View out the Window...

The sun is out, the trees are green, it's a Friday - Life is good....

Katy Trail...

The Katy Trail runs right behind our apartment complex. It is an old railroad track that has been converted into a trail. We've taken advantage of it quite a bit since the weather has been nice-taking walks, runs, and now bike rides! For his birthday (and mine), Mark's parents gave us bikes. We took our first bike ride and these are a few shots I took with my phone. It was a beautiful ride and next time, I won't forget the camera. We love where we live!

A Birthday Visit...

Mark's parents came up for this last weekend for Mark's Birthday and although their visit was short, we enjoyed having them in town. We showed them around Columbia and introduced them to one of our favorite shows (The Biggest Loser). They also came to church with us and met our ward and agreed with us that we have a GREAT ward.

On Saturday, we stopped at Sam's Club, and while there the subject of flowers was brought up. Mark teases me because I like to have real flowers at the table and he doesn't see it as something that important. Mark's Dad, upon hearing this comment, said, "Well, I'm going to get you some flowers!" And he did! How sweet is that!!

Happy Birthday Mark!!

For Mark's birthday, I ran a 5K with him. (Yes, ME run...I must really love him!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK!

Meet the Kiddos...

Coco...

In her brand new pot...

Shibumi...

...and Le Cagot...

(And if you ever want to read a good book, try Shibumi.)

Spring Break

Mark and I toyed with several ideas as to what to do for Spring Break - we ultimately decided to visit his sister Sarah and her family since we don't get to spend much time with them. We had such a FUN time! They made a welcome sign, the boys took our bags in, and Miss Margaret gave us a tour of the house. (THANK YOU to the boys for letting us crash in their room!) They also had a talent show ready all ready for us! Margaret (Meg) read a scripture, Andrew recited the poem "Alligator Pie", and Tanner played a song on the piano.

We spent lots of time playing with the kids and were able to help Charlie (the dog) out by starting on his dog fence so he can run and play around in the backyard. We also went to the kid's school fair and watched Andrew win his penguin and Margaret get her puppy. Tanner's classroom became a 'Jail"...and both Andrew and I ended up there thanks to Uncle Mark. (Don't worry he bailed us out too!)

These are the thank you notes we received from them after our visit...aren't they cute?!

From left to right: Andrew's, Margaret's, and Tanner's

The Burke Kiddos: Andrew, Margaret, and Tanner

We then headed down to Cape and visited the rest of the McMullin clan for the first half of the week. We were hoping that Baby Harper might make an appearance before we left, but alas, she decided to stay in her Mom's Belly...which is a good thing too. :) One of those nights, we went over to Emily and Abe's house and played Wii...check out their blog for a GREAT picture! Markii has the moves!

We came home for the last half of the week, which was quite peaceful and relaxing, except for the incident involving an overly friendly wasp. We had left our balcony door open to let in some cool air and in flew in a wasp. We tried shooing it out, but instead it ended up under our couch. My imagination went haywire and I could just see us getting stung through the couch. So how do you get a wasp out from under a couch? We tried a fly swatter, a water bottle, a rolled up sock...all to no avail. The only thing that worked was an airsoft BB gun. It flew out from under the couch, but sadly, not out the door.

So onto plan B - we attacked it with vinegar water and a fly swatter. The vinegar water made it so it couldn't fly anymore. I then whacked it to the floor and a few more times to make sure it'd be dead. It took all of 45 minutes, but we got what we wanted! No wasp in our couch!

(PS-the lights are off so that the wasp would find its way out into the balcony)

What we've been up to...Part 2

February brought quite a few surprises...

Before moving to Missouri, I asked Mark about the winters here and he said that when it snows, it rarely accumulates beyond 3 inches....Huh.....As far as I know, 3 inches does not look like this....





























...Or this...

2 storms with snow accumulation over 12+ inches...yep. It seems I will not be escaping the snow just yet. Mizzou cancelled classes for 3 days because of the 2nd storm so Mark and I made sure we had a pantry-full of food and lots of candles. Lucky for us our stockpiling was never needed since the power stayed on and the roads cleared out within a few days. We suffered nothing more serious than a cracked windshield (my car). We started reading Atlas Shrugged. (We still have not finished, but so far it has been an AWESOME book!)

On another one of our evenings that month, I talked Mark into trying out waffles and ice cream...He loves waffles! But he'd never heard of waffles and ice cream (to be honest, I have no idea where or from whom I heard it, but I know I had heard it somewhere...), so here's the result:

Yay for Lactose Free Ice Cream :)

Waffles and ice cream and peaches (the peaches are for me - I love them). I really liked it because I'm a sucker for breakfast foods but Mark not so much, either way - it was great to finally try it. Now if I could just remember who told me about it in the first place!

Another surprise in February came in the form of a package...that had this in it...

"Trust me, I'm a Doctor"...Thanks Ash!!

My friend Ashley and I have been in love with Dr. Pepper for MANY years...it was an integral part of our times together. Once upon a time, on one of our many Walmart runs, we stumbled upon a Dr. Pepper T-shirt. Sadly they didn't have our sizes or it was more than we were willing to pay for it (I can't remember), so we didn't purchase them, but we thought they were the coolest things ever (because let's be honest, they are!). We've always looked back on that with a little regret. So a few weeks ago, Ash was on a Walmart run and lo and behold...a Dr. Pepper shirt! She didn't waste this chance and got one for herself and for me. How sweet is that! She had told me that it would be coming, but when I got the package, it was still such a surprise! Love you Ash!!

Pretty aren't they? Despite the snow storms we've experienced, Spring has started to make itself known. Schnucks (a local grocery store for those who've never heard of it) had them on sale and since it was sunny out I had to celebrate. It made me smile every time I looked at them...and it's true - I'm SO ready for Spring, Summer, and sunshine to get here!