Intro
Happy February Family! I hope everyone is having a superb winter. A couple of Highlights form the Newsletter:
- Uncle Mark wrote an article. This is kind of like seeing a yeti so I suggest you read.
- Jeffrey and Morgan have an intriging proposal in the last paragraph of their article. Read and respond in the comments section!
Lots of Love,
Justin
Caroline
Hello family!
Where oh where do I begin? I feel like it has been forever since I have seen everyone! I don’t know the last information everyone has heard so here is a snap shot of the last couple months of my life!! I finished up fall semester with my wonderful kindergarteners. It was such an incredible experience and I am so grateful for the time I had in that classroom. Christmas break was busy and relaxing all at the same time! I loved seeing everyone at Christmas (its my favorite time with all of you, my favorite people :)) After Christmas, I was super super blessed to travel to NOLA with Perry, and my two wonderful parentals who so graciously gave perry and I an experience of a lifetime!!!!! Then I was off to the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!! Sorry all you Auburn people, this is not a dig at all but it was the most exciting football game in my entire life and I was so so so lucky to get to be there! Right after the game, a couple friends and I had to drive back to Tuscaloosa because I had orientation for my INTERNSHIP!!!! I am placed in a 4th grade class for the first 6 weeks and then a 1st grade class for the second 6 weeks. I cannot believe I am going to be graduation in May. The exact date is May 5th at 6pm so all of you can put it in your calendars!!! That is about it in my life! I go to school, come home and hang out, go to sleep early, and do it all over again! I love having FaceTime dates so anytime after 3:30 if you are bored you can FT me!!! Its a party! I would also appreciate any and all prayers as I seek the Lord’s guidance in preparing and eventually finding a job. It is an exciting time, I am continually reminded at how amazingly blessed I am to have my family. Y’all are truly the best. I love you all
Caroline
Kate and Brian
Well we are back in Starkvegas post holiday craze and in our normal routine. Elizabeth is as fun as ever and FINALLY at 10 1/2 months has a tooth coming in. I was starting to think she wasn’t going to have any. It hasn’t been too terrible, surprisingly. She loves walking with help and has started to stand for a bit without assistance. She will be walking before we know it! She is also so thrilled that she will be a big sister come August and so are we (hope you already knew that info). I’m 12 weeks (today is jan 21-no clue when you’ll read this) and I’m ready for the nausea to leave me alone. It’s no April/Helen style but still inconvenient. We should find out gender in February! In other news, we have decided to get involved with Pinelake Church. They are one of “those” satellite churches that have several campuses all over Mississippi. We visited several Starkville churches and this one just felt right for our family. Tonight we attended Group Up where we met other people interested in small groups. We have been praying for this event for quite awhile and we are very thankful for the group we ended up with. To be a group leader, you must have been attending Pinelake for 3 months and we have just hit that mark. None of our other members had so viola we are now the facilitators of our group! Since the summer Brian and I have been working on our spiritual lives as a couple more intentionally and specifically on what it looks like to pray together. Ironically (or you know, just the way Jesus works), the Lord has guided our church to begin 40 Days of Prayer. With our small group we will study how the Lord instructs us to pray. Each day we will take the same 1 specific prayer and pray for 1 minute at 1:00 and watch how the Lord transforms our prayers. I’m pretty excited about it all. I think it’s easy to forget how powerful prayer is and to take it for granted. Anywho, this article got long. That’s what’s happening here in Starkland! Love you peeps.
Kate Terch Blank
Uncle Mark
In all the years of the newsletter I think this will be the second article I have written. Anyway; Whats going on in my life? Enjoyed keeping Nora Grace and Adah Marie while Tricia and Tim went on vacation, and then keeping Anna while Joe and April had the flu. Got to find time to have a weekend with Bryan and hang out with Sonjay. Work keeps me in North Carolina most of the time. A little too far from home but Raleigh is a nice area with lots to do. Trying to get motivated to get my house ready to sell. Don’t need the headache of upkeep. Looking forward to 2018. Time to pick a USA destination for a trip. Been to Greece and Bora Bora the last two years and time to stay in the USA. Road trip to see those Dunne family’s out west? Disney World with grandkids? Maybe hitch a ride with Space X to Mars? Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today!
-Uncle Mark
Ryan and Anna
Hello Sweet Family,
I am taking a turn at writing our article (Anna), so it will be much cleaner and nicer than anything Ryan has ever written! We had so much fun seeing everybody at Christmas (other than Mike and Lucy 😦 but the facetime was awesome!)!! Since we got back to Denver we’ve been pretty busy with work and still trying to find a home Church. We’ve been to a few really good ones but Ryan is REAL REAL picky. Which can be a good thing I suppose. I’m ready to make a decision but I know The Lord is in control of this and we will find a church that we fall in love with and can really serve the city of Denver. We’ve also been doing the Whole30 with a few of yall and all I want is to eat pizza but I guess I can wait until February 5th to do that. Although, we’re kicking ourselves for starting it so late because, well, the SUPER BOWL is the 4th, so carrots for us. We were so excited to hear about baby Susie, that was such a nice January highlight. Ryan really wanted her to be late and make it the third January 24th birthday with him and MIke, but she was ready to enter this world and we are very happy about that! Speaking of birthdays, Ryan turned 27 yesterday and his birthday wish was to watch Lord of the Rings (nerd) and go to bed really late, which we paid for the next day. It was worth it though. For those that are curious, we are FINALLY hitting the slopes this weekend and we are ready for some skiing visitors!! We got some fresh pow this past Sunday (I can’t make that sound cool), but we are pumped and Ryan can’t stop talking about it, so I’m sure you will see some pictures grace various social media this weekend, so get excited!
We miss all of you very much and we pray that this year is full of blessings for all of you.
Love yall,
Anna and Ryan
Leigh Ann and Nik
Hey everyone!
Well, I can say that the new year began well for Tide fans! What an interesting football season it’s been. I was able to go to NOLA for the playoff game against Clemson and it was a blast (thanks Mom & Dad!). What more is needed with great food, football, and family to kick off the new year? So far I can’t complain.
As some of you know, I officially got accepted into UA’s child life program at the end of November, and so I have begun my last semester of classes before applying for an internship. Depending on when I get accepted for one will determine my graduation and when I take the exam as a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS). So please pray that I am diligent and focused these coming months. I have a lot of work ahead of me!
Nik probably has more going on than me right now. He just recently passed his CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) exam and that’s HUGE because it allows him to coach at multiple team levels. He’s keeping his eye out for positions in high schools up through D1 universities. He’s also about to enroll in UAB’s postbac program to fulfill science requirements for a kinesiology degree down the line (hopefully provided by the school at which he’s employed). That’s the plan, at least. We’re praying local opportunities present themselves. Also, by the time this article is sent out, he’ll have competed in his first, southern weightlifting competition in Madison, TN. Should be exciting!
I think that’s all for now. Love y’all!
-LA & Nik
Jennifer
Hello family,
You’re lucky I am still alive and able to write this letter.. Some girls in the family and I have been on the Whole30 diet for 15 days now and let me tell you, it isn’t easy(hints why I am barely alive)!!! Thankful for my family who hasn’t kicked me out of the house yet after all my complaining about it. Besides being hangry, I had a very busy end of December and January! It was filled with many fun things! After Christmas, me, susan, lulu, carol and LA headed to Callaway Gardens for the light show and bike riding! We spent the night in one of the cottages there and had a blast!! The perk of the trip was getting a free 16 pound bag of ice! Then after that fun trip, us girls and a few men in the family headed to New Orleans for a heck of a football game. Roll tide. The weather was frigid in Nola but nothing could keep me away from beignets! We even went and got midnight beignets after the game to celebrate. I had my hopes up after that trip that I would be getting a ticket to the National championship game, but was wrong.. it was a good thing though, because I ended up getting the stomach bug the day of the championship. I didn’t even watch half of the game which was a bummer but we won so that was a plus! Anyways, nothing new is going on with me. Same job. Same dwindling bank account. Same living situation. I am, however, about to start a small group with a couple of girls from my Home church next weekend, and I’m really looking forward to that. Hope all is well with everyone and I hope to see everyone soon!! Love you people. -jen
Lulu and Uncle Dennis
Hello People
It was great being with everyone over Christmas. Wish Mike and Lucy could have been here in person but at least we got to see their faces on a screen! It was especially nice to see Aunt Maddee. Thanks Tricia for bringing her to us!
As most of you know, Dennis surprised Caroline with 4 tickets to the Sugar bowl and she took Dennis Perry and me! It was a quick trip to the Big Easy but it sure was fun. We stayed within walking distance of both the French Quarter and the Superdome. The first thing we (we is Me Caroline Perry Susan Jennifer and Leigh Ann) did upon arrival was walk to Cafe du Monde for some beignets! It was what Caroline wanted to do because she had never been to NOLA. They were sooooo good. Our next meal was at a restaurant that Uncle Merritt recommended, Mandina’s on Canal Street. Dennis, Jeff, and Jeffrey had arrived from the delta and duck hunting by this meal. The food was outstanding! Thanks Uncle Merritt! We killed a few hours resting up in the hotel room before the New Years Eve fireworks show on the Riverwalk. It was a spectacular show. Not up to Disney World standards but good none the less! After the fireworks show, Leigh Ann told every body individually that she loved them so she would be the first person in 2018 to tell us she loved us. Love you too Leigh Annie!
Woke up New Year’s day in time to make our 1030 reservation at Court of Two Sisters for brunch. It was our last real meal in New Orleans and we made the most of it. We got to the stadium fairly early (530 for a 745 kick off) and since I have shared with you every meal we ate so far I will continue and tell you, we ate chicken fingers in the Superdome for dinner. The game was great even if Dennis did sit by a rather crazy Clemson fan that kept getting into his personal space and running a nonstop commentary on the game. He handled it well. I think my favorite part of being there was watching the awards ceremony and getting to watch what I wanted of it instead of what TV wanted to show. We were all pretty wound up after the game so what did we do but walk to Cafe du Monde for beignets! Great way to end a great weekend!
Dennis and I have been doing weight watchers and I am therefore trying to cook without cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup. Anyway I wanted to share a recipe I got online! If you like chinese food you will love this. And it is really easy! http://www.hungry-girl.com/email/recipe-makeovers/sheet-pan-cashew-chicken Sorry I tried to make it blue where all you would have to do is click on it but you will have to copy and paste to your browser. I am not very tech savvy
I love y’all!
Abbie and Trent
Hello Burgin family!
We sure do miss everyone and cannot wait until we are reunited again! Trent and I have really not done too much since the year has started! Trent has gone duck hunting and to Carrollton for a long weekend. I have survived my first case of pink eye and have managed so far to not get the flu. We have almost completed Whole30, which is a MIRACLE.Luckily Trent and I did not kill each other. Shout out to everyone else in the fam for sticking with it and for the support! We have also registered for a half marathon that we will be doing at the end of March. We have officially decided that we will be making our way “HOME” this summer and will be moving back to Birmingham.I am trying to see how many teaching license I can get in the across the country. Just kidding, but I am up to almost 4. We have absolutely LOVED Dallas and met some super great people(Praise the Lord for answering prayers and blessing us abundantly), but we are ready to be home and close to family. Please be in prayer for us as we search for jobs, look for a house, and as I apply for an Alabama teaching license. Before we move back early summer, we are planning a road trip to visit the out west Dunne’s! We will update you on that trip in the next newsletter! We love you all and are praying for each of you!
Morgan and Jeffrey
Hello all,
Morgan and I very much enjoyed the holidays with everyone. They flew by way too fast. I cant remember if we told everyone this last news letter and I’m sure most of you know already but we bought a house and have been living there for a little over a month now. It needs a lot of work and hopefully we can get it looking good enough to sell in the next year or so. We both have enjoyed sprucing it up so far. There have been some eventfully evenings where pools of water have mysteriously appeared in the basement (welcome to home ownership right?) but for the most part everything has been going pretty smooth.
Work wise things are the same for us. Morgan is still kicking butt helping people adopt kids from India and Haiti and I am still working for Harcon. We are still working on a parking deck in Tuscaloosa and have another job building a school building for UAB and two more in Auburn.
We love our church that we have gotten involved with (Grace Fellowship). We have been going there for around 5 months and are enjoying getting to know everyone.
I was thinking the other day about when I was going to see everyone next and I couldn’t think of a time before thanksgiving where we would all be together again. I propose a family wide beach trip in honor of Grandy this summer. I’ll leave it up to her children to plan that out.
Love all of you.
Morgan and Jeffrey
Helen and Cory
Hey family!
Today Susie is 2 weeks – yay! I was so ready for her to make her debut but now I’d like time to slow down:-) Let’s back up…. We had a wonderful Christmas here. Spent Christmas Eve with Cory’s family. Got to see my family Christmas Day. We missed the Aitcheson’s, Marshall and Raina but we did get to see Marshall and Raina at Grandy’s. We loved having Christmas at Grandy’s though Grandy is still missed, I’m sure by us all!
We spent New Years here with just our family of 4. We got the boys some poppers and the parachute fireworks. My parents came over on the first and helped us clean our house. They shampooed our carpets, helped us organize our toys, mop and really clean our kitchen floor, put up Christmas dishes, etc. we got so much done and I was so thankful!!
Then it was just waiting for Baby Susie. She came on her own time lol but she’s here and we are loving her. It’s late and I’ve tried to write this article all day lol. So Susie came on Jan 10 yay! We went home on the 12 and Luke got the stomach bug. Three days later Will and Cory got it. All had light cases but the stomach bug none the less. So I quarantined Susie and myself and thankfully we didn’t get it. The boys are super sweet and love their little sister. They don’t like when she cries but they love to hold her and kiss her.
Today, Jan 25, my grandfather went to be with Jesus. Thankfully we spent Sunday evening at their house. Got some pics of him with Susie 🙂 now just getting used to being a family of 5. Thankful for my moms help, my dads and Susan and Lulu!! I can’t keep my eyes open so hope this makes sense. Love to all!!!
Tricia and Tim
Happy New Year!
It was wonderful to see you all (the Aitchesons via FaceTime) over Christmas.
I am currently sitting in my living room moving Sanjae’s hand away from the keyboard every five seconds as I type this so please excuse any disjointed thoughts throuought this article. Also, Adah Marie is laying on the couch in the playroom with a throw up bucket as she is the second child to come down with the stomach bug in our house this week…pray for us, the stomach bug is the worst!
In other Duff news, Bryan is in the midst of soccer season and is happy to be playing defense all the time now. He is very aggressive and unafraid of charging another player coming towards him Edith the ball. Nora Grace and Adah Marie are still loving school and ballet. And poor fourth child Sanjae just has to tag along for everything (but she does get me all to herself every morning so that balances it out).
Tim is still training for the 50 mile race in Alabama in March. He is also frequently busy fixing random things around the house because homeownership is super fun (insert eye roll). As for me, I am preparing to start back a Bible Study on 1 Timothy. We only made it halfway in the fall and are hoping to finish in the spring. I am also gearing up to potty train Sanjae in the next week or so. She’s beyond ready, but I am not.
I think that’s enough mundane info for you all until the next newsletter.
Love you all!
The Duffs
Uncle Merritt and Net Net
Well life has been very busy since Christmas. Wasn’t it fun at Grandy’s. It was great to see everyone including FaceTiming the Aitchesons. It was great having Aunt Madee. Annette andI had a great visit with heron the way to Atlanta to drop her off at Pete and Donna’s. We toured their house and at pizza with them. We learned Pete got his pilot’s license after he retired from IBM.
We went from Atlanta on to Orlando to visit with the Aitchesons. We had a great visit. The girls opened their presents . They really loved the games . We played them numerous times while we were there. Lu, Susan others that got the great grandchildren gifts did a great job. Even though it was cold for Orlando we road bikes and played outside. To cold to go swimming though. We walked and rode bikes to the grocery store and bikes to a curb market. We got fresh corn at the curb market. The Aitchesons headed to Kentucky New Year’s Eve . We traveled together to Atlanta. When we stopped in Atlanta to get everybody in the right car and say goodbye we noticed the Aitchesons van had a tire going flat. It’s about 10 pm and we are at a Chevron station in down town Atlanta . There are several people hanging around outside and one of says he fixes tires . We sort of laugh at him and he says I really do I have a plugging kit right here and he pulls it out of his backpack.. We let him start to fix the tire and he noticed it had a bubble on it indicating the belts were separating and the tire was bad.So we unloaded the car enough to get the spare out and let him help put on the spare. He told us the name of a 24 hour tire store about 4 miles away where we got a used tire and had a few laughs with the guy changing the tire. It was an exciting ending to a great visit .
I am back at work in Cary where it has snowed twice this month 4” the first time and 8” the second time. Not much fun sitting around an apartment 600 miles away from home while it snows. The first time the set a record for 200+ hours below freezing .
As you know Annette’s Dad passed away yesterday morning. I am writing this on a plane headed back to Birmingham. What a great person he was. Full of fun and games and very serious about his commitment to Christ . I am very blessed to have father- in-law like Mr Ware was. He told me 39 years ago when I asked permission to marry his daughter that he did not feel like he was losing a daughter but gaining a son.
We also welcomed Susie into the world . What an amazing miracle a new birth is . I haven’t held her for 2 weeks now. Can’t wait to hold her this afternoon .
Remember “He can do exceedingly more than we can imangine”
Raina and Marshall
Good evening!!
Wow, I’m so excited and blessed to be a part of this big, beautiful, loving family. Marshall told me about these newsletters a couple years ago and I just think it’s so incredible. As you know from the wedding, my family is not very big but we sure do love big. I have enjoyed every step of this Burgin adventure and getting to know all the special people in Marshall’s life and now mine. There really are no words to express how grateful I (we) are for everyone’s love and support throughout our engagement up to the “I do”. We had so much fun celebrating with every one of you and hope you enjoyed yourselves too. Thank you for making it extra special.
So, I think I’m supposed to talk about what’s going on in this crazy, beautiful life.. Well, as you all know I am the Assistant Softball Coach at Delta State and the season is HERE! We leave for our first tournament next Thursday in Gulfshores! Fingers crossed for some decent weather because we have a really great spot on the beach and I wanna stick my toes in the sand AND my mom gets to come stay with me this particular trip, and I sure do love my mom-time. So, I’m currently preparing myself for season craziness, well aware that time will fly by.. so I just have to stay focused. I’m really looking forward to it because we have a great group of girls with EXTREMELY good chemistry. It hasn’t been this “together” since I played in 2012 and it’s really exciting to watch.
Marshall, Merritt and I went to Angel Fire, NM for a school ski trip over New Years and it was BEAUTIFUL!! We didn’t get to experience the 82 runs this mountain had to offer, in fact only 6 of them.. due to a rough season of NO SNOW, but it was still worth every penny and every minute of the 16 hr drive to and from. I am pretty sure I have become addicted to snowboarding even after being stuck on the biggest run for, 2 HOURS! I married a very patient man! Now, Marshall is away for the semester working with his dad and Uncle Mark. It’s a real stinker not having him here but we are doing great and it’s for the best right now. We are at a stand still on our masters and have started studying for the Praxis test to make our way towards enrolling for a masters in teaching. It is a one year program and will be a better fit for our dreams and lifestyle.
I think I am writing too much so I am going to close this up.. I know there are many more other articles to be read and I can’t wait to see what everyone is up to. RIGHT THIS MOMENT, Merritt is off tonight and working vigorously on his school work and quizzes. Marshall is on the road from NC to go meet my mom in Savannah Georgia where she is meeting him to hand Skylar over. =) My heart is so happy to get him back here keeping me company and for Summer to have her buddy back. Oh, and Marshall being gone isn’t all that bad, cause Merritt just cooked some BOMB spicy food for us. We get to eat all the onion and jalepenos we want now! I love you all and can’t wait for the next get together!! For you folks out West, we’re coming for you!!
** Oh and if you didn’t get a chance to check out any photos from the wedding because I am a procrastinator, here is the link: https://alitakesphotographs.pixieset.com/marshallraina/
Ali did a great job capturing you all dancing, laughing and hanging out. Go check it out! Download code is: 2000
Justin and Brittany
Hello Family,
It’s a pretty exciting life here in northern Utah. We are still loving our Church and continuing to learn about what it means to be a part of a church plant…… lots of volunteer opportunities. The longer we live in the Salty city the more Brittany and I notice the subtle dominance of the Mormon culture. Outside of the watered down beer, absurdly large families, and extreme lack of diversity, there appears to be lack of independent thought and general knowledge of anything outside of the Utah border. This does not surprise us now that we have dabbled in Latter Day Saint doctrine. Mormon leaders consolidate power and influence by being self proclaimed “prophets” and apostles” who are the standard for truth. However this “truth” is a moving target that depends on the thoughts of whoever happens to be the senile old white guy in charge at the time. No matter how absurd or radical the “Prophet’s” thoughts might be, you must not doubt. Doubting the words of the leader is equated to doubting the words of the living God, and therefore makes you subject to excommunication from the majority of society. This inability to question and wrestle with truth appears to permeate the entire life of the average Mormon. And why wouldn’t it? Everything from their relationship with God to appropriate social norms are determined by those in charge. The result of this is a cookie cutter people. Despite being extremely kind and polite, they are void of diversity and freedom in Christ. The enslavement of the Mormon church is similar to the enslavement of the secular world, to quote C.S. Lewis, the average Mormon, like the secular man, is “like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.”
That’s enough pontificating for me. Quick update: Brittany is being her typical super woman self and working, in school, taking care of all of the house hold stuff, etc. I just work, dream about skiing, and ski. We’re all adults here so I will just go ahead and say it, skiing is truly the most fun you can have with clothes on.
Looking forward to having some visitors! I am thinking a Burgin family Western road trip? If you draw a 7 hour radius from Salt lake there are about 8 national parks! Think about it.
-Justin and Brittany.
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