Another Girl!

Here she is! We are very excited to have another girl. It will be fun to see what her looks and personality turn out to be. Luckily I have everything I need so preparation will be easy. The hard part will be getting Burke and I to agree on a name!

Joint STARS

Congratulations Burke!!

I am excited to report that Burke is moving to the final rotation of his Program Management internship at Hanscom Air Force Base. We have been anxiously awaiting news of where he will be working and learned that he is joining the Joint STARS program. Even better is the news that this will be his permanent position come October when he receives his final promotion. He is honored to be working with the Hanscom AFB program manager of the year and will be replacing her when she leaves the program in the fall for a promotion!! I want to give you some more background on Joint STARS so you can understand what a tremendous opportunity this is for Burke and just how much it says about his performance in the program thus far. (He would be shamed to know how much I brag about him)

Here is an overview from the Air Force of Joint STARS. If you paid attention to the news during the invasion of Iraq Joint STARS is a term that might sound familiar.

"The Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) is a long-range, air-to-ground surveillance system designed to locate, classify and track ground targets in all weather conditions. While flying in friendly airspace, the joint Army-Air Force program can look deep behind hostile borders to detect and track ground movements in both forward and rear areas. It has a range of more than 150 miles (250 km). These capabilities make Joint STARS effective for dealing with any contingency, whether actual or impending military aggression, international treaty verification, or border violation. "

This program is a huge step up from the program he has now. We are so proud of Burke and how far he has come in the two and half years we have been here. Wish him luck... he is a little nervous as he has some big shoes to fill. I KNOW he will be wonderful.

Easter Celebration

We had such a fun Easter this year. We took lots of pictures. To see all of them you can watch the little slide show. Here are the highlights of our Easter Celebration.

Saturday Morning Egg Coloring
Both Burke and I let Jennah pick out an egg coloring kit at different times. Jennah was so excited about each kit that we ended up making all the colors. Two pink....two green....two blue...the girls had lots of fun.

Easter Baskets

The girls have been sleeping late since the time change (yeah!!!) and I had to be to church early for choir so we had the Easter Bunny come after church. The girls put the eggs out before we left.

Before the Easter Bunny


After the Easter Bunny


Thanks to Grandma and Papa
for the fun presents

Easter Egg Hunt

The Easter bunny did a good job of hiding all the eggs while we were at church. Jennah found all of them, I hope. ( I can't remember if we colored 16 or 17 eggs? I guess I will find out in about a week yuck).

The triumphant egg hunter

Sweet Susanna


Me and my "happy" girls

Easter Dinner

We invited the Sister Missionaries and my seminary students to come to Easter Dinner. We had a lovely time and Jennah even helped! After dinner Jennah and I told the Easter Story. She is at the perfect age to start learning about the story of Jesus. When we asked her if Easter is about candy and the easter bunny she said "No. It is about Jesus" I hope our little "flannel board" story helped her learn why. The Sister Missionaries enjoyed our presentation and left us with a wonderful message as well. We feel truly blessed to have the knowledge that our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ lives. His atoning sacrifice and resurrection make it possible for me to be with my little family, whom I love so much , for eternity. For this I am truly grateful. Happy Easter!!!

Bryanna and Jennah making deviled eggs

What is Easter about?


The Easter Story

Celebrating Purim

Last week our seminary classes in Gardner studied the book of Esther. One of my new convert friends in the ward is half Jewish. She was very excited about our class' study since Purim -the Jewish feast celebrating the heroics of Esther in reversing the death sentence on the Jews- was that same week. So with her help the Gardner seminary classes held our own Purim Feast. Purim is a masquerade party, symbolizing the fact that Esther's lineage and true mission was hid from herself and from others until just the right time. We made our masks, had pizza and brownies and learned several Jewish circle dances. To wrap up the evening we shared the wonderful video presentation made by the church of the story of Esther. We took of our masks as a symbol of our willingness to serve the lords mission here on earth. I made a fridge magnet for each of them with the meaningful scripture from Esther 4:14 on it "Who knoweth if thou comest to the kingdom for such a time as this? " It was a great evening. Thanks to Bethany and the other seminary teachers for their help. I hope you enjoy a few pictures from our celebration.

The Gardner Ward Seminary


Making Purim Masks

Bethany and her Daughter

Adam's Hawk Mask

Jewish Circle Dancing

Mothers Group Easter Party

I am a member of the mothers group at the Gardner Ward. We have lots of fun getting together but most of all we like to host PARTIES!!! I helped with the Easter Egg Hunt and it was a huge success. We had cute decorations, lots of food, games, and an easter egg hunt. We had roughly 30 kids and moms. To top it all off the Easter Bunny even came and gave the kids presents. Jennah and Susanna had a blast. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

My cute bulliten board

Jennah made the cute littlle eggs

The Hunt

Jennah found one

Susanna gathering eggs

The Easter Bunny!!

Jennah and the Easter Bunny