Thanksgiving weekend

We had a fun Thanksgiving weekend. Andy and Kimra and their three boys drove from Illinois to stay with us for a few days. Of course we spent Thanksgiving cooking, baking, and eating yummy food. The boys went to the park, watched football, and had fun playing together. The weather was so nice that we went for a walk after the big meal to a nearby wooded area that had a rope swing, teeter totter, and nature walk. After pie and more playing we put all the boys to bed and we played a game of Settlers of Catan.

Our Thanksgiving Feast

Kimra and I showing our pregnant tummies. We're both having girls due about a week apart.

The Rope Swing

A pond and nature walk near our house

Game night!

Friday we ventured into Cincinnati and visited the Bengals stadium. We looked through their gift shop and were able to see through some windows into the stadium. The players were actually down on the field warming up for a game they had in a couple days. One of Grant’s favorite teams right now is the Bengals, so that really made his day. 

Players warming up at Bengals stadium

Ethan showing off his Bengal spirit

After the shop we played on the toys at Riverfront Park. The weather was so nice again and it was great to be outside before winter comes.

Drew and Mack were having fun pretending to "kick" Jason on the swing.

That evening after dinner we watched the movie Inside Out and ate popcorn until it was time to put the boys down for bed. We stayed up late talking and telling stories.

Saturday we were sad to say good-bye. We had a great time and are so glad they came to visit us. Ethan loved playing with his cousins and still talks about them 7lln by name. I’m so glad we live within driving distance of each other!

Halloween and some November Pictures

For Halloween Ethan was a Train Conductor

 Ethan really liked trick-or-treating from door to door on our neighborhood street this year. He was just old enough to kind of get it. We have a very active neighborhood community and there were lots of people out trick-or-treating between 6-8PM which is the set time for trick-or-treating here. Ethan loved seeing all the outside decorations--jack-o'lanterns, ghosts on trees, etc. He also saw a mom and dad completely decked out in Elmo and Cookie Monster costumes and afterwards Ethan kept saying "Elmo go?" and looking for them.

Playing hide-and-seek in the curtains

Towel toga, courtesy of Dad. :)

Helping dad put up the Christmas tree

Cleaning up some sticky residue on our basement floor. A "simple" project that lasted 5 days and cost over $50 to fix. The smile is only for the picture. We weren't smiling the rest of the time. :)

Some October Fun

Here are some of the fun things we've been up to around here in October.

We bought our first lawnmower so we could finally get the lawn moved. Yay for craigslist for helping us find a good one!

Ethan and I just enjoying a beautiful day outside, kicking the soccer ball in our very our yard! :)

When I tried to water the lawn, it only took minutes for Ethan to discover the joy of running through the sprinklers. :)

My sister Kristilyn and her daughter Amelia came out to visit us in Kentucky during their Fall Break. It was fun to have them here and it gave Kristilyn a vacation from taking care of her other four children over the weekend.

We had a fun time at Cincinnati Zoo! Our favorite memory was watching the lions and their cubs play/fight. It was very interesting and fun to watch.

Walking the tightrope on the Jungle Walk

Visiting the gorillas

Ethan and me at the Zoo. I'm 20 weeks pregnant, can't you tell? :)

We also enjoyed the library storytime and toys.

And we visited Kinman Farms on Saturday. Ethan loved playing in the corn!

Kinman Farms also had outdoor games, entertainment, and a corn maze

And of course, a tractor ride :)

Kinman Farm pumpkin patch

We visited our nearby elementary school a few times and Ethan learned to swing on his tummy.

Jason and I also went to my 20 week ultrasound. We found out we're having a girl this time and we're very excited! This is especially newsworthy for the Burninghams where the boy cousins currently outnumber the girl cousins 13-3.

The Big Move!

It's official! We now own a home!....With all the benefits and new responsibilities that it entails! The benefits for us include a garage to park our cars, no downstairs neighbors so we can jump and dance as much as we want, a yard and basement for Ethan to play in, and an extra bedroom for visitors and a new baby. The new responsibilities part has already included trips to Lowes and Home Depot for rakes, shovels, ladders, a lawnmower, hedge trimmers, etc. The reality of of home ownership is still sinking in, but we're making it our own and loving it.

The arrangements for closing got a little stressful there at the end, but it eventually worked out after many texts and phone calls and a delayed meeting time. Fortunately, we had plenty of help with packing and getting our stuff moved which was a great blessing for us. Jason's parents flew in the Wednesday night before and worked every day dawn till we couldn't stay awake anymore! It's a good thing Ethan was there to provide the fun and entertainment. :) We had about 20 people from our ward show up to load the truck on Saturday morning. We had so much help that people did a lot of standing and talking, but I don't think people minded too much. We also had 5 people from the Hebron ward help us unload. They were so efficient that we were finished an hour later when 4 more people came to help. I'm also very grateful to Nancy and later Mike for taking care of Ethan a lot of the day so we could get things moved and settled. That was SUPER helpful for me! That evening we were able to take a break and go out for dinner at Applebee's. It was really yummy and Ethan had a blast eating and then playing with his food. :)

Loading up the truck

Our unloading crew at the house

Enjoying a nice dinner at Applebee's after the move

Sunday was a relaxing day at church in our new ward and people were very friendly to us. I think we finally got around to playing a few games together in the evening.

Sunday morning before church

Monday Jason and his Dad made a big trip to Lowes and then spent the rest of the morning digging in our backyard and trying to re-grade the dirt and grass to redirect the water from washing out under the patio. It was hot and dirty work! After a quick lunch and shower Jason's parents were off to the airport to fly home. And Ethan kept asking the next day for Grandma and Grandpa... He definitely misses them!

Digging up the backyard

Grandpa and Grandma Burningham with Ethan

Before the move I had one last Relief Society Meeting with our ward where we got to paint. It was such a fun and relaxing night!

We also got to visit Daddy at work and eat lunch with him.

Random Summer Fun Adventures

As if a new job, new house, and new baby weren't enough, we also tried to fit in some other adventures. These are pictures from August through Labor Day.

Free Friday night at the Children's Museum

Children's Museum

Cincinnati Museum Center

Awesome trip to the zoo with Kerrigan and Katie

Ethan with the Snow Leopard

Ethan feeds lettuce to the giraffe. The giraffe sticks out his long tongue and licks it out of our hands.

One of many trips to the park

Potty training :) Ethan think of it more as play time on the potty.

A morning at Jump Zone

After a while, Ethan got really brave and went up and down this slide by himself once.

Sliding with Kerrigan

Trip to the Temple

Labor Day Finale. After a full day of shopping for a washer/dryer and bed, we finally got to the pool at 7:00pm for the last day of the pool season.

Hanging out at home in new pajamas with Doggie. Somehow Ethan got Doggie to pose like this so we decided to take a picture. :)

Blessings in Threes

August has been a busy month full of change for our family. We feel very blessed as we've been guided and helped over the last few months that have been filled with important decisions.

The first change, which is literally a miracle for us, is that we're expecting Baby #2 in early March of next year. This baby has been prayed and fasted for by many and we're grateful for all those who have participated in helping us get another baby in our family. We had some initial setbacks, but fortunately this journey didn't have as much heartache as did the one we had to get Ethan here. I'm 14 weeks now and the pregnancy has gone well up to this point. I won't quit worrying until the baby is safely here, but at least the highest risk is over now that I'm into the second trimester.

This summer Jason has also been seriously looking to change employment. Although we would have loved to move back to Utah closer to family, another opportunity came up in Cincinnati that we both felt good about. He started his new job at Burke on Aug. 17. It's been going alright so far and it looks promising that he won't have to work as much overtime. The work culture itself is a nice improvement and his overall commute time is a bit shorter. We're grateful for this change and hope that it continues to be a better fit for Jason.

After accepting the new job, and knowing we had another baby on the way, we decided to look at possibly buying a home. In a week of dedicated searching we learned a lot about buying a house and our particular housing market and found a cute little one-story, 3 bedroom house that we both felt very drawn to. I immediately liked it and couldn't stop thinking about it for several days until we went back to look at it again and made an offer on it. Fortunately, we came to an agreement fairly quickly and put the house under contract. We have a closing date at the end of September. The house is in a nice neighborhood and located about the same distance from Jason's work, but closer to our church building. We will actually be in a different ward, which will be a big change as well. We're excited to be in our own place where Ethan can run around and play and I don't have to constantly worry about the noise for our neighbors beneath us. Yay!


So, needless to say, we've been up to a lot of house-buying, job-changing, baby-anticipating craziness around here! And we're so grateful!!