Burnett___Family-O-Rama

Hey Everyone! Gong Xi Fa Chai!
(That means "Happy New Year" in Chinese.)

Althea here with a little update on the Burnett family. Mom's been rather . . . well . . . less than ideally up-to-date lately with the blog.
Add to that the strange sequence whereby our Christmas Letter turned into an Epiphany Letter, then suddenly it was Lent! I realized she was going to need my help.

So I'm going to catch you up all up to speed. (Watch out though, my preferred speed is fast!)

Quick update on the folks. They are both pastors at "Our Church" as I like to call it. While I play in the nursery with my many friends, they talk and sing in the big room. It's my favorite place to run after church is over--I head right for the front. I can't wait until it's my turn to lead everything!

Daddy is also a teacher at his school--Augustana College, which is right next door to my school. Mommy says to tell you all that he is teaching Ethics and administering the Bioethics Program, whatever that means. I like his office--it's full of fun stuff--especially post-it notes!

2007 was a very big year for the folks, since it was their first full year with me!


Let me tell you, it often took all my organizational skills to keep this family on track!




Now it's time to tell you a little bit about me (with illustrative photos of course).

Well, I've become quite the little bibliophile in the last year. I love reading books! While I've tried and tried to branch out into reading Victorian era authors, my parents seem determined to restrict me to books with pictures!

What I'm reading lately:
* How Does a Dinosaur Eat His Food? by Jane Yolen
* If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
* Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

I've also developed my own fashion sense.
And although I love dollies and can "princess" with the best of them, I'm also into tractors! My FAVORITE shirt is my John Deere tractor shirt. I'm also extremely fond of trucks and dirt.
Can we make a mess?
YES WE CAN!



And although the last few days have been SOOO COLD ( I come in saying "brr, brr, brr!"), I still find winter very cool indeed. Here's a snowman mommy and I made one day. The folks were trying to show me how to roll a big snowball, but that didn't work. They said it was too cold to "pack properly," but I think that was just an excuse. Mom got out some bowls and we managed to pack together a cute little guy.





When new snow falls, I'm at the ready, thanks to the very lax child labor laws of South Dakota.

Actually, I love to help daddy "shubble" snow. Really . . . come to think of it . . . I just like helping with most anything: dishes, laundry, changing my own diaper. (Mommy says I'm not quite up to this yet, but I disagree.)





I like to work, but I also love to play--peek-a-boo, pretending to be a choo-choo train, propelling a slinky down the stairs.

I also enjoy a nice evening out. Here's a picture of me dressed up to go out on a date with my daddy. He's already got a book about how to interview boys that want to go out with me. Silly daddy! But I sure do love him!









We had a really fun Christmas time. I only opened one or two presents a day for the whole 12 days of Christmas. that gave me time to really have fun with all my new toys and books.
Like the poncho? Stylin', n'est-ce pas?

But of course, Christmas isn't really about the presents. It's about Baby Jesus! You see, there was an angel who visited Mary, then she and Jo-phis went on a long journey, but there was NO ROOM at the inn (I raise my index finger for emphasis at this point). But they went out to the barn and then suddenly there is Baby Jesus! More angels fly around singing and people come to visit him.
Our church told the story again this year. And again I was typecast as a "Townsperson" with my mommy and daddy. But I did get to go into the barn and see the Baby Jesus for a long time (contemplative adoration, my mom calls it).

Next year, I'm going for the angel gig!


Love to all of you!
And a Very Happy New Year!

Althea



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