Happy Birthday, Khara...and other July happenings!!

I'm finally getting around to posting.....whew, this summer is flying!!!

With 4 active children that go through lots of laundry, can rearrange the house pretty quickly, and want to be fed at least 3 times a day, library story-times, playing outside, a garden that is doing great, wonderful fresh produce (my parents and I put up 30 dozen ears of corn yesterday), blogging is taking a back seat. School starts one month from today, I'm hoping life will slow down just a little when school begins.

A few pictures from the past few weeks:

On July 6th, Khara turned the big 8 !! Aaron and Brenda and Jeff and Vicki were out at my parents over July 4th weekend so they were able to be here for her birthday on Sunday, the 6th.






A quick "sibling shot" after church.

Cute little Emme Grace Englund.


Brenda with drool marks from Karson. (Yep, that's Aaron in the background probably lighting some type of firecracker :-)

Kaden wanted some construction paper the other day. It kept both of them busy for at least 15 minutes (hey, that's a long time for a 4-month old and 3-year old). Kaden was cuttin' and Karson was chewin'. :-)


My little man that is growing wwaaaayyy to fast-- 5 months old yesterday!!

Branson!!

We just love Branson!! Last week we took a short trip with Jeff and Vicki and their five children. We packed the three days to the fullest and made many wonderful memories!!


First stop--Lamberts Restaurant.

Waiting for our name to be called at Lambert's. "Party of 13... 4 adults, 9 children." Caleb, Jeff, and Karson-- sporting Jeff's sunglasses.


Kelsey after having just caught the famous "hot roll". Obviously no one was aware of the photographer except Karson. :-)


"How about a chicken leg?!"




Celebration City~Getting ready to enter the park.


Kelsey, Kaley, Khara, Kaden, Drew. Vicki commented that if we have one more child we will be able to fill up this ride on both sides with just cousins!


Jeff and Vicki with there newest addition, 2 month old Emme.


Trying to get all the cousins on the big rocker for a picture.


Camen and Karson got pretty well acquainted waiting in strollers for the others to get off rides.

Yep, it was a bright, sunny, day!!

Neat little water area that Kaley and Kelsey played in while the older ones played mini-golf.


Gotta love those rides where the little ones can get on by themselves. Kaden and Kelsey with Kaley and Camen in the back.


The wonderful Shoot-the-Shoot. Vicki took Kaley, Kelsey, and Kaden on this five times while the guys and Khara were mini-golfing. I'm not thrilled with 'plunges' so I was more than happy to sit with Emme, Camen, and Karson.

When Jeff, Mark and the rest of them finished golf they had to try it out as well. They loved it!!! Seven more rides later, we tried something else. The rides were so quick to get on!!!



Karson at the old age of 4 months rode his first amusement park ride!!! I almost had to turn my head, but Mark was just certain he would be fine and love it. With a thin seat belt on and Caleb's strong arms holding him from the back, he rode the Bumble Bees. EEEKKKK!! We both survived! :-}


We returned home around midnight Wednesday night. A great three days spent with some great people who just happen to be wonderful family!!!

Happy Birthday, Kelsey!!

We made it back from our vacation, had a WONDERFUL time!! I feel like I am so far behind in my posting. I'll try to catch up with three posts. The first one--

June 29th was Kelsey's 6th birthday!! The day before her birthday we had a big cook out at our house.



Mark and Justin the "master grillers" for several hamburgers and hot dogs at the cook out.


Some of the kids with the sunglasses that all the kids got. Even Karson got in on that one. :-)





Kelsey's Birthday!!
Due to me being very busy the day before Kelsey's birthday, my mom graciously agreed to make her cake. Kelsey loved her princess cake!!


Kaden loves to help out when it's time to blow out the candles. Not sure how many times they were re-lit and blown out.


Khara's birthday sign for Kelsey.


Karson takin' it all in with Grandma.


Their birthday's are one week apart so they got their present from Grandpa and Grandma Englund on the same day. New fishing poles--they were very happy!! :-) And we've already tried them out-- yep, they work!!!


Well, the first of three is complete. Hopefully I can get two more posts on tomorrow. To quote from Pooh--"ta, ta, for now". :-)

~Branson Bound~

Just checking in before we head off on a little mini vacation to Branson, Mo with Jeff, Vicki, and their family. We hope to enjoy Lambert's (home of the throwed roll), Celebration City, outlet malls, go-carts,... With four adults and 9 children, I'm sure we will have lots of fun!!! :-)

No pictures this time, but when I return I hope to post pics. of our trip, Kelsey's birthday (can't believe she turned 6 this past Sunday), and other happenings around our home. Until then.... :0)

Michigan Trip

Three weeks ago we made the long jaunt to Michigan(740 miles). Mark was on a week of vacation so we had a little more time than usual. We had such a great time. All of the Burley cousins were able to be together--definitely a highlight for my children.

Following are some of the pics. I took while we were there. They are in a very mixed up order, but since my time is very limited ( I have three children outside in a swimming pool), that is how they will stay.

We took a day trip to "Dutch Village" in Holland, Michigan.
Khara and Ryan enjoying the carousel.


All of the rides were included in the admission price--carousel, swings,... they loved it!


Harmony and Kelsey at the petting zoo.


They all loved the wooden shoes!!


The three brothers.

Amanda with Karson--3 months old. Harmony with Allison--6 months old.


Aunt Joy serving double duty. Looks like Aunt Joyce is ready to step in and help out. ;-)


Khara, Kaitlynn, and Kelsey at Amanda's graduation open house.


Another pic. from Dutch Village. Kelsey, Khara, Kristen, Kaden, Ryan, Evan.


How Karson spent most of the day--it was a little chilly.


Enjoying the park.


Harmony and I made ~Oreo Balls~. Amanda stepped in and helped finish them up.

Our host/hostess for our long weekend stay. AKA, Mark's mom and dad. :-)


Karson in the van headed home.


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Now this week we are enjoying a few great days with my sister Dana. She and her friend Jennifer flew in Thursday. (Phil is in Iraq but will soon be back). We've done all those fun things that sisters enjoy--talking, outlet shopping, baking a HUGE batch of cookies, lots of laughs...

Tonight I told Kelsey that tomorrow would be her last full day here and she started crying. :-( We've enjoyed them being here!!

We love having family around!! Next week Jeff and Vicki, and their family are coming and then Aaron and Brenda will be here for July 4th weekend. Oh, and in August Kendall and Leanna are planning a visit. This all makes for a great summer!!

~Thunder Cake~

So, have you ever heard of "Thunder Cake" ?? I hadn't either until Khara brought this home from school one day in May.At school they read the book, Thunder Cake, and the book included the recipe. Her teacher very kindly printed off the recipe for the class to take home. She has been wanting to make it, so today I let her brave the kitchen. Kelsey and Kaden were watching and no one was real impressed with the tomato sauce we put in the cake. :-) Khara was happy with her results and I think the whole family will be when we try it for supper tonight.

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We had a great time in Michigan. I have soooo many pictures I just have to decide which ones to post. They'll be coming soon. : )

Signs of Summer

Just had to show what we've been enjoying!!




I even made a few jars of delicious strawberry jam. Khara and Kelsey got there first lesson in making jam--they loved it!! Made me a little nervous, "Pleeeasse don't burn yourself, it is realllly hot!!". They smashed, stirred, added sugar...Khara even wanted to ladle the hot jam into the jars, that's where I drew the line. :-) It sure tasted yummy on biscuits last night that we had for supper!!




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I'll be taking a short leave from the blogging world. We are leaving for Michigan in a couple of hours. Mark's niece, Amanda, graduated from high school so we are going up to help her celebrate!! I hope to have lots of pictures to post when I return. We will be spending the weekend there. Mark is on vacation next week so we will be able to take our time coming home, a rare blessing!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Wild Weather!!!

So, how was your Tuesday night?? Ours--a little crazy!

Last night at about 11:30, I was just finishing up some things in the kitchen when I heard the wind really starting to blow. Mark wasn't feeling that well so he had gone to bed earlier and of course the kids were all asleep. I went to check the radar and saw storms all over the area. I clicked on the warnings and saw that we were under a tornado warning. Then the power went out. Wind howling, kids sleeping, husband sleeping, tornadoes in the area....

Within a few minutes we were all in the basement with flashlights in hand. Thanks to a little battery operated radio Brenda and Aaron sent Kaden for his birthday, we were able to keep up with a little weather news. After 1:00 a.m. we made it back upstairs.

We escaped the tornado, but had some very strong winds! These are some of the sights that we saw in our yard this morning.:


Our wonderful apple tree--totally uprooted. It crushed the side of the dog kennel.


Check out those roots. That was some pretty strong wind!!


A picture I took of the kids enjoying cones yesterday. Notice the "before the storm", and "after the storm" background.

A heart breaker for our children. The trampoline got mangled!! That was one of the best investments we had ever made. They played on it almost daily! :-(


Ripped, bent, totally upside down.

Today they went out and were still finding ways to play on/with it.


Looking at the big picture, we have so much to be thankful for!! That tree/trampoline could have gone other directions doing much more damage. We lost several shingles, but didn't lose our roof. A big branch fell on our new wooden swing set, but didn't break it. We didn't lose any windows, a lady in the store said her sister lost seven...the list could go on and on. So thankful for HIS protection.

And now, we are buckling down for more storms that are suppose to hit our area tomorrow. WOO-HOO!!