2009 in Review

I didn't get a Christmas letter done with my cards this year. Since then I have been meaning to write this post. I use my blog as my journal for the most part. So indulge me a little.

As I reflect on the changes of 2009 I find it hard to believe. Last January we were just settling into our new house and routine. Things frankly seemed almost perfect. New house, new job, back with friends and family we had missed so much. Our beautiful boys were getting bigger every day and we were loving life. In February we were shocked and overwhelmed to say the least to find out that we were expecting again. Way down deep, I had felt stirrings of a little girl that I had hoped to be part of our family. But logic and reason told me to ignore those feelings and that our family was complete. But here I sit a year later. Still overwhelmed by our blessings and the beauty of our perfect little angel Lily. I think I always felt her. And although Jake doesn't believe me, I feel another child in our future. I don't know how or when. But as we have learned, with God all things are possible. Despite the statistics and doctors we have three beautiful children. Could life get any better?

Jake and I are about to celebrate 8 wonderful years together. The time has flown by. For us 2009 brought another birthday, some stress between work, kids, being pregnant, having a baby and the occasional family drama. Jake got to go to Dallas to see his team, BYU, play Oklahoma for the season opener. Also the inaugural game for the new Dallas Cowboys stadium, a chance of a lifetime for him. I think in a lot of ways it was the highlight of his year-beat just barely by the birth of his daughter four days previous :). I have been busy trying to keep the house and kids afloat, healthy and happy. Though I may feel overwhelmed at times, I try to cherish this time when my kids are small. I know it will not last forever and when it is gone I will want it back. They are so precious! We have been blessed 100 times over. No complaints here for sure!

Luke is ever growing and learning. He is our little sponge who doesn't forget ANYTHING! He still remembers his life and friends in Illinois and often expresses how much he misses it. But as the social kid he is, he has a great group of friends and cousins. He loves school and his teachers tell me he is always so well behaved-whew! He is learning to read and doing awesome. He continues to astound us by his genius. He is constantly talking (I wonder where he gets that :). He is hilarious and always the life of the party.

January 2009

December 2009
Ty has changed the most in the past year. He started the year not even able to go to nursery. Now fully talking, running, jumping, and getting into everything. He is the quintessential two year old...tantrums, mischief and all. He is an intensely emotional kid. Whether that be intense happiness or anger. He has a wicked sense of humor and makes ALL of us laugh. He knows all his uppercase letters and most of his lowercase. He counts to 15. He loves to sing, dance, wrestle, color, do puzzles (which he is getting really good at), and watch Batman. He is obsessed with all things Super Hero's. Batman is his favorite and after a year of obsession with it, we don't see that changing any time soon. He is a very loving and affectionate child, especially to Lily. We have loved to see him become a big brother this year. Ty idolizes "Ukey" (as he calls Luke), but also knows exactly how to push his buttons. Despite their opposites, they truly are the best of friends.
January 2009
December 2009
Lily has not been with us very long but has completely captured us all. She is definitely our Princess. She is already spoiled and loving it. She lights up whenever her brothers sing or talk to her. She already loves the attention she gets around here. The boys treat her as their queen. Which I have to admit I find so heartwarming. There is nothing better than seeing your children loving each other.

Lily is genuinely the happiest baby I have EVER been around. She rarely cries. She loves to smile and giggle and eat. She has not expressed the slightest interest in moving at all. So as the days go by she gets happier, more vocal and chubbier. She has the most kissable cheeks ever! We cannot wait to watch the milestones she will have this upcoming year.
Welcoming her home September 2009
December 2009
Again, everywhere we look we are reminded of the goodness of our Heavenly Father who has blessed our family beyond measure. I pray that we can live worthy of all that He has given us. Happy 2010 everyone!

Justice League

My son the ham! Olivia and Evelyn too!

For Christmas Callie and Elvin made T-shirts for all the cousins to make up the Justice League. So cool!

Kiana-Green Lantern

Kaleo-Superman

Olivia-Hawk Girl

Evelyn-Wonder Woman

Luke-Flash

Ty-Batman (as if there was any question).

Ty was really happy to be taking pictures-can't you tell?

Christmas Morning

Luke was so excited to find under the tree the things on his list to Santa (all except for the Jack-in-the-box). But he got a new Obi-Won spaceship and new Boba Fett spaceship.
Ty got a bunch of Super Hero Squad toys and Batman toys.


New Batman dress-up set.
BYU dress up set.
Dad and Luke playing with new Legos.
What a great Christmas!!!

Christmas Eve

Making Christmas cookies for Santa. I love doing this with the kids. Luke is more interested in eating the dough and icing than making the cookies. Ty really liked playing in the flour. Although it can be chaotic and I have to watch closely that no unwanted ingredients end up in the bowl, we have fun. Then they get to pick which cookies to leave out for Santa.

Dancing to some Christmas tunes.

So sweet. He was singing to her.

New pj's.
Our cookies for Santa.
Ready for bed.

I loved that we started a new tradition this year. I was again something taken from Jake's childhood. A few days before Christmas we took the boys shopping. We helped them each pick out a gift for each member of their family. We were sure that Luke would catch on and hopefully feel the spirit of giving. But little Ty got into it as well. He was so sweet picking gifts for Daddy and Lily and Luke. He really picked things they liked. Luke's insights into his family members was amazing. All by himself he picked a beautiful silver bracelet for me, a movie for Dad, and a copy of Ty's favorite show. We helped them wrap their gifts for each other on Christmas eve. As part of the evening we let me give their gifts. They were so adorable.

I really enjoy it being just our family on Christmas Eve. We have a yummy dinner of our favorite things. We listen/sing Christmas carols. Read the Christmas story. This year we watched the Polar Express. Usually Dad sings us some carols in Russian, which we forgot to do this year and I missed it. We also bear our testimonies of the Savior to the kids. Luke was very attentive this year during that part and he seemed touched by the spirit.

After the kids go to bed "Santa" gets to work wrapping. Jake and I always watch "It's a Wonderful Life" and then head off to bed.

Santa has come and we are ready for the morning.

Burt Family Christmas Party

Baby Jesus in the Manger.

The Wise Men (Uncle Jackson and Alex).

Seeing the baby Jesus...which he later stole.

The Shepherds (Daddy and Ty) and angel (Aunt Holly).

Mary (Brooklyn) riding her donkey (Uncle Matt).

Joseph (Luke) and a wise man (Alex).

Luke was so excited to play Joseph.

We had a great time doing the Christmas Nativity with our kids this year. They loved it and of course all the parents and grandparents let out many an " ooh" and "awh" and "oh". Our kids are adorable!

The entire cast.

Christmas sleepover at Grandma's

The Sunday before Christmas we had a sleepover at my parents house. We went to church with them which the boys enjoyed. We attempted to get some good pictures of us in our new Christmas church clothes...this is what we got. Poor Ty had fallen asleep in church and was not a happy camper when we got home and tried to take some pictures.

12 Days of Christmas

A tradition that we have carried on from Jake's childhood is the 12 days of Christmas. Every night we do an activity together as a family. It was Jake's idea this year for me to draw a picture of the day's activity and post it on the front door. Then when the kids came down in the morning they could figure out the activity based on the picture. Luke LOVED this.

Some of the things we did:
shopping and seeing Santa
Movie night-Princess and the Frog
Game night-New Yahtzee Jr.
Temple Square to see the lights

to name a few. Unfortunately I didn't take very many pictures...oops. But I did get some of us making candy trains with the Speredons.

Luke's train.


Ty REALLY enjoyed this. Surprisingly he didn't eat very much of it, but was intensely focused on making his train. He worked on his the longest and enjoyed every minute of it.
Notice all of us in our BYU stuff. The BYU bowl game was that night. Go BYU!

Snow Buddies

Mostly they just like to eat the snow. But they are having fun this winter playing in the snow.

3 Months Old

Can we say "double chin?"

Lily is now three months old. I can't believe it. She is such a good baby. Already sleeping through the night. (Usually from 9 p.m.-7 a.m.) Great eater, always smiling, rarely crying. She is such a joy and a blessing to us. She is just starting to giggle and coo which we would argue are the sweetest sounds ever known to man. We are so in love with our "Lily girl", "Silly Lily" and our "Pretty Princess". These have become our new nicknames for her. The third is what Luke calls her. Ty the first two. But he can't say l's so it comes out "siwwy wiwwy" or "wiwwy giwr". Ty absolutely is the most enamoured with her. He LOVES her so much and is always very worried when she does happen to cry. The other day he picked her up when I turned my back for a second. He then accidentally dropped her. She cried pretty hard which is to be expected, (good thing he is short so it was a short drop). But Ty cried just as hard. He came to me and said, "Hurt, Lily...I sorry Lily". It was really sweet. Too bad it didn't cure him of his constant urge to hold her/pick her up. I have to watch really closely.