Meet The Garage

Since we have already told everyone within the sound of our voice that we have redone our garage, we thought we would send it out to all others who may not have heard this exciting news. When we bought our house we decided to paint every room and since finishing that we have had little to do. We had talked about cleaning up our garage for some time and finally one evening John just started to pull things off shelves and toss them. We had inherited several old paint cans and they had mixed with some of our newer paint cans. As we were weeding out the useless paint we discovered that we had 2 whole gallons of paint that we ended up not using in our house. Along with a mixture of several other paint samples my dad had mixed together we made the perfect garage paint. With this discovery we set out to redo everything. We took down the numerous shelves and dust collecting shelving units. We got rid of everything we did not need, and we cleared the walls of debris.

We then primed the walls. This was in itself a huge improvement because it had only been textured and it made the garage look dustier than it really was.

But the real improvement came when we put on the paint. It was beautiful. We didn't get a before picture, but we did get some during and after pictures. Once we finished painting, putting up usuable shelves and organizing what was left, John decided that a work bench would put just the right finish on our garage. So we bought the materials and John built it all himself! Cutting all the boards with a handsaw and everything! So now we have a nice work bench with a peg board, and John is so proud of his garage.

If you happen to come by, ask to take a look because he likes to show it off. Those who did not see it before, could not fully appreciate the beauty that it now is, but even without knowing the before, it is hard not to admit that it is quite nice now.

Baby shower!

Created by Jane with love! :-)

Last weekend John and I were in Oklahoma for Jenny's graduation and to see Paul and Molly and the twins and to have a baby shower! It was absolutely a great time! I can't believe I didn't get any pictures with Olivia and Aislee, or Molly :-( while I was there. It'll probably be a while before we see them again. Arizona is a long ways away! But here are some pictures of the baby shower. So many wonderful people helped! And Karen Sparks took lots of pictures, thank goodness!

We had probably the best taco salads for lunch at the shower! Thank you Mom Burkinshaw, sister Jessica, Aunt Julie and Beth Knudsen!

Aunt Sandy made this adorable cake! Thank you!!

Mom Burkinshaw made yummy oreo balls

Amy designed the table decorations!

And cousin Jessica made baklava, truffles and mini maranges! What a wonderful family I have! Thank you all so much!!!


This was the blanket my Grandma Ker crocheted for me! It's yellow, my favorite color. My grandparents also picked out the little toy! It will be nice to have something for Sam to know his great grandma by, and grandpa better be around for a lot longer! :-)

These were some baby booties my sister Danielle made a long time ago at girls camp. My mom was just pulling out all the criers that day, and all the cousins and aunts were teary! They will hold a special place in my heart!

Meet Diana

So a lot has happened since our last post! I've been so busy and then lazy that I haven't recorded anything that's happened. Well here it is.

Over a month ago a received an email from facebook saying that someone found my birth mother, and then gave me all her info and how to get a hold of her. I was obviously skeptical at first, but then found that this woman was really who she said she was. Her name is Diana. She is a wonderful woman, and guess what?! She lives in TX! About an hour and a half away from us. So my mom decided that she would fly in to meet her with me and it was wonderful. We spent close to 12 hours talking and sharing stories, pictures, music (Diana sings and has a CD out! I can get you the site to order it if you're interested). It was really a great day, and happened to be the Friday before Mother's Day. What a perfect time! Oh! And Diana is tall! We have tall genes in the family! There is hope for our children to be taller than us! Anyway, pictures speak louder than words. So here are a few.

Diana and me- I told you she was tall. She has done some modeling too! Isn't that awesome?!


The three of us on that Friday- May 8th

So yesterday I got the opportunity to meet Diana's other children- Josh, Jessica and Vincent. It's a little crazy to think I have 3 half blood siblings! They came up after church and we ate dinner, and talked and it was really great getting to know them. What great kids! Josh is going to college and playing football! We'll have to keep an eye on him this year. And Jessica is graduating on Friday from High School. I'm positive she's going to be the next American Idol. She has a great voice too! And Vincent is a highly energized 3rd grader who will make the best of his summer vacation I am sure! It was great to meet them! And here we are!

So the pictures aren't great of me, but everyone else looks good! :-)

This is a photo of me Diana had of when I was first born on a blanket she made. My mom had just given me that blanket before all of this. It was how I knew for sure she was the real deal! This is us holding the blanket. Did I mention she was tall? :-)

When she was here the first time we saw a photo of her that I felt look so much like me! I thought I would share that too.

I haven't been able to find a comparable photo of me, but when I do, I'll post it! It was just a me look!

Misc.

Just to catch up quickly on the rest of what has been happening around the Burkinshaw home, here is a quick recap of the last week or so.

Between the 1st and 2nd session of General Conference John and I decided to plant some more plants in the flowerbed by the door. It was a lot quicker than anticipiated, and once they fill in more, I think it will look fantastic! Only a little more to go!

We also had the opportunity to go camping with people from our church. For it I made some chocolate chip cookies. This was a huge deal for me because I have never been able to make chocolate chip cookies turn out right. Thanks to Grandma's mixer, I was able to achieve near perfect cookies! (It was for the campout)

I also got a few shots of John cooking breakfast. It was a good thing I ate so well that morning because by some slip in judgement I found myself on a 5 mile hike around the lake. Sam (The name we decided on for the little guy in my tummy) got lots of rest during the walk, however I was exhausted by the time we got back, and I am still sore from it even as I write. We had a blast though, and have decided that as long as the weather is as beautiful as it was for us (beautiful meaning cool and cloudy) we wouldn't mind camping out more!

John's Birthday!!!

Ok, so his birthday was on the 23rd of March. We are a little late considering all the things we have had going on the last few weekends. We had to postpone our original plans because of the funeral so instead we snuck it in between the 2nd session of conference on Saturday and the Priesthood session.

So John turned 27 a few weeks ago and we finally got to celebrate with cheescake and singing. John's favorite "Birthday cake" is cheesecake, so every year starting the year we were dating, I've been making John a birthday cheesecake. This one turned out great! (Thanks to Grandma's mixer!) We couldn't possibly eat the whole thing by ourselves so we took it to our dear friends, the Handly's to share!

1) Sarah eating cheesecake!! 2) Morgan showing John that you can eat it from the handle of the fork too; 3) Adam and Elise smiling because it's such a good cheesecake; 4) John looking ready to eat the cake; 5) The beautiful cheesecake itself; 6) Aubrie, John, me and Sarah, and Morgan; 7) Aubrie showing off her beautiful smile; 8) Sarah showing off her food; 9) Aubrie enjoying the cake!

He doesn't like me getting mushy, but I want him and everyone to know what a wonderful husband he is! I am so grateful that he decided to marry me. He is the ideal for me, and I am grateful to have him in my life! ok...Enough mush!

Lots of updating

For Spring Break, John and I didn't get much of a break but our families did.

My parents came to visit us and helped us with some projects around the house. For some reason they like to be put to work when they come. Mom helped watch Lawren for me while my dad and I did some yard work. It's been getting more difficult with my growing belly, but I think Dad did a great job and I enjoyed working with him.

1) John sizing up his belly to mine; 2) I don't know why my dad wasn't in this picture but this is the bed we raised and planted some nandinas in; 3) My handy workmanship with the rocks; 4)Mom with Lawren at one of the nurseries.

Towards the end of the week we got to hang out with John's family who were visiting nearby San Antonio. We got to walk around the Alamo and check out one of the missions. John and I had been there before, but he loved it just as much the second time, especially since we got to spend some time with the family!

1) Walking down the beautiful archway at the Alamo; 2) The family after eating at Fudruckers in San Antonio; 3) Mom and Dad with Jenny and Sara at one of the Missions; 4) Again, picture from the missions; 5) It was a lot to read; 6) Me inside one of the rooms; 7) Sarah looking excited about being there; 8) Another cook archway; 9) John at the doorway to the Sanctuary

1) The detail work in the stone above the doorway; 2) John taking every moment to educate his younger sisters; 3) Sara is proving that she has learned something from geography at school; 4) Jenny trying to climb out of the one of the rooms.

Then at the end of the week, Jessica, Mike, the kids and thier Aunt Whitney (Mike's sister) went with us to the beach. I, being fully clothed was freezing, but somehow the kids were able to get past that and they had a great time! We were glad they came!

1) Benson happily hauling sand in a bucket at the beach; 2) Ben enjoying the water. He was in there most of the time; 3) Gracie and Mike testing our the water; 4) Gracie hauling sand; 5) Sabrina was very excited about something; 6) A cute picture of Jess and Mike walking with Breenie and Aunt Whitney holding Gracie, and Benson chasing the waves; 7) Sabrina showing uncle John something

Grandma

Recently we travelled to Oklahoma for the funeral of my grandmother: Betty Lou Ker. While it was good to see family again, it was an unexpected loss for our family.

Grandma has always been sick with one thing or another since I can remember, so I did not see how this time was any different. It was hard going "home" and not seeing her smiling face, sitting with her on the couch sharing a blanket, and her asking me about how my life is going. She was always smiling and ready to welcome anyone and everyone who came to her home.

I am so grateful for the wonderful women that she was and for the many things she has taught me over the years. Because of the Gospel, we understand that we will see her again, and I know she is taking good care of our little Sam who is waiting to come to earth. I'm glad they got to meet each other. I am grateful for eternal families. I am grateful for our Savoir who atoned for our sins so that we can return back to his presence again. I am grateful for the temples, and the opportunity it gives us to be sealed to our families forever. What a wonderful gift the Savoir has given us and may we always remember it.