Other things

I'm so excited for Thanksgiving!  It's been bopping around in my head for months, and now it's bopping around more persistently.  I'm not sure who all is coming to have it with us, but we're having it in our new house in Thatcher.  Do you want to come?  :D

Timmy has been really working on writing his letters lately.  He writes his name really well.  Sometimes when he sees someone writing something he says, "How about a T and a I and a M and a M and a Y?"  Also, a year or two ago Jill drew a big picture of our family for FHE on the back of an old Gila County Assessor map that's now scratch paper (It's nice when Jeremy can bring scratch paper home :) ), and it was on the wall in the hall for a long time, but now it's right by my computer.  It says "Our Family" at the bottom, but "our" is really little, so what stands out is "Family."  We hadn't really pointed it out at all, but one day Timmy was drawing, and he wrote the word family, looking up at the picture to know which letters to write.  Then he came to show me his picture and he said, "Does this say family?"  I was so proud!  How did he have any idea what that said?  It makes me think he would do better with the whole word method of learning to read than just phonics.  I should start labeling things around the house. :)

Bubby has been showing just how 2 he is.  He was always such a happy boy, but man!  2 is hard!  He mostly is still happy, but when he gets hungry or tired he gets so bent out of shape.  It's just awful.  It makes me hope and hope for this stage to pass.  At the same time, though, most of the time he's just happy and cute. :) He does say words, too, but most of what he says is babbling.  When he's upset with us (but not too tired or too hungry) he scolds us in gibberish.  It's so funny!  Hyrum used to talk gibberish like that when he was little too.  He would come up to me and carry on a conversation all in gibberish with plenty of expression in his voice.  It was so cute!  On the one hand I felt like I should worry that he wasn't actually using more words, but on the other hand I kind of decided that that was just how Hyrum was at that point and that he'd catch up eventually.  He did, but he still has a few things he says funny.  At least he says yolk instead of goyle now. ;)

Bubby has also learned to open the fridge.  Dang it!  He's always grabbing things out.  I think he thinks the syrup is a drink.  He gets it all the time.  Yesterday he threw it when we told him no, and it spilled on the floor.

I think that's about it for now.  I'm behind on Halloween costumes, so I'd better get busy!

Memory

I was looking around Facebook at the things I posted years ago (You know how Facebook has that, right?), and I came across something that I thought might should be recorded for posterity.  I don't think I did before.  It is something a guy from our old World of Warcraft guild posted about Hyrum (whom we lovingly referred to as Gathy in game), and it's so sweet.  I'll post the comments that were made afterwards too.  The guy who posted this is named Jason Estatico, whom we call Val, and he lives in Pennsylvania and came to have Thanksgiving with us a couple years ago.

It's funny the directions life takes you sometimes.  There at the end we had 5 people left in the guild besides our family, but we have been truly blessed to have these people in our lives.  It seems so unlikely that such sweet memories come from playing a game with people you sort of met at random, but that's how it happened.  These days, I am not sure what Val is playing, but I'm sure he's playing something.  I don't think Verdes is playing anything right now.  She quit Warcraft and tried to start playing Rift so she'd get to chat with us, but by that time I was the only one playing Rift, and our schedules never jived.  My Rift schedule these days is that I play a few hours a month or so, but that's about it, and the rest of these people here aren't playing any Rift at all. (I'm not playing Warcraft anymore.  Rift is similar to it, but it's free, so that's what I play.)  Jeremy's not playing anything.  He just doesn't have time.  (That does beg the question - how do I have time?  I don't know.  How do I have time to write on the blog? Ha! ;) ) Lilly hasn't been playing anything.  She and her husband have adopted 2 of Lilly's great nieces, and they keep her busy!  Os, Lilly's hubby, has moved on to other games.  And Cernun, well, I just don't know what he's doing.  He just got married.  Maybe he doesn't play anything anymore.  So anyway, my point is, we've all kind of gone our separate ways, but there's still that family feeling about keeping in contact with these people.  We love them all dearly.  So this is kind of just for me to remember.  You're all welcome to read along or move along if you want. ;)

Anyway, without further ado, here is what Val wrote 2 years ago today:

Today is another shout out day. This particular one goes to the gem of the guild whom without LCN would have been a very different place. I am of course talking about Gathrog. One of the factors that made LCN stand out was the family friendly atmosphere. That meant I could play the game without the endless conversations about sex, drugs, alcohol, and the endless use of swearing. One of the primary rules was that no minor could be online without parental supervision Gathy was the one exception to this rule. He was and is the little brother I've always wanted. Even on the worst of days when depression would take me over and beat me down this young man could break me out make me smile and laugh and restore my mind to the proper outlook. He has the most amazing outlook on life. I would remember him logging in everyday wanting to raid or do a dungeon or just have a party with the guild to the point that bordered on annoying sometimes but we always had tremendous patience and explained to him that we couldn't do these things endlessly every single night. On that note I must make special mention of his never ending curiosity. Never afraid to ask questions about things he didn't understand. I remember a particular conversation where I ended up explaining the basics of copyright laws and public domain and though he was only 11 or 12 at the time he asked just the right questions and got to a point of understanding. Everyday I would ask him one particular question "did you finish your homework?" if he hadn't I would tell him to finish it and become smart like his daddy. He would then find some excuse as to why he could play we had the day off or it's a holiday and we'd laugh and play the game. I have watched out for him and always when we got into a difficult situation he would step up and stand strong. One such occasion we were running a dungeon together and I had asked the group to watch their language as we had a minor with us. They proceeded to laugh and say oh he does it anyways what does it matter and continued using such language. They entire time running this dungeon they argued with me whilst Gathy told me privately that he did not like their attitudes. We left the group and he was quite upset over their choices. He didn't argue or show animosity to them but rather he was the bigger man and walked away from the situation. I could speak endlessly on him and I think Facebook is hating me for this long post right now so I'll wrap it up. I look forward to seeing where life takes Gathy more than where it takes me and am relieved that such an amazing young man exists in this ever decaying world. I love you bud and am always here looking out for you.

Comments:

Val: Oh and if you would be so kind I would much like him to read this post Christine Burk and Jeremy Burk

Jeremy: I will make sure he reads it

Me: Done. :) I will show him now.

Me: Gathy says to tell you thank you so much. He is "wordless but so happy."

Val: Thank you Gathy you don't even realize how much you have improved my life and how much I look up to you :)

Me: I wondered when this one would show up. ;) You have been such a good influence on him. He is by nature a very good person, and I think the guild helped reinforce that. I have been so thankful. Plus, he has given us as a guild many opportunities to laugh. Laughing at one's children is one of the greatest delights of parenting. He smiled the entire time he was reading that and is still smiling. :)

Val: I have been planning this one since day one but every time I just couldn't get things right there is just too much to say

Me: Yeah, it's not only because I love my son and am biased. I wondered because, like you said, the guild would have been very different without him. But, man! What would we have done without YOU?!
smile emoticon
Val: Lol to be honest I don't think it was possible for any of us to end up any where else God clearly had a plan for LCN

Me: Agreed. I often think about that and feel absolutely amazed that He could use an online game as a means to bring about His purposes. Except that of course he can, duh!! He is God! But is is still pretty unexpe cted and miraculous to me.

Jeremy: I got home for lunch to Hyrum singing and dancing. "Papa! Val just made my day, So Much! So much" I am way pleased to see him so pleased.

Val: Glad I can make him smile for a change lol

Lilly: I love this post . My darling Val caught so much of our first guild babies personality. It was always a source of great pride to see guild members holding a standard for this little guy. We have kicked people for not and we are all the better for it. It was additionally so pleasing when gaths brothers and sister started periodically showing up . To earn the Burks trust and confidence as their guild leader and friend meant a great deal to me

Me: Gath wants you to get on WoW RIGHT NOW, Val. LOL! :)

Val: Lol I'm making dinner but I'll be on shortly

Val's mom: My son you make me proud. :)

Cernun: Very true :)

Verdes: You guys are gonna make me go dig out the timecards I got 11 months ago if this keeps up...

Pictures - Birthdays, New Carpet, etc.

The day after we left St. Johns was Bubby's birthday.  Bubby is 2!  We went to Thatcher for the day so the kiddos could practice for the Primary program there.  And it's kind of good that we went anyway because we still don't have a working oven in this house in Globe.  It's just so old and the display had stopped working consistently when the thermostat or something went out like 5 months ago.  We haven't really had the money to fix or replace it, so it makes me excited to go use the oven in Thatcher. :) Except that the numbers on the oven dial are mostly rubbed off, so you have to guess on the temperature.  And it's kind of a cheapo oven anyway, so it doesn't heat evenly.  In fact, it reminds me a lot of the oven we had in Cedar City.  We're going to have to replace it eventually.  One thing at a time, though!  I'm sure it'll work fine as soon as we figure out how to work around its quirks, and it won't be there forever.  For now we have a toaster oven in Globe, and it works ok, but it's not so great with cakes and pies and that kind of thing.  Anyway, Benji made this white cake, and then we topped the individual slices with whipped cream and strawberries.  Yum!

Cake! 

First present - from Michael

It's a pencil case!

This is a little toy box full of all kinds of little wooden toys.  One reason I got this is so that there'd be something for the little ones to play with in Thatcher.  It's been great. :)

I think this was his birthday shirt,  It has rockets.

More presents!

It's a doggy!  This little fella LOVES stuffed animals. :)

Jill got him some Swedish Fish.

Papa got him a Ninja Turtle blanket that's like a sleeping bag and some star and leaf stickers.

We got him his own bike!  He loves it, but still doesn't use the pedals consistently.

Bubby eating his cake

Do you see the fish?  The day after Bubby's birthday I went down to the doctor, and this pond is right outside there.  It usually has ducks too, but it was windy that day.

I also went to Petsmart and got Hyrum a new dove.  we wanted a female, but there were just these two males in like the whole valley.  The one on top is the one we got.  Hyrum named him Hermes, so now he has Hermes and Apollo.

We had Pack Meeting.  It was kind of a circus going by myself with all the kiddos and no Jeremy or Hyrum, but it worked out.  Michael got his Bear and is now working on Webelos.  He should have that in December, and then he can work on Arrow of Light.

Timmy!  He was going crazy, so I tried to entertain him with my phone.  It didn't work very well.

Benji, Jill, Timmy, and Bubby came with me the day the carpet was installed.  I didn't get a good picture of the laminate, but you can see it in this picture. :) We ran some errands and then just tried to stay out of the carpet guys' way.  I ran around sweeping and keeping people happy in between reading sentences from The Hobbit.  Now all the floors look awesome! :) Jill fell asleep like that on the couch.  Timmy was flying like Harry Potter on a broom.  And Bubby was happy to have his bike. :) 

Yes, Timmy has no pants.  He went to the bathroom and came back without any pants or underwear, so I went in there and found that he'd missed and wet on the floor and then put his pants and underwear in it.  Ew!  So for a while he had nothing on his bum because I had no backup.  I set his pants and underwear out back in the sun and put the underwear back on as soon as they were dry.

Here's the yellow room with new carpet.

And the stairs

And the hall

Jeremy's office that is right now being used and Hyrum's bedroom

Benji and Michael's room (Joshua sleeps in there for now too.)

Jill, Timmy, and Bubby's room

Master bedroom

That weekend Joe and BreAnna came for a short visit, so we got to meet little Jesse. :)

Cute little fella!

Benji pretending to sleep or something ;)

Bubby

I think Timmy asked me to print him a bird to color and I said no, so he drew this one and had Papa help him cut it out. :) Good thing I say no sometimes! ;) 

Hyrum reading Harry Potter

Hyrum turned 15!  Here he is about to open his birthday shirt.

We had a little birthday party that evening, and Grandma and Grandpa Burk brought him an umbrella and some nice swimming goggles to go with his new shirt. :) Grandma Badger gave him some caramels, and when I took a picture it looked like a pile of goo in his hand.  Ha ha!  Silly camera.  I really need to get a good one.  Anyway, he loved all his presents! :)

How 'bout that creepy face?!

Hyrum wanted a new mp3 player.  Hooray that they're inexpensive these days. ;) He was quite pleased.

I got him 2 Harry Potter books that kind of tag along with the series but aren't part of it.

And I gave him some Bach to go with his mp3 player because everybody needs to know and love Bach!

He got a yo-yo, and has been playing with it nearly every day.  That's one of the things he asked for.

The other Harry Potter book

We've had lots of little wildflowers around our house lately.  Jeremy picked these and left them on my desk. :) Timmy brings me some nearly every day.  Just today he brought me 5 or 6 of them, one at a time. :) He always gets the yellow ones.  Also, the weather has been wonderful, so my 3 little ones have been playing outside every chance they get.  It's great!  I'm quite happy for them.  Somebody gave us a swing set a few months ago, and it has been used every day lately.

Bubby

The 3 older boys went on a scout campout here in Globe.  They made foil dinners, and somebody didn't throw away their carrot ends.  Bubby has been talking about birthdays a lot lately.  This particular day he stuck the carrot ends in this piece of bread and started singing happy birthday like it was candles in a cake. :)

We had new Play-Doh (Tradition!) for Conference last weekend, and Bubby kept piling his up and singing the happy birthday song and then exclaiming, "Cake?!"  It was so cute!  Then he started pinching off pieces and handing them out. :) I need to steal Jeremy's Conference pictures because I didn't get any this time!

This is Benji, Bubby, and Timmy in the game room at the dentist.  On October 1 Michael and Jill had some dental work done.  They both did great!  Michael only had one cavity and then got sealants, and Jill had at least 3 cavities.  She ended up needing a crown on that broken tooth she wouldn't let them fix months ago, but I wasn't really surprised about that.  Still, she let them get it all done in one sitting.  Phew!  She did have some pain that day, but she's really been just fine since.

We were all itching to get a pumpkin, and we finally gave in.  The kiddos love it!  They hug it and pat it and carry it around.  Hasn't broken yet.  Phew!

Last weekend Joshua got a new ratty.  Aaron brought it to him.  This one is named Altepixe.  That's an acronym for pixelate.  I just call him ratty.  He's about the same size that Scratchy was when we got him.  He's white like Mordecai, but he doesn't jump around like Mordecai did.  (I miss that little fella!  I'm sad that he died.  He was so tiny.)  But he does seem to like the wheel in his cage.  We couldn't interest Scratchy or Mordecai in that.  Kind of fun. :) He doesn't seem as sociable as the other two were.  He doesn't run away from Joshua as much anymore, but I don't think he's 100% comfortable with him yet.  It's interesting how they all have such different personalities.  It's not surprising, but you know...  Lots of people consider rats vermin, and they are vermin when they aren't wanted, so you don't stop and think about how they're all different in personality as well as appearance.  Well, anyway, I'm happy for Joshua. :) He seems quite happy to have a new little fella.

Yesterday I made brownies for Home Evening treat.  Timmy was so sad that he had to wait for them to cook, and then they weren't done, so I had to put them back in.  Injustice!  He sat down and drew this picture about it.  See, he has forks and knives and brownies and a table.  He brought it to me and said something like, "I need you go get me a brownie."  He waited way longer than he liked, but in the end he did get at least 2 brownies and was quite pleased. :)

Pictues - Puzzle Floor and the Fair

I actually have lots of pictures to share (remember - busy September!), so I think I'll do these in a few posts.  It tends to work better that way!

 I got this whiteboard for Jill to practice writing letters on, and Timmy needed a turn too.  I don't know who this is, but he drew it, so I took a picture.  I don't think he knows who it is either.  Ha ha!

This is one of Jill's favorite activities.  When we take Hyrum to the college or Michael to scouts or just whenever we're out she begs met to let her get the mail at the end of the street and then run home. I follow her in the car.  She loves it!  I always wonder if the neighbors think I'm forcing her to do it or something.  I'd say ha ha, except that we know about some of those neighbors, if you remember that one post a few months ago. O_O Well, anyway, she loves it, and it pleases me to see her running along, having such a great time. :) Michael and Benji used to beg to do this, and when they were old enough I just let them run by themselves, so I guess it's Jill's turn to run. ;)

Bubby eating grapes while the guys install the laminate at the Thatcher house

Daddy, Jeremy, and Benji working on the floor

By this time I'd been shopping with Mama to kind of keep the little ones out of the way.  Paul had come to help, and so had Kelly with her knight in shining armor.  It was kind of fun to watch them all work together.  To be honest, though, I think that Paul and Rick kind of took over and really got things going.

After lunch Mama, Kelly, the kiddos, and I washed some walls, and then we took the four younger kiddos to the splash pad at the park up the street.  We'd been to Thatcher so many times and hadn't tried it.  Jill insists that she had a horrible time because she kept getting sprayed, but we all know better. :) They all had a great time!  That's Bubby in the red and Timmy behind him.  I think that Timmy might have gotten more out of this little trip than the others.  He ran back and forth and seemed to relieve a lot of anxiety or whatever he was carrying.  It was great!

Jill, Timmy, Bubby, and Michael

Timmy (snicker, snicker) and Bubby

There's Timmy playing with the red squirt gun again.

Jill had so much fun spinning on this thingy.

Bubby

Michael

Paul and Benji

This is about how far the guys had gone by the time we got back from swimming.  It was awesome! :D

Dad and Rick

Bubby helping

Kelly and Jeremy taping padding in the entryway

Jeremy

Grandpa, Benji, and Timmy

Benji, Timmy, Paul, and Bubby

Timmy was so excited about this floor!  It was like a great big puzzle to him.  He still calls it the puzzle floor, and he says, "I like the puzzle floor!  Do you like the puzzle floor?"  :) I don't remember if I recorded it or not, but the first time he said he liked anything was a few months ago when he said he liked my hair.  (Understatement!)  I was so excited that he'd use those words!  And he's taken off from there.  It's great. :) And before I forget, I'd better record this: Last week we were at the dentist in the valley, and he was playing near some other kiddos, and one of them asked, "What's your name."  He responded, "Timmy."  I know that doesn't seem huge, but it is!  He's never answered that question at all before! :D I think it's because in his mind there was no need to answer, just like there's no need for him to respond or come when I call his name.

Bubby was helping. :) The guys used this level to line up the planks so that they all match up across the whole floor.  We didn't think of doing that in the Globe house.  I think it looks awesome! :D

We've been doing a lot of reading around here lately.  Michael started reading the Harry Potter series a few weeks ago, and Hyrum, who was already in the middle of a different series, dropped what he was reading and followed suit.  It's great!  Benji has also been reading.  He got through the first Harry Potter book and is now reading The Magician's Nephew from the Narnia series. :) I like this picture of Michael. :) Plus, he's a lot nicer to the books than Hyrum is!  Hyrum likes to open them wide on his lap, and that means all the pages soon start to fall out.  Argh!

Before I forget, we've had 2 new babies join the Burk family just recently.  On August 27, Aaron and Kenzie welcomed little Evelynn Olive Burk to their family.  She was blessed the day after that big laminate installation day, but I didn't get any pictures.  I haven't even held her yet!  I think I need to start demanding to hold my new nephews and nieces. ;) Anyway, she's very cute, and I think her name is pretty cute too.  I stole this picture from Facebook.

And here is Jesse John Burk.  He is Joe and BreAnna's boy.  So cute!  He was born September 9.  It sounds like the birth didn't go so well, that the little guy didn't want to come out or something.  They had to use the vacuum to get him out, and if that hadn't worked they'd have had to do a c-section.  Thank heavens it works!  BreAnna was so sore afterwards, though, that she could hardly walk for days.  She's doing better now, though, and the little guy is also doing great. :) 

This is at our dentist in the valley.  We go to see Dr. Welch in Gilbert, who happens to be the husband of Bridget Herring.  Small world, huh?  I had no idea when we started going there.  Anyway, he's a great dentist, and he has lots of toys and even multiple GameCubes.  The kiddos love it.  Here's Bubby playing with the little kitchen the day the 5 younger kiddos got their cleanings.  I'll get Hyrum and Joshua in to the bigger people dentist because they don't want to go here anymore.  That's ok with me.  The other dentist is local.  The pediatric dentists here stink, thus all the trips to Gilbert.  Very much worth it, though!

Bubby was excited that there were French fries. :) He goes crazy about French fries and donuts.  I think those are his favorite foods.  Horrible, huh?  Ate least he does like to eat veggies with his Papa. :) Cute fella! He sure loves his Papa!  When Papa gets home he goes crazy and needs held right away!  And when papa sits down, Bubby has to sit with him, no matter what he's doing.  We joke that that's Bubby's rightful place in the world - on Papa's lap.  He seems to really think so, though. :)

Eating ribbon fries at the fair - yum!  I think this is one of Grandpa's favorite things about the fair, and I think it's one of mine too! :)

We were really close to the stage, and the music was LOUD.  Jill and Timmy didn't like it.  Ha ha!

Timmy and Bubby liked the rabbits.  We saw all kinds of animals, and they thought that was great.

We looked at all the pigs in their pens, and then we watched while some kids worked with these ones in the ring.  I think Timmy liked the pigs better than the other animals, but he was kind of bummed that we didn't go see the cows.

Timmy made Luigi and Mario at Grandma's house. ;)

Grandpa made Jill some lunch, and she ate it right at the edge of the kitchen, watching whatever was on the TV.  My siblings and I used to do that too. ;)

Grandma went with the kiddos and me and bought tickets for rides.  Jill, Timmy, and Bubby rode the carousel.  Bubby was all happy about it...

until the ride started!  Then he clung on to me for dear life for the whole time.

Jill never looked at the camera, but she still looked pretty cute. :)

Joshua really wanted to ride the Zipper, so after these other 3 guys rode the Gravitron they all rode the Zipper.

Hyrum and Benji getting caged in

Joshua and Michael

Joshua was the only one who enjoyed it.  He said he laughed maniacally through the whole thing, partially because Michael and everyone else was screaming.  Ha ha!

No, he's not bawling like it looks like he's doing.  Ha ha!  He's just expressing how much he hated that ride. ;)

Timmy and Jill rode the little roller coaster and loved it!

Timmy had that look on his face the entire time the ride was going.  I couldn't tell if he was happy or scared.  Maybe it was a bit of both, but he really liked that ride.  And after I took these pictures I guess I left my phone app open because I proceeded to take like 11 pictures of Joshua's feet and whatnot.

See that head sticking up in the back near the top of the Ferris wheel?  That's Joshua.  This is the other ride he really wanted to go on.  Nobody would go with him, so we all watched him go around and around.  He never quite smiled, so we figured he was disappointed to be riding alone and maybe not liking it at all, but apparently, he did really like it. :)

There's him in the front in the gray shirt.

Hyrum and Benji rode the Sizzler.  That's them in the gold car.

And Michael wanted to ride the Gravitron again, so Joshua rode with him.  Jill was quite upset when we left instead of letting her get a 3rd ride.  That makes ME laugh maniacally! ;)  Really, it was starting to get later and I was worried about getting on the road.  It was a good time, though. :) Thanks, Mama and Daddy!