Happy Sweet Sixteen John Jacob Gilbert Burmeister!

Okay I am really really getting old. I remember when little Johnny was born when I was Yes 15!!!!!! I wanted him to be a little girl so badly, sorry Johnny. My parents tried to appease me....involve me, whatever you want to call it by letting me help pick out his name. So, I wanted his name to be Jacob...(which of course had nothing to do with the fact my certain 7th grade boyfriends name was Jake). At any rate they didn't quite want that name for his first name. So then they could say I could choose the middle name....and then they decided to honor Grandpa and give him his middle name.....but of course they couldn't go back on their word. And so, this is why my brother's full name is John Jacob Gilbert Burmeister. I always had hoped that we would give hime the nickname JJ....but that didn't ever happen either. So sorry John. I know that you will forever remember me when you are filling out all those SAT things. At any rate it is so hard to believe that you are officially a full fledged teenager. I have to say that I am so happy that God knows best and added you to our family instead of a girl. For one thing I have secretly loved being the only girl. More importantly, our family just would not be the same with out our little baby brother. You are such a sweet, fun, brilliant, talented, athletic kid. You have never given mom and dad half the problems we have given them. We are so proud of you....and wish that we could be there for every bandee and baseball game. Keep up the good work. Oh and you know that we love all your sweet little girlfriends that love to babysit for us when we are home. More than anything we love that you are excited about your relationship with the Lord. Our prayer for you is that you continue to walk in His righteousness as you are guided through your difficult teen years. We love you very much and wish we could go to Snuffy's with you. Sorry we have missed out on your birthdays. We have managed to find a picture of you. Even though you have the distinct Burmeister teenage boy trait of avoiding the camera. All the kids want you to know they wish you a Happy Birthday. The check is in the mail.

What we have been up to

So, we have had a pretty great week. And an even better long weekend. David and I once again hit the slopes with some friends on Friday. Elijah had a lesson and happily went up the lift....and a little reluctatantly went down the lift. He did go by himself a little. We would take turns waiting for him to ski to us. Sometimes he forgot you have to do a big pizza to stop.

Gracie had school and then hung out with her little best friend again until we got home. Saturday, Gracie was super enthusiastic about the cheerleading camp she got to go to at the local highschool given by the cheerleaders. I can't say that her performance at halftime of the highschool basketball game was up to the level of "Bring it on".....however she had so much fun.

Sunday we had church, a meeting, and then our small group at our house. And then Monday Grace had school off....so we got to head back to showdown and ski again. Grace and Elijah both had lessons in the morning and afternoon. Elijah made great improvement...but is still a little hesitant about skiing down the mountain himself. Grace however, blew us away. By the third run she was skiing all the way down the mountain by herself. Pretty impressive considering it was her first day skiing ever! We had such a fun weekend as a family. God has blessed us with this place, and David's schedule. Remind me not to second guess Him! This week we are attempting to get some major work done on the house. We are finally planning on painting the upstairs bathroom. If we get real ambitious maybe we will even start painting downstairs. We will keep you posted.

Happy Birthday Aunt Tina!

It's your birthday Aunt Tina! We are thinking about you and missing you. We can't wait till you get to come and visit us here so we can we do lots of fun stuff like camping and hiking! We just wanted to let you know how special you are. We wish that we could live by you and get to see you all the time. Hopefully, we will in the future. Until then we will have to settle for getting to see you every chance we can. Enjoy spending your birthday with Uncle Dan. Your present is on it's way. We hope to make you smile on your birthday. Here's a little list of the things we miss the most about you.

1. Hanging out in our Pajama's together
2. A nice warm lap that's always open to sit on (for the kids I mean)
3. Nobody plays Barbie's like Aunt Tina
4. Free babysitting :)!
5. Your compassionate heart ready to listen to the same story about star wars 14 billion times.
6. Your laughter
7. Your heart for Jesus
8. You hold your tongue when I (Ann) probably deserve a good rebuke.
9. Your always ready to make fun memories as a family
10. Being able to spend unlimited amount of time with you because you are such an amazing person....and even if you were not our sister and Aunt we all would want to be your friend.
11. Oh and one last unorthadox eleven.....you are just like David!!!!!!


The kids and I thought it would be a good idea to send you a little birthday wish as well. So here goes......

Lord, teach us to pray!

I figured it's about time to update our spot. On the outside it appears things have been pretty low-key around here lately. However, I believe a very significant thing is happening in our lives right now. Last Sunday at our church we kicked off the "40 days of prayer" campaign. The entire church has started reading a devotional study on how to pray. David and I will be leading a small group discussing this study, the sermons will be on prayer, even our children are learning about how to pray during their kids service. So, far I have been completely energized by being devoted to spending time with the Lord every day. Imagine that. I have realized although I have walked with the Lord since I was little.....I am still a little child when it comes to praying. There is so much that I know the Lord wants to teach me. This move to Montana has been such a period of growth for David and I....and the family. More than anything I desire that my children understand what prayer is. It's not just something we "do" before school, at dinner, or at bed. It's about our constant relationship with the Lord. I am praying that they will begin to understand this relationship....and grow in their faiths. I am looking forward to see lots of fruit! I couldn't help asking my kids what they thought about prayer.