2009 in Pictures

Snow Pictures

2010-02-10T17:51:00.009-05:00

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T10:56:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas from the Burton Family!

We hope this letter finds you and your family full of Christmas joy. We have much to be joyous about! This has been a year of changes and activity for our family. Here are some highlights.

School

Luke graduated from home school in June and is now a freshman at the local branch of OSU, thinking about majoring in engineering. Nathan continues his college adventure as a sophomore at Grace College in Indiana, majoring in environmental biology. Katrina is taking a few college courses herself and his hoping to eventually make it into the nursing program. She also continues to home school Caleb (11th), Grace (9th), and Alina (7th). In the spring, we wrapped up our studies of the 20th century world. Our most exciting school event (besides the last day of school) was a guest presentation by a WWII vet who shared about his experiences as a paratrooper in the D-Day invasion, as well as other adventures in the European theater. This year, we are studying ancient history and space & earth science together. We can't find any live presenters from that time period, though.

Music

Part of our schooling experience is our home school band, which we love! Alina's trumpet skills and Grace's flute skills have developed greatly this year. Caleb heads up the percussion section, and Luke continues to play in the saxophone section. One of the benefits of it being a home school band is that he can continue even though he is in college now. And parents are welcome to play as well, so Katrina enjoys participating, even though she graduated many years ago! Before graduating, Luke participated in the steel drum band that traveled to Virginia Beach for a steel drum festival.

Grace and Alina have joined a home school choir this fall and h ave enjoyed singing songs such as the "William Tell Overture" with the group. Bum Ba da bum. Ba da bum . . .

4-H

Alina and Grace both participated in 4-H this year and did very well. Alina's fishing project was graded superior and was selected for state fair. Grace got superiors on her projects of mentoring and gardening as well. They also did a group project that portrayed life in the Middle Ages.

Drama

Our home school group has a drama class that the girls are in and Luke is a technician for. They performed "Taming of the Shrew," "Magician's Nephew" (where Grace was the tree), and "The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood," which were all quite entertaining. They are currently working on a production called, "Larceny and Old Lace."

Art

Another activity that Grace and Alina really enjoy is art class with some of the more artistic moms in our home school group. Since their own mother has little artistic ability, she is glad others are willing to share theirs with our children.

Hunting

Alina decided to try her hand at bow hunting this fall, and shot her first deer.

Rockets

In the spring, Luke's rocket team was selected as national finalists in the TARC competition which took place near Washington, D.C. We made a family trip out to watch the team compete.

Vacation

Speaking of trips, we went camping and boating for a few days this summer with Katrina's sisters and had a blast getting rained on . . . a lot of rain . . . rain, rain, rain. It did stop raining during the day for us to get in a good bit of waterskiing, tubing, wake boarding, etc. Did I mention that our tents were completely soaked? Camping is an adventure!

Camping

A highlight for Caleb this year was a rustic campout with a friend and their dads. They enjoyed roughing it for a weekend.

Jobs

If we didn't have jobs, we couldn't fund the trips and activities. We are all grateful for the jobs we have. Kris still works for Cardinal Health, testing and automating software. Nathan has a job in the cafeteria on campus during the school year and works at Kroger when he's home. Luke also works at Kroger, but since he lives at home, he keeps working there year round. Katrina helps a friend take care of her elderly mother-in-law for a few hours each week. And of course, there's always plenty of work to be done around home, which everyone pitches in to help with. Oh, and did I mention that Luke is a fantastic chauffeur for many of his sisters' activities? Now that Caleb has his license, he gets to help out with transportation, too.

Ministry

One very exciting event for our family was our ministry trip to Kentucky this summer. A group from our church went to help a sister church in the Appalachian Mountains, and our whole family went along. We (the guys) cut down and chopped up several huge trees, cleaned up the gounds surrounding the church, cleaned the inside of the building, visited shut-in members of the church, hosted a wiener roast, and did many other odd jobs that needed to be done around the church. Our group was very hard-working and joyful to be around. We were blessed to help meet the needs of others.

After 20 years, Katrina has retired from coaching Bible quizzing. She seems to have replaced that activity with three more, though. (How does that happen?) Katrina and Grace both play in the orchestra now. Kris serves as an elder and sometimes teaches Sunday school. We were involved with women's ministry, Bible studies, nursery, technical support, youth group, fall pumpkin festival, the "Wonder of Christmas" production, and missionary support.

Now you can all stop wondering what the Burton family has been up to! We send our wishes to you for a very merry Christmas and a wonderful 2010!

~~The Burton Family~~

Kris, Katrina, Nathan, Luke,

Caleb, Grace, and Alina

just in case you're wondering

2009-09-23T15:33:00.001-04:00

I quit posting photos because the camera quit working. Hopefully, I'll be able to buy a new one soon.

Taking a Bow

2009-04-17T22:35:00.000-04:00

Horse & Rider in the Air

2009-04-17T22:30:00.000-04:00

Levade

2009-04-17T22:25:00.000-04:00

Prancing

2009-04-17T22:20:00.000-04:00

In the Air

2009-04-17T22:15:00.000-04:00

Synchronization

2009-04-17T22:10:00.000-04:00

Excited Girls

2009-04-17T22:05:00.000-04:00

Horse Power

2009-04-17T22:00:00.000-04:00

Drops & Crystals

2009-04-07T20:00:00.001-04:00

Winter Mixed with Spring

2009-04-07T19:52:00.000-04:00

Spring Hyacinths

2009-04-05T22:00:00.000-04:00

Fresh Dirt

2009-04-05T21:55:00.000-04:00

A friend plowed and disked the garden for us. Love the fresh dirt smell!

Twisting Vine

2009-04-05T20:50:00.001-04:00

Springing to Life

2009-04-05T20:45:00.000-04:00

Completed Project

2009-03-26T16:26:00.000-04:00

Old Nest

2009-03-26T16:23:00.000-04:00

First Bloom

2009-03-22T21:09:00.000-04:00

Down the Road

2009-03-22T20:08:00.000-04:00

Mosses

2009-03-21T21:10:00.001-04:00

Bubbling Brook

2009-03-21T21:00:00.002-04:00

Shallow Reflections

2009-03-21T20:50:00.001-04:00

Curly Grass

2009-03-21T20:40:00.001-04:00

Fallen

2009-03-21T20:30:00.001-04:00

Do You See It?

2009-03-21T20:20:00.002-04:00

Tiny bit of life in the darkness

Fungus

2009-03-21T20:10:00.000-04:00

Tangle

2009-03-21T20:00:00.000-04:00

18 Candles

2009-03-20T22:35:00.000-04:00

Texture

2009-03-17T22:33:00.000-04:00

Reflections & Shadows (along with a couple of geese)

2009-03-17T21:18:00.000-04:00

Signs of Spring

2009-03-15T20:14:00.000-04:00

Game Time

2009-03-14T22:18:00.000-04:00

Three on Three playing Age of Empires

Quizzers!

2009-03-14T20:13:00.000-04:00

This is my quiz team who won second place in their division for our district. Way to go, girls!!

Hiking Group

2009-03-09T18:07:00.000-04:00

Inverse Photos

2009-03-09T18:02:00.003-04:00

I took these pictures one right after the other, only changing my direction slightly. Now that I look at them, I realize they are inverse pictures of each other. There's the upside-down V tree in the first one and the V space between the trees in the second.

Criss-Cross

2009-03-07T12:41:00.000-05:00

Circle of Friends

2009-03-07T12:40:00.000-05:00

Twelve-Thirty Shadow

2009-03-07T12:38:00.002-05:00

Artificial Spring

2009-03-02T21:59:00.001-05:00

The flowers are real, but they didn't grow outside anywhere around here. It's still winter here. Today it got up to 17!

Shrapnel

2009-02-28T07:31:00.002-05:00

This is a piece of very jagged metal removed from the soldier's leg. He still has several pieces of shrapnel in his body and sets off metal detectors at airports.

WWII Mementos

2009-02-28T07:28:00.001-05:00

These are some of the mementos our friendly WWII vet shared with us. The tank-like model is what they called a weasel. The airplane is the type of plane he jumped out of.

WWII Veteran

2009-02-28T07:23:00.003-05:00

This WWII veteran told us many stories of his experiences in the war. He was a paratrooper, dropped behind enemy lines, in the D-Day invasion of Normandy. He was also in the "Battle of the Bulge" in Belgium and helped to liberate villages in Holland.

February Thaw

2009-02-26T16:03:00.000-05:00

Jet Streams

2009-02-26T16:02:00.000-05:00

2-minute View

2009-02-23T18:18:00.000-05:00

Mission Accomplished!

2009-02-22T17:27:00.002-05:00

You know how it is when you have one of those "big" tasks hanging over your head? It needs to be done when you have enough time to get from start to finish without major interruption. Defrosting, cleaning out, and organizing the freezer was one of those tasks. We did it Saturday, and it sure feels good to have it done! It's also nice to know what's in the freezer and exactly where to find it. :)

New Steps

2009-02-20T13:27:00.000-05:00

Colors!

2009-02-18T17:11:00.000-05:00

Let's Do Numbers!!

2009-02-17T12:46:00.001-05:00

Glorious Sunshine!

2009-02-16T20:25:00.000-05:00

Country Road

2009-02-16T20:23:00.000-05:00

Streaming Sunlight

2009-02-16T20:16:00.001-05:00

School Project

2009-02-14T09:23:00.001-05:00

Homework

2009-02-13T18:02:00.000-05:00

Driveway Ruts

2009-02-12T16:10:00.002-05:00

Blue & White Sky

2009-02-12T16:08:00.001-05:00

Whip in the Wind

2009-02-12T16:03:00.000-05:00

one year old

2009-02-11T22:38:00.000-05:00

Split

2009-02-06T21:05:00.002-05:00

New Table

2009-02-04T22:19:00.002-05:00

Blast from the Past

2009-02-03T15:05:00.002-05:00

I didn't take this picture, but I *did* scan it. :)
My job was to be photogenic. :)

Wild Turkeys

2009-02-03T09:57:00.007-05:00

A flock of about 50 wild turkeys walked through our yard and woods this morning. I "captured" these through the living room window.

Across the Field

2009-02-02T20:04:00.000-05:00

Sparkly Snow

2009-01-31T10:09:00.000-05:00

Sparkle

2009-01-30T17:02:00.002-05:00

Snowy Sentinel

2009-01-29T13:48:00.001-05:00

Not Going Anywhere

2009-01-28T16:43:00.000-05:00

Icicles

2009-01-28T16:42:00.002-05:00

Encased

2009-01-28T10:47:00.000-05:00

Sunday Sunrise

2009-01-25T18:38:00.002-05:00

Red

2009-01-23T20:35:00.003-05:00

Blue Sky

2009-01-22T16:25:00.002-05:00

Frosty Morning

2009-01-21T09:15:00.001-05:00

Out My Window

2009-01-20T22:56:00.002-05:00

Snow Shadows

2009-01-16T17:56:00.002-05:00

White

2009-01-15T21:59:00.000-05:00

Sunrise

2009-01-14T19:50:00.000-05:00

Snowy Day

2009-01-13T22:31:00.001-05:00

Have a Seat???

2009-01-12T19:16:00.002-05:00

Snow Macro

2009-01-11T19:56:00.002-05:00

Ice!

2009-01-10T23:58:00.001-05:00

Game Time

2009-01-09T21:49:00.003-05:00

Library Haul

2009-01-08T22:53:00.000-05:00

Freezing Fountain

2009-01-07T21:27:00.000-05:00

Luke's Masterpiece

2009-01-06T20:11:00.001-05:00

Sunlight Breaking Through (Barely)

2009-01-05T18:55:00.001-05:00

Into the Fog

2009-01-04T18:27:00.002-05:00

Fresh Creativity for a New Year

2009-01-03T19:03:00.003-05:00

I made this dishcloth on the 1st, used it on the 2nd, and photographed it on the 3rd. It's had a busy life already. ;) One of my goals for this year is to take more time to create and be creative. My three favorite ways (right now) to be creative are photography, sewing, and crocheting. I am least skilled in photography. :)

Winter View

2009-01-02T18:41:00.000-05:00

New Year Sparkle

2009-01-02T00:39:00.000-05:00