All Together Now...3D!

Chamberlain "tweaking" Grandma's Office Tree

Christmas Eve 2011 has started out beautifully with the arrival of Joshua, Ashleigh and their two wonderful kids, Chamberlain and Siri. I could blog on the wonderful dinner we will have tonite of spiral cut ham, Christmas cheese potatoes, fresh baby peas, crescents and butter, yummy goodies both made and brought (including the home-made Yule Log!) Or I could talk about the "tweaking" of the Christmas trees that is always done by visiting grandchildren. (How did this ornament get here?) Or I could talk about the fun games that will be played where I try to always win - no matter how :-) (wink wink). But instead, I'm going to talk about dad's (Ken) or grandpa's gift to himself ... his new 3D Samsung big, flat screen tv. Well, I'll let the pictures tell the story. One word: Mesmerizing!

Chamberlain can't believe it!

Too bad it only came with two pair of 3D glasses!

OC MARKETPLACE!

It's Christmas time and a couple of the kids will be coming in to spend Christmas with us. Josh and his family, and David and Sarah arrive Friday, December 23rd. I am so excited that they are coming, and the weather is predicted to be in the 70's. That will be a warm welcome to Josh, Ashleigh, Chamberlain and Siri leaving the cold Utah weather. And we will have so much fun walking Scooter around the lake, feeding the ducks, coy fish and turtles off my deck, in fact, Chamberlain called yesterday to give me a run down of the things he wants to do when he gets here. One of those things was most likely prompted by his parents. That is to head on over to the Newport Beach / Costa Mesa area where the OC Fairgrounds holds the OC Marketplace, or as we refer to it as the Swap Meet. 

When you hear the words Swap Meet you may think of the casual and unorganized flea markets out there. However, if your thinking goes in this direction, erase that and replace it with a vision of outdoor markets that feature everything from gourmet foods, high end handbags (Beverly Hills Bag Lady) to designer furniture and 14k gold jewelry. They offer everything from handmade, artsy wear to top quality boutiques. It is a shoppers paradise where one can spend $10 for a pair (2) of sunglasses to going into a hidden van and pick up a real Fendi handbag. And it's so much fun. In fact, spending a day there wandering, snacking and shopping is highlighted with fun areas of play for the kids, live music, and rows and rows of shopping delights for all ages, sizes and tastes.


I've always loved going to the OC Marketplace at holiday time. I've picked up beautiful hand sculpted Nativity scenes, children's clothing for the grand kids, and in the past I would always go there to pick up t-shirts of every kind for the cousins. In fact, the cousins could pretty much count on receiving a t-shirt from aunt Sandi and uncle Kenneth. How can you pass up t-shirts that are priced 3 for $10? T-shirts at the OC Marketplace can be name branded (Quick Silver), sports team supported (like the Angels or Lakers), to (my personal favorite) "Someone in California Loves Me." Maybe David should get a couple of those for Sarah...no?  I can hear David now saying, "sure mom," then roll his eyes.


I haven't purchased those t-shirts from OC Marketplace for years, but the memories are still there. And this coming Saturday we'll take full advantage of those last minute swap meet gift "deals" with Santa Clause watches, handmade ornaments, a baby quilt, and maybe...just maybe, a couple of t-shirts for my sixteen (16) fabulous grand kids that read "Somebody In California Loves Me," and save them for 2012 birthday gifts. :-)

The Graduate!

So many events in a child's life make a mom and dad proud. It starts with their first smile, giggle, crawl, sitting up, walking, and grows from there. And we have had so many proud moments with our five children. We love watching them set goals, work hard and achieve their goals. When our children are happy, we're happy. That leads me to congratulating my 4th child, Joshua. He graduated from B.Y.U. this month. In fact, he just took his last class, and we couldn't be more proud. It wasn't an easy road for Josh due to a number of interruptions. He started with playing basketball and attending BYU Hawaii, then served a two year mission in the Philippines. He then attended classes at Irvine Valley College, then transferred to BYU. He took a few years off to get married and have a couple of wonderful kids, but was determined to graduate. So, he did just that, went back and finished. And he did this while juggling a full time job to take care of his family. Statistics of people actually finishing after a few starts, stops, transfers and lost credits, is low. But, by gosh...Josh did it! :-) (I tend to like rhyming.)

So with this graduation (walking in April), we have a mixed loyalty factor at both football and basketball time. Ken graduated from BYU. I, in direct contrast attended the University of Utah (U of U) (big time school rivalry). Ben graduated from the U of U, Angela played basketball and graduated from BYU. Chris played basketball and attended the U of U (after two years playing at Duke), Joshua now graduated from BYU, and his wife, Ashleigh graduated from BYU as well. Ben's wife graduated from BYU and Chris wife graduated from the U of U. David has had as many transfers as Joshua with playing and signing originally to play basketball at BYU, transferred to Gonzaga, then ended his college career playing at Azusa Pacific here in California. You see our dilemma? 


But...no matter who we root for with college sports, we adore our kids and are beyond proud of everything they have ever accomplished. We are blessed to have five miracles in our lives. Miracles that come with names ... Benjamin Kenneth, Angela, Christopher Clayton, Joshua Reid and David Michael. Each different from the other, but each bringing us such joy. And all make up an eternal family. I miss them and relish every second we have together. Thank goodness for Skype, instant messaging, Facebook, Twitter and the occasional phone call. Congratulations Joshua!

RED TREE, MEMORY WREATH, and MOOSE

RED TREE ... When I first married Ken and started looking to decorate my first Christmas tree he said, "let's do one all red." When I say red I mean red lights (a minimum 14 strands wound in and out and around every branch), and red decorations. When I have attempted to add a bow or ornament with a little gold with the red, Ken has said something to the effect of, "what's that gold doing on the red tree?" So the family room tradition of putting up a "red tree" was born. I smiled when I was with Ben and Cooper and their five kids at Thanksgiving time, and they too have a main room red tree, (so does Chris.) So the "red tree" tradition continues. And red, by the way, doesn't stop with just the tree, it flows into the wrapping of gifts under the "red tree". They must be wrapped in red. If someone brings a gift that isn't wrapped in red, it is well hidden under the red wrapped gifts so as to not mess with the theme of the  "red tree." (I know...crazy, but it is what it is.) I do love this red tree and it has taken on the theme of red glitz and variations of berries. Stunning for sure!  Note: Two other trees in the home...Office tree is white lights and red, gold and white with Nutcracker theme. Bedroom tree carries bedroom colors of turquoise, white and gold with a reindeer theme. Love, love, love my trees.  If I had a bigger place, I'd probably have more trees!

I always loved when the kids have made ornaments at school when they were young and brought them home. They were so proud of these ornaments, and I've kept them all of these years. To display them, a few years back I created a "memory wreath" that hangs on the door next to the kitchen. I treasure this wreath because it tells a visual story. Some were ornaments the kids purchased with me years ago, others were made by the kids out of clothes pins and painted to look like reindeer, or were special in some way to each of the children. This year while we were in PA with Ben and his family, cute, thoughtful Calvin ran in to give me a handmade ornament that he had made in school that was round and looked like a stained class window. This ornament was immediately hot glued to the front (a little to the right under the red bike, on the "memory wreath). You'll see hints of blue, purple and green. So, Cooper...make sure to show this picture to Calvin. He will be very happy to see how much I treasure that new ornament he gave me, now added to the "memory wreath" for all to see. And I will make it point to highlight it every chance I get with my friends and voice students when they come to the house.

Finally a note about the moose. Ken seems to love hunting and has this "thing" about wanting a moose. He has actually threatened to hang a dead stuffed moose head on the wall. Well, definitely not going to happen in "my" home, so throughout the years, besides him receiving smaller stuffed moose animals at Christmas time, and a great little one I have up high on top of the kitchen cabinets (purchased at a cool hunting store in the Salt Lake airport), I finally found him a large, friendly looking, stuffed, soft moose that this Christmas is sitting in the front room. So, although not an exciting story (except for the part that he really wants a stuffed moose head mounted on the wall...no way), that's why there is a moose propped up on the leather front room sofa's wearing a Christmas scarf. And I kinda like him. When Ken is out of town on business, he's a snuggly companion. :-)

Christmas Traditions

It's no secret that I love the holidays, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas. I decorate the home from top to bottom, and love making everything festive and beautiful. Years ago I purchased a set of red and white china with gold edges just for Christmas Eve dinner. And all I've ever asked from my children as they were growing up, was to come to dinner nicely dressed for pictures. Well, as you can see to the left, this is how they ALWAYS showed up to this special dinner I prepared, decorated the table for, and worked sometimes 2-3 days to get things just right. Let's see, Angela looks like she just woke up, Chris hasn't combed his hair, and most the time came with no shirt on at all, or grabbed something from Angela's closet just to make me groan, Josh and David look asleep, and of course, I'm in a beautiful festive Christmas red sweater. 


Hmmm...well I still love the holidays and I, no matter how the kids show up at dinner on Christmas Eve, will continue cooking a very special meal, decorate, set the table with those beautiful plates and gold ware (pulled out only on special occasions), and hopefully, something will rub off with my now grown children. I hope they decorate beautifully (even on tight budgets), set a beautiful table and gather their families. These memories live with us forever and when we think about them, we smile, even when they look adopted or homeless when they do show up to eat.

Christmas Family Letter 2011

   Christmas Letter 2011 
     NEWS FLASH!!!…

Chris & Lesa had a baby boy, 

David got engaged & 

Josh graduated from BYU!!!

Yes, we have been truly blessed this year.  Blessings have covered all corners of the earth with our family (literally). We have no complaints, other than the usual ongoing “mom complaints” with wishing her kids (& grand kids) all lived closer - like in Irvine! J And we send our blessings, thoughts and prayers with this Christmas card and family letter. We do love reading all of your family letters and catching up with what you are doing.

This year we finally, for the first time ever, had all five (5) of our fabulous children, four (4) spouses, sixteen (16) grandchildren all together in Utah, and it was pure heaven. We all gathered and spent time at Chris and Lesa's home for the 4th of July in Bountiful, where we had our own fireworks show in the street in front of his home (thanks to Ben and Chris), a few blissful days at our families cabin in Pines Ranch, and had family pictures taken. 

We loved watching the kids together, competing in all sorts of games and banter. And had fun posting pictures of all on our family blog burgessboulevard.blogspot.com.  There you will find pictures of all of the blow-up beds on the cabin porch, the numerous outdoor picnics, hot dog roasts, and kids, kids, and more kids. So much fun!

It was so great having cousins meet cousins for the first time in many cases, and kids hugging and wrestling kids that hadn't seen each other for six years.  And when I said sixteen (16) grandkids, at the time the picture was taken, Lesa was days away from delivering their beautiful bouncing baby boy ... Beckham Burgess! 

(Try to say that ten times fast.)   

Here’s a quick family update: 

***Ben and Cooper and their five wonderful children (Adelaide 12, Nolan 9, Calvin 8, Jane 4, Oliver 2) made the long drive from the State College area of Pennsylvania to Utah (can you say ROAD TRIP?), and we are all so glad they did. Ken and I flew out to PA for Calvin’s baptism, and again to spend Thanksgiving with them, and wished we could have seen Nolan sing the lead in the Christmas program at school. Cooper has really been an asset to our businesses these past years with tweaking our business website (burgessbiz.com), developing various marketing pieces for us, and helping with anything artistically that we have needed.

***Angela and Eddie and their five girls up and moved to Orem, Utah. This was a surprise to us, and we miss them terribly:=( Since the move, Angela has been busy juggling family, business, and has started teaching voice students. (yea!) Joshlyn graduated from high school, and Jacquelynn started kindergarten. Other girls include Madison (8), Brooklyn (4), Sutton (2).

 ***Chris and Lesa added a new baby boy to the mix with their three beautiful little girls. His name is Beckham Christopher Burgess. Chris called me in March at 4am to tell me they were having a boy, but that I couldn't tell anyone, not even dad because he was going to announce it himself. And announce he did on Facebook and Twitter, with pictures of proof that they were having a boy. (interesting Twitter tweets.) Their girls: Kelli Jo (7), Zoey (4) and Ava (3). They are all living in Sopot, Poland this year playing basketball, and Lesa is happy that her girls have a British school to attend. Chris’ official basketball website is www.chrisburgess34.com

***Joshua and Ashleigh are in Provo, Utah where Josh is in his last semester at BYU. He is graduating and anxious to move on from being a student to a professional. Chamberlain is 5 and Siri 2, and they love the Cougs (BYU Cougars). When BYU was killed by Utah in football, Chamberlain turned to his mom & said, “they needed Jimmer!” Very clever and cute. J

***David took the plunge and got engaged on October 16th to Sarah Cooper. Sarah is from Kanab, Utah and we already love her and feel she fits right into the family. David is living between Centerville, Utah and Henderson, Nevada, working out, helping with Chris’ basketball camps in Utah, planning a wedding, and awaiting a basketball contract. 

***Ken has still been traveling back and forth to the farms in El Salvador, and to Las Vegas at the home offices of our new network marketing company, Voyager Health Technologies.  I am still involved (as always) with teaching talented new vocal students, and co-directing the music for yet another big musical show for the church here in OC. Lots of fun!

   Happy Holidays & Blessings!  

Love,  Ken and Sandi Burgess
 Irvine, CA 92614 

(949) 552-9128

Thanksgiving in PA!

Of course, grandma brought everyone pj's and  new clothes to wear :-)

Oliver played on grandpa's Droid

Ken and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania with Ben, Cooper and the kids.  This is the first Thanksgiving in 37 years of marriage where we didn't host the feast, and I hardly had to cook. Cooper did most everything. I found a great Paula Dean recipe for sweet potatoes that I made, and I cut the fresh string beans for the Green Bean Casserole, but other than that, it was pretty much done by Cooper. It was wonderful. I'm going to let the pictures tell the story of this wonderful week there on the East Coast. Other than having to take 
three (3) flights to get into State College, it was an awesome trip, especially having a full week with the grand children.


My favorite is watching Ben chop down the Christmas tree, seeing the youngest place the star on the tree (this year Oliver), and playing games with the kids. I will miss them and do hope they can all come to David and Sarah's wedding in August. They just grow up too fast and we don't see them enough.

Ben took over my iPad, downloading some Zombie game.

Making snowflakes is part of the fun.

Calvin shows his cutting skills.

Ben shaved the beard just in time to chop down the tree.

Tree farm with the kids, actually pretty warm weather.

Oliver puts the star on the tree...family tradition (youngest)

More 2011 Christmas Decorations

Office

Office Tree

Finally flash went off here.

My Favorite - Lenox Nativity

My Byers Carolers hidden behind grand piano (from kids to play with)

Mantle Front Room

Raggety Ann and Andy Decked Out fo rChristmas

Christmas Decorations

Window Seal Front Door

Office - Large Santa's

Small Round the World Santa's

I love to decorate the home for holidays, especially Christmas.  Every nook and crannie needs to say, "Merry Christmas!" So, before I blog about our wonderful Thanksgiving in PA with Ben, Cooper and the kids (even chopping our own Christmas tree down), I'll let the pictures tell the decorating story.  Note: this year I even added an extra tree (3 full trees) to the bedroom so I can wake up to the lights automatically coming on - yea! Pictures start with the office.

Lenox Manger and Carolers, Office

Stockings

Memory Wreath of Past Kids Ornaments, etc.

Sleigh and Manger on ledge

Front Room "Red Tree"

Kitchen - Snowmen Collection

Above Kitchen Cupboards

Nutcracker Collection

Music Studio/Office Wreath

Office Tree

Office Studio Carolers

Bedroom Tree

Bedroom Nativity

Guest Room Manger from Philippines

Front Room (Why isn't my flash working here?)

"Let's Just Enjoy Ourselves!"

Joshua and son, Chamberlain

Angela posted a phrase that came out of her darling 5 year old's mouth (Jacquelynn) "I'm sweatin' like a sinner in church!" Oh my goodness. Ken and I laughed so hard. It got me thinking about all of the cute things the kids have said over the years. My favorite was Joshua's phrase, "Let's put everything back and just enjoy ourselves!" We had been grocery shopping, had a cart load of food, and he came upon some yummy cookies. In reference to the cookies, he wanted me to put everything back onto the shelves and we sit in the car and eat those cookies - as "just enjoy ourselves." Adorable. In thinking about his phrase, I can relate when it comes to Stonecold's "Berry Fantasy" ice cream. Kicking back on occasion and just enjoying that is pure heaven!

Kelli Jo, me, Zoey at game in Dubai

Lesa sent me a few cute things her girls have said. Kelli Jo lost a toenail and asked, "mom, is there a toe fairy?" She actually sounds smart. Asking for money is too easy. Disguising the request with asking about various fairies makes more cents! (get it?)


Zoey was watching Lesa read silently,and asked why she wasn't reading out loud. Then once it was explained to her about reading to yourself, the next time she saw Lesa reading she asked, "Is your head reading again?" Cute.

Nolan and Calvin

I wish I had written down all of the darling things the kids said as they were growing up. At the moment it happens, you chuckle and often share it with a family member, but soon forget about it, until the grand kids come around. Then things come to memory again. My visits to Ben and Cooper's in VA or PA always have me smiling with things the kids say. One such visit, Calvin had been memorizing the Articles of Faith for Primary. As he followed me everywhere, even outside where I was trying to get cell service, I video-taped him chanting the 2nd Article of Faith, which he seemed to favor. Understand that as he chanted it, he was chopping down every living plant in the yard, and when he'd say the word "punished," he'd hit something even harder and with more emphasis. Question: Ben, have you been having him face the wall too often?  "We believe that men should be PUNISHED for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression." Very funny.

Jimmer!

One of my favorites is Chamberlain, when watching Utah smash BYU in football recently, saying, "they need Jimmer." Such a Coug fan, for sure. The fact that Josh and Ashleigh pretty much live on the BYU campus, sleeping and eating Cougar blue...Chamberlain's comment is still comical.  And, quite frankly, the way BYU played, even adding a basketball player to the mix couldn't hurt, right?


I could blog for pages on the silly things we as adults say. And we are painfully reminded of those embarrassing comments we've made at times of brain freeze, at, what seems like, all family gatherings. And the kids laugh at the same dumb things we said and did, but humor keeps us healthy and young, they say. So...keep on remembering, and we'll, for sure, keep on making fools of ourselves.