Come on Over!

We have a few "blog bugs" and are opening up a new one. We will be private in the next few weeks. Come visit and leave your e-mail, if you want access, at http://kateburdett.blogspot.com/. See you in a few days!

Emily's Surgery Update

Emily had sinus surgery today and did fine. We spent the day in the hospital and hopefully will see some good results for her in the coming weeks. It is a tough surgery--but she was a trooper and very brave.

The Perfect Movie List

Thanks for all the recommendations! I thought you might like to see a complete list---

13 Going on 30

Charade

Hairspray-The Musical

How to Marry a Millionaire

It's a Wonderful Life

Meet Me in St. Louis

Miss Congeniality

North Shore

Pride & Prejudice-BBC version

Rear Window

Return to Me

Room with a View

Stardust

That Thing You Do

The Incredibles

The Way We Were

Waking Ned Divine

What About Bob?

You've Got Mail

Are you inspired! I am! Let's go to Blockbuster and rent a movie!

WhatchaDonin?

While these two are off visiting everybody in Las Vegas and attending Rachelle Taylor's wedding (one of Em's best friends from high school--yep, they graduated together!)













This good guy is navigating a cross-country drive to bring Em's "college stuff" from Ogden, Utah to Mt. Vernon, Illinois














And Eliza and I are home-babysitting this guy




















working (a little) and READING a lot!
She is devouring this one:
















and I am thoroughly enjoying this one:

Missing everybody tonight. I'm feeling a little lonley and homesick. Anybody have any other book recommendations out there? (most of all-- I'm missing him!)

Celebrating 21!

James and I celebrated 21 years of marriage on Friday July 18, 2008. How grateful I am to have him with me everyday. He is a wonderful man and my best friend. (Thanks Lizzy for the picture!)
We had dinner and a movie date to celebrate and James in his most kind and gallant way went to see Mama Mia! with me and delayed his Batman experience for a few days. We saw Mama Mia! (the play) in Las Vegas and loved it --and I'm a big ABBA fan-- so I was so excited to go. I wanted it to be GREAT and while it had great moments, I have to say it was just good. Sorry to be a downer--but I get frustrated with the need to use "movie stars" in Broadway roles. Meryl Streep did a good job, Collin Firth was adorable, Julie Walters was DYNAMITE but Pierce Brosanan?????? Why??? Arrogant, obnoxious and a really, really bad singer. WHY??? Anyway ---we started talking about PERFECT movies---movies that are great stories, perfectly cast, classics and came up with a pretty great list. So here are James and Katie's combined list of PERFECT movies--

REAR WINDOW--Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly--Do we need to say more? A young Raymond Burr as the bad guy--awesome
CHARADE--Audrey Hepburn--amazing! and Cary Grant--so darling and debonair! Great plot, great twists, great cast
RETURN TO ME--A newer movie, but seriously my favorite movie! Bonnie Hunt and David Duchovny are fabulous, Jim Belushi is hilarious, Minnie Driver is so believable and the old guys are so GREAT!
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS-Our favorite Judy Garland movie and James' favorite movie ever! We love Grandpa and Tootie and St. Louis!
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE-The BBC version with Jennifer Ehle and Collin Firth. Lots of good versions of this book and movie--but this is the best. I think I have it memorized!

So now it is your turn--what are your PERFECT movies? We would love to know!

Virginia EFY

Mollie went to EFY this year at Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista, Virginia. SVU is a liberal arts college that is run by members of the LDS church. It is a beautiful campus with great colonial red brick buildings. We drove her there on a fun road trip with Brad, Liz and Sadie Harris. Sadie and Mollie were roommates and met lots of great teenagers during their time there. I'm so glad they got to go!

Missing Fish Lake and Family

Fish Lake Memories

So many fun, happy memories Feeling a little homesick today--Hope everybody has a fun time at the cabin this weekend! It has been too long since we've all been together. Love and miss you all! Take pictures and SHARE!

Welcome Summer! (Finally)

Been waiting and waiting for some sunshine and flowers---look what we finallllly found!

(Note about flooding--the Mississippi is definetly HIGH and spilling over its banks in several locations within about an hour of us--all the creeks, rivers and lakes are FULL, but so far the closest flooding is about 40 miles away and no serious damage done--they are sandbagging in parts of St. Louis, but thankfully Southern Illinois is being spared)

Champs!

How cute are these two! Congrats on a winning season! Can't wait 'til the next one!

Happy Birthday Kelly & Bill

Two pretty fabulous people--made this great little family! Some of my favorites! Hope you guys had a nice weekend celebrating! Happy Birthdays!

(Not so ordinary or everyday) Miracles

I have been on edge for days--sorry to those I've snapped at--I don't like close calls and I know I should just be grateful and count my blessings--I am getting there--fear is often displayed in ugly ways--but I am so appreciative of miracles in my life.

1. So glad this kiddo is walking around and safe. Emily

had a bad car accident Tuesday and "Tammy" her jeep

was totaled and had to go the the grand Santa Quin

salvage yard. But despite a few bumps & bruises and

a cut on her face--she is fine! Can't wait to put my arms

around her on Monday. Her Dad is with her

--gratefully all is well.

2. Two new babies in our family--I love my nieces and nephews! Say hello to Lucy Grayce and Spencer Daniel Hopkin born Wednesday, May 21, 2008. Happy birthday and welcome to the world little ones!

Congratulations Mary Kaye, Dan, Taylor, Audrey and Whitney!

3. Last but never least--I'm grateful for this guy. He makes me smile when everything else makes me want to cry. He is patient beyond measure and the kindest fella on the planet. Don't know why I deserve him, but I know I am a lucky girl!

Goals

Found this quote and thought it was quite profound--been thinking alot about goals and what happens next for me--I feel like a new chapter has begun in my life, but I have no idea where the book is headed, what the plot is and what the heroine (hopefully Me!) is supposed to accomplish this time around---Hmmm---
"I am thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the technique of living to reach our goals, we can reach ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When you learn to master the principle of setting a goal, you will then be able to make a great difference in the results you attain in this life." M. Russell Ballard

A little scrappy fun!

I thought I might share a few of the pages and projects I have been working on recently. It is still cold here--we have had TWO days over 70 so far--and I am more than ready for some warm weather and sunshine. But when life gives you lots of lemons ( or cloudy days!) you have to make your own lemonade--and scrapbooking usually makes me smile! So thanks for indulging me! (maybe you'll see a face or two you love).......Katie

April Fools Day Craziness! Mollie and Eliza made a wild dinner of fruit sushi (dessert), mice (boiled eggs with ears), hotdogs (pb &j) and MUD pie! Good memory!

Andy and Jillian's forever wedding! A very happy day!

What we were doing on December 1, 2007--making our new house feel like home--putting up the Christmas tree!

And these perpetual calendars--I've made a bunch of these for gifts and stuff. This was kind of fun. I'm going to work on taking pictures in better light and maybe share a few more in the future! Happy Tuesday--Katie (Emily will be home in 11 days--Yeah!)

When it rains it POURS!

Our thoughts are with our little Em this week--It's finals week, she is trying to pack to move and her car broke down. Thanks to the fabulous invention of cellphones, Saturday service at Midas and Grandpa John & Grandma Jane and Paul Binks being available to help the radiator was repaired and things were much better by the end of the day. We hate having her so far away--but are grateful for those who were available to help. Last week of the semester is always a stressful one--and we all know that when it rains, it POURS! Good luck Emily! Love you--

Earthquake Update

From the national news, it sounds like the Midwest fell into a deep fault line never to be found again---but WE ARE ALL ALIVE AND WELL! There was an earthquake on Friday, April 18, 2008 at 4:36 a.m. in a small town about 20 miles from us called New Salem, Illinois. It measured 5.2 on the Richter scale but there were no major injuries and no deaths. Mollie and I were on her choir trip in Chicago and didn't feel a thing--but woke up to the Today Show warning us that Southern Illinois might not exist as we knew it! James and Max were awakened by the rumbling--(Max barked twice, then promplty hid!) and James went to check on Eliza who slept right through it. We had to adjust two pictures on the wall and the power flickered during one of the aftershocks--but that was the extent of it. This porch roof was the worst damage we saw. Everyone is fine and we do appreciate all the concern!

Eliza and the cousins!

Eliza and I had a great visit to Las Vegas this last week to meet Baby Owen and see all of our family and friends there. We had a wonderful time! Eliza spent a lot of time with all her Las Vegas buddies and with her cousins, I got to spend time getting to know my new little nephew and seeing Mom & Dad's new home in Mesquite and Emily came down to see us over the weekend. The weather was gorgeous and we enjoyed our selves very much. Thanks everyone for the hospitality and the love!

This weekend my darling, smart, sweet and very handsome nephew, Mitchell, turned 12! What a milestone! So proud of you and your accomplishments! Hope you had a wonderful day! These are some of my favorite pictures of Mitch---Enjoy! We love you very much---Katie, James, Emily, Mollie & Eliza

Happy Easter!

LOVE, MAX (and the rest of the Burdetts!)

Welcome Baby Owen!

Just wanted to make a public announcement for anyone who hasn't heard--Jamie and Brett have a new baby boy! Yeah! We are so happy for them--such a great little family. Congratulations and we can't wait to officially meet him!

Move over Keri Walsh!

We have all been volleyball fans around here for a while--so Eliza's new sport is making us HAPPY! She is playing volleyball for the first time and really doing great! Her volleyball team won their match in two games this morning and beat the undefeated team!!!! Woo Hoo! You know I was noisy!! They are definetely the most improved team in the league. I am loving the volleyball--It is fun and fast! She is an awsome defensive player and her serve gets better every game----Here's the proof!

Her indoor soccer team is really tearing things up

too. We love our sporty girl!