ceiling, such amazing detail! Lilly, what a shopper!
Is Lilly under there? It was nice to have the stroller to pack three people's stuff, we never would have made it without the stroller, we even took Lilly out and just carried her so we could fit more stuff.
Damage Done! Thank you Vegas!

Helping Dad

Rolling it out!
Jake posing

This past Tuesday, I went to the St. George Cannery to do some pears with the girls in the family. Jeff was left with the boys all day. Last time we did this we were done by one so that is the time I told Jeff we would be done. Well, we didn't finish till 3 and weren't home till 4ish. So Jeff got to have some little helpers for his afternoon work project. The three boys laid all the sod out by our tramp and were so good to help Jeff. Thanks hon! It looks great! We did finish our pears and it was quite the job. My big goal this year has been to finish our food storage room downstairs. So this and the case lot sale at Lins will add to my project. Hopefully the vinyl will be put in this next week.

Conference Weekend Fun

For the weekend the whole family went up to the cabin from Thursday to Sunday! It was so fun! Friday we played outside and did some work around the house while the boys went and fixed the spring and yes, we now have running water and can take a hot shower or bath. Now that is spoiled for sure! Thanks to Mari's ideas we had plenty for the kids to do. She brought dinosaurs to paint and we painted pumpkins as well. Jaxon was totally engrossed by the painting, our friend Jana is a painter by profession and came up for the weekend to hang out and touch up some things around the cabin and Jaxon wouldn't stop asking her questions. I'll bet he painted his dinosaur with six thick coats of paint. Ryan and April came up with their kids as well as Jason and his dad and Cole and Cami. It was so much fun to talk with everyone. Much to my dismay though what could you expect with 8 kids running around, we could only get to actually pay attention to conference when the kids were sleeping. Thank goodness for DVR! We were fogged in all Saturday day and it rained, I finally know the feeling of cabin fever!!! We woke up to snow the next morning and I don't know who was more excited, Jaxon and me? I guess I get it from my dad. I love the snow, though I will miss my flip flops and shorts. Thanks everyone for such a fun weekend!

Our first attempt at paint
All the kids painting pumpkins!
As you can see, Jake's focus- Chocoalte cupcakes!

Jaxon's focus- Painting again!
Our snowy morning! Isn't it beautiful!
Painting the pants with Jana