Burnett Family

Sooo…after 25 years of living all together as a family, John-Clay and Caleb have made the first move out! For quite some time, they have been looking around for a place more convenient for Caleb’s travel commute, and one that would provide them with a chance to start spreading their own roots. A duplex about 45 minutes away was God’s provision for them. It’s an exciting transition for sure, although the pain of change is sometimes hard – mostly because it will just never be the same again like it always was…
But hey, if you’re going to get to the next season in life, you have to start sometime, somewhere, somehow! :)

Moving is never a small task, even if you don’t have a ton of stuff to move. The guys have been coming home at least on the weekend – whether to see us or to get a home-cooked meal, I’m not sure. ;)

The house still had a strong smoke smell from previous renters, so Abbie, Charity, and Maggie went up for about 5 hours one Saturday and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned…scrubbed ALL the woodwork (including all the cabinets!) inside AND out, vacuumed, mopped, organized, cleaned the bathroom, put up curtains,…they cleaned from top to bottom, literally! Needless to say, the guys were super blessed by their huge help!

Ab was determined to get that whole cabinet scrubbed out…

The duplex is actually really cute nice. ;) Us girls would have no problem coming up with all kinds of ideas for decorating and making it homey.

By the way, we just returned from the Big Sandy ATI conference – it was amazing!! We’ll look forward to sharing about that soon. J-C just got back from an amazing weekend at the World Changers’ Summit, so all of us girls and Benj (the new man of the house!) are going up to hang out at the guys’ place tonight to catch up on everything with each other. It’s going to be a blast. :)

And yes, we are bringing them supper. ;)

This year’s winter has been unusually warm. Our grass is greener and taller now than it has been in a year. So…we were thrilled to get 1 1/2” of snow the other week! It pretty much all melted by the afternoon…but we enjoyed it while it lasted.

The four youngest.

Benjamin workin’ on a snowman. One of our beehives.

Maggie had fun with the car windows. :)

 Calli loves snow.                       Charity’s snow heart.

Twins forever. :)

Benjamin with his cute snowman.

We have LOTS of different kinds of flowers popping up in the yard.

Have a blessed day!

Family…the most precious relationships on earth!

Our family has undergone significant changes in the last 10 years.

We don’t have “little kids” anymore. Half of us are teenagers. In about 5 months, half of us will be in our twenties. Benj is the only one left shorter than Mom. :) Deep talks into the wee hours of the morning are not unusual. When a subject is broached, opinions start flying! We can’t seem to find the balance in communication – either someone gets the memo 5 times in a row, or they miss it altogether and have no idea what’s going on. Dozens of inside family jokes keep us laughing. =D With 6 licensed drivers and 5 vehicles, somebody is always going somewhere. The idea of everyone riding in the same vehicle is nearly extinct. Common topics of conversation include job opportunities, the family schedule, places we would like to go, our country, and family changes that will most likely happen in the next 5-10 years. ;)

The change in family dynamics from the days of toddlers, high chairs, early bedtimes, and various levels of height for the family picture still surprises us sometimes. We’ll all sit down at the supper table, and Mom will exclaim, “Honey, look at all these BIG people sitting at our table!!”

Having eight young adults in the house makes for an exciting life! Life is more complicated, adventurous, dramatic, emotional, and meaningful as we grow to realize how precious these relationships are. What an amazing journey as we grow up together, witness the Lord drawing each one to Himself, and see them grab a hold of the reality of Christ, the Gospel, and Eternity for themselves!

This is a special season in our lives. The incredible opportunity lies before us TODAY to listen to each other, speak an encouraging word, ask in sincerity “how are you really doing?”, spend quality time together, and work on strengthening the weak places in our relationships. We have a long way to go in some areas. May we seize this small, priceless window of time to let God deepen our love and unity!

Every family – including yours – is jam-packed with opportunities for eternal impact as God works IN us and THROUGH us!

All that to say…we have updated our Meet the Family page! Thanks to Chad Paine for taking pictures for us while we were up at Northwoods! We’re saving our favorite to go with our annual Christmas update. :)

Now, go love the family God has given YOU!!

The family was standing around the kitchen one evening getting ready to eat when someone asked if Carinna was taller than Hannah. (They were standing next to one another.) Dad went and got the level and said, “Yup! Look at the bubble. About half an inch!” Carinna has now passed Hannah in height! Wow! The youngest daughter is now the tallest daughter.  

Notice the bubble in the level.

After many high recommendations from our friends over the years about the annual Wilds Music Camp in North Carolina, four of us finally decided to make the trip!

If there’s one thing our family loves to do, it’s travel together. This was the biggest “sibling trip” we’ve taken, so far.

All four of us were CRAMMED into JC’s 5-seater car (the cooler was taking up the fifth seat), with pillows and bags beside us and in our laps. We tried not to think about it too much, or we’d get the “LET ME OUT!!” feeling. By the end of the trip, John-Clay knew exactly how the trunk had to be packed, so that everything would fit…including Hannah’s furry boots. :)

As we entered North Carolina, these 4 residents of “big sky – cedar tree – prairie land” gazed in wonder at the beauty of the mountains and valleys.

We couldn’t get over the winsome beauty of the country farms spread throughout the valleys and set upon the hillsides. The rural roads were calling us, so we took a little detour. :)

These signs mean what they say!

After driving a total of 18 hours in 2 days, we were very glad to finally arrive.

 
Let the camp begin!! For the next 3 days, we attended special workshops of our choice, studied rich truths in the book of James, met lots of new people, enjoyed afternoon recreation, drank lots of hot tea, played in orchestras, took private voice lessons, and sang LOTS of choral music!

 
The guy who checked us in on the first day was so impressed that the four of us drove all the way from Oklahoma, that he gave us each a token for a free drink at the camp’s Cool Beans coffee shop! We all got larges. :)

Human foosball…a dangerous game.

Gazeeball was our favorite!! It’s like soccer played in the air inside a gazebo.

All three girls and our friend Julie went on the famous, 65-ft. Giant Swing. They buckle you up in a harness, and a cable slowly pulls you up…and up…and up.

With intense anticipation, you wait for the “drop”.

Then, down and out you swing in a GIANT sort of way, while your tummy rolls, your hair flies, and you scream with…delight. =D It was a blast!!

     

One afternoon, Charity and I went on the group hike to a beautiful waterfall.

We came away from the camp with lots of memories, great musical training, and a refreshed vision of how God is glorified in our music.

Our plans for the drive back weren’t as simple as going, and the snowstorm that swept across the south changed them quite rapidly. However, we were still able to stop and see special family and friends along the way. Everyone’s hospitality was amazing!

Touring Biltmore Village in Asheville on a snowy afternoon. The Thomas Kinkade Gallery was my favorite!

Our aunt and uncle went all out to make our stay with them wonderful. We had a grand time catching up, playing games, working a puzzle, and eating delicious food. :) Thank ya’ll so much!

Our next stop was to visit friends in Georgia who went on a mission trip to Ukraine with John-Clay a couple of years ago. This is the family of the couple who led the team.

Don’t let the little guy fool ya with his frown – he’s a sweetie and sat on our laps all evening. :)

Due to the incoming storm, we headed out early for home. Once we hit Arkansas, the snow started falling. When it got dark and the roads kept getting worse, we decided to stop at a hotel to spend the night. So close to home, yet so far away! We made it home safely the next day. Thank You, Lord!

As I’m sure you all know, traveling with family is either the best of times or the worst of times. There were a few unpleasant moments when we were having trouble agreeing on something, but overall we had a wonderful time together. I don’t think there is anyone else we’d rather travel with than each other. It’s such a huge blessing to be great friends with your siblings! It takes a lot of humility, forgiveness, and grace from God to make that possible, but it sure is worth it. Take a moment today to show someone in your family that you really love them.

Until the next adventure,

:)