The canibal's pot

At the cabin Micahel has this amazing hot tub right out in the middle of the woods. Made of cedar planks, the sides expand and become water tight. It is heated by a metal box that sits right in the water in which a fire is built. I put in too much wood (?) and the water got quite hot- we joked that we felt like a cannibal was cooking us in his pot. Jenn holding Paige, Jeff, Brin and Caroline.

Montanna

We spent the weekend in Montana at the cabin of Libby and Michael Brady (Jeff's Aunt and Uncle). While there we rode quads, hiked, "fished" ate, played games and had a generally perfect time. Here we are at the field at the top of the 1300 acre valley Michael owns- it was quite a climb up on the trails. If you were to continue straight through the trees in the background you would fall into quite a deep valley. Jeff carried Gracie in the hiker on his back and the girls loved riding along. Caroline was quite the driver by the end of the weekend.

Is that what they teach in Sunday School these days???

Caroline was playing school with Paige and Brin and wrote this on the white board for them. hmmmmmm......

Brin and Caroline

Caroline's new thing is "not smiling" in photos.

fun on the tramp

blurry photo- this is a nightly cry we hear from the two girls "daddy-will you bounce us!?!?!?"

These people are good looking!

Caroline is Nine!

Caroline Nicole Burke is now nine years old! We celebrated with Sunday dinner at our house and invited family (grandma Beverly, Uncle Jordan and his "special friend" Janette, and Aunt Heather). Caroline requested and Olive Garden menu complete with salad, mozzerella, tomatoes and basil, bread, and shrimp alfredo. For her cake Caroline wanted a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting- a family favorite. Gifts for the nine year old included and American Girl doll (Molly), earrings, cool boots and a jogging suit from mommy, and two outfitts and barbie clothes from Grandma. Great memories to celebrate one of the greatest births ever!

The US Open

Here is Jeff at the US Open. We loved watching the small events almost as much as the big matches. Here we are up close at the Junior Boys doubles semi-finals. Those kids are amazing! We also loved the wheelchair competitions, junior girls' singles semis, womens' doubles quarter finals, and men's quarter finals. Sadly we never saw Roger Federer (my boyfriend in my next life) play.

Lady Liberty

Jeff and I saw the finer sites of New York city the weekend of September 4th-8th. Here I am in front of the Statue of Liberty. What isn't deptcted is the blistering heat and humidity. You'd think this Arizona native could better tolerate it. After standing in the hour and a half line and enduring the toughest security I've ever seen we climbed to the base and toured the museum inside. Now I can say I've done it. What was even cooler was Ellis Island. We really enjoyed the tour with a fantastic and dramatic tour guide. (I have a feeling he moved east to make it on Braodway but keeps this day job until he makes it big). Other highlights include seeing Mary Poppins the Disney musical, Spamalot, shopping on Canal St. and seeing Jeff's brother Jordan and his super-fancy office at Bloomberg news (celebrity siting- Alan Alda!). Of course we loved going to the US Open- more photos to follow.