Hello Again...

I haven't updated in quite awhile, I know. We have been pretty busy around here. We recently traveled to Birmingham to be a part of a very special wedding. We are so happy for Kane’s younger brother Patrick and Laren, his lovely bride and are thankful we were able to be there for their special weekend.

Three days after we returned from B'ham we had some very special out of town guests arrive. My older sister Tara, her husband Michael, their 3 children Alley, Liam and Dresden (as well as #4 who is on the way) as well as my Mom came to stay for a few days. We packed everyone in and had a nice visit. Mara Kate really enjoyed having her cousins here and played right along with the rest of them. She was pretty worn out by the time everyone went home, but she was too worried about missing some of the fun while they were here that we let her just go with the flow.

We also got a spur of the moment visit from my other sister and her family. They had been in Birmingham house hunting and after they had done what they had gone to do they decided to make the jaunt over to Atlanta for the evening before heading back to Virginia. So, for one evening our apartment was bursting at the seams. We had 12 people sleeping here that night. But, memories were made and we also managed to snap some pictures of ALL the Burton grandchildren together (which is a rare occasion). Thanks Heidi and Jeph for making the trip. We enjoyed adding you to the bunch!

Thankfully there isn't TOO much going on over the next few days, but Kane and I are already gearing up for a great weekend! This coming weekend we are finally celebrating our 3rd anniversary (which was back in July) by going away to Callaway Gardens for some relaxation and then over to Six Flags for a day of fun together! We have a whole weekend planned for just the two of us and we are so thankful to Kane's mom who is coming to stay and play with Mara Kate for a few days. It has been awhile since we have had some one on one time like this so we are both really looking forward to it!

The following weekend Mara Kate and I will be flying to Kansas City to visit MY extended family, who we haven't seen since Christmas. Mara Kate has grown so much since then I am so glad they will get to see her again. Also, I wanted to make this trip before she was 2--because this will be the last time she can fly for free!

When I return from that trip I will be starting back to work part time at our church office. I will be filling in for several months for the current Administrative Assistant
(who took my place when I had Mara Kate) while she is out on maternity leave. Since I’ll mostly be doing my old job, I know basically what it entails, although some things have changed since I left. So, I know there will still be a bit of a learning curve as I try to get up to speed.

With everything on our plate for this Fall, it is already proving to be a busy semester. Kane will be a night supervisor for one of the labs at Tech which means his hours are going to be wacky and include some evenings (not fun for family time), but we'll get through it.

So, OK--was that long enough? I THINK I have gotten everyone up to speed. Hopefully I will be updating more regularly so that my posts aren't so long in the future.

Some pictures of the gang we had here last week

Dresden napping

Alley and Liam asleep

Dresden and Mara Kate awake---first thing in the morning

Dresden

Dresden and Mara Kate taking a bath together--isn't that what cousins
are supposed to do when they are little?!

All the BURTON grandbabies

From L-R: Olivia (3 weeks), Alley (9), Mara Kate (20 mo.),
Grant (2.5), Dresden (2.5) and Liam (6)

The cousin bookends---Olivia and Alley

The 2005 babies