So Much Blogging, So Little Time!

Wow!  It has been a while since I've sat down to do this.  There has been a lot going on since August.  I guess a lot has happened here and around the world.. I'll assume you watch the new, so I won't bore you with headlines. I'll just bore you with the goings on around the Burks' household. :-)

August
Camping and hiking near Antonito, CO again this year.  No "Death Hike" though.  It was great fun, We camped at the opening of a very small cave.  Probably really can't even be called a cave, but it did provide adequate shelter from the rain.  We took the dog with us too.  He even had his own pack.  Mainly because I was not going to pack in enough food to feed a 100 pound dog for 4 days.

Drew and his pack (backpack)

Part of the Rio Grande-Antonito River

4th grade officially began and so did Tab's Junior year at AC.  She's pretty excited about it with all that is going on.  She applied for a job in the publishing department and got it and she was also made RA of her dorm.  Along with all that is going on in Jerusalem, it is making for an exciting year.

September
Other than our usual busy time with Holy Days and heading off to the Feast, not much went on.  That may be due to everyone we know it seems, including us, being in quarantine for whooping cough.  We did hit Oktoberfest in Choctaw and that was about it.  Oh, and Elijah began taking Hebrew lessons.

October
Elijah turned 10 on the 14th.  He is no longer a single.  Well, a single digit at least.

This was also when we actually went to the Feast.  Where did we go?  Tobago of course.  Our 5th time for those of you who are counting. For a little bit of a change this year we spent one night in Trinidad and were introduced to Doubles.  Mmm, Mmm, good!

Englishman's Bay, Tobago-from the beach

Englishman's Bay, Tobago-from the water

When we got home we began converting Tabitha's room and the office/classroom into an apartment.  It has turned out really cute.  Full kitchen and bath and a single living/sleeping space.  Just perfect for one person.

November
Tabitha turned 21 on the 5th, on the 6th she got her braces mostly off.  On the 30th the rest came off.

We went to Elk City to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  We also had family pictures made.  We have not had professional portraits of our family (the 4 of us) since before, way before, Elijah was born.  My parents and my sibling have not had them done since about 2 weeks before I got married.  that was 1989.  My 15 year-old niece was 2 the last time they had a family picture and that was with us and my brother.  I think it was time.  We will have grand kids before it happens again.  And I am not rushing that!!

Mi familia

December
Not too much going on during the first part of the month.  We did take a spur of the moment snowboarding trip.  It was just for a couple of days, but lots of fun anyway.  We wanted to make sure we got one final trip in just in case the world ended.  That was a little anticlimactic! Towards the end of the month we had several friends from around the country and world (well western hemisphere at least) here for a fun dinner one evening.  Perhaps the biggest two events this month, in order of occurrence, were Elijah falling out of the tree house and Tabitha being baptized.  Really excited about one of them at least.  still waiting to see if the other will need surgery.

Hopefully the first and only time this will happen to him

P.E.

"Physical fitness is not only one of the most keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity."-JFK

Jamming' With the Sophomores

For the past few years I have demonstrated how to make jams and jellies for the AC sophomore Home EC class. It is always a blast! I have had as many as 11 girls in my kitchen. This year it was just 4 in the Home EC trailer.

We have made a few tried and true jams and some new combinations. Today we made strawberry-peach and kiwi. The girls like to give them as gifts and these turned out looking very nice. The strawberry-peach tasted great! We didn't have any kiwi to taste test though I think there will be some very happy AC guys!

In two weeks we'll make some marshmallows. That's always fun too

Looking Forward to the Summer

With tomorrow being our last day of golf for the spring session, I realized that I  hadn't gotten Elijah signed up for the summer session.  Then I began to think about what we would be doing and wondered if we would even have time for it.

First of all, life is going on.  Just the everyday activities are expanded in the summer.  There is the extra added work of a garden and lawn care.  The fruits of the garden (and hopefully there will be many this year) will have to be preserved in one form or another.  This usually takes a great deal of time.   School work does ease up a bit, but since we school year round, it never really stops.  There will be summer reading programs, more field trips, and maybe an extra class or two.  Doesn't sound much like a slowdown does it?  We are cutting baseball but may add swimming.  Not just the regular swim lessons, but we may look for an actual team as well.  I think Elijah may be built for it, long and lean.
Next we are looking forward to our new tradition of heading off to the mountains to camp.  We had such a great time last year when we went.  I expect to be in much better shape this year as well, so it should be more fun.  I don't think we will be able to get in two trips again, but we are thinking that hitting Angel Fire and their new zip line will be a great addition to our trip!

Then there is PYC.  I don't have a camper going and haven't for a few years.  What I have done for the last several years is laundry.  That may not sound all that exciting, but it is always a nice time with the ladies and since most of us seem to have little boys, I think they have a lot of fun too.  This year there may be a shortage of regular camp workers because there are many (at least we are hoping) heading off to Jerusalem.  So, I applied to be a regular camp worker.  I am still waiting to hear about that.  If accepted, that will make things a bit busier.  At least Elijah is old enough to help Jeff out and go with him if necessary.  Depending on where I would be needed, he may also be able to come with me.  If I end up with laundry again, he'll just go with me as usual.

Then at some point during the summer there is the trip to Elk City to see my mom.   I would also love to head down to Possum Kingdom where my family spent a several cummer trips.  I haven't been there in years and would love to go camping and fishing down there.  Maybe even get is some time with my cousins who still live in the area.

In spite of the busyness (spell check says it is correct at least) of summer, I think we can work in First Tee and only miss one lesson.  They don't begin until June 13th, and since May seems to be busiest on Sundays with Mother's Day, a wedding, Tabitha's graduation, our anniversary and a holy day.  Oh, and NBA playoffs and Memorial Day.  Now, how many would he miss in the fall session?

Pomegranate Deseeder

It really worked. It may be better than the mango splitter. Why can’t I think these things up?  And yes, I had pomegranates still in the fridge.  They are waaaay out of season right now, but they keep surprsingly well.  I am making grenadine as we speak.

Land Run Fun!

Yesterday was the 123rd anniversary of the very first Oklahoma Land Run.  We spent the day celebrating with the students of Imperial Academy.  In13  the years that I spent in Oklahoma public schools and the 4 that Tabitha spent in them, we had never done this.  It was a lot of fun.  Here is a brief history of  what the land runs were all about.

Then

Now

"April 22 was Oklahoma Day! Previously known as 89ers Day or Land Run Day, it marks the date in 1889 when the Oklahoma Territory opened for settlement. For those who didn't grow up in Oklahoma, Boomers were those souls who waited until the BOOM of the cannon at high noon to set off and stake their homestead. Sooners didn't see a reason to wait and chance losing the prime lands, so they hid out and staked their property a little SOONER than legal." (Yes, the University of Oklahoma has named their sporting teams for a bunch of cheaters.  That's my own bit of info there.)

"There were actually seven land runs in Oklahoma. April 22, 1889, the first land run began at high noon and involved the settlement of the Unassigned Lands. In September 1891 there were three land runs to settle Iowa, Sac and Fox, Pottawatomie, and Shawnee lands; County B, later renamed as Pottawatomie County; and County A, later renamed as Lincoln County. On April 19, 1892, a run settled the Cheyenne and Arapaho lands. On Sept. 16, 1893 the largest land run in U.S. history opened nearly 7,000,000 acres of land purchased from the Cherokees for $7,000,000. The final land run was held May 23, 1895 to settle the Kickapoo lands." -events.oucpm.org  (Part of the deal with the runs was that you had to make improvements in the land that you were given.  You had a certain length of time in which to do it.  If you did then the land was yours free and clear.)


After they all staked their claims, we were treated to live music and a great potluck.  Then the kids could put up their tents if they brought them. The main stakes Elijah had for his were too blunt to go into the ground, so we made a tent today as part of our history lesson. He is planning on sleeping in it.  We'll see how that goes. 

They also has games and activities for everyone to enjoy including stilts, wagon races, and bread making

Tractor ride bandit

Tabitha

He's not very happy.  He jumped off of his bike and the handle bar jammed into his ribs.

.

Sharing with his friend.

2012 Snowboarding

Finally have a moment to breathe since our trip. We normally just head to Sipapu. This time they only had a room available for part of the time we had set aside, so we went to Angel Fire for a day.

Angel Fire is a nice resort. This was our first time there and we enjoyed it. It is much longer than Sipapu. I only made one run. It's all my poor legs could take.

No one broke anything and everyone managed to stay conscious. This made a good trip even better! Here are a few pics from our day in Angel Fire.

Not sure about this pic.  I think I was trying to get video.  Elijah learned to go from heel to toe this year!  That just leaves me to learn it.

The view from Summit cafe at Angel Fire

Taos Ski Valley in the background

Finally made it down.

We decided to take the long way home this time.  It actually wasn't any longer or any slower but it was a nice change of scenery.  A portion of one of the highways we took was actually a one lane dirt road.  Yes, it was actually a highway.  NM 120 to be exact.  Then we came to the Canadian River.  Here is Oklahoma it is a wide and shallow river for the most part with sandy banks.  Not in this part of New Mexico.  It has created a canyon.  It was a pretty interesting site and we got a few pictures there.  After that it was just varying landscapes that we had not seen before.  We stopped at Ute Lake briefly.  We may camp there for a night this summer.  We followed the rain most of the way home.  We finally caught up to it about Weatherford.  Lovely rainbow greeted us there.

Good bye Angel Fire

Some fatted calves

the road (highway) less traveled

Canadian River Canyon

Again

One end of the rainbow...

...and the other.

Jeff and Elijah in the canyon.  No, really.