Burnett Family

I’ll skip lamenting the fact that it has been __ days since we posted and get straight to fixing the problem…writing a blog post! :)

Our friend from Alaska, Barrie Greenfield, came up from Bible school in Texas the other weekend to fix some of her own Alaskan salmon for us! Some of the family were rather skeptical, since we hardly ever eat salmon (what can you expect when you live in OK?), but I think we all enjoyed it! I thought it was delicious. :)

 

We peppered her with all sorts of questions as she prepared it (pun intended…sort of), such as, what kind of salmon it was, how they fish for it, what other ways do they eat it, how do you know when it’s done, etc.

 

On the side – Garlic Knot Rolls

Roasted Asparagus – the best way to eat it in our opinion! (Thanks, Aunt Janis!)

and fresh flowers. :)

I experimented with a new dessert – puddingwiches. They’re like ice cream sandwiches, except they have a pudding type filling inside graham crackers (or Ritz, if you run out of graham). Pretty good stuff!

After listening to Barrie’s wild bear hunting stories (true Alaskan she is), we wound up playing Fishbowl for Friday Fun Night…lots of laughs. =D This was the charades round…any guesses?

 

 

The next morning, a few of us got in some target practice. Speaking only for myself, I think skeet shooting is more my forte. :)

The Sharpshooters – heh heh. ;)

More posts coming soon…right, Abbie? ;)

Just in case anyone is wondering, we didn’t fall off the face of the earth, but, we DID go all the way to the upper peninsula of Michigan and back, in our big green van! There’s our shadow in a corn field. =)

 

 

I love my family, and this was a trip of a life-time! All 10 of us were able to go together…something that doesn’t happen very often any more. The purpose of our trip was to coordinate and attend the Journey to the Heart Reunion.

Here’s how it started: Journey to the Heart is a 10-day retreat that 5 of us older kids have each been to. It’s a set-apart time to seek the Lord, and each of us has been very blessed to have had this opportunity. We enjoyed it so much, made some really close friends, and had a desire to go back to the Northwoods in Michigan where it is held. Back in December, we popped the idea to the Journey office about having a reunion for everyone who has attended Journey to the Heart. Long story made short, they loved the idea, but didn’t have the time to do it themselves, so they asked us if OUR family would like to coordinate it! After much thought and prayer, we excitedly took on the project and for the past 6 months or so, we’ve been planning, creating, organizing, designing, adjusting, promoting, recruiting, and praying!! It’s been a wonderful, HUGE, learning experience for us that we wouldn’t trade for anything, and now after months of preparations, it was finally here!! We can’t wait to tell you all about it, but we have sooooo many pictures, we are going to spread it out over several posts. This post is just to document our travels UP there. =) Ya ready?

Our first stop was in St. Louis, where we went to church with the Burns family (check out their exciting new film in the making!). We arrived early, so instead of sitting around, we stretched our legs and walked across this mile long bridge. There was a nice breeze, and the sun was shining which made it very refreshing. :)

 

This bridge used to be a part of Route 66.

Macho-man. ;)

After church, we went to the Burns’ house and ate lots of delicious nachos…

played foos-ball…(while eating cookies??? :)

enjoyed some very entertaining games of “occupation telephone”…

go Nick!…

…and played a late night game of Settlers of Catan…

 

and of course they played it, Burns’ STYLE! We’re convinced that’s the only way to play Settlers now.

Thanks guys, for your generous hospitality, a great time, and all the good laughs! Now YA’LL have got to come see us! =)

  

We didn’t get very far down the road, when we stopped and got some REAL apple cider at a quaint little shop, then continued on our way.

We were driving through Iowa and decided we couldn’t pass within 15 miles of the Bontragers’ house without stopping! So, we dropped by for about 30 minutes. They were having a huge Labor Day party, with tons of people, but they still showed us great hospitality, and served us ice cream! =) Next time we come through, we’ll definitely have to plan on staying longer!

Back on the road. Iowa was probably my favorite state that we drove through – all the rolling hills and picturesque farms were a sight to see!

 

Monday night, we arrived at the Dorninks’ house in Minnesota! (Dustin and Melody were on J-C and Hannah’s Journey teams in 2009.) We were definitely feeling a difference in the weather by this time…in a good way!  We had a great evening/late night/early morning (if ya know what I mean ;) filled with great food and fun fellowship.

 

Big game of 1-100! Grab the pen!!!

They endured our my pathetic volley ball skills. :) …but we’ll have to play again sometime, because I improved at least a little by playing so much last weekend! =)

 

Ya’ll are so much fun – thanks again for opening your home to us!

 

Check out all that corn! We decided that for every corn field up there, there is a pasture of cows down here. :)

On the 3rd day of travel, when we were about an hour or so from our destination, we stopped at Lake Superior and stretched our ‘tired of traveling’ bodies. :)

 

Gorgeous shot, Charity!

This is a great way to streeeeeeetch after a long van ride! =)

 

Enjoyin’ the fresh air!

 

That water felt good!

 

Final leg: I see 2 mischievous lookin’ guys in the back row, hmmm. ;)

*Ahem, after 24 hours, split up into 3 days in the van, the chances of getting a little goofy increase considerably. :)

almost. there.

 

You should’ve been there to see our excitement when we saw this sign and pulled into the long awaited drive-way of the NORTHWOODS CONFERENCE CENTER!!! We are so thankful for the Lord’s protection the whole way and for Him sustaining us…and our van! =) Lord-willing, in the following post we’ll share more pictures and tell you about the great time spent with the Lord and our Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

Until then, God bless you all!

With summer comes fun times with family, homemade ice cream, hot weather, travel, and…lots and lots of FRIENDS! This summer has been no exception, as we have gotten many chances to get together with old friends and meet new ones.

When we traveled to Indy, Joe and Jerica Henline met us at Skyline – a Cincinnati restaurant that serves a signature chili. We had a great time catching up with Joe and Jerica and talking about their newest project – a short film entitled, The Forgotten Martyr: Lady Jane Grey.

Note: This isn’t your typical chili…it contains chocolate and cinnamon! I made it a little more Oklahoma-ish by eating it over fries instead of spaghetti noodles. :)

Next – Abbie’s good friend, Laura, was in OK for a week, so we drove up to the City and went to Cimarron for chicken fried steak!

Laura and Abbie spent a lot of time together coordinating the CI’s this summer and became great friends…with the specialty of solving all the world’s problems late at night. ;)

A few weeks ago, all of us girls attended a 2-day youth conference called Ultimate Quest. UQ began in Australia and is touring the States for the first time this summer. We came away thoroughly blessed and challenged!! This team does an incredible job of presenting Truth in an interesting and impacting way. Just the fact that you get to sit and listen to an amazing Australian accent the whole time makes it easy and fun to listen to! :) Each leader has a passionate desire to help young people make wise choices and follow God’s ways…because His ways WORK. UQ is highly recommended by our family. :)

Maggie and Carinna’s team

Mine and Abbie’s team  – we didn’t get a picture of Charity’s team. :(

 
What would you think if a total stranger from Alaska (blog reader) contacted you about stopping for a visit on their way to Texas?? Well, after asking a few questions :), we were happy to host Barrie for a visit, admiring her bravery to STAY with total strangers! But actually, I don’t think there are any such things as “strangers” when you’re talking about brothers and sisters in Christ, even if you have never met each other before. We had a grand time learning about her family, beating her in Dutch Blitz playing lots of fun games =D, listening to her crazy adventures of missionary life overseas, and talking about the amazing way God leads us when we give all to Him.

Does anybody recall our gingerbread house competition with the Fortune family last Christmas? :) We’re still friends even after that (haha), and were soooo excited to see them on their singing tour here in Oklahoma!

Our grandparents’ church hosted them here in town for a Sunday night service. Once again, we were so blessed by their testimony and music. The Lord speaks through them in a powerful way!

Keeping up the tradition of fellowshipping at Braum’s. :) Lots of talking, pictures, teasing, sharing, and encouragement!

Fortune and Burnett girls – we outnumber the guys 2 to 1. :)

So, there’s a much-needed update on what’s been going on around here in the month of August! We have more things to tell you soon…so stay tuned. Until then, thank the Lord for the wonderful FRIEND that He is to you and the special friends He has put in your life. :)

We had fun getting to go to the Oklahoma City zoo with some friends of ours the Elliotts, Chathams, and Gloria Fagala!

Some of the kids

I think these little red pandas are so cute.

 

 

Brenna C., Emma E., and Maggie

 

 

 

 

Carinna, Gloria F., and Maggie

 

 

We had fun getting this buck to charge at us!

 

The girls

 

 

 

The guys

 

 

 

“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”
Revelation 4:11