Why we don't need a dog...

There is no dog on the planet that could be cuter than this girl! (I know it's a little long, but I was not in the mood to edit, sorry!)

Post #102!

I wanted to recognize my 100th post which was 2 posts ago. I can't believe that it has been over a year since I started this blog. It is so fun going back and reading what was happening in our family a year ago. I am in love with blogging!

This week we have been recovering from our vacation. Benson and Grace have been sleeping in until 8:30am, which would be nice but Sabrina has still been getting up between 7 and 7:30am. Despite the humidity and heat we have still spent a fair amount of time outside this week.
One night after Mike got home from work we made peanut butter cup brownies which are the kids' favorite treat to help make these days. While I make up a brownie mix, I give the kids mini Reese's peanut butter cups to unwrap. Then I put the brownie mix in muffin cups and let the kids put a peanut butter cup in the middle of each one. It is easy to let them help with this one and they love it! We took our treats out on the patio to enjoy the new picnic table. You can see from the pictures that we also gave Benson his summer buzz cut this week.

Aunt Sarah and Grandma Stacey came to our house one day this week and Aunt Sarah went to the pool with us. We were going to go to the pool across the street, but when we got there they had kicked everybody out because someone had thrown up in the pool. Gotta love public pools, SICK! So we tried one of the other pools here in town and it was also pretty nice. Instead of the "crazy pool" they have a splash park.

And finally we tried out the new beach ball sprinkler that Grace got for her birthday. We also brought out the water guns which was a big hit!

Benson has been really into telling jokes lately, here's some of his best material.

The Wedding Part 2 - @ the reception

On Friday night, there was a reception for Matt and Chelsea at the Carmelle Reception Center. That is also where my sister Kathleen and her husband Bryce had their reception. One of our favorite parts about this place is that it has an upstairs where we can take the kids so that they are out of the way and not visibly causing trouble. We were even wise enough this time to bring the DVD player and just turned on a movie for them to watch. It made the evening less stressful and more enjoyable for us.
We were supposed to show up early before the reception to take pictures, but of course none of us anticipated 5pm traffic on a Friday in Salt Lake, so we were all late. My family is obviously getting used to all this wedding stuff because even though we were all running late noone was acting stressed at all. It was so nice! My other favorite part about the reception center is that it has beautiful backgrounds for pictures, as you can see.

1. Grandpa and Breeny 2. Mary Kate (Matt and Chelsea's niece) and Gracie 3. The bridesmaids: Sarah, Kelsi, Jenny, and Holly - my mom spent many hours on their dresses, they were originally strapless and long so she shortened them, added the peach accents and sleeves, VERY impressive work Mom! 4. Uncle John and the girls trying to escape from the picture taking 5. Aunt Chelsea and the nieces and nephews, bless them for even trying to take this picture 6. Aunt Chelsea and the nephews - Benson and Logan 7. The siblings 8. The people who started it all - my mom and dad, doesn't my dad look fancy in his brown tux? 9. Our family picture - I used Photoshop to merge 3 pictures into the best looking family picture we've probably ever taken!

There was a chocolate fountain, just like at Kathleen and Bryce's reception. We all enjoyed it, but I think Benson was the biggest fan. It seemed like every time we looked away he was sneaking more treats. He even tried the cinnamon bears TWICE, spitting them out both times because they were too hot. Silly kid. (If you want to see video of Ben with the cinnamon bears, check out my sister Kathleen's blog).

Once things started dying down downstairs, we brought the kids down for some fun. We danced, blew bubbles, and had lots of fun playing around. It was a great party!
1. Grace and Daddy dancing 2. Benson with his drink 3. Uncle Paul spinning Grace 4. Sarah, Emily, and Jenny 5. Grandma and Breeny 6. Aunt Molly spinning Grace 7. Aunt Sarah and Grace making silly faces 8. Breeny and Mommy 9. Benson trying to fly off the bridge

I brought some Gymboree bubbles for entertainment, which incidentally are the best bubbles EVER. I highly recommend them. I seriously filled the whole two-story room with tiny bubbles. The girls had lots of fun playing with them. These pictures didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, but they are still really cute even if they are a little blurry.
And the evening wouldn't have been complete without a picture of the kids getting tossed up in the air by their Daddy and uncles. Sabrina was obviously not feeling it this time, but we made her do it anyway. What mean parents we are!

Mike says I shouldn't post this video, but I think it's funny. It may hurt your ears though, no offense guys. This is what my family does to unwind after a long day of wedding events.

Whew! So Matt and Chelsea are married and honeymooning in Mexico. We are now looking forward to their reception in Bartlesville over the 4th of July.

The Wedding Part 1 - @ the Temple

My sister Chelsea married Matt Eve on Friday, June 20th. The sealing was at 11:40 am in the Salt Lake Temple. Mike's Grandpa Derrill officiated, he has sealed 4 out of the 5 of us Burkinshaw kids who are married. He did a wonderful job and I always enjoy the reminder of the counsel he gives as the sealer, it makes me want to work harder at being a better eternal companion. Chels looked beautiful in her dress and they both looked very happy. They didn't even seem ruffled by a few things that didn't quite go as planned during the day. We were so happy to be able to share this important day with them! We love you Chels and Matt!

If you want to see the video that was made at the temple, click here.

We had to wait an extra long time for them to come out of the temple, not because they weren't ready, but because the photographer was a little later than expected. That also increased the waiting time for pictures on the stairs. We were glad to have lots of people around to help keep the kids entertained! Thanks everyone!

1. Sabrina and Grandma Stevens 2. Uncle Bryce and Grace 3. Sawyer (my cousin) and Benson 4. Aunt Emily and Aunt Molly with Benson 5. Uncle Paul and Aunt Molly with Grace 6. Uncle John with Sabrina

The Burkinshaw Kids, Standing: Paul, Kathleen, and John Seated: Jenny, Sarah, Chelsea, and Jessica

Fun in Utah

Last Tuesday we left home at about 5pm headed for Utah. We arrived in Utah on Wednesday at about 11am mountain time. It was a long drive. Benson and Grace were champs, Sabrina not so much, and Mike and I thought we were going to die before we got there! But we made it, and then the fun got started!
On Wednesday we went swimming and then I went to a bridal shower for my sister while Mike watched the kids. Then we all met up at my cousin Whitney's wedding reception at Thanksgiving Point. On Thursday we visited with Grandpa and Grandma Richards, went to Lagoon, attended a family barbecue with Matt's family at their cabin, and went swimming again. Chelsea and Matt got married on Friday, so the day was full of wedding events. Saturday we slept in, went shopping, saw Kung Fu Panda, and went out to dinner with my family that was still there. Then Sunday we hopped back in the car at 4:30am mountain time and arrived home at about 11:30pm! What a trip! We had lots of fun and no one wanted to come home! We enjoyed seeing many family members and friends, but as usual there were some we missed which is always a bummer! :( Maybe some day we will go to Utah and not be as busy, but I doubt it. The kids were seriously bored today and while I was looking through pictures of the trip Benson asked me if we could go back to Utah.
We must thank Grandpa Jeff and Grandma Stacey for providing much of the entertainment while we were there and all the aunts and uncles for playing with and having such fun with the kiddos! We can't wait to see everyone again!

Grace trying to blow out a sparkler at my cousin Whitney's wedding reception

Grandpa Jeff and the kiddos - I seriously took 20 pictures and this was the best one...yeah...

Benson and Grandpa Derrill

Grandma Colleen and the kids...2nd picture and they were all looking at the camera...it was amazing!

Lagoon - 1. Grace riding the bumper cars, she bawled until another little girl bumped her and then she just looked shocked, she didn't touch the steering wheel once after the ride started so she just went around and around in a circle 2. Grace and Ben riding the whales, Grace wasn't overly thrilled about this one either 3. Benson, Mommy, Grace, and Daddy on the Lady Bug ride...Grace basically screamed and cried the whole time...even Mike and I both holding her hands didn't help...and everyone else had a good laugh 4. Grace and Sabrina snacking - the wagon was worth all $12 5. Daddy and Ben riding the Dinosaur Egg Drop - Benson loved every ride, especially the ones that made his tummy feel silly! 6. Grace and Sabrina driving a car - my dear sweet husband kept the kids so that I could go ride some of the roller coasters with my siblings, while I was gone he even got Sabrina on a few rides which I didn't think would happen. Thanks again honey! 7. Grace and Uncle Paul 8. Sabrina and Aunt Sarah 9. Uncle John had the girls cracking up after lunch!

Family picture on the Ferris Wheel, the only ride we all rode together

While we were at the pool, Sabrina decided she wanted to wear Aunt Sarah's shorts

Grace using her chopsticks at P.F. Chang's - she actually got it right a few times and enjoyed feeding Uncle John...we managed to make it out of the restaurant with only 1 broken chopstick, a miracle

The kids really enjoyed swimming in the hotel pool with all their aunts and uncles. Grace jumped in the pool to Uncle Paul about a billion times (which she had never done before) and Benson tried swimming sans floaties since we only had 2 pairs. I just want to give a shout out to my brothers for their awesome missionary tans (nope they are not wearing shirts)! Love you guys!

She's 3!

With our rush to leave for our trip to Utah, I didn't get to do Grace's birthday post. The Saturday before Grace's birthday we had a family party for her in Bartlesville. We went swimming and had pizza and doggy cupcakes. We did doggy cupcakes because Grace is always pretending to be a doggy, complete with licking everyone around her (yuck!).
Since Monday (her actual birthday) was the day before we left on vacation and everyone but Mike was feeling under the weather and it rained all day, we didn't do much. The kids all had fun playing with her new presents all day and then we got some manicotti (Grace's favorite food) from Zio's and a cookie cake. While she was eating breakfast on her birthday Mike asked, "So Grace now that you are 3, what are you going to do?" to which she quickly replied, "Go pee pee in the potty!" We can hope! We can hardly believe our little miss is 3!

Jackson, Aunt Sarah, Grace, and Sabrina trying out the new picnic table Grace got for her birthday

Doggy cupcakes

Getting ready for the Happy Birthday song

She's 3!

All dressed up. I think the little white puppy in the purse was her favorite present.
Blowing out the candles on her cookie cake

Special Occasions (long post warning!)

Since today is Father's Day, I want to pay tribute to the wonderful father of my children. Mike is a great dad. Before Benson was born I was a little concerned because the only time I could remember seeing him hold a baby, he held it kind of awkwardly. But I will never forget when the nurse handed Benson to him, he held him perfectly like he had been doing it all his life. He works so hard to support us and to allow me to be able to stay home with our kids. He loves to play with the kids. This past week he had been working lots of late hours, but on Thursday he came home almost on time so that I could go do some shopping and the kids were so happy. They really need their play time with daddy. He is so good about helping, he never complains. He gets up at 6am every morning and gets ready so he can fix the kids breakfast while I sleep. I'm sort of ashamed to admit that, but it's true and I appreciate it. When we were engaged, my roommates at BYU used to say that Mike was a ready-made dad, just add Jessica. And it was true!

Father's Day also gets me thinking about another special occasion in our family, Grace's birthday. Three years ago on Father's Day we brought Grace home from the hospital. Her arrival that soon was very unexpected, since she wasn't due to be born until July 9th. Because she came early and there were complications, we were very unprepared and extremely stressed! Looking back at that time it is obvious to me that I had a lot of learning and growing to do. I feel like I am a much better mother and person because of those challenging experiences. And I'm sure Grace (and Benson and Sabrina) will continue to provide opportunities for me to learn and grow.

Tomorrow is Grace's 3rd birthday. We have been telling her this for weeks and trying to get her excited about it, but I'm not sure she is. Benson is excited though, so hopefully he can help build her enthusiasm. Grace was such a sweet and easy-going baby. She would smile at ANYONE. I didn't really appreciate that as unique until we had Sabrina. She was and still is our best sleeper. She ALWAYS wakes up happy. She loves to be the center of attention, the life of every party. She is definitely a kid that needs lots of physical contact. Sometimes she drives Benson crazy because she's always poking at him or trying to love on him. She loves to make Sabrina laugh and tries very hard to fulfill her role as "second mother" to her siblings by telling them what to do and helping them whether they need it or not. Grace loves stuff. I think I've mentioned this before, but she is always carrying around a big armful of stuff. Some days it's My Little Ponies, some days it's stuffed animals, some days it's purses and jewelry or other random toys. She's always dropping things and you can't get her to switch stuff in the middle of the day, it has to be what she picked out that morning and no one better touch any of it. I think I love Grace's smile most. Maybe it's the dimple, maybe it's her perfectly straight teeth, I don't really know but it is so hard to be mad at that kid when she smiles. We LOVE our Gracie girl! Happy Birthday!

Grace weighed 5lbs, 1oz when she was born, the nurses in the hospital called her a little peanut

Daddy and daughter

Grace - 1 month old

Grace - 4 months old

Grace - 5 months old

Grace - 8 months old

Grace - 1 year old

Grace - 16 months

Grace - 22 months

Grace - 2 years old

Happy Birthday Grandpa Jeff!

Tuesday was Grandpa Jeff's birthday so of course we went to Bartlesville to help him celebrate. If you're wondering how old he is, just watch the video and Benson will tell you. The kids helped him blow out his candles which they thought was fun. Grandpa and Sabrina sang a lot of songs together while we were there. I didn't get the cutest ones on camera, but I'm sure I'll have another opportunity. That girl LOVES to sing! I am grateful that I have a dad who has not only been a wonderful dad, but is also a wonderful grandpa! We love you Grandpa!

Swimmer Babies

The kids and I (actually I should say the kids, my sisters, the wonderful and helpful aunts that they are, and I) have been swimming TONS already this summer . Benson picked right up where he left off last year and has been very independent in the water. We put his floaties on and he does his own thing. Grace started out refusing to wear floaties and being very hesitant to even get in the water. When she did get in, someone had to hold her close the entire time. I'm happy to say that she has now progressed to almost Benson's level of independence in the water. I want my kids to be good swimmers, especially because I'm not. I was bummed because the kids have to be 5 to do swimming lessons without an adult around here, but I think Ben and Grace are doing great even without lessons. Here is some video of them swimming. The first two clips are of Benson in the kiddie pool when we were in Houston over Memorial Day. He just started putting his head in the water all on his own. The last clip is of Grace and Ben on Tuesday.

And here's a few pictures, just for fun.

Aunt Sarah and Grace

Benson swimming like a fish (notice his fish face)

Grace wearing the sunglasses that I bought her as a baby that we still actually have and still fit!

Silly Children

Sabrina LOVES strawberries. Benson noticed the strawberry stains on her clothes and on mine and said to me "Mom, you need Spray N Wash Max, it gets out tough, dried on stains."

What can you say about this one? And yes, she did wear this to bed because it was so not worth the fight.

Look at those muscles! (It looks more like they are cheering, but actually they are "flexing")

Benson "helped" Daddy wash the van by rewashing all the parts that Daddy had rinsed and dried. Will he always be such a willing and happy helper?

Today we spent the afternoon at the pool across the street. It has two completely fenced in kid areas and the big pool is kind of like a beach - starting out at nothing and only going up to 4'6". It is perfect for kids. I forgot the camera, which I am still bummed about. Maybe next time. The kids had a blast! Sabrina has turned into a blond in the last few weeks and I have the best tan that I've had in 10 years because of all our time at the pool. Yeah for summer!

I Love to See the Temple

Yesterday, Mike and I had the opportunity to go to the Oklahoma City Temple (BIG THANKS to Aunt Jenny and Aunt Sarah for watching our kids). My sister Chelsea who is getting married in less than 2 weeks went to the temple to receive her own endowment. It was great to be there and share that special experience with her. I have been able to be there when all of my siblings have gone through the temple so far except for John because he went to the temple before I did. It would have been even better if my other siblings could have been there as well, but we will all be together in less than 2 weeks! We can't wait!

Chels and Matt

The Swing

In my parent's backyard they have some seriously huge trees. Makes for a lot of leaf raking in the fall. Anyways, my dad put up a swing in one of the big trees and the kids LOVE it. They were fighting over who got the next turn when we were there last week. Aunt Chelsea was nice enough to swing with the girls several times which I appreciated since I don't think swinging that high is as fun as it used to be. And since just writing about something is never enough, here is photographic evidence (if you click on the pictures to make them bigger they look better).

Benson swinging

Aunt Chelsea and Grace

Aung Chelsea and Sabrina waiting for a push