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Originally uploaded by Jason & Laura

In Branson, visiting the Butterfly Palace, Laura gets a butterfly on her face.

Thank You

For those of you who read this and understand what I am talking about, I just want to say "Thank you." Anonymously receiving blessings makes it hard to say thank you face to face, but it reminds Jason and me of how blessed we are with SO MANY Friends whom we consider to be family. There is NO WAY for us to ever communicate to you how much your blessing us means to us. And there is no way we could ever explain how we are in awe of how God NEVER ceases to use you in ways that bless others.

I keep trying to write more to find new ways to express our gratitude and love for you and especially our love for our Heavenly Father, but it keeps getting deleted.

I think I will Leave you with this: Dear Lord, I just want to thank you for giving Jason and me so many wonderful, loving, thoughtful, and selfless friends. We hardly consider ourselves worthy of receiving blessings of this magnitude, but Lord you know what we need and you know how to use your children. Thank you for speaking to our friends and I pray that you will bless them ten-fold for their kindness. Lord, I ask that when one of them is in need that you will prompt our hearts to do something for them. For God we know that you are the giver of all good things and we would have nothing without you. God I pray that you will help keep us all safe at this busy time and will continue to bless those who sacrificed to help us out. Lord, we love you and cannot wait to see you and your son again.
Amen.

Merry Christmas to you all, and God bless.

Love, Jason, Laura, Bonnie, Elena, and Clara

Halloween

I know, its November and a lot has happened since Halloween but I wanted to get these pics out to show that we actually got out of the house and had a great time! We went to "Halloween in the Park" here in FB (the church had a booth we helped work w our small group)and Bonnie took pics, Elena ran around with her friends and Clara played in a "cage" with a monkey........What?!?!

(Eagan Brown)

Queen Elena












Just for fun!

Gap Casting Call... Please Vote!

So I decided to enter Elena and Clara in the Gap casting call. They were just entered last Wednesday and in order to catch up with some of the "fan favorites" by Nov. 17, we have to get the word out and start the voting (they are behind some 36,000). I KNOW that is a huge Gap but I would be ashamed of myself if I entered and then told no one. So-"Here Ye, Here Ye, please go to http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/JLburnett02/ and you will see the entries for both girls. You may have to register to vote, but it is free and easy. You can vote once a day until November 17 so PLEASE vote and pass the word along.Clara's is at the bottom in a purple onesie(we entered that one before the others of her), and Elena is right above her. (We added another pic of Clara bc we didn't think the first picture got approved. Then when we added the second pic of Clara, we didn't think it saved and thus there are two of the same picture). See the pics below...





Anyway, we love our girls and were looking for an opportunity to do something different. We hope you can take out some time to help fill in the gap...

Thank You for your vote!

Busy, Busy Week

This past weekend was a lot of fun. First of all Jason's parents came out for a visit and we all got to hang out with them. We went to the Texas State Fair, enjoyed some yummy, yummy (fried) food and sat through the AMAZING Mary Poppins. If you know my family at all, you know how much we love, love musicals. This show was so great! The sets, costumes, and actors. All of it! It was so good!!!! Then on Sunday we had baby dedication at the church. Of course we left home without the camera, but we got the video camera! So, I just have to bribe our sweet Brewer and Crandall friends to let us get a CD of that sweet day (I can get you the CD).
Then, on Wednesday, we decided to try Clara on rice cereal. She absolutely LOVED it! We got a lot of pictures and video of that experience. She kept reaching for the spoon and at first tried to eat the bib so we had to take the bib away. The food was so runny it kept falling down her face but she did really well! She absolutely loves Bonnie and Elena can make her laugh more than any of us! Here are some pics of our fun week.





































The picture is blurry but I still think its cute...

Clara-Jean, our little champ!

So today was Clara's 4 month check up and she had to get 5 shots! She cried big tears when they first poked her...but before that she was grinning from ear to ear and was talking a lot to Noel (the head nurse)and Dereck (The Med student following Dr. Seidel around). It was so sweet! She just sat on my lap in her diaper, chatting it up out of no where! Then I had to lay her on the table/bed/whatever it is called. When they finished with her they handed her to me and she just kinda whimpered a little (which pulled on my heart strings) and then she stopped crying completely! We put her clothes back on and she was back to being all smiles!

She is asleep in our bed right now but when she wakes up she will probably need a little bit of Tylenol. We are so proud of her! Each day we are amazed at how much she is changing. There are things that I notice that I never blog about because I don't think you all want to hear about every tiny thing she does. But, I am feeling kind of in the mood right now to brag on her since before I know it she will be walking around and these sweet things will be a thing of the past.

So, here area few of the things she has done:
-Last Tuesday I was babysitting for a friend and Clara decided to roll from her tummy to her back 5 times in a row! Of course I did not have a video camera but I got it on my phone camera and now I can't get it off. It was very cool to see.

-After we got back from our trip to NM (in August) I put a toy on the car seat (courtesy of our good friends David and Kaylane) that sings the "Pop Goes the Weasel" song EVERY TIME the button gets pushed, and Clara's eyes lit up! She got a huge smile on her face and in a matter of two days her hands went from reaching outward (trying to grab the toys) to getting her arms and hands in front of her face to reach the toys. She LOVES her "little friend" and now can drag it to her mouth every time she is in the seat.

-She got an activity mat and loves to lay on her back and play with the toys hanging above her head. Sometimes she yells at her hanging toys because they wont get or stay in her mouth. : )

-She loves standing on our legs on her tippy toes (literally), loves sitting in her bumbo on the table while we eat

-makes lots of funny faces (while the camera is not around)

-She smiles at Bonnie, Elena, Mommy and Daddy all the time!

This morning while I was waiting for Elena to finish getting dressed for school, Clara woke up. I fed her and then took her to rest with me on my bed. It was a precious moment that I hope I can recall for the rest of my life. She was laying on her left side on top of my right arm. We were staring into each others eyes and I was singing to her. Her eyes were big and bright looking at me, she smiled every time I sang, and her right hand just played with my left hand exploring the whole time. I know this may not sound too precious, but words are not able to describe the mood and the feelings that were happening in that short time. Precious. : )

Here are a couple of pictures we took this morning at the Dr's. She is 13 pounds 14 ounces(50%), 25 inches long (75%), and her head measures 41.6cm (70%). The Dr. Said she looks great and is doing great. He also said we could start rice cereal this month just to get her used to the texture of solid foods. NOT for nutritional value. He said really, anytime between 4-6 months is fine to start rice cereal. That's right! Rice cereal!!! I cannot believe it! We are not sure yet if we are going to wait or not, but I'm sure you will see pictures of the first time.

Happy 9th Birthday, Elena!

That's right, Elena just turned 9! We had (another) weekend long celebration. Thursday (her real b-day) she took monster cookies to school and we had a family "party" that night with a small chocolate cake. That night my mom came into town to help out with the weekend. Friday we had a sleepover that involved 11 girls plus me, Jason, Bonnie, my mom, and Clara! We also had planned to go to the park on Saturday, but because of the lovely rain, we were all stuck in side THE ENTIRE TIME!!!! Yes, it was nuts and yes, Elena had a great time. That is all that matters. We are so blessed to have so many friends who would come out in the rain to join her party. Thank you!

We got a lot of pics from the sleep over, but not as many from the party Saturday. I hope you enjoy!









priceless...

First Day of school

So, this week Bonnie started high school and Elena started 4th grade. They both were super excited about the first day, but Bonnie was really nervous. Day two, she got out of the car like a pro and did not seem nervous at all!! She is so much more confident than I was at that age.
Here are a few pictures of them before they left for school:

Our first real laughs!

Here are some of Clara's first real laughs:




We had a great time together!

Clara found her thumb!