Burrows Bunch

Christmas Tree express 2011

2011-12-04T17:46:00.001-08:00

So bare with me one more post that I can't see the pictures while I write. I have got to get someone to show me what I am doing wrong here so I can get caught up and do this blogging thing right. Ha ha. Anyway we had our annual Burrows Christmas tree express. Every year we venture up to the wilds with my brother and his family and we find and cut down the most perfect Christmas trees we can find. Then we bring them home and spend 2-3 days putting on the lights and decorating the things because at our house my husband thinks that the bigger the better. So we usually end up with at least a 15 ft. tree. If he could find a spot in our house at all taller he would put the tree there. But this is as big as it gets. He and Parker were joking the other day that next year dad ought to put a whole in the ceiling and out the roof and let the tree stick out of the house. Just so he can say that his tree is taller than "Dave Anderson's" tree. He is a guy in our ward and every year Richard is in a secret competition to get a bigger tree than him. Dave doesn't even know he is competing with him.

Anyway after the trees are all decorated we love to go around and see everyone's tree. So this year we started with Dixie and Arts house. They are always so wonderful to come to be part of the night with us. They had the appetizers this year and boy were we spoiled. Shrimp cocktail...a total favorite of mine. With fruit cocktails, crackers and more. Then we headed over to our house for salad from Brinkley and Richy. They had to head back up to Idaho because of the bad weather but we ate their salad and then some yummy lasgana and bread sticks. We had a Christmas toast and then Parker turned into our holiday whino. We took a family photo and then it was off to Cody and Robyn's house for the sugar cookie decorating contest. If you decorate your cookie's well you get them for dessert. Dixie and Art are really pretty good at decorating cookies.

It was so fun. Thank you wonderful children for being part of the Tree express night. I know it is a rush to put up the tree and it is such a busy time of year. But I love how willing you are to always do this with your dad and I. You know how he loves to show off the "BIG" tree.

Turkey Time...

2011-11-24T15:13:00.000-08:00

So this is how bad it is that I have forgotten how to blog. My sweet daughter in law Robyn put these pictures of thanksgiving on here for me and all I was suppose to do was just write about them. Well for some reason I can't even see them when I am writing and I can't move anything around so here is the scoop. Thanksgiving was wonderful as always thanks to my wonderful children and their families. It was only our own little family this year, which don't get me wrong I so love it that they were all able to come. I just love thanksgivings when the house is over flowing with family and you see loved ones that you don't see as much as you would like. But this year was kind of a off year for that. My brother was busy having his wife's family up to their house this year so they couldn't come and my sisters family all went to her house this year and this year was the first year my sweet mom wasn't with us so kind of sad in that way but thank goodness for my wonderful little family. We ate wonderful food and as you can see had fun as always. My kids are great, they are doing their share of filling our house to the brim with all these new wonderful grand babies we have...and love!!! Another great turkey day.

Labor Day...

2011-10-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

This labor day was so fun. We were able to rent a house with Becky, Richards sister and their whole family and go to Bear Lake. I have said this before that I love this place. And it is especially fun when you are able to go and spend your time with wonderful people. Years ago Becky's family would invite us to come with them to Bear Lake on Labor day...just for the day and we always had a great time. Then one Labor day the wea

ther was terrible and so we had to do something else. Our family went to the zoo and that was the beginning of us not going to Bear Lake with the Kogers for a few years. But then we were so excited when they invited us again and this time the invite came with a house. It was so much fun and we are so glad they invited us again. Dixie and Art were even able to come. (Note Debbie and Mikes family have a family reunion over Labor day that they have done for years thus that is why they are not here.)

We each took a meal to do and the food was awesome.
This is Paige and I one morning while we watched the sun come up and as we waited for everyone to get moving in the morning. I can't believe the boys out on the deck could sleep at all with this bright sunny shining on them.

This was poor Briley sleeping finally in her car seat. She had to make a trip to the St. Charles hospital because she didn't sleep at all the first night and so Brinkley and Grandpa Richy ran her to see the doctor and found out that she had a double ear infection. Poor thing but after getting some meds in her she did feel a lot better. Brinkley saw Bear Lake by night as she had to spend most of the night driving around the lake a couple of times.
We were able to get such a great place on the beach since we traveled with the Koger police. Thanks so much Perry for going down and getting our spot every day for us. That was awesome.

2011-08-30T20:41:00.000-07:00

Back to school.... Well it has happened again. All the kids are back in school. Paige and Parker are up at Weber State University and Kenzie is a in high school. This is killing me. I think she loves it!!! Already she is doing lots of home work and spending a lot of time in the gym with the volleyball team.

She has already played in a lot of tournaments with the team and they have done really well. She has played with a lot of these girls for a lot of years so when they are seniors I think they will have a really good team. The varsity team this year seems like it is going to be really good too.

OH MY....I never posted this blog and now Paige and Parker have both finished their 1st semester at Weber and Kenzie is not so new to high school anymore and is done with volleyball and now right in the thick of things with basketball. Oh I am terrible at this blogging thing. Sorry no pictures with this one I have so forgotten again how to even get around in the blogging world

Behind again

2011-07-14T21:46:00.000-07:00

I swear I have such high hopes that I will be better at blogging and keeping up on our lives. But then life happens and it happens so quickly that I don't have time to even make the long walk up my stairs to the computer and type.

Again so many things have happened since I last wrote. But most recently we just got back from Bear Lake. I LOVE this place. I have always loved Bear Lake. Though I have experienced many things there that should make me not like it such as burns that have blister and about killed me and the sinking of the jet ski and near drowning and having to swim across the lake in the worst storm I have seen. But I can't help it I love it. Especially when we are there with family. I feel bad that Cody, Brinkley and Paige couldn't be there but so glad that Rich, Parker, Kenzie, Robyn and the two girls were able to come. Art and Dixie even made it up for the day. We were so glad when they did show up. I worried that Robyn may back out on us because her hubby couldn't come and Paige and Brinkley wouldn't be there either but she was a trooper and came tired and all and we are so glad that she did.

It is always so fun to just relax and soak up the sun. Except as you all know I don't love to soak up the rays as much as I use to because of what Richard has gone through. We just relax and lather up the sun screen now but that is ok too.

I have pictures but I can't find my cord to put them on my computer so I will have to look for that and then add them later.

Graduation?

2011-05-27T11:18:00.000-07:00

Hurray for graduation...

So McKenzie has finally graduated from junior high. Way to go McKenzie I am just so glad that you still have 3 years left in high school. I really don't know what dad and I would do with out our little surprise we brought home with us from Austrailia 15 years ago. Best suvieniour we ever got. And your such a good kid too. You make it so fun to watch you grow up. Your so easy to raise. McKenzie received so many awards at the awards assembly the other day. Not only is she brilliant but she is so athletic too. And the great thing is, is that we don't have to push her at all. She is a self motivator. We never have to ask if she has her homework done. She is always so on top of that. She keeps us right on schedule with all of her basketball and volleyball schedules too. She is so dedicated. A coach couldn't ask for anything better. She is so willing to do whatever is asked of her. And we couldn't ask for anything better in a daughter. She has a kind heart too. If anyone needs a friend she is there. Even if it means that she gets a stocker or too out of it. So way to go McKenzie we love you and you truly are so very awesome.

Well on a sadder note. Parker graduated from High School. Oh don't get me wrong I am so thankful that he has done so well in school. His grades are wonderful and he is able to be the most social kid I have ever seen. But it is sad to think that he is getting so old. The older he gets the closer he gets to leaving on the mission. Oh don't get me wrong on this either. I want him to go more than anything and know that he will, I just wish so horribly that it could not come so quickly.

If any of you know Parker you probably know what a fun personality he has. He is so totally involved with his family. If someone needs help doing anything he is right there. Parker has been so fun to raise! He is so social and then he is so great to come home and tell you all about his night. He keeps you so updated with what is going on in his life and that it is so fun as a parent. Believe me plenty of nights we have had to say "Parker tell us about it tomorrow." He loves to stay up late and talk, ask his sister Paige. He is so funny too. Get him and Paige together and they can quote every funny thing said in any movie. When Brinkley was moving back home, while Richy was away, she said that that was one of the things she looked forward too was hearing the funny things Parker says and does. He is so willing to jump in and learn new things and always willing to tear something apart and try to put it back together again. He isn't afraid of hard work. He has such a great attitude that if he has to rack the whole yard (an acre of ground) he doesn't complain he looks at it as a great time to build those amazing muscles he has. No matter where he goes or whoever he is with he always comes home and says he had a great time. I can count on one hand the times that Parker has been in a bad mood. I wish I could say the same for me.

So Parker I hate to let you do it....And if I thought that it would work I would beg and plead with the high school to please let you stay just another 5 of so years. I know how those boys that go on missions grow up and don't always come home to the same relationships with their moms. But I am holding out that you will be different. I hope you'll always be my little boy, Parker. Ok you can grow up a little but please don't change that fun, loving personality that you have. Anyway I can't get this upset yet. He only turns 18 in June. I still have him for another year. It really could be worse.

So to both of you graduates WAY TO GO!!!! We are so proud of you.

Oh hold on we can't forget Addi....She graduated from her first year of preschool. She has another year of preschool before kindergarten so we will celebrate bigger and better next year. But I must mention that Addi is the Smartest 3 year old I have ever seen. And way sweet too.

So way to go Addi. You are awesome!!!!

Spring happenings

2011-05-25T12:22:00.000-07:00

What an exciting last couple of weeks.... And I have not written about any of them. So I am doing a quick caught up.

First I can't believe this weather. It is sunny one day and a complete down pour the next but I must say that it sure gives the grandkids some great places to play and get dirty.

Speaking of playing I love it when my kids all play together. The other day McKenzie wanted someone to come out and hit the volleyball with her. It was awesome to look out and see Brinkley, Paige and Parker come out and join the fun. (Sorry Cody and Robyn were not around.)

Speaking of playing with friends...Parker went to the dance with Aubrey Scott. She is a darling girl and the theme for them was the 80's. They look so cute... Well she looked so cute I am not so sure if you could say Parker looked cute.

I know Briley wasn't so sure about him.

We also got to go to Texas to see Richy's basic training graduation. I went with Brinkley and Briley and Richy's mother, Valeen. It was way fun and Richy of course, graduated in the top 10%! I never doubted you Richy!

It was fun to see Briley riding the air plane for the first time and she did so great.

When we got there people had some really professionally signs made for the "airmen" but we were new to this and didn't know so we hurried and made up a sign "Burrows" style and had Briley hold it up as he ran by in the Airman run.

We had a hard time finding him but never fail we did it on the second time around.

It was fun to see their cute little family be united after being away for so long. Briley wasn't quite sure about him for a minute. But it only took a second and she was glad to be back with her dad.

It didn't take long for the excitment to wear off for Briley. You can only be the hit of the show for so long.

Richy and I celebrated our birthdays while we were down there together. We ate lunch on the river walk for his birthday at the Rain Forest Cafe and Valeen made my birthday a hit by decorating our hotel room with whatever she could find....lip stick... and what more could I ask for than a Texas shaped waffle for my birthday. Thanks Valeen.

Valeen and I did get to go to the Alamo with Briley. We had a good time and learned a lot about this historic place. And we ate yummy ice cream.
We had a great time. Thanks Brinkley for letting me come with you.

Who wouldn't want to spend time with this adorable sweet baby. Good times.

Little Red

2011-03-09T12:09:00.000-08:00

So excited for this ride. Brinkley is doing it with me this year and it will be so fun. Just wish we could get motivated to get out there on our bikes. It would help if it would warm up a touch.

5 years.

2011-03-07T20:51:00.001-08:00

We can't believe it. But we are so excited....On March 3, 2011 Richard reached his 5 years of being cancer free. What a great day. Five years ago I really never thought we would be where we are today. We have been so extremely blessed!!! I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father or all the blessings we have received through this experience.

I have a whole new appreciation when I hear of someone going through cancer. I can truly not just have sympathy but I have empathy. Since Richard was diagnosed with melanoma our lives have been changed. I know that most everyone that read this blog already know the story of how cancer snuck into our home. But I am going to write a little bit about it just to remind myself of the things we have been through. This could get long so if you already know all about it just ignore the next long part.

I remember just watching t.v. with Richard and how he was sitting on the floor and I was rubbing his shoulders and neck when I felt a lump in his neck. I asked him what it was and he said he hadn't even noticed it before. Probably a swollen lymph node. So then the worrier that

I am keep bugging him as to why would it be swollen. He didn't have a cold or hadn't had one in the last while so as I keep bugging him he said. Oh I bet I know what it is....I hit my head at work on something a day or two ago and it started to bleed a little. I bet it got a little infected and just drained to that lymph node. Well that made sense to me so I put it out of my mind for the rest of the night thinking that I would give it a couple of days and if it didn't look like it was going away I would call the doctor. Well during the night I woke up and started to worry. (which as you all know I am really a great worrier) But it was just like something told me. Janice don't wait to call the doctor call in the morning. So that is just what I did. We got right in to see the PA Parker Ward. He asked Richard a lot of questions and said that it probably was just an infection and put him on a antibiotics for 10 days and then we were suppose to come back if it hadn't gone away. Well it didn't go away so he sent us to an ears, nose and throat specialist. His name was Dr Doug Anderson and if anyone ever needs a ears, nose and throat specialist I highly recommend him. Anyway we went to see him and he said that he didn't want to just stick a needle in it and disturb the node so he sent him over for a cat scan. I asked him if this could possibly be cancer and he said "oh lets not go there...there is a hundred things it could be first." So after he got a good picture of it he told him that he would get back to him and took his cell phone. What a long wait that was. The Doctor actually called Richard on a Saturday while he was at a volleyball tournament and told him that it was cancer. And they needed to meet with him and get a plan going. I will never forget when he got home I was up stairs and heard him come in and I quickly asked "Have you heard anything from the doctor? He said yes and as I got to the bottom of the stairs he said it is cancer. That is the worst words I think you can hear. I hugged him and told him that we would fight this. So we then met with his doctor again I wanted to hurry and get in there and take it out before it could do anymore damage but the doctor told us that they needed to send him down to huntsman center and do a Pet scan. That way they would know if it was anywhere else. He did tell us that it was Melanoma and that it was in his lymph system and that right there wasn't a good sign. I remember just praying please don't let it be all through him and have the doctors have to tell me that there would be nothing they could do. So Dixie and Art and Rich and I headed to the huntsman center. What a humbling experience that is. To see all the many people inflicted with various types of this awful disease.

We were so very blessed when the news came back that Richard cancer hadn't spread to any other place in his body. So it was now off to surgery to have it removed. On March 3, 2006 early in the morning Richard and I drove up to the hospital and Rich commented on how weird it was to drive himself to the hospital when he feels fine and have them inflict pain on him. So the 5 hour surgery that took more like 6 1/2 hours was performed. It was such a hard time for me and when the doctor came out and said it was done and that it had come back confirmed for sure that it was melanoma and it was a 4 - 5 cm tumor had been taking out. I will never forget Dr. Anderson coming out and telling us that the surgery went well but that it was still stage 4 cancer because it was in his lymph node. After we later learned that he was really a stage 3b cancer

patient. But still very serious. We were told that he had a 25% chance of surviving this cancer. Not great odds but it was so much better than what I feared most that he would say no chance. I did at one time ask Dr. Anderson is there any hope? And I loved his answer. He said "I have learned to never say there is no hope. In my line of work I have seen many times when medically there was no hope and the Lord proves us wrong." Dr. Anderson was so awesome. He called a few days after surgery and said that he had done some more research because he just

had a feeling he had to do more and he contacted colleges back east and doctors at huntsman and he felt that because his jugular was laying right on the cancerous tumor that we needed to go and remove his jugular vein. That was so unsettling. Richard said to him "I have always been told if you want to kill something go for the jugular. One can not live with out a jugular can they"? Well he proved that wrong. Because even after a surgery where they removed 61 lymph nodes and 2 inch circumference of neck muscle they went back in and removed the jugular vein. Dr Anderson did such a fabulous job. There is so much here that I have left out. So many scary things and so many wonderful blessings given, wonderful acts of service and love shown to our family. I could never thank everyone enough. And the prayers in our behalf I KNOW were heard and so very much appreciated.

So after a year long of interferon and making it to the 2 years out and his odds going up to a 50% chance of surviving this cancer and now at 5 years when they tell us that the odds of surviving are now 75% chance. We are so happy to be here. Yes, he will have to be followed close his whole life. But we have now gone from scans every 3 months to every 6 months to now just once a

year. Hurray! We are so extremely thankful to be at this spot. We always said that when he makes it to 5 years we would take a cruise with the whole family. Well we didn't get the cruise but we did get dinner at Maddox and we are so very thankful for that. Maybe a cruise at 10 years. That is our new goal. We kind of got a head of ourselves on the cruise and we went in December. The only reason we don't count this one as his celebration cruise is because Cody and Robyn and the girls couldn't go with us. So in order for it to be a true celebration we all have to be there, right?

Rich has been able to be here and healthy for so many things. Cody coming home from serving honorably on his mission. Seeing Cody fall in love with Robyn and seeing as Addi entered into this wonderful world and then to be there to watch as they were married in the Logan temple and sealed as a family.

Then to have his first daughter fall in love and be married in the Ogden temple and watch as his son in law Richy joins the Air Force.

To see two more wonderful grand daughters become part of our family.

To see Paige graduate from high school and venture off to a year of college away from home and move back home and watch her excel in her adventure to become a teacher.

To work with Parker on a jeep he had so wanted to restore. To watch him do so well in school and to be a student body officer at Fremont High.

To watch McKenzie become Rocky mountains ninth grade setter as they take the district champions again. And see her to accelerate in basketball.

To be there as his wonderful mother in law passed away and to be able to support me through it all.

Boy what a great 5 years it has been. There have been so many little and big things that we have experienced in the last 5 years and we are sooooo grateful for all of them. Richard we are so lucky to have you. We all love you.

We have learned that we are not in control of the experiences that we are given in this life. We do know that the Lord is in control. We also know that he is there always. He is aware of our needs and knows what we can handle. And when we feel we can't handle anymore he sends angels to help along the way. We will forever be thankful to all those angels that helped us over these past 5 years.

Richards mother and Art were so wonderful and supportive through it all. What would we have done with out you? We don't know what the next 5 years will hold but here is hoping for many more years together as a family.

If any of you are still reading thanks! I know that this is a long blog. Thanks again to everyone that have been part of our lives.

Bathroom remodel

2011-03-07T19:50:00.000-08:00

With Brinkley and Briley moving in with us while Richy is gone to Basic Training we had to do a little bit of moving around and fixing up and remodeling. So we decided that the room that my mom use to be in would work best to put Brinkley into. It needed a good paint job and as we moved some of the furniture around we realized how badly it needed new carpet. So on went the new paint and in went the new carpet. But if you look real close at the bathroom at the end of the bedroom you can see that I had a peach colored counter top which I loved when I put in because it was my favorite color and now I desperately wanted to get rid of. Well I found this blog that had a picture of a kitchen where a lady painted her counter top to look like the granite top. So I figured I would try it in the bathroom where not

many people will see anyway and if it didn't look good it was such a small counter that Richard could replace it with a new top if we needed to so I tried it and I love it. You can see a couple of my mistakes but for saying it was the first time trying this I think it looks pretty good.

Here is a look at how the bathroom counter top looked before.

And here it is after. I really like it. Now I just have to see how well it will hold up to the wear and tear. So far so good.

I would love to change my sink and put in a new faucet as soon as i can afford it. A brass one would look good. And I am thinking about painting the cabinets black. Just a thought.

2011-03-04T13:10:00.000-08:00

Dixie and Art have birthdays just a day apart. Dixie's b-day is Feb 18 and Arts is Feb 19. They have so much in common. They both are only children. They are the best grandparents that we could ever ask for. This year Dixie said she would like to start up a family temple night each month and who ever can make it is great. January and February have been awesome because we have been able to go to the Ogden Temple which will soon be closed for remodeling and we were so lucky to have Uncle Noel who is a sealer at that temple do sealing's with us. It has been a great thing for me. Richard and I were married in the Ogden temple and I have such a great memory of that day. My sweet mother was there and I can still she her sitting right there by me when we are in that special room that we were sealed. I am a little sad about the remodel of this temple because it is really more than a remodel it is a complete change. I don't like change but I keep telling myself that it is still a house where the same special work will be done. If Richard and I had our way they would leave this temple the way it is and build a new one in Layton. But no one asked for our opinion so we will support those who really are in charge. After our February temple night we all went over to Robyn's house to have some yummy cake and ice cream to celebrate. We had a great time. Happy Birthday to the both of you.

2011-02-22T16:54:00.000-08:00

So here we are 4 months later and I am finally trying to blog again. I now have a faster computer and faster internet...not the dial up anymore. So I decided that I was going to try to be better about this blogging thing.

I have taken so many pictures and always think they would make such a cute blog but can never find the time with the old computer so now no more excuses I am going to be a "better blogger"!!!! Now I just need to play caught up for a minute.

A month or so ago we had a really bad wind come through our world. I had to take McKenzie to early morning basketball. So I took her and got back about 6:05 and everything was fine. Later as I left to work at 9:30 image how surprised I was to see McKenzie's basketball standard trying to get into my car...through the back window. I called Richard because the wind was blowing so bad and it was sooooo cold I didn't want to drive to work with no back window and glass all over the place. He got right on the phone and had someone out here by about 10:00 and by 10:30 I was back on the road again.

2010-10-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

So we are so excited to have Briley Jandy Peterson finially here!!!! She is absolutely beautiful!!! She was born at 11:56 on Oct 4, 2010. She was due on October 10, 2010. 10-10-10 would have been fun (which was her due date) but she was ready to get here. She is so tiny!

It was such a fun day. Well it actually started at night. Richy and Brinkley left our house some time around 10:00 and we didn't think there was any sign of a labor soon. Then we got the call from her at 1:30 that something was happening. When she told us what was going on Rich and I told her to go to the hospital and hurry and call us. She said that she needed to get a few things and would call when they were on there way. So a half hour later when they hadn't called I texted her and she said that they were just leaving. It was about 3:00 that she called and said that they were keeping her. Which they were glad because that is always everyones worry that they will send you home. They told her that she was already at a 5 so there was no turning back. They got her to a regular room and she called again about 4:30 and said that they were giving her the epideral. So I had finally finished my funeral potatoes that I needed to have for a funeral of a man in our ward and we dashed out the door. It was so weird how many memories it brought back. Richard was so excited he was almost gitty. We got there at 5:00 just as the regular doors of the hospital opened. It was weird to walk through the hospital and not have anyone there. We found Brinkley and she was just as calm and calm. Boy I love epiderals. They make all the difference in having babies. She was shivering but other than that she was great. So about 10:00 I think. the nurse said she could start pushing. That was so hard to watch. There is nothing you can do except about brake her neck as you try to help her when she is pushing. I am not sure I was really a help or if I made things worse because she keep saying her upper back was killing her. It was probably my fault. Sorry Brinkley. Any way it was fun to watch Richy's face everytime she would push and they would come closer to having her here. It was so adorable. I got some cute pictures if I can ever figure out how to get them from Brinkley's camera to my computer I will have to post them. I must say that I am a terrible picture taker and I was nervous that the pictures wouldn't work but I think I did ok this time.

When she finailly got close to pushing her out of there the nurse said to stop pushing because she needed to get Dr Swift there to caught the baby. Well he took probably 10 minutes to get there and change his clothes and in the mean time Briley decided to go back in. So Brinkley had to pretty much start over with the pushing thing. But she did good and Briley is here.

She is healthy and beautiful. And she is named after me. I am so excited to share a name with such a darling baby. My whole life my family has always called by "Jandy" and Addi started the grandbabies calling my Grandma Jandy. I have always loved the name and I am so excited that Richy and Brinkley decided to give her Jandy for a middle name. I feel HONORED!!!

I know it has taken 2 months for me to post this post. That is really bad and I have to get better at this. This is so long and so many details but I wanted to write it down more for myself. My mom always wrote down the details of the day when her grandbabies were born so I thought maybe I should have been doing that too.

I love having my children here in my house with me so I could love and mother them (smother them as some would say) but I must admit if I have to let them go and have their own lives the grand children do make it a little bit easier. You can see how Richard enjoys them. ha ha

This is Oakley enjoying some down time with Grandpa Richy. We can't forget Addi...

She is a little spit fire that keeps us on our toes and makes us laugh all the time and that we love to death.

So children I posted. Or rather I rambled. Hopefully I will blog again before 5 months.

2010-06-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

We did it. Hurray!!!! Last Saturday Anne Kendrick, Janet Kendrick and I all did the Little Red Riding Hood. Richard has been drilling and pushing me to get riding so I would be ready for this ride and I have totally drug my feet and went each time kicking and screaming. But boy am I glad that he pushed me. It was such a fun ride and the weather was great! You couldn't have asked for it to be better. Well Anne and I did complain about the wind a few times but in reality it really wasn't that bad. We just needed to whine about something when we got tired.

We signed up for the 58 mile ride but in my mind I though I could quit when ever I got tired because this year I signed Richard up to be the Sagg support. I knew that I could call him any time and he could pick us up. But he didn't need too. We were riding machines this year. It helped that this ride started out with a breakfast including pancakes, bagel with all sorts of cream cheese, fruit and all kinds of energy bars and juice. Then about every 15 miles or so they had a stop with all kinds of fruit, snacks and energy stuff again. That made it easier to know that we just had to make it to the next stop and then set a new goal for the next stop. Lunch was Subway sandwiches with all the fixings.

We made it the whole 58 miles. Anne and I think we could have even gone further. I told Richard I think we could do the 80 miles next year. At the end of the ride they had a big celebration. They greeted you with a tiara thing to put on your head and a strawberry lemonade that was awesome. They also had more subway sandwiches, bagels, salsa and chips, an awesome candy bar that Janet found the right size cup to fill instead of the little ones they had there on the table. Way to go Janet we deserved it. ha ha. And last but not least they had a chocolate fountain. What the heck? I guess after all the hard work and dieting to get ready they really know what you want.

It was so much fun I am so glad I got to do it since two years ago I couldn't go for some reason I can't remember and then this last year I had my ankle surgery so I was so glad to be able to do it this year. Thanks Anne and Janet for riding with me it was a ball. Lets do it again next year...thats if we survive the LOTOJA!!!!

Here's a couple of "want to be" Little Red Riders. Maybe next year for Brinkley, maybe two for Addi. But just keep working at it.

2010-05-26T15:11:00.000-07:00

So wow it has been a long time since I last posted. I really hate to blog at home on our computer that is hooked up to the land line and our computer is so slow anyway. So I decided to take just a a second and write before I leave work.

I am patiently waiting for a call from Brinkley and Richy to tell me what the gender is of my soon to be new grandbaby. Sometimes I think it is a girl and other times I think it is a boy. Tru to my self I still always think there could be both and that they just can't see the other one. Today I am leaning towards a boy. I think....maybe not.... oh I don't know.

Oh just got a text from Brinkley she said to call her........Oh my heck I am so excited. It is a GIRL!!!! Yea, I am so happy. Just think of the wonderful tea parties and princess dress ups we can have at grandma's house. Brinkley just said that we have to get Richard building the princess castle and maybe put the pirate boat on hold. We may have all girl grandbabies. How fun. They are on their way to see me and show me the dvd. How exciting. Girls, girls and more girls.

2009-12-21T11:11:00.000-08:00

So when I originally started this post I was writting my letter to Santa to make sure that when he checks his "good list" that he found the burrows bunch there. I had my list of all of the things that I wanted but I only got it half written and before I knew it Christmas had come and gone. But guess what? We were on his good list. We had a great Christmas. Matter of fact we had a wonderful December...

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we all went for the traditional Christmas tree hunt. This year Richard got the biggest tree yet. I swear it takes him 2 whole days to get just the lights on the tree. But it did turn out great.

Then we had our Burrows around the world Christmas tree express. Where we go to each others house and see our trees all decorated. Everyones tree was so awesome! We had a great time too with chips, dips and yummies at Dixie and Arts house. Then off to Roybn and Cody's for salad. Then the main course was at our house and decorating sugar cookies and Brinkley and Richy's. It was so fun and since my computer is so slow at down loading pictures you will want to go to Brinkley's blog page or Robyns. They both have some darling pictures.

Then we went on vacation. It was a little more stressful to try to get ready for Christmas by Dec. 10. so we could go and not be stressed but we did pretty good. We just had a little more running around to do when we got home but we had four days to do it so it all worked out.

We went with Brinkley and Richy and Richy's family to California and then on a cruise. It was so fun. We drove down to San Diego, taking two days to get there. We stayed in St George the first night and drove the rest of the way the next day. Then stayed in California until Monday morning when we boarded Carnivals Elations boat. We went to Catalina Island where we drove the golf carts around and the kids para sailed this time. That was new and they had a good time. Then we went to Ensenada, Mexico for a day and rented a 12 passenger van and had a great time as Richard drove us all through Mexico. The blow hole was fun and the kids had fun bartering with the vendors along the way. It was a great trip. It sure didn't feel like Christmas with the weather being so warm there.

We made it home just in time to drive up to Fez's house for the Curly & Helen clan party. There was a lot of us there this year. I think fez said that there were 47 of us. Wow we are getting big. It was fun. Then we had Christmas and Santa was very good to us. We had originally said that the trip would take place of presents this Christmas but I told Richard that we had to have a few to open. Well a few turned to a few more and then to a lot more and pretty soon it was our usual Christmas that everyone gets way to much. But I do love Christmas.

It has been a great month. Full of family and fun times. This year is starting to look like it will be the same. We started out the first day of the year by all going to a movie together and then most of us (with the exception of Brinkley and Richy and addi and oakley of course) headed to the mountain for a day full of skiing.

After I could no longer walk anymore, which really didn't take me that long to get that way, we headed to Dixies for a wonderful dinner that she had made for all of her kids and their spouse. We ate and then played games. This little get together was because Rob and Natalie were in town. It was fun to see them. Rob even came skiing with us. Thanks Rob for putting up with me and how slow and whinnie I was. I will be better next time I promise.

I will try to figure out how to get my pictures to upload. I am having problems and edit this later.

2009-11-02T13:28:00.000-08:00

Oakley's blessing day. Another post that I didn't post when the event actually happened. So I went to start typing on this one and somehow I deleted three of the pictures that were here. Where are they I don't even know. They were of the whole family standing on our front porch and a darling one of Oakley, Cody, me and my sweet mom. A four generation one and now I don't know where they went. This is why I get so frustrated doing this blogging stuff because I know just enough to mess stuff up and not enough to fix it. So we have changed computers since I started this post and now I hope that I can find those adorable pictures. But at least I have this darling one of Oakley. Cody gave her a beautiful blessing and then we came to our house for lunch. What a special day and what a special baby. And to think that this adorable baby is now almost a year and a half old. I am the worst blogger ever.

What Matters Most!

2009-10-20T14:55:00.000-07:00

I think that this has such a great message. Take a minute to watch it. Click herehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYhDhiojBPA

WiTcHeS PaRtY

2009-10-17T08:53:00.000-07:00

Ok so Paige is trying to help me figure out all the in's and out's to this blogging world and I guess I started a blog about our wonderful witches party of 2009 and never posted it. Man I didn't even remember that I had started it. But I will now post the pictures I guess. Becky and her girls always put on the best witches party. This year we all went to Becky's house and made these adorable hats. Then we went out to eat to show them off. It was so much fun with lots of good food and great laughs. Dixie looks wonderful.
Here is the whole bunch of us waiting to be seated. What a great bunch of "witches"
Here is me with McKenzie and Brinkley. Paige had a hot date and wasn't able to be there for this part of the party. Robyn just had Oakley and she wasn't sure how she would sleep in a new place. Brinkley's hat makes me laugh every time I look at it!!! This is where her Grandma Helen comes out in her. Some times they are so much alike.
Paige did show up for the sleepover and brought her date with her. Isn't he a keeper. Becky always decorates so adorable and makes the party so much fun that we can't wait for the next year to get here. I just need to find my pictures from this last year and add them to this post. She out did herself again and we had another wonderful time. Thanks Becky for putting on such a great party.

General conference

2009-10-17T08:49:00.000-07:00

When the kids started getting married we started a new tradition. We always have everyone over for breakfast and watch the first session of conference together. We try to be done by the time the first sessions starts but we don't always make it so some times we have to watch a few speakers while we finish eating.

Boys will be Boys!

2009-10-17T08:33:00.000-07:00

The boys practicing their handstands before they left for hunting!

Cody, Parker, and Richard all went hunting a few weeks ago. They didn't get anything but had a good time being all together. Robyn and I made two trips up to camp because Cody forgot his bag with all of his clothes in it. We also took Kenzie, Addi and Oakley up on Saturday. It's good to see the boys getting back into hunting and to get to remember and talk about all of the good times that I had hunting when I was growing up.

All my Boys Parker, Cody, and Richard

Doesn't Parker look so cute I mean manly in his Orange

Most of the family that went up to camp

The boys on the opening day!

McKenzie, Addi, Oakley and Robyn staying close to the fire.

Addi, Cody, and Kenz taking a ride on Henry

Addi loved playing in the tent

Addi helping the boys take down the tent.

Robyn sitting in the car with Oakley and her chips where it was a little bit warmer.

Crafts!

2009-10-17T08:26:00.000-07:00

I love anything that has to do with spending time with my family. I have gotten to spend a lot of time with Brinkley since she and I both had Tuesday's and Thursday's off. While Robyn is off we decided that the three of us would make some crafts and spend time together. We decided to make some fall pumpkins out of wood. They turned out so good and it was fun to get to visit with the girls.

After Brinkley put a couple of coats of Paint on her pumpkins she decided that she should take a nap with Oakley.

Lotoja Bike Ride

2009-10-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

One of Richards true loves is biking. This year we trained together for the Lotoja bike ride. It is a ride the starts in Logan and ends in Jackson Hole. We actually rode as a relay this year. I wasn't very excited about the ride but it turned out so good and I am glad that I did it. I rode the first leg of the race. The night before I realized that I didn't now how to change my tire if I got a flat so Richie gave me a crash course on it at 11p the night before the race. I was just praying that I didn't get a flat tire. Of course I did but everything turned out alright. As I was getting ready to start the race my phone started ringing and it Brinkley and Richy. They had come to watch us race. They are always so good to support things that our family does. It was a really great experience and one that I think I might be willing to do again with Richard. Richard sister Becky was so nice to let us and our friends Bryce and Anne stay at her house the night before.

Me getting ready to start the race.

Our friend Anne getting ready for her leg of the race

Al and Jan

OuR nEw GrAnd BaBy!

2009-10-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

The proud dad!
We have been really bad about updating our blog lately. Life has been so busy around our house. We are so excited that our new grand baby is here. Cody had Robyn now have two beautiful daughters. Their newest arrival made her grand appearance on September 17, 2009 at 9:36a. She weighed 7lbs. 7oz and was 21 inches long. Richard, Brinkley, and I were all able to be at the hospital when she arrived. She has dark hair and looks a lot like her dad. I was so suprised at how quickly she came. We all got a nice wake up call from Cody at 5a telling us that Robyn's water had broke and that they were headed to the hospital. After Oakley got here Robyn didn't even look like she had just had a baby. They named her Oakley Ann Burrows! Richard had told Robyn that she wasn't allowed to have Oakley until after the Lotoja bike ride. She was very good and waited until a week after the ride.

Me and my newest grand baby!

Richard with Oakley and Addi...

Robyn with the two girls.

Robyn with Oakley Ann Burrows.

Our Growing Family!

2009-10-02T01:28:00.000-07:00

It seems like so much has changed around our house in the last year and a half. Just a short time ago we were just the original seven. I have loved having my kids around our house. Although they weren't always home on time and we had our disagreements we are a family with lots of love. I know that there is a time when they must grow up and move on. They will always be a part of our family but the time has come that they are off on their own starting their own beautiful families.

Here is a picture of our Children:
Cody, Brinkley, Paige, Parker, and McKenzie.

In the last year and a half we have added a daughter-in-law and a son-in-law. I am not happy about my kids leaving home, but if they most go I am glad that they could find wonderful eternal companions to share their lives with.

We have also been blessed with two wonderful grandchildren. And can't wait to have more come into our family in the years to come.

Here is a picture of just the girls!

Just the boys.

Addi and Grandpa Richie

Grandpa, Grandma, Addisyn, and our newest addition Oakley

Brinkley and Richy

Cody, Robyn, Addisyn, and Oakley

Our Wonderful Family!

All of these pictures where taken by our good friend Gaylen.
Thanks for the pictures they turned out wonderful!

Homecoming!

2009-09-20T20:20:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of Parker and his adorable date Haley. These pictures are thanks to her sister Talecia. He had such a great time.

2009-08-18T16:40:00.000-07:00

As promised here are pictures of some of
our adventures with Lucia!

2009-08-14T21:10:00.000-07:00

So I am so behind on blogging. We have been doing so many wonderful fun things the last month or so and I haven't had a chance to sit and write about it. Part of the problem is this sloooooow computer. It takes forever to download a picture but I think that I need to start to play caught up anyway.

So we were so sad that Lucia, our spain daughter for 3 weeks had to go home. She was absolutely a joy to have stay with us and hope that we will keep in contact with her and her family forever. I will try to down load some of the pictures of the fun activities that we did while she was here and her sad going away. Lucia if you are reading this we hope you are having a ball on your next vacation and know that we still miss you.

Anyway the Burrows girls headed up to Ed week again this year and had another wonderful year. It is always so fun to go to Ed week. We get so spiritually feed and have such a great time with the Burrows girls. This year we did the traditional toe nail painting and Stacy, Steph, and Kaitlyn did a awesome job. They also made darling braclets and watch bead bands too. They turned out so cute. I really loved the speakers again this year. As I did last year I loved Bro. Baron. What a mind he has. He can remember so many things and it was interesting to learn that a few years ago he also went through a bout of cancer. I always feel a kinda of bond with anyone who has experienced cancer. It is like Jill Grant said. You are all part of a club. A club no one ever wants to be part of but once you are you feel a kindred with those that have experienced some of the same things you have gone through.

We have been busy getting the kids ready to go back to school. (BOO WHO) I hate when my kids go back to school. I always have. I have never been the kind of mom that looks forward to having some time to myself while they are at school. I am always happiest when I have my children home and close to me. Even now that they are married. I do like to have them home. So though I am so thankful that we live in a country that educates our children I still hate it when they have to go back to school.

We had the opportunity to just drop everything on Wednesday and just take a quick trip to Bear Lake. (I must say that Bear Lake even tho it is where years ago I almost died. Seriously. I still love the place.) I love the great big body of water but believe me I also respect it very much. I love the sun there too but have gotten a new thinking on how very hot it can be and how very much I am thankful for Sunscreen. Anyway we went and stayed up at the 3 bears cabin at the Nebekers. Mike talked to them to see if his family could go and no one was using it on Wednesday so we loaded up and went. Paige had to work...sorry Paige we did miss you but Parker and McKenzie went. We had a great time. We meet up with the Petersons (Brinkley and Richy too.) and went and ate pizza. They really showed us up by eating the biggest pizza I have ever seen called the "OLD EPHRIAM" pizza. Way to go Petersons. Then we went to the cabin Kenzie and Park played in the water. Light was running out so no time for swim suits. They just ran in and jumped on the trampoline and played for awhile then a little bad mitton. Wow did I laugh hard at how good we all were at that game. I have such funny children. We then watched a little I love Lucy. Great show.

The next morning we got up and went on a bike ride. Parker and Kenzie rode the first 10 miles while I followed in the car and then I rode for 17. We rode over to pack the bikes up at the KOA where Petersons were staying. We said our good byes and off we went. Less than 24 hours had past and we were on our way home. We packed a lot into that one day but we had a great time and would we do it again????? Yes we would. Matter of fact Kenzie is up there with the young women right now. I bet you are having a blast Kenzie. I am jeolous.

Lucia arrives

2009-07-14T09:10:00.000-07:00

So we are so lucky this summer to have Lucia, from Spain come to stay with us for 3 weeks. She arrived late on Thursday night. 07-09-09. We picked her up at the church around 9:30 and the group of them were very tired. Most had not had any sleep for almost 24 hours.

After we came home and exchanged gifts. Which she and her mom picked out and we all loved. We showed her around the house and where her bedroom would be for the time she is with us and then we were all off to bed.

The next morning we took her to the church to get started in her learning about our country and especially Utah. Their first stop was Classic Fun Center where they climbed the rock wall, roller skated and played games. Oh yea and ate pizza. Kenzie went with them and had a great time.

Friday night we headed up to our ward over nighter which was in North Fork Camp ground.
It was fun and Lucia was able to meet a lot of the girls from the neighborhood. The girls even decided to sleep out under the stars.

Parker and Greg loved it too because there were plenty of girls up at the camp out.

2009-06-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

So the end of May we went on a little weekend get away with a group of friends. It was so fun. We went with the Smiths, Webbs and the Charlesworths. We had a great time even if it did rain a bit. Smiths have a ton of 4 wheelers and the Webbs brought up two of theirs and we had "Henry". So everyone had a great time 4 wheeling.

We not only 4 wheeled but the boys hiked and also killed 2 rattle snakes. The one did not want to die. Richard finally cut off his head. I mean completely separated it from the body and the snake, I kid you not lived a half hour longer. The head keep trying to bite and the body was like trying to reattach itself to the head. Weirdest thing I have ever seen.

Parker turns 16 Yikes

2009-06-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

Parker is so excited the big day finally got here. He told his dad that he had to have the day off because of course it was his birthday. So he slept in until about 10:45 when I finally was able to get him to get up and just in time. At 11:00 his friend Quinsie surprised him with a knock on the door. (She had told him that she was out of town but she really wasn't) Anyway she brought over a darling present. Sheet music, candy and a gift certificate to Chille's. It was way cute.

Then he headed up to get the long awaited for DRIVERS LICENSE! Then he went to see some of his friends and then he meet the whole family (except Cody, he had to work and McKenzie was at girls camp... darn) at the front runner and we rode it down to SLC, got on Traxs and rode to Sandy and ate a super meal at "Mama's Spagatti It was great. Then back home for some cake and ice cream. Yum!!

Addi had a great time riding on the big train. We were also excited that Dixie and Art barely got back from St. George and were able to make the train and come with us.

Look out everyone here comes Parker.

Hurray for Graduations

2009-06-01T13:41:00.000-07:00

She did it. Paige has graduated from Fremont. We are so proud of you Paige and we are so excited for you to embark on your new adventure at Utah State. But yes I am worried and will miss you horribly.

Parker is also so excited to be done with school. He had a great time being an officer this year and is looking forward to it again next year. He didnt even mind being the only boy with all five girls.

McKenzie also had a great time at officer and she received so many awards this year. She was on all four sports teams as a 7 th grader we are really proud of her for that but she also got so many academic awards. She really worked hard all year and had a great year.

Memorial day fun

2009-05-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

What a great day we had on memorial day. We got up early and went to McKenzies soccer game in Kaysville. If her team won then we had another on that afternoon but if they didn't we were headed to waterfall canyon for a hike. So when her team lost by one point in a really good game we were a little bit happy that we were going to go.

Off we went under the direction of Brinkley because she "knew where we were suppose to go". Well after getting a little confused on which trail the sign was telling us to use we could see where we wanted to go so we started to make our "own" trail following our "trail master" Richy. (Richard and Parker went ahead to see if they could figure out the trail system.) We ended up meeting up again. They walked further but we get the prize for getting more scratches, more little wormy bugs on us but we had the most fun I am sure. But after a long hike we made it to the top. It was awesome and we were so glad that we did it. We ate our picnic lunch at the base of the waterfall and it tasted yummy.

We headed back home to pick up my mom, Helen and meet up with Cody, Robyn and Addi to go to the cemetery and deliver flowers.

Then off to A & W Root beer for some wonderful floats and home to bed to crash. It was a wonderful day.

Fun in the sun and the sand

2009-05-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

Ok confession. I have been really lucky because Robyn and Brinkley have been doing my blog page for me until I could figure it out. Well I am trying to figure it out and I haven't got the picture thing down yet or the cute clip art. But hopefully with time I will get this figured all out. Wish me luck and know that these pages will never be as cute as they have been when the girls did them.

Addi loves to play in the sand. So today we took off our shoes and buried our toes. It was a gorgeous day. The sun was shinning and the temperature was just right for playing in the yard. It was so fun. Are these such cute feet or what?

Addi loves to ride on "Henry" our four wheeler too. So about everyday that she comes to our house we jump on and ride to "Farmer Phil's" farm to see the baby cows. We ride down the ditch trail and see all the neighbors horses, brown and white cows, birds, dogs, cats, and goats. I love to live close to the farm, smell and all.

Kenzie and I were getting the horse shoeing stuff out of the horse trailer the other day and we opened the door and guess what we found? Five baby racoons and their mom. It scared me to death. Kenzie handled it much better than I did. We are not sure what we should do about them. We hear that they are not to good on peoples gardens. I will try to get a picture to put on here but being on dail up it takes for ever to get a picture down loaded so I think one is enough for today.

2009-04-06T09:47:00.000-07:00

So addi went with her thats is why there is a few of her.

2009-04-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

2009-04-06T08:42:00.000-07:00

So Paige had her senior pictures done they all haven't come back but a doctor at Brinkley's work took them and showed her a preview of them. So here they come I think they are beautiful!

Biking!!!!

2009-03-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

It's biking season again! Biking season is very important around our house and it can only mean two things. (1) As soon as you get home you run to change your clothes. Head to the garage to pump up bike tires and get off on your ride as fast as you can so I can't remind you that you really should be doing something else. (2) You run to your room and hide under your bed, fake asleep on the couch, or stay clear of Richard when you know he is in the mood for a bike ride so that you don't become his newest biking buddy! Whatever your opinion is on biking; spring has come and Richard is exciting that he can go for a bike ride and then still have time to hit the slopes for some skiing.
Last Friday we went on a family bike ride. Well at least those that were around and could be convinced that it would be a fun family activity. We even took a cute family picture of us in our biking attire. We rode from the house to the bird refuge, that is 6.5 miles each way. It was good exercise and Addi loved that uncle Parker was willing to pull her in the biking cart behind him. McKenzie unfortunately was not able to go due to the fact that she caught the cold that we all seem to be passing back and forth. Paige also didn't get to go on the bike ride because she likes to stick with option 2, sorry biking just isn't my idea of fun I think I'll run and hide so you can't make me go! Anyways we had a great time with just Richard, Parker, Robyn, Addisyn, and myself. Hopefully we can have an even bigger family ride the next time!!!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Art and Grandma Dixie!

2009-02-22T19:51:00.000-08:00

February is a month filled with grandparents birthdays around our house. This last Week Grandma Dixie and Grandpa Art were both able to celebrate their birthdays. Since grandpa was turning 80, grandma decided that we should throw him a surprise party. So everyone jumped on board and helped with the planning, food preparation, and entertainment.

Each family took a turn to talk about some of the great memories that they had of grandpa and along with that was memories of grandma cause we all know that they are inseparable. Cody remembered Grandpa's love for trains and says that he will always remember grandpa when we set the model train up around the Christmas tree. Brinkley remembers all of the times that grandpa and grandpa came to stay with them anytime mom and dad went out of town. Even last February Grandma and Grandpa made sure to check up on all of us numerous times while mom and dad were away on their cruise. Paige thanked grandma and grandpa for taking her out to breakfast on her birthday saying that they made her day very special, even when everyone else was busy worrying about Brinkley's wedding the next day.

Parker loves that grandpa and grandma are always willing to come support us; at all of the activities that we are involved in. He told us that grandma and grandpa got invited to one of his basketball games not to long ago and were told that the game was at 8:30p. After they arrived at the game we found out that it wasn't really until 9:30p and due to some delays the game didn't start until after 10p. The late night wasn't a problem for grandma and grandpa and they stuck it out until the very end. McKenzie remembers that when grandma and grandpa used to invite her to sleep over at their house that they always made it special. They always used to ask me where I wanted to go eat. I would usually say McDonalds like any little kid. Once they suggested that we go to Kentucky Fried Chicken. I wasn't sure where they wanted to go but figured they wouldn't lead me wrong. Come to find out I only knew it as KFC and it has become one of my favorite memories of them.

We are all glad that they are apart of our lives. They have taught us so much and we can't wait to be able to make more memories playing in the river with grandma and just having good talks with grandpa. Happy Birthday we love you both so much!!!

There is more than one "Star" in this family!

2009-02-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

It seems like when we talk about people that play sports in this family McKenzie is always the name that comes up. This post is about a different athlete in our family. That's right Parker is into sports also and he is playing basketball.

Parker is very good at basketball he's got height, he can jump, and he has a love for the game. Parker is playing in a rec league with a bunch of his friends. This season the team is undefeated and it has been fun to get to watch him. Ryan Peterson, Brinkley's brother-in-law is also on this team. It has been fun getting to watch Parker and Ryan play together.

Parker driving to the net.
Parker #15
Parker boxing out!
Who said "White boys can't jump?" Parker for two!

Looking back at 2008!

2009-01-19T09:15:00.000-08:00

2008 turned out to be a joyful and busy year for us in the Burrows Bunch. We made many memories as a family and grew in numbers from 7 to 11.

In February Richard and Janice were able to go on a cruise together. They swam with the dolphins, played with the monkeys, and just had an enjoyable time together.

We were able to travel all over with McKenzie while she played many sports. We went to Boise for basketball, Headed south to the Summer games for both Soccer and Basketball. It was wonderful to get to see her compete in many different sports.

We put on our thinking caps as we attended many Bridal Showers this year. Always trying to come up with a creative way to work the shower themes into our gifts to get the new couple ready for their live together.

We worked hard to get the yard ready for Cody and Robyn's reception. Rain or Shine we were trying to finish one of the many projects we undertook. We poured cement, built a shed, fixed the pond, created a new flowerbed on the patio and many other big and small tasks that needed to get done. Thanks to all of our family that helped us get ready for their special day.

Addi turned one on June 8th and what better way to celebrate then with a huge BBQ at Grandma Jandy and Grandpa Richie's house. We celebrated with Aunts, Uncles, cousins, great grandparents, and close friends.
Addi got a new bike and learned that she loved to get grandpa to hook the cart up to his bike so she could go for a bike ride with him.

We had the opportunity to go to Moab with the youth in our ward. We Cooked, hiked, had water wars, and learned that as we trust in the lord and in ourselves that we can become steadfast and immovable. We are so proud of Paige. Ryan Peterson and Paige wrote a beautiful song for all of the youth to sing at Youth Conference.

Paige was once again a lifeguard at the Roy Aquatic Center.

On June 27th, Cody and Robyn were married and sealed for time and all eternity in the Logan L.D.S. Temple. It was a beautiful day and we are so glad that she is a part of our family.

As a family we attended the 24th of July parade. Parker was part of the parade as he showed us his silver wolf spirit. Parker is a 10th grade officer at Fremont and McKenzie is a seventh grade officer at rocky Mountain Junior High.

We all attended the annual DeHart family reunion. We went camping at North Fork Camp Ground. It was great to see all of the cousins again. We enjoyed getting to bob for apples, play horse shoes, make crafts, play games, and of course bid on things we wanted at the family auction. Unfortunately we weren't anywhere near the river and didn't get to go tubing.

On Labor day our plans to go to Bear lake were ruined due to bad weather but we enjoyed the time we had together as a family and went to the Hogle zoo. It was so much fun to get to spend time as a family and getting to see lots of cool Animals.

The snow arrived early this year October 12th to be exact. So we bundled up warm and out we went for a fun filled day in the snow. Even Harley joined in on the fun trying to pull parker around the yard after we stopped pulling him around the yard behind Oh, Henry (the family Four wheeler).

We were able to go on a hayride with the kids in the special needs mutual.

Mckenzie and Addisyn dressed up for the West Haven Pumpkin walk.

Cody, Addi, and Robyn were able to take their first family road trip down to St. George to visit Cody's best friend Jeff and his family.

Another wedding means more Bridal shower fun, and more creative gift ideas.

We were able to attend the Manti temple with Brinkley.

On November 21st, Brinkley was married and sealed to Richy for time and all eternity in the Ogden L.D.S. temple. We are glad that Brinkley found Richy and that he is now a part of our family.

We were able to go pick out our Christmas trees. We also started a new tradition with the Christmas tree express so that we are each able to see each others Christmas trees.

We shared Christmas as a family of 11 (Richard, Janice, Robyn, Cody, Richy, Brinkley, Paige, Parker, McKenzie, Addisyn, and grandma Helen). We played Rock band, opened presents one by one, ate good food, and enjoyed the time we had with family.

We dragged Richard along to see Twilight with us girls.

and last but not least we started to teach Addi how to ski.

In 2008 we were blessed with many good memories and hope that 2009 will bring just as many great memories for our family as 2008 did.

We went to see Twilight!

2009-01-03T10:26:00.000-08:00

The Burrows girls that went to Twilight!

Blocking Richard in so that we can prove that he went to Twilight with us. He was so excited that he got to come along and missed out on watching the Utes in the Sugar Bowl.

Kenzie and Richard waiting for everyone get come out of the Theater after seeing Twilight!

So most of our family has read the Twilight series with the exception of Robyn and McKenzie. Some of us our so addicted to the books that we had to make a midnight run to Deseret book in Rexburg while we were at Education week to get our own copy of Breaking Dawn. Paige loves to read and was the first to start the series, followed by Brinkley, and then of course Janice got addicted in February after she got the flu and could do nothing else besides lay around and read. Since then we have been trying to get Robyn to read them but have had no sucess, so maybe the movie will help us in our quest to get her to read them. We had all planed to go see Twilight the night that it come out since the midnight showing was on Paige's birthday but our plans were quickly changed do to the fact that it was also the night before Brinkley and Richy's wedding. Then came the holidays and just the regular hussle and bussle of everyday life. We were so excited when Robyn invited us to go with her and her family and due to the fact that Richard went skiing all day and all night on New Years day we dragged him along with the rest of us girls to see the movie. It was good apart from a little bit of questionable acting. And to tie things all up I think that Robyn and Mckenzie are planning on reading the books!

ChRiStMaS mOrNiNg!!!

2009-01-01T11:05:00.001-08:00

It seems that we have been good yet again and you all know what that means. Yes!!! Santa came to visit the Burrows Bunch this year. We were very blessed to get to spend time as a family this Christmas. We spent time opening presents from one another, having competitions on the Wii fit, Playing rock band together as a family, and of course eating good food. We again took turns opening presents in birth order (youngest to Oldest: Addi, Kenzie, Parker, Paige, Brinkley, Richy, Cody, Robyn, Janice, Richard, and last but not least Grandma Helen) in an attempt to make Christmas last just a little bit longer. Janice is convinced that if we spend a whole month buying and Wrapping presents that it should at least take us most of the day to unwrap them. We were able to make it at least last most of the morning. We also were blessed to have some of our extended family come out to the house and Join us for dinner. We all had a great Christmas and received a few things that we all wanted and needed. Thus Christmas is over and we are again striving to be good all year in hopes that Santa will visit us again next year! We hope that you were all blessed to get to share time with family and friends just like we were able to and that you had a great holiday season!

Addi trying to make it through the huge mess that we created while opening presents!

Addi, Parker, Richard, Richy, Brinkley, and Janice waiting their turns to open a present!

Look it's Parker's turn...

Kenzie opening her present from Brinkley and Richy. What is it you ask? Well a teddy bear to cuddle with now that Brinkley has moved. What a great dollar gift. Yes, we once again continued the tradition of each giving to each other that Richard started when the kids were all little. Each buying one dollar gift for each member of the family. We received things such as socks, bubbles (Addi picked these out for each of us), wooden spoons, scissors, our own hair spay (yes they had our names on them), pedicure sets and much, much more.

~Christmas Tree Express~

2008-12-13T21:22:00.000-08:00

This year we have grown from seven to ten and with that comes more house and more Christmas Trees. So thus we have begun the Christmas tree express. We start out at one house having appetizers and as we progress so does the meal. At each house we do a Christmas activity and get to enjoy the sight of each homes Christmas tree. This year we remembered favorite Christmas memories at Brinkley and Richy's. Recalled the story of the Saviors Birth at Janice and Richards and Decorated Sugar Cookies at Robyn and Cody's. We started a new family tradition and with that came a great time and great food. We would like to wish you all a Happy Holidays!

ABOUT US

2008-07-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

Well just so start off I will tell you a little about us:
Richard and I have been married for 25 years, we were lined up on a blind date.
We have 5 wonderful children, and we are just enjoying raising them.
Cody the oldest was married on june 27th, to a great girl named robyn, she is very good at keeping him in line! Robyn has a little girl named addi, and Cody has had no problem claiming her as his own!They live in Roy, Utah and enjoy movies and games! They are both going to school right now at weber state!
Brinkley is the oldest girl, she is going to weber state for nursing, she works at Mckay Dee Hospital in surgeries. If she is not found at work you can find her outside riding Henry, the family 4 wheeler! She just had her missionary come home about two weeks ago and I can say it has been a longer two years for me then anyone else! And we are glad its over!
Paige is a senior at Fremont High school, she will be doing a college teacher course this year and is very excited about it! She is a life gaurd at the Roy aquatics center, and loves to read!
Parker will be starting at Fremont High school, He is very excited about that, and also going to school with his sister, Parker just recently got in to playing basketball and is doing very good at it.
Mckenzie is the youngest and a loves any sport you could imagine and is very good at them all. She will be starting her first year at Rocky Mountain Jr. High next year!
There ya have it our wonderful family in a nut shell!

We Here!!!!!!

2008-07-25T14:40:00.000-07:00

Well we did it, our family has joined the blogging world! And once we figure it out we will maybe get more creative on it!