Blessed

As we continue our stroll down memory lane (aka land of the forgotten digital photos)...

On August 14, 2011 we celebrated Asher's baptism at St.Pius X Church in Des Moines. It was a beautiful day that we were so fortunate to spend with family and friends- and even more blessed that we were able to get all four sets of Asher's grandparents together to help us celebrate. Here's a few highlights...

Asher's adorable baptism outfit, complete with bowtie and suspenders! Thanks to grandma Kelly for hunting down some white shoes!

My favorite picture. ever. Do you see Asher's chubby little legs? And that handsome husband of mine? Blessed, so blessed.

All the grandparents (and great grandma Fran!) 

We ask Lawrence's good childhood friend Mark to be Asher's godfather, and my good friend from grad school Lindsay to be Asher's godmother. Unfortunately, Lindsay had a death in her family the week of the baptism and ended up not being able to come, but my friend Jamie (another good friend from grad school!) agreed to be a proxy- so lucky to have so many great friends that will be a part of Asher's life!

Here's a shot of some more of those amazing friends I was talking about... Elyse, Jenny & Jamie, thanks so much for everything! Elyse jumped right in to take photos, Jenny helped with food prep and Jamie was the stand in godmother- Love these girls!

At the baptismal font

With Decon Dave

Soak it in - that's about as tan as the little man and I get! Oh, how fortunate he is to have inherited my pasty white skin. LUCKY BOY!

Thanks to Donna and Bernardo's generosity we were able to get most of the food catered by one of our favorite local restaurants. What a treat not to have to prepare anything after the service!

What baptism would be complete without cake? And of course mini cheesecakes, too, because that's how we roll. Yum...

Happy 93

Today is my grandma's birthday. She would have been 93 and I can't believe she's been gone for nearly 6 months. I miss her every day and I'm constantly amazed at the number of things that remind me of her that pop up on a daily basis. So in honor of my grandma, here's a list of 93 things that remind me of her and 93 of the thousands of reasons I miss her so very much.

1. Nutty bars
2. Canasta
3. Scrabble
4. Roses
5. Bananas
6. Banana savers (you know, the things you can buy that will cover 1/2 banana for you? She would only eat just a half at a time and every time I see one of these silly contraptions at the store I think that she's the only one I knew who would use it. Well, her and Lawrence)
7. Coffee creamer
8. Canned cranberries
9. Spaghetti (the last meal she ate at our house was spaghetti that Lawrence made and she raved about it so much she made him promise we would come down and make it for her again)
10. Coke floats
11. Sewing machine
12. Purple (my grandma always told me a story of how purple was my favorite color when I was young and one day at the store I complimented a very large woman on her purple dress - it was a funny story when she told it, but I could never remember a time when purple was my favorite color however I always believed her because her memory was better than mine is)
13. Asher (I'm so glad they had the chance to meet, and he was with me in the room when she passed away - I think they will always be connected because of that)
14. Our staircase (she climbed it like a monkey to get upstairs to see the nursery and I will never forget that sight or the effort that it took her, and she never complained or said she couldn't do it)
15. Hot air balloons
16. Our local coffee shop (we had a nice little lunch there in the fall - I will always chersih the last few meals we were able to have just the two of us when she came up to Des Moines)
17. Laughing
18. Tickling (she and Lawrence would get into tickling contests)
19. Banana bread
20. The blue pitcher
21. My favorite chair
22. Our fireplace mantle (made from timbers from the farm she lived on)
23. Chicken and rice
24. Oatmeal cookies (only my Aunt Janet makes them as good as grandma did)
25. Blue birds
26. Golden finches
27. Hummingbirds
28. Bird feeders
29. "Squinties" (what she would call chipmunks - she hated them!)
30. Cats (she didn't like them either!)
31. Pan fried hamburgers
32. soft, fuzzy cardigans
33. Sunday comics
34. Readers Digest
35. Asher's hands (she commented they looked like he had a manicure they were so perfect the first time she held him)
36. Ham (the only place I would ever eat it is at her house)
37. Cribbage
38. Boggle
39. the 9o'clock nightly news
40. Clone cones
41. Washing dishes by hand
42. White kitchen drying towels
43. family pictures (she insisted on getting photos every time there was a group of us together)
44. shredded wheat
45. frozen blueberries
46. strawberry ice cream
47. bendy straws (she always had them on hand)
48. ice cream cones (she always had those on hand too)
49. wigs
50. veiny hands (from the time I was little I would trace the veins on the back of her hand with my finger- I thought it was magically the way they would pop back up after I pushed them down)
51. Christmas
52. slippers (her last Christmas gift to me was a pair of slippers she bought before she passed away - they had my name written on a slip of paper clipped to the toe. I keep them in my top drawer with the note still attached)
53. Twin beds
54. eyebrow pencils
55. rosy lipstick
56. checkbooks (she would write checks for everything and kept her account balanced all the time)
57. Her bony pointer finger
58. shaking her fist (usually at Lawrence when we were playing cards)
59. Her dainty wrists
60. "Go faster" (anytime you were helping her walk, she always said it was easier for her to go faster so she'd urge you along)
61. seafood
62. Red Lobster
63. tenderloins (but only if you'd split them with her)
64. clip on earrings (she's the only person I've ever known to wear them, and she wore them every day to match her outfit)
65. Sunday mass
66. Worrying
67. My horsehair lamp
68. Coke trays
69. The way her hand would graze the discard pile
70. Aprons (she even would help me make my own when I was little)
71. Fabric pens (she'd let me decorate my aprons with fabric pens)
72. Sunbonnet quilt
73. microwave cake
74. cinnimon raisin bread
75. state quarters
76. journals
77. Satin hands lotion
78. cuckoo clocks
79. pearls
80. coke pencils
81. phone books
82. corded phones
83. my large oak desk
84. Thanksgiving
85. road trip to Louisiana
86. Mezzodi's
87. Atlases
88. Door draft stoppers
89. yellow
90. wildflowers
91. bird baths
92.window blinds
93. Birthdays - she always had such a great time and she loved getting everyone together. I'll always remember hers and the amazing woman it celebrates!

Grandpa Jimmy

A lot of people say that Asher looks like me. You know, mainly because of his pasty white skin tone that we are both blessed with. But I think he looks a lot like my dad. They even make the same expression sometimes...

 

Thanks for coming to visit, Grandpa Jimmy!

Niagara Falls at Night

Here's a few pictures of Niagara Falls that we took on our recent trip... what you can't see in these pictures is the RAT that bit my toe as we were taking in the view that night. Luckily my toe hasn't fallen off yet and I haven't started frothing at the mouth, so I think I will live. Next time, close toed shoes, for sure. The things the guide books don't tell you...

Yes, that is a nice circle of drool on the Baby Bjorn. Thanks for noticing.

Whatever. My kid has teeth. More by the minute. What can you do?

A Cake Made for Wishing

For Lawrence's birthday he had been craving just plain old white cake, but I couldn't give him just a plain cake, so I decided to venture into the world of rainbow cakes. If you follow blogs, you'll have seen the idea pop up many times recently. If you don't follow blogs, you'll be blown away.

 Rainbow cakes just make me happy. It's like biting into the end of the rainbow- I feel like every piece should come with it's very own granted wish! Luckily, it made Lawrence happy, too! Happy Birthday, honey!

I had some leftover cake batter, so I decided to try my hand at rainbow cupcakes, too. Now these I hadn't seen on any blog, I just thought it would be a cute idea and I have to admit, I LOVE how they turned out! I put a little skittle rainbow on the top of each one and dropped them off at the neighbor kids' houses.

I didn't measure them out or bake them in layers or anything, just one spoonful of colored batter at a time, making sure I went all the way to the edges with each layer.

Here's what my kitchen looked like during the process, just in case you were wondering. I think I left one or two bowls still in the cupboard. But it was worth it!

Memorializing Mae

So I've been meaning to post this for a while now but as usual time has gotten the best of me. Brandy already shared with you the sadness of Mae passing and mentioned the eulogy I was asked to give. I was certainly honored to play a role in memorializing Mae. Some of the family members asked that I share a copy of it with them so I'm posting it here in hopes they'll find it.

The Mae I Knew…

As I sat down last night to write something that epitomized Mae, I realized that we all experienced Mae in our own unique ways and it would be nearly impossible to capture her essence in a few words. So, rather than try, I want to tell you about the Mae that I knew.

I didn’t ever know Mae as a mother or a grandmother. I didn’t know her as a role model as a young child. I didn’t know her as a neighbor or a fellow church goer. Or a community volunteer. I didn’t know Mae as a world traveler and I didn’t know her as a companion.

I knew Mae as a friend.

I met Mae a mere 7 years ago. And in those 7 years I have learned a lot. I have learned a lot about many of you…because she told me. Mae and I spent many afternoons talking about sports, politics, history and of course the family. She was the person who taught me the importance of intentional relationships.

So often I observed Mae making an effort to show someone how much she cared. It was never a big gesture but it was always an intentional one. I’ve seen her clasp a hand, or hold a cheek to help comfort. I’ve seen her make Coke floats in celebration. I’ve seen her labor over just the right gift. I’ve seen her share her knowledge about humming birds. And on more than one occasion I’ve seen her crack open a can of jellied cranberries which is how she showed me she cared.

The Mae I knew was loving and supportive. When Brandy and I told her we hoped we were making the right decision in moving to Colorado she was the first one to tell us how much she’d miss us but how much she hoped it was an incredible adventure for us and she knew we were making the right decision.

The Mae I knew had a smile that would light up a room and eyes that shown with pure joy in the company of others. She was the most happy in simple settings like when I’d catch her and Joe holding hands in the dark watching the news…Or when she was able to hold her great-grandchild for the very first time.

The Mae I knew was competitive. She would never turn down a good card game and would lull you into a false sense of safety by asking “remind of the rules to this” right before she’d put you out of the game.

The Mae I knew always had a zest for life. Whether it be road tripping to Louisiana, watching high school football from the back of a pick-up truck or eating ice cream at the Iowa State basketball game, you can bet her dance card was full!

The Mae I knew loved her family. She was the most proud when she talked about all of you. I can’t count the number of stories I heard about the Michigan crew, or what her trips to California had entailed. And she was always quick to update me on what each of the Burhans’ girls were up to. Seriously sometimes I thought I grew up with all of you!

The Mae I knew had a knack for making people feel like they belonged. She welcomed me with open arms and made absolutely sure I knew how much she "didn’t mind having me around."

I was lucky to have been friends with Mae and we are all better people for having known her. We’ll miss her but we’ll keep her memories close to our heart.

Bittersweet

Just days before celebrating our first Christmas with Asher, my grandma Mae passed away. She was 92 1/2 years old and I miss her in so many big and small ways each and every day. I was sharing with a friend how some people try to console me by saying since she was 92 it was inevitable to lose her someday, but I was just so very not prepared for it to be now and the friend said to me that it was probably harder to lose someone that old because you have so many years to create memories with them. And that's exactly how I feel. It is SO hard because we DO have so many great memories and although that makes it easier to celebrate her life, it makes it that much more difficult to say goodbye.

There are many, many lessons my grandma Mae taught me through the years and I just can't do it justice (and haven't processed through it all) to go into details here and now. Lawrence shared a great eulogy at the funeral that I hope he uploads at some point. But suffice it to say, I have a great big hole in my heart and lots of wonderful memories in my head. I was able to hold her as she took her last breath, and for that I will be eternally grateful. And I feel oh so fortunate that she was able to meet Asher and I know seeing him brought her joy in her last few months. I also feel so lucky that we were able to have some good laughs with her right up until the end, including during her last card game at our house in late October. I don't even remember what exactly got us laughing so hard, but here are a sequence of photos that Lawrence took that night. And for the record, she and Lawrence beat me and my Aunt Janet.

Happy Veterans Day

Happy Veterans Day to my dad, my stepdad, and all the other men and women who have served or are serving for our country. Thanks, Pops!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Five years ago we became Mr. & Mrs.! We've been through a lot the past five years - we've moved states (twice!), added two dogs to the mix, changed jobs (twice!), expanded our family (by welcoming my stepmom, Lawrence's birth family, two neices and a nephew, AND a baby on the way), lost some loved ones, and entered into our third decade of life. Through it all I'd say we've held up pretty well (pics below to prove it), and our relationship is all the stronger for it.

I don't know how I got so lucky, but I did. I love you, baby! Happy Anniversary!

July 3, 2005

July 3, 2010

Happy Father's Day

Lawrence and I are fortunate to have a lot of father figures in our lives in every form you can imagine (father, step-father, adopted father, birth father) and each of them bring something unique and special to our family. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, but a special shout out to my dad, Jim!

I love you, Pops!

Awkward.

Just in time for us to start thinking about how we are going to document our newly expanding family for the Christmas card this year, I've discovered this site full of ideas on what not to do for a family photo. Oh dear, I do enjoy a good laugh and this sure provided one this morning. They are even coming out with an Awkward Family Photos book just in case you can't get your fill online.

Here's just a little taste of what is definitely NOT making the cut:

Who could possibly think that these are appropriate? In good taste? And who are these photographers that talked these poor people into thinking this was a good idea?  I sure hope I hold onto one or two brain cells after having a kid just so I can make a judgement call on family photos because apparently it's a harder decision than I thought!

Growing Old.

Recently my grandma's longtime companion passed away. We called him her boyfriend, but it was so much more than that when you're 91. They spent every waking moment together, drinking coffee, playing cards, holding hands in the dark while watching football. And now that she doesn't have a companion, I'm not quite sure what will happen to her in the months to come. It reminded me that I never want to get old. And if I do get old, Lawrence better be right there beside me. It also reminded me about the lack of happy alternatives to living arrangements there are out there for old people. So this morning when I ran accross the Eden Alternative and their 10 Principles it gave me some hope. I'm not sure how much they have caught on at assisted living facilities here in central Iowa, but hopefully over the next 50 years we'll come around.

1. The three plagues of loneliness, helplessness, and boredom account for the bulk of suffering among our Elders.


2. An Elder-centered community commits to creating a human habitat where life revolves around close and continuing contact with plants, animals, and children. It is these relationships that provide the young and old alike with a pathway to a life worth living.

3. Loving companionship is the antidote to loneliness. Elders deserve easy access to human and animal companionship.

4. An Elder-centered community creates opportunity to give as well as receive care. This is the antidote to helplessness.

5. An Elder-centered community imbues daily life with variety and spontaneity by creating an environment in which unexpected and unpredictable interactions and happenings can take place. This is the antidote to boredom.

6. Meaningless activity corrodes the human spirit. The opportunity to do things that we find meaningful is essential to human health.

7. Medical treatment should be the servant of genuine human caring, never its master.
8. An Elder-centered community honors its Elders by de-emphasizing top-down bureaucratic authority, seeking instead to place the maximum possible decision-making authority into the hands of the Elders or into the hands of those closest to them.
9. Creating an Elder-centered community is a never-ending process. Human growth must never be separated from human life.
10. Wise leadership is the lifeblood of any struggle against the three plagues. For it, there can be no substitute.

Poor Loser?

So Bab's and I make an effort to spend quality time with her Grandma Mae (and BF Joe) whenever we can. The typical visit is usually on a Sunday afternoon where we go down for lunch (she calls it Dinner) to find a very tasty roast of some sort cooking away in the oven while she prepares all the fixin's to go along with the main course. Most of the time I'm responsible for making gravy from scratch (something she taught me to perfection) with a little oversight from Mae.

After cramming our belly's full of good homecooking we squeeze in some serious card playing. We play boys vs. girls as it would just be unfair for Brandy and I to team up on the "old folks"...don't tell her I said that!

Undoubtedly what ensues is an old fashioned butt kickin' by Joe and I in any of the games we play. We rule at cribbage, canasta, pitch, and most recently hand and foot. It's funny because Mae gets really upset when I win. Not when Joe wins, but when yours truly puts the smack down.

I thought it was important to capture the moment so you could all share in the fun. So see the video below. It's Mae in all her glory...whining about losing. (In full disclosure Brandy and Mae actually beat us this time...but only by 100 points or so!)

Christmas Recap!

Yes, I know that it's February. But it's still white outside (as evidenced by nearly every entry in 2010) and I'm still playing Christmas carols inside, so it's only appropriate that I share my Christmas highlights with you now. We celebrated our first Christmas in our new house this year with just a small group of family and friends, but it was nice and casual and low-key, like all great holidays should be (except for Valentine's day and Anniversaries, of course- those should have all the bells and whistles...hint, hint, hint!).

In addition to a great Christmas, we were blessed with receiving many fabulous gifts! Here's a recap of my top 5 favorite gifts:

1) AAA Membership from my dad - we've already used it three times this past month! Twice for my car and once for the discount on a car rental. As a side note, this is the best "practical" gift I think we've every gotten and although it's not very glamorous, it's fabulous to know that we have it for the next year, especially with all my trips back and forth to Denver. I think the story about me running out of gas on the interstate in the middle of nowhere Nebraska this last year helped dad to put this at the top of the list!

2) A dual controlled heating blanket from Donna and Bernardo - how did we EVER live without this? Ahhh.... just thinking about it almost makes up for the piles of snow outside of my window. Do you know how much a difference a toasty bed makes to get into every night?

3) Our annual Swarovski Christmas Ornament from Marty and Patti - this was a tradition they started our first year of marriage and it's a wonderful tradition and so much fun to open and put on our tree each year! We now have 5 beautiful crystal ornaments and they catch the twinkle lights just right on the tree!

4) A Story People sculpture from my mom - Lawrence and I have always loved Story People and I got my mom hooked on them, too. The artist is originally from Iowa and is super quirky with fun, childish drawings and random, wise sayings. The even better part? The sculpture fits perfectly in our little hallway niche that I was stressed about finding something for. And I can see it from my desk right now. It's like it was made for our little house.

5) A carton of mandarin oranges from my Aunt Janet- this was actually our first Christmas gift and it arrived in early December and what a lovely little gift of California sunshine it was. Doesn't this just look like a tasty box of happy?

Okay, I know I just said five but I'd be remiss if I also didn't mention the fabulous Smash T-shirt I got from Lawrence, the amazing printer from my dad and Sarina (it prints wirelessly AND double-sided... be still my heart!), and the generous check from my mom to go towards our basement remodel. More than any gift, we are fortunate to have so many family and friends who love us and who we are able to love and share the holidays with, both near and far. Just one more reason why I love Christmas!

PS- there are 316 days until Christmas 2010... Just in case you were wondering! Let the paper chains begin!

Happy Birthday Braxton!

Our nephew, Braxton, turns 1 on the 10th and we celebrated yesterday with cake and cookies and presents, oh my! Lawrence and I picked out the party decorations (monkeys, of course, because nothing says I'm turning one like a monkey!) and made cupcakes and cookies for the party which was at my mom's house. Here's a few of the highlights!

The birthday boy (complete with his birthday monkey shirt and hat!)

You want some cake? I have a few bites left to share...

A quick bath and costume change before the next round of birthday fun!

Wow! Another toy that makes lots of noise? Perfect!

And everyone got to take a monkey (or banana) cookie home.

 That's the true sign of a good party, wouldn't you say?!

Where was THIS option?!

Um, where was this option when we were busting our butts getting up at 5:45am to work out 6 days a week and eating no sweet stuff to speak of?!? Do you know how BAD I craved a cookie the past 9 weeks on The Challenge? Do you know what I would have given to have a bite of oatmeal raisin goodness??? And, turns out, there's a diet out there complete made of COOKIES!!! Who knew?!?

Apparently my dad did, because he's the newest addition to the Cookie Diet craze. Alright, Pops, bring it on! Let's see how you do!

Celebrating the Big [blank] - 0 !

As August quickly approaches, I was reminded that this August my kid* sister turns 20. TWENTY! How did that happen?!? (*Disclaimer: said 'kid sister' is married with child so it's not as if there wasn't writing on the wall that she was getting older. HOWEVER, I firmly believe that the lack of freshman year experiences including late night phone calls and roommate drama this past year fully disabled me from understanding that she was indeed getting closer to reaching adulthood by the day.)

Once that sunk in, then I quickly remembered that my father will be turning the big 5-0 this December (although, if you go by the card said kid sister sent him last year, 2008 was his big birthday year...). Wow! Half a century! He must feel ancient! (just kidding, pops!)

And then of course, Lawrence and I are both turning 30 next May/June. And while neither of us are the lock-yourself-up-in-your-room-til-the-day-is-over sort of people when it comes to milestone birthdays and getting older in general, it's still a big step for us. It's a whole other checkbox on most forms, it's a higher life insurance premium, it's the cuttoff for some "young people" groups.

Thirty is a big deal.

But so is 20 or 50 (!). So apparently the next 12 months hold big milestones for the Burhans clan (LC isn't a Burhans, but we'll include him with us just this once). Stock up on the candles. (Do they sell those in bulk??? All together we will need ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY! Wow, Pops really throws off the average...) Start practicing the the birthday songs. Break out the balloons and pinatas. (I've never had a pinata at my birthday before, but I feel like I would really enjoy it. Candy, hitting things, what's not to like?) It is time to celebrate!

Introducing... OUR BACKYARD!

Remember the post a few months ago about the tree limbs we had cut off??? Well, since that post all of the broken branches and limbs have taken up residence in our backyard. But thanks to Donna and Bernardo, LC's birth parents, his sister Lauren(sorry about the nails, little LC!), and our friend Scott, we finally have a backyard once again!!! The dogs don't know quite what to do with themselves!

After an on-again, off-again plan to do some yard work this weekend, the Wichita gang came up on Friday afternoon with work clothes in tow to help us out. We took advantage of the Des Moines SCRUB Day on Saturday to get rid of mulchable items for free and with Scott's arrangement of a flatbed trailer and the use of my dad's chain saw (that was a bad idea that we'll save for another post- never let a father/son team determine what branches need cutting down- it's amazing we have any tree left!!) we managed to haul THREE THOUSAND POUNDS of tree paraphernalia to the mulching place. Yes, that would be a 3 with three 0's after it. That's A LOT of wood. And leaves. And bark. And whatever else comes with 3,000 pounds of tree. PLUS, we had an additional sixteen bags of leaves and twigs to leave on the curb this morning.

We never could have done it without everyone's help! To celebrate, we got ice cream twist cones with crunch from our newfound favorite ice cream & malt shop, Snookie's.


One of the TWO loads of tree we took to the mulcher!


One of the many limbs that suffered from the manly affection of power tools that overtook Lawrence and Bernardo.


The 'finished' product, sans landscaping! Isn't it so pretty and limb-free?

Save the Ta Tas

This Mother's Day instead of fighting long lines at the brunch buffet or racing other harried grown-up children to get the last bundle of roses at the flower shop, Lawrence and I opted to go to Chicago and join up with some of our favorite people for the Walk to Empower to support Breast Cancer research. It seemed only appropriate that we spent this Mother's Day in support of our friend Brenda, who has been at times our wedding planner, our decorator, our realtor, our cheerleader, our innkeeper, our chef, our mom and always, our number one support.



Brenda was diagnosed with breast cancer in December and in late January she opted to undergo a double-mastectomy. The surgery went well and her recovery has been awesome and inspiring! Her daughter Amy planned a great pre-walk party for Saturday night and we were joined by about 20 of Brenda and Amy's friends the morning of the walk. Commentators estimated that there were over 30,000 people in downtown Chicago that morning to support this great cause and it was an honor to be surrounded by so many brave and empowering women! What a wonderful Mother's Day tradition for those that have been impacted by breast cancer.


Brenda (Barney) and her daughter, Amy



The group of Brenda & Amy's friends who walked!



Just a few of the over 30,000 estimated participants!