Our Little Love Bug Turn's 2!

we can hardly beleive it's true, but Brooklyn just turned 2!! We had planned quite the agenda for her...we started her birthday off with a visit to the Dr.'s office for a Well Baby check up...at the appointment the Dr told us he had no concerns for Brooklyn, that she looked as Happy and Healthy as she should. She weighed in at 25 lbs even and was 2'9" tall..She was due for a shot so she did get that, but surprisingly she did really well, she didn't even scream or cry...she's a tough little cookie! After her Dr. Appt I had scheduled her an appointment at Sweet and Sassy for a mini mani/pedi...I think she really liked the pedicure but could have gone with out the Manicure (can't sit still that long!) When she was done with her mani/pedi we picked Aunt Jen up and took the kids to Chucky Cheese for lunch! Brooklyn only liked Chucky from a distance, any time Chucky got close she started to cry and say "go away Chucky" You can imagine after her busy morning/afternoon she was pretty tired so I took her home for her beauty rest! Later that evening we continued with our Burke Children Tradition, and took her out to dinner at Rosies Diner! They sang Happy Birthday to her and she got really shy...the shyness went away when she got her Ice Cream Sundae!

The following Day we had a birthday party back at our house for Brooklyn and invited all of her little friends and family! I did a Lady bug themed party and had one of my co workers make Brooklyn her Birthday Cake and Cupcakes for her party...they turned out amazing! Brooklyn had a great party...she got lots of fun and cute presents. Ryan and I got her a motorized Motorcycle with side car for her and her baby dolls to ride, she seemed to really like that...and her big brother Blake got her a ring lollipop which needless to say she loved that too!

Now we just hope that the "terrible two's" as they call them, aren't so terrible...but the outlook isn't looking good!!!!

Happy 30th Birthday Ryan!

April 7th Ryan turned 30 years old! To help him celebrate his milestone birthday we went on a vacation to California! Ryan had so much fun when we went nearly 2 years ago for our anniversary that I decided to take him back! He really wanted to go surfing so we did just that! Jen and Ken were supposed to accompany us on this trip, however they couldn't make any flights as they were flying standby, so it ended up just being Ryan and myself along with our friends Kelli and Jamie. We had so much fun, we really got to take in a lot of California! We stayed in LA but we drove all over covering Hermosa Beach, Hollywood, Malibu, Huntington Beach, Manhattan Beach, and who could ever forget Venice Beach!!! Ryan did his surfing in Huntington Beach, but wasn't very successful...He caught a couple seconds on one wave but that was about it! The weather was a little un cooperative so we didn't get as much sun bathing in as I would have liked, but we still had tons of fun!

After our vacation in California, we came back and did some celebrating locally with some of Ryan's friends and family! We were supposed to have a Party bus, but that broke down hours before the party was to start, so we got a back up plan....we had a limo drop us all off at the Stampede! They took great care of us, buy letting us all in with no cover charge and giving us all our 1st round of drinks free, as well as some shots! By the end of the night Ryan and I were feeling pretty good! I must have been feeling good, I got on the darn mechanical Bull...that would have never happened if I were sober!

I think it's safe to say that Ryan had a pretty memorable 30th birthday! Looking forward to celebrating many more milestones with him!!!

Hoppy Easter!

This year Easter wasnt as traditional as years past. My Dad was originally going to host Easter Dinner at his house, but last minute (one week before Easter) he and his wife decided to go to California to celebrate Easter with Mo's family, so Jen and I were forced to come up with a last minute plan....and what a wonderful plan we had! (actually it was Kelli and Jenny that came up with the plan) none of us were much in the mood for putting together a big feast so we decided to have a BBQ! It was sooo good, I am glad we did! We couldn't have asked for better weather, and the food was delicious with cheeseburgers and braut's, accompanied with baked beans, chips, potato salad, cauliflour salad, deviled eggs, brownies, fresh fruit and rice krispy treats, who could really ask for more?!! We had a great turn out too, with Jen's in laws, Kelli & Jamie, Silver, Mandy and their kids, My Brother Chris & Sister Candee and Ryan, Myself and our kids, we had Great Company! After our delcious BBQ the kids did an Easter egg hunt, and then we headed over to the park to fly the Kites Jen and Ken got all the kids...I have to say this was by far one of the Best Easter's we have had in a long,long time! Happy Easter Everybody!

March Birthdays!

March is a busy month for birthday's among our group of family and friends! March birthday's include my Mom's birthday, My brother Chris, My sister Jenny and our dear Friend Kelli! See I told you March is Busy! But I must say, we sure do know how to celebrate! For Jenny's birthday a bunch of us got together for a Taco bar at her house and then headed over to Jump Street for some good Ol Trampoline Dodgeball! Boy is that game fun! Although I don't think I was ever on the winning team but maybe once?!!!
For Kelli's birthday we all went to dinner at Lime and then went to the Black Eyed Pea's concert! Man oh man was that an awesome concert! The BEP's rocked that stage! We also learned that Kelli and Fergi share the same birthday!
We had a great time celebrating birthdays, and April is going to be a pretty busy month celebrating as well, because Ryan's 30th birthday is coming up as well as Mandy celebrates her twenty something!

A Birthday Dedication to my Momma

Thought of you with love today, but that is nothing new. I thought about you yesterday, and days before that too. I think of you in silence, I often speak your name. All I have are memories and a picture in a frame. Your memory is a keepsake, with which I'll never part. God has you in His keeping, I have you in my heart.

Happy 55th Birthday Mom...May you rest in peace, and know I will never forget the amazing woman, mother, and friend that you were! Love you always and forever!!!xoxoxo

Phoenix for the weekend!

So this weekend, I got to fly the Coop and head to sunny Arizona, with no kids and no husband, Just my sister, me and her husband Kenny! The weekend didn't quite turn out as planned, I had hoped to spend all day Friday and all day Saturday in Arizona, but due to some flight mishaps because of flying standby I didn't get there until late Friday night. None the less I still had a great time! The weather was perfect, and the company was great! Although I did find that I missed my traveling partner Ryan, I still managed to have a good time with out him! The Resort we stayed at had a nice water park so Saturday we just hung out at the pool all day and worked on our tans. We ended the evening doing some shopping at the mall! The trip ended quickly with what was supposed to be an early flight home on Sunday...but all in all, it was a nice little getaway vacation! I can't wait to celebrate my hubby's 30th birthday next month in Los Angelas!!!

Sweet & Sassy

Today we took Brooklyn to get her first haircut! I took her to a place called Sweet and Sassy....what a cute little place for little girls. They do mani and pedicures as well as a fashion show, and take the girls for a ride in a limo with red carpet service...and lets not forget they cut and style hair too! They had a great 1st haircut package, which included a haircut, style, glitter hairspray and face stamp, they also give you locks of their hair, take a picture and post it on stationary for the baby book and let your little one pick out a sucker...Brooklyn loved the experience, I thought she might get antsy but she really enjoyed the atmosphere and she patiently sat there while the stylist trimmed her hair. I was so proud of her, and her hair really turned out cute! Ryan and Blake came along for moral support but really I think Blake wanted to check out the girls in the fashion show, and Ryan wanted to make sure his baby girl's hair turned out just right...no pressure on the stylist! lol! we will definitely be back their for Brooklyn's next hair cut!

My 29th Birthday

This weekend I celebrated my Last Birthday before I hit 30! My Friends and Family made sure I had a great time! We started the celebration with a trip up to Evergreen... where we had planned to play some Broomball but once we got there we found out that you had to reserve a broomball ring, so we ended up just going Ice Skating on the lake! Talk about a beautiful scenery! We all did really well Ice Skating it was the first time for some of us, and for others it had been years...but I am happy to report no one fell down on the ice, Well except for Candee, but she wasn't exactly ice skating, she was however walking in the grass with her ice skates on and hit a small patch of ice, which caused her to fall in a small puddle of mud...I got to witness the whole thing and let me tell you, it was FUNNY! The only thing hurt was her pride so I made sure to laugh at her! After Ice Skating we headed over to Beaujo's pizza for lunch. The celebrating didn't end at that... My friends met me for Dinner at Ling and Louie's and then we all headed Downtown for some Clubbin. We found ourselves at a club called Suite 200 and although it was crowded we still had a great time tearing up the dance floor! The older I get the more I realize how lucky I am to have such wonderful friends and family... you kind of take them for granted but as you grow older and wiser you learn how important they really are to you...Spending my birthday with my Friends and Family this year was truly the best gift I could have had...but it sure didn't hurt that they showered me with money, and gift cards! I love you guys and thanks for making my day so special!

So as if all the above wasn't enough...Ryan continues the celebration of my birthday into the next day....He knew the kids wanted to celebrate my birthday with me so Blake and Brooklyn went to the store and he let Blake pick out a birthday present for me....Blake picked out a beautiful heart necklace that was engraved with "mom" on one side and on the other side it was engraved with "I will always remember every hug you gave me in my heart" It was absolutely beautiful, and Blake was so happy to have gotten it for me... Brooklyn surprised me with learning how to say "Happy Birday Mommy" it was so sweet, No mom could ask for anything more! Ryan got me the MP3 player I wanted for my long light rail rides to and from work, so I was pretty happy about that! To finish off the celebration, Ryan and the kids took me to dinner at my favorite Seafood Restuarant "Red Lobster" and then came home and they baked me a delicious cake...which I must mention, Ryan really surprised me with his baking capabilities. I'm such a lucky to girl to have such a wonderful Husband and great kids. I Love you guys and thanks for making my 29th Birthday so Special!

Happy New Year!

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us ~ Hal Borland

Not only is it a new year but also a new generation! There are only 10 generations in a Century of which many of us only live to see 8 of them, so it's a little crazy to think I have been alive for almost 3 generations!

We were fortunate to be able to ring in the new year with people who are very near and dear to our hearts! This year Kelli hosted the New Years bash at her house...we had delicious appetizers and played some good ol Flip Cup...I made a year end video which consisted of pictures that we had all taken through out all of 2009, and then we ended 2009 watching the ball drop and kissing the ones we love! The only thing that kept the evening from being perfect was that Ryan wasn't able to stay for the entire evening because he had to work...but not to fret...I got to talk to him on the phone at the stroke of midnight,and I kissed the next best man....Blake!!! I am excited to see what 2010 holds for us...I think wonderful things are in store! Happy New Year to my friends and Family....lets make great memories!!!

Christmas 2009

As usual the kiddos had yet another wonderful Christmas! This year Ryan and I celebrated a little differently with our families than we have in years past...we decided to celebrate Christmas Eve with his family and Christmas Day with my family. It really did work out better this way, we had much more time to enjoy our families and not have to worry about rushing off to the next house. We started Christmas Eve by picking up our Nephews Tyler & Caleb and taking them along with Blake and Granddad to the movies to see Alvin and the Chipmunks "the Squekqual" that was then followed by a visit to Nanny and Granddads house where we got a special visit from Santa. After that we headed over to Ryan's parents house where we ate and opened Xmas Presents. Ryan was super excited as his parents got him the GPS he really wanted! The kids and I made out as well! Ryan had to work Christmas Eve so the kids and I came home while he went to work and we made Cookies for Santa. The kids woke up at 6:00am on Xmas Day and saw that Santa had left presents for them so they got to open up their gifts from Santa and their Stockings too! I prepared the Xmas Dinner while Ryan caught some Zzzz's before the festivities began at our house with my family. My family arrived around 5:00 and we enjoyed a delicious dinner followed by presents. Ryan surprised me this year with the camera I really wanted...I was so happy I didn't think he would remember nor did I think he would get it for me! This Burke Family had a Wonderful Christmas, we all got what we really wanted and we got to spend it with the ones we love!!!

Blake's Ice Skating Date

On December 12th Suyzel and I made a lunch and Ice Skating date for the kiddos! Blake and Suyzel's daughter Isela are the best of friends and with the hussle and bussle of the holiday season Suyzel and I decided to stop and get the kids together for a play date! So we met up for Lunch on a Saturday at Old Chicago and then took the kids Ice Skating at the Pond in Southlands! The kids had a great time, and Suyzel and I had a blast laughing at them as they tried to ice skate... Isela was much more graceful than Blake but both had a wonderful time...and they are excited to get together again soon!!!

Friends Forever

This past weekend we got together with our best friends and did our annual group photos...here's what we came up with!!

I am Thankful for.............

One of the many things I love about Thanksgiving is the reminder of the many blessings I have to be thankful for! I have been blessed with an amazing husband... not a day goes by that I dont thank my lucky stars for giving me a wonderful partner and soul mate to take this long and crazy journey with...I can't imagine going through life with out him along side me. As if having a great man by my side wasn't enough, I've also been blessed with 2 of the most beautiful children...they have no idea how much they mean to me and how complete they have made my life...I can't even begin to explain how much I cherish them...from their little temper tantrums, to their goofy traits and their loving nurturing personalities, I love it all to the moon and back! I'm thankful to have been blessed with honest to goodness family/friends, I know that I can always count on them, and they will always be there for me!

We were fortunate this year to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with both of our families...Ryan and I just don't have the heart to split the holiday with our families so we run all around town but it's really worth it to us to be with our families, which we are so thankful for. We started our celebration at his Grandparents house. We arrived around Noon and had delicious turkey with a few of the fixings...we had to save room for 2 other turkey dinners. After spending an hour there we headed over to his parents house and celebrated the day with the rest of his family minus one of his brothers & his family. This year it was particularly more fun than past years, because Ryan and I brought Rockband and insisted on his dad, Brother and sister in law playing..we had a blast laughing at each other! Our evening ended at my Sisters house where my entire immediate family got together along with my sisters Husband's entire family and we had a lovely Thanksgiving feast over there. The day was eventful and full of all of Blessings! Happy Thanksgiving!!!