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Notes from Trinity's Birthday

Name: Trinity Laurel Burton
Age: 7 years old
Favorite thing to do: horseback riding
Favorite thing about today: eating cupcakes
When I grow up I would like to be a person who takes care of hamsters.
Quote of the day: “Ok, Mommy, now that I turned 7, I would like to go ahead and be 9.”
Mom’s response: NONE
I love: dancing and dressing up, playing with baby animals, having friends over, eating ice cream.

Name: Micah Emberlyn Burton
Age: 2 ½
Favorite thing to do: eat bollibops
Favorite thing about today: singing Happy Birthday to Trinity in Spanish
When my mom was not looking today, I colored on her sheets.
Quote of the day: “Mommy, where are all de wittle ders?”
Translation: “Where are the little girls?”
Mom’s response: “They are here, at my house. How many more do you want?”
I love: eating cookies, especially chocolate, playing with play dough, painting, and reading stories.



Name: Emory Morning Burton
Age: 7 months, 3 weeks
Favorite thing to do: eat paper
Favorite thing about today: holding on to the couch standing up
When my mom was getting the pen away from Micah today I tried to eat some plastic.
I love: holding crackers, milk in the moonlight, long walks in my mom’s sling.
One day I would like to: walk like my big sisters and run and play with them.

beach trip

A week of fun…
Trinity caught her first fish. Micah experienced the incredible feeling of sand between her toes…and fingers…and, well, diaper area…. Emory slept as the sound of the waves whooshed back and forth and back again.


We had an amazing time at the beach. We met Matt’s parents and brothers and three aunts and some cousins for a weekend of fun in the sun. Port Aransas will never be the same. We swam a lot, ate tons of Sarah’s cookie dough, dug up shrimp and eels, yes eels, and enjoyed spending lots of time with cousins. We took up a major portion of the beach with 4 Enviro-shades and then 5 and then even 6 at one point. People around us began to ask if they needed to move over. Ha! The kids had a blast, and their parents did too. All 13 of MiMi’s grandkids made it (number 14 will be here in January.) No, not from us…Jack and Maja are expecting Paden, their 5th boy. Next summer will be even more fun. Trinity might be ready to venture out and attempt skim boarding like her boy cousins did this year. And maybe Emory will not be attempting to eat the sand like she wanted so badly to this year. We were so thankful to have this time together again this summer!

grandparents

grand: magnificent or splendid; noble or revered

Whoever put the Grand in grandparents must have known my mom and dad. They were grand at parenting me and my brothers and are grand-er still at being Mimi and Poppy to my children, their grandchildren. If you try to find them at home on a weekend, you wont. Be it in Tyler visiting Alley's 3, or at the Summit Pool at Canyon Lake with Jack's crew, at the Children's Museum with Beau's boys, or at the coast "crabbing" with as many as can fit in the suburban, they will be somewhere with grandkids-any one or several of the 13.

For a week in July, they were with us in Mexico. No road is too long, (or too filled with potholes) to stop the "Grands" from seeing theirs. They arrived with another grandchild, Spencer, to see Burgos, catch up on the mission, and see the girls. Emory is still needing time to adjust to any face but her mother's, but Micah and Trinity are in full Mimi-mode from days before the actual arrival.

The visit included Mom, Dad and Spencer accompanying us on daily projects and work, a trip to the beach, and a return trip to McAllen for movies and a museum. But the highlight was just being with them. A trip for ice cream, playing cards, or singing...Mimi can make the little things so big. Without her permission, I have included a video of one night of fun at our house in Burgos. Don't tell Mimi that she's on our blog singing, but it makes me smile so big...and it takes me back to my child hood and the Grand mother and father I had, and have.

aunt Liz's house

After Emory's 6 month appointment, we came up from the border to the SanAntonio area. We were able to visit with PJ's grandmother and then headed to Fredericksburg and stayed at creepy aunt Liz's house. (On PJ's mom's side of the family, creepy is a term of endearment.) The girls were met with new pajamas, their favorite, and enjoyed playing in the girly room with toys, puzzles, and princess paraphernalia. The next morning we headed to visit more family at the 40th Jackson Cousins Reunion. More on that later.

We are so blessed by the family we have and the care they take of us. We treasure time to visit, even if briefly, when we are in Texas.

six months

This week, we celebrated Emory's 6 month birthday on earth. She has grown so big, and we realize daily how blessed we are just to have her here with us. At her appointment, she weighed in at a whopping 14 pounds and is in the 25th percentile for her age. She is wonderful, amazing, perfect in every way. Emory has the most amazing blue eyes and incredible eyelashes. When she smiles, her cheeks squeeze up so tight it looks like her face might explode. She is joyous, easy going, and loves watching her big sisters play. She rolls over and over and over and is already up on all fours trying to crawl...things are about to get a whole lot busier. We are so blessed that she has been sleeping through the night for months.

It is hard to believe where our family was just 6 months ago, praying for God to come through for us on this one. He did and continues to do so everyday. Count your blessings today and think how much things have changed from just 6 months ago. If life is great, praise God for all He has given you. If things aren't so great, remember that though it seeems like an eternity to you, for Him, 6 months are just one breath.

new pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/10022403@N08/sets/72157603740368691/show/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/10022403@N08/sets/72157603832271957/show/

Mr. Mom

PJ is deeply embedded in swimming lessons and I am home (at my parent's in Lockhart) with my angels. The "learning process" is a priceless experience and I am sure at the completion of this week (the last week of lessons) I, dad, will have learned most of what my daughters have been trying to teach me.

I'll begin by saying that I have the most wonderful wife. She has given herself to our family, for our benefit and at her expense. She constantly reads, to gain insight into being a more complete wife and mother, she makes our house in Mexico a home, (hard to do with cinder blocks that are only good for radiating heat) and she makes each of us feel like we are the most important person in the world.

Back to my attempt at being her. Last week I proudly announced as she walked in the door from her 9 and 1/2 hour day, "Well, the house is standing and the kids are alive." To date that is still true. I felt a true sense of accomplishment as I collapsed and wondered what a ride with the EMS would be like. (slight exaggeration for dramatic effect.) As I reflected on my success, I suddenly realized that, when roles are reversed, and I am the one coming home, that the girls are usually alive, the house is standing...but also, it is clean, the clothes are washed and folded, food is ready or cooking, and PJ looks like a supermodel. Needless to say, that aside from the supermodel part, I still have some work to do as Mr. Mom.

Your prayers are appreciated.