Thank You, Lord

For some reason today's reading during mass reminded me of this prayer.  It's one of my favorites and was given to me by my grandma--I can't even remember how long ago now...a long time though!  Just thought I would share! =)

Thank You, Lord 

Thank You, Lord, that I can see...so many people are blind. 

Thank You that I can hear...so many people are deaf. 

Thank You that I have arms and legs...so many people are crippled or lame. 

Thank You that I can run and play...so many people are sick. 

Thank You that I had enough to eat today...so many thousands starve. 

Thank You that I had a bed to sleep in and roof over my head...so many have nothing. 

Thank You that the door of our Church is open...so many are nailed and barred. 

For all these things, and for all Your other blessings, never let me forget to say "Thank you!"

And if it should be Your will that I should lose some of them...or most of them...or all of them...give me the grace to say "Your will be done!" 

And never let me forget that anyone blind or deaf...

anyone crippled or lame...anyone cold and hungry...anyone needing a home...is not just anyone...but is really You in disguise. 

Amen.

25 weeks & counting! =)

So we're at 25 weeks (a little over 6 months!) YAY! Our baby is getting bigger and bigger every day. I don't think there is any more hiding I am pregnant...the bump is really there now. =) Now, daily I can feel Little B kick and it's just the most amazing thing I've ever experienced. Sometimes when it happens at work, I just have to stop what I'm doing because I'm so happy. It just puts a huge smile on your face! And, I'm so glad that Brian has been able to experience Little B's powerful kicks as well! We've also started reading to Little B nightly. I love it. It's easily become the best part of my day. It's our special family time, when we just get to sit on the couch, hangout and read to our little one.

Our Kansas Trip!

We had such a great trip back up to Kansas the other week! This has become an annual road trip-- we go to Great Bend to catch one of B's brother's high school football games and then make the trip to Manhattan for our once a year K-State game! GO WILDCATS!!  

It's always a whirlwind (and lots of driving), but totally worth every minute of it.  And this year, my baby sister had just turned 21 so we got to help (and watch- omg!) her 21 shots. By the way, to all my g-phi girls- their shot books are so fancy now! Ours look ancient! lol!  I made a page in Tay's book and was so nervous mine was going to stick out like a sore thumb! haha!  

And on top of that my family, including my aunt, uncle and two cousins AND Brian's family made it up for the KSU game. It was so much fun! All our favorite people in one place! B's little brother Louis is now up at K-State (and a Lambda Chi of course, could there be any other way!?). It's so much fun!  Him and Taylor actually have one class together and have gotten to know each other pretty well.  We just love it that they are both up there now!   

So Friday we made the long hall to Ulysses to watch the Great Bend Panthers kick some butt!  B's two little brothers Chris and Greg are just so talented.  And if you didn't notice (well I didn't really get a good picture, I have to admit!) the entire football team has mohawks! Too funny!      

Chris Burley #26 (stud!)

Here we go.....

Greg Burley #24 (You can sort of see the mohawk!?!)

Some serious spectators! =)

Team Victory!! YAY!

Then we got to enjoy some good ‘ole tailgating up in Manhattan!   And watch an awesome game.  

Us with our fams!

Burley crew =)

How cute are these boys!?!

Me & my sis..I miss her!

I was so lucky! Heather made the trip to Manhattan too!! 

My wonderful family! I beg them to move to Texas all the time. =(

What a view!

Then a night on the town with Tay!  She was being SO funny!  We actually left at around shot 12 or 13. My mom was having a hard time with it all, so we thought it might be time to go! Oh Moms!  Taylor survived and now I just can’t wait until next year when I can have my first “legal” drink with by baby sister! =) 

Cousin love right here =)

BIRTHDAY GIRL!!! (still can't believe she's 21!)

19 weeks and counting!

I'm a little behind...but here is a picture from a couple weeks ago! (19 weeks)  This was the week I came home and told Brian it's official- I think I'm showing! A stranger came up to me at the grocery store this week and asked if I knew if we were having a boy or girl! 

This week Little B is about the size of a heirloom tomato.  We got to see LB this week and boy was our baby active! It's amazing what they can show you now days too. We got to see our baby in 3D.  It was so cool!  Our doctor made sure not to show us down there if you know what I mean.  But he was really funny, he kept saying to us "are you sure you don't want to know?", "You want to know right!?" haha! I was like Dr. Rinehart you have to stop asking us! We're going to change our mind if you keep this up! lol! 

Our appointment went great though and everything with me and Little B looked right on track. =)  We were the happiest people in the world!   We even went to our favorite juice bar to celebrate! Funny how things change....happy hour at Whole Foods now-a-days...who would have thought! 

 

THIRTY already? Can this really be!!?!

So, Brian turned the big 3-0 in April and my b-day is inching closer and closer (eeeeeek!).  After thinking about what we wanted to do for our big birthdays we both decided a fun trip would be the best way to celebrate!  And after much discussion we landed on Lake Tahoe for our get-a-way vacation. =)  We both had never been and had heard wonderful things about it.  We decided to fly into San Francisco and then drive to the lake which ended up being a blast!  Brian’s been so busy lately that having it just be the two of us without any distractions was awesome. We had some much needed quality time and just got to hangout and have fun together.  Plus, now that we’ll be welcoming a new addition to the family in December we thought this could be our little baby moon trip as well. =)  Why not kill two birds with one stone, right!? Haha! (Brian liked this idea!)

Our trip started out not exactly as planned. =( We had some major delays, and instead of getting in to San Fran at 11am we got there at 3:30. Boo!  Our original plan was to spend the day in Napa, so we had to alter that a bit, but were excited we made it to at least one winery and got to drive around the adorable town.  We definitely want to go back! Especially when I can partake in the wine tasting as well! ;)  Anyone up for a couple’s trip!?! (Please say yes!)

Day 1: 

Got our rental, took a quick stroll through San Fran and headed to Napa Valley. So beautiful!  Everywhere you looked on our drive seemed fake it was that pretty!   

Got to see the Golden Gate on our way out of town!

Here we come!

Day 2:
Lake Tahoe here we are!  We loved our resort and no one was lying….Lake Tahoe is one of the most beautiful places B and I have ever been!  We kept saying we sounded like a broken record because everywhere we turned we were saying, “wow, this is so beautiful, wow this is so beautiful…..” 

Day 2 we went hiking.  And we learned right away that Lake Tahoe has BEARS! That’s right real bears, our resort warned us about leaving food in our cars and then the bear warnings continued! I was so scared to go on our hike at first!  I also learned this trip that B is WAY more adventurous than me!  He kept wanting to go off the path and climb on these rocks that looked way way too scary…crazy person!  Doesn’t he know I’m a worrier? 

See I wasn't being a drama queen!

Look how clear that water is..so crazy.

What we saw at the top of our hike...so amazing this hidden lake on top of the mountain.

16 week preggo pic!

Day 3:
Day 3 we started the morning by renting bikes and going on a trail that ran by the river which lead to Lake Tahoe.  It was really fun, but man, was I sore afterwards!  That along with the hiking really did me in. =)  

That afternoon it was kinda cloudy, so we decided to take a boat cruise to see the whole lake and to actually get on the water. And I know we’re ridiculous about Coop (we can totally admit it!), but we were missing him so just had to buy him a little souvenir.=)  We looked for a stuffed bear to go with the Tahoe theme…but ended up with a moose! Which he loves and it’s actually his new favorite toy! Score!  

Then, that night we had a nice dinner that overlooked the lake to celebrate the reason for our trip!  It was really pretty to watch the sunset over the water (sorry sort of missed that photo opt!)   

Dinner at Sunnyside

Day 4:We got up at the crack of dawn to go fishing. I am not even joking! We had to be on the boat at 4:30AM! Yes, AM!  That is how much I love my husband!  Ole, Mac showed us the ropes, and even made me kiss a minnow for good luck!  So gross! I was only 1 of 2 girls so of course he picked on us!  But, sadly we didn’t catch anything and we were on the charter for 6 hours!  So I ended up kissing a minnow for nothing after all.  Dang it. Brian was pretty bummed, but we at least went out and tried!  

Ole Mac himself

Patient Brian =)

Sad face! No fish to come home with =(

So needless to say that afternoon we were pooped. So a beach day it was! It was nice to just relax and catch some sun!

Day 5 & 6: 

We made our way back to San Francisco and bummed around the city for 2 days before making our way back to the big D.

Does this not look like a car going to San Fran!?!

We took the bus tour, which was a great way to see the city!  The Golden Gate Bridge was so cool.  They were celebrating the 75^th anniversary of the bridge, so that was neat.  We went to the famous Lombard Street too.  The world’s crookedest street! It was so crazy.  AND of course we had to ride a trolley! It was like a roller coaster with all those crazy hills! We checked out Fishman’s Wharf and had to get some fresh crab! Yummy!! And then we just walked around a bit on the piers.  We checked out Chinatown….which was huge! We were joking that we actually could never get out of Chinatown..haha!  Might have just been us tho!  We stayed in Union Square, which has tons of good shopping too! So since I went fishing with B in Tahoe he was pretty quiet when we spent one afternoon checking out the amazing shops!! Hey, a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do! =) 

Lombard Street

SO WINDY!!!

Our time in San Francisco was really short, but we had a blast and it was fun seeing as much of the city as we did.  The California mentality was so funny….we heard a lot of “right ons” and “thanks bro”- haha! Everyone was so friendly though.  I was SO SORE when we got home!  All those hills are crazy! And to think women are wearing heels and people are running through the city!  I could barely walk up some of those suckers, let alone run.  Needless to say, I felt pretty dang out of shape once we returned home. So sad!    But all in all, we had a great time! Definitely want to go back again!!  And we would definitely definitely recommend Lake Tahoe.  Some great memories for our 30^th b-day celebrations and it was so fun just being able to hang out with my best friend.  I had missed him!    

View from our room in Tahoe