Halloween Pictures

Yay for Halloween!

I just love Halloween. This year was so much fun because Nate could finally trick-or-treat! Last year we'd just moved to Kansas City (I think we'd been here two or three days) and so we didn't know which areas were safe to take Nate out. This year we met all our friends and had pizza dinner before trick-or-treat-ing. It was pretty cold, and so we didn't last too long, but what fun anyways. My favorite part of it all was making my own costume to match Nate's. He was the race car Lightning McQueen and I was a part of the pit crew. It was totally appropriate, since I ended up carrying his car costume most of the way!!! What a fun night. And we have enough candy to last us until at least next year!!!

Surprise Cruise

Some of you know that my dad got a new job. In Cleveland, Ohio. He'll be moving there this weekend and the rest of the family will move next Spring after the kids are done with school. So, my dad had a few weeks between jobs and decided that it would be a great time for a family vacation. Essentially, my parents called me on Tuesday and mentioned that they were looking into taking the family on a cruise. I honestly didn't think anything would come of it, but the next day they let me know they'd booked a last-minute cruise that would be leaving SATURDAY! So we rushed to get to Texas and we had the most wonderful time on our cruise to Cozumel and Progreso. It was so great to have everyone together (everyone except Adam, he wasn't able to be there). Nate loved being with his aunts and uncles and of course, cousin Eli. We enjoyed great food and warm sun...it was divine!

I know we're spoiled! My parents are so good to us. They could've gone by themselves, but instead were gracious enough to take all of us. What a great way to escape from our reality (which has hit me hard since we got back this weekend!)

Anyways, enjoy some pics of our trip. Thanks for checking in with us!

Spoiled Rotten!

Mommy and Nate in our jammies...
Enjoying the cruise!
Grandpa Busath and Nate at dinner
Angela, Eli, Nate, Jeff
Our first few moments on the ship, in Galveston

Paradise Beach in Cozumel

Making a sand castle--"Don't step on mine castle, mommy!"
Okay, so that is Nate jumping on a floating trampoline in the middle of the ocean. And the guy in the green kayak is telling my sister Ali to get him off--he didn't pay the $8 fee!

Nate with my siblings--Angela, Jeff, Thomas

While we were at port in Cozumel, we took advantage of the shopping (you can never have too many souveniers that will break before you get them home!) and we also went to Paradise Beach. It was really great, the weather was incredible, and we had the most delicious Mexican food at an open-air restaurant right on the beach. Definitely my favorite time of the whole cruise!

Deerfield Ward Trunk-or-Treat

Nate and his uncle Jeff

Nate as Buzz Ligtyear

We had such a fun time getting into the Halloween spirit for my parents' ward party in San Antonio. Nate was really upset that he didn't have his Lightning McQueen costume, so I had to convince him that this wasn't the "real" Halloween and it was just a party. After much persuasion, he agreed to go as Buzz Lightyear from the movie Toy Story. I think he ended up being pretty happy about it, though, as the candy started to fill his bag! His uncle Jeff went as a "Skater Dude" and the first picture is of the two of them in my parents' front yard. Notice how much Nate wants to be like his uncle---he even has his tongue out like uncle Jeff! So much concentration! We're just really looking forward to the REAL Halloween!

Much Better

Nate with his cousin Elijah: "No, he loves it when I do this!"
Enjoying being naughty!
So I'm feeling a lot better and actually feel dumb that I made a blog post about being sick. I guess my life is so boring!! :) To make up for it, I've posted some pics of my little sweetheart. (That's what you're here for, right?!?!)

Sick As A Dog

I don't really know what that means, but if a dog gets really sick, then we have something in common. I think I'm experiencing the first flu wave of the season. And it sucks! Friday night I started to feel a little congested, and luckily Saturday was a good day. I was able to go on a temple trip with the Relief Society of my ward. We got a mini charter bus and took all day to go to the St. Louis temple. It was great. And almost as soon as we got home, I started to feel it coming on. I spent yesterday in bed and today I've been just yucky. Oh well. I guess every momma has to get sick sometime! :) Nate's been loving the time he's been given to watch TV all day. So, he's not complaining!
Adam is in Canada and we miss him so much. November can't come fast enough!
Nate is going to be Lightning McQueen for Halloween this year. It's the red car from the movie CARS. That is absolutely his favorite movie of all time, and so there was no other option for Halloween: it had to be Lightning McQueen! I'll post pictures of it, of course, when we get everything together. Until then, my apologies for the picture-free blog postings :) I know you all can't get enough of Nate's face........

Shocking!

Okay, so the shock that I've been living with over the past few weeks has finally worn off, and I am calm enough to share some big news. Adam quit his job. After Hurricane Katrina and the stress of switching programs, things just never seemed to get better. He was quite frankly, miserable. After a year of wondering if he was doing the right thing, and me telling him daily to just "make it through one more day," he decided that it was time to stop wasting everyone's time. I had been pushing it and trying my best to encourage him to keep going, but after a year, I knew I had to just let go and let him follow his heart. Which is not, by the way, in the specialty of urology. It was painful. It still is painful. But I know that the Lord is guiding our lives and something good will come of this. I am really sad to leave Kansas, though. I was finally becoming comfortable with our lives here. We'd found a house we were going to rent for the rest of Adam's residency. I'd made great friends, and Nate had, too. I guess that was the clue--all our lives we've been permitted to be comfortable to a small extent, and then bam! time to move on! I want to be clear about this though (which will answer a lot of questions): Adam has not quit medicine, per se. But he is most certainly done with urology. He will be looking for another residency spot to open up, and if it is the will of the Lord, he will just simply change specialties. It may be more complicated than that, but I'm an optimist. He left three days ago for Canada, where he will be working for his dad until he can figure out what he wants to do, or until a residency spot opens. Nate and I will most likely join him at the end of November. Between now and then, I've been given the responsibility of selling our things (pretty much everything) and getting ready for an international move. We have to get visas, and passports. We have to mentally prepare ourselves for this.
Okay, so...I sound so okay because I'm not allowing myself any emotions right now. It would be like cracks in a dam...bursting is inevitable! So, to prevent a total meltdown, I put a smile on my face and I just go on. I pray, I beg, I grovel at the feet of the Lord for a miracle. That somehow, our path will straighten out sometime. We've had one of the most eventful five-year spans in the history of time! :) But all along, we've been blessed. We've been strengthened. And in the end, I think that it comes down to being more prepared to serve others because we've had a wide range of experiences. I know what it is like to be up, down, rich, poor, prideful, humble, faithful, doubting, happy, sad, comfortable, uncomfortable...and I can only hope that the experience I'm gaining through my twists and turns on the straight and narrow path will be of use to the kingdom of God. I have to hold on to that.
In the middle of this, I'm becoming more aware of how blessed I am to have amazing friends and tremendous family. I am so richly blessed to have people in my life that remind me of what I need to focus on. And I am also aware of what a blessing the Church is. Wherever we go, we know that someone will be there, and that the Church will be there, and good people will be waiting in a ward family, with open arms and hopefully open hearts. What a powerful thought that is.
Okay, now I'm rambling. Thanks for listening! :)

We're Back!

We got back from Salt Lake City today. It was so hard to leave. I could've had two more weeks there and still not have done everything on my list! Oh well. We packed a lot into the six days we were there. Below is a little sampling of what we did. I hope you don't get too bored with the tons of photos. I won't be offended if you don't look at everything! :) Thanks for checking in with us. Keep coming back...we're just getting started with this blog thing!!!

Morgan Farm

My uncle Steve married a great gal named Mary. Mary is from Layton and her parents have a farm there. We were so fortunate to be able to visit them, and take Nate to the Morgans' farm. He absolutely loved it. Steve's good friend Steve Lambert brought his family, too, and Nate and Jacob became instant friends. Here they are "feeding" the cows (throwing hay at them), and taking a ride on the farm truck. They also fed the fish, and fed the horses and ponies green apples from the tree. Nate was really nervous about feeding the horses. Every time he'd get up the nerve, he'd drop the apple at the last second. But seriously, this is a farm in every sense of the word. They have every fruit you can imagine growing there--grapes, apples, peaches, pears. Lots of cows, a few horses, and the most beautiful property I've ever seen. What a treat to visit there, and they didn't even charge admission!!! :)

Pioneer Village

We took Nate and a couple cousins to the Pioneer Village. We had a great time seeing the old homes and learning about school in pioneer times, as well as visiting the blacksmith. Nate really loved seeing the animals, too. What a fun day with Grams! (my Grandma Burnett)

Busath Family

Dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Busath's home is always a highlight of our trip. This time, the barbeque we'd planned got rained out, and so grandma and grandpa had to improvise! We were laughing until the hail started to pound grandpa as he tried to barbeque in the rain! Oh well, the barbeque was inside, but we had a great time anyways!

Burnett cousins

Just some photos from our time with my cousins, on my mom's side. We went to the park, and on another day we had dinner at Steve and Mary's.

Priceless Treasures

Visiting Utah is not just a time for seeing family, but also a chance to catch up with dear friends. Here are two pictures of lunch dates with two of my best friends from days of yore :) Marci Ellingson Rodee was one of my best friends my senior year of high school. She'd moved from Canada to San Antonio and gave me such a good impression of Canucks that I married one :) (Adam thanks you, Marci!) Kerstin Lundgren Bean was one of my best friends growing up. She was certainly one of my first Texas friends. I think we met in 1991. I hadn't seen either of these great girls (are we girls anymore? maybe sometimes!) in over five years. And, they're both expecting their first child! Yay for new mommies! And yay for friendships that stand the test of time. I love you both!

Salt Lake Temple

There is more than one reason that I love the Salt Lake Temple. Adam and I were sealed there, but so were my parents, both sets of grandparents, and several sets of great-grandparents. To me, heaven rests in the temple, most specifically the Salt Lake Temple. So, I got a little silly and started to take pictures while I was there. And being the addicted photographer that I am, I came home with about 100 pictures of the Salt Lake Temple. Here are some of my favorites. Keep in mind, these are huge files and to shrink them to fit on this blog, a lot of quality of image is lost. Someday I'll have an Emily Murdock Photography website to showcase them properly! :)

Millcreek Canyon

One of my favorite Burnett family traditions is Millcreek Canyon. We've hiked, we've picnic-ed, we've soaked up the beauty of this canyon, which is just east of Salt Lake City. Every year we visit, it seems a trip up Millcreek is a must! Well, our little Murdock family decided to take a short hike at the end of Millcreek Canyon. It took us a little longer to get to the top than we thought (um, because of the altitude...right!), and we were less than a mile from the summit when it started to rain buckets. By the time we got back to the car, we were soaked, cold, and muddy. Oh well. Here are some pics from before the rain fell on this ill-fated adventure.