Pearl and her new fascination with clothes

Pearl started a cute mannerism the other day. She will pull dirty laundry out of her laundry basket and take it with her everywhere and play with it. She's still not into stuffed animals, but by golly she likes clothes.

-Nat

The Beach

I recently got back from a trip to the Oregon coast to visit my sister. My mom and aunts were there as well so it turned into an estrogen controlled vacation. Since Pearl was the only baby, she became the center of attention almost everywhere we went. She loves getting her picture taken though, so that part was fun for her. We stayed near Newport and saw the beach (although the water was freakin' cold), a lighthouse, a whale, the Aquarium, and the grocery store. We loved our condo because it had a hot tub. Pearl even loved the hot tub. It gave me something to do with her when she woke up at 6am and everyone else was still asleep. She would splash all the bubbles around her. Pearl particularly liked the sand on the beach. Here are some pics.

-Nat

Scottish Festival

A few weeks ago Bry and I attended a world-famous Scottish/Irish Festival in Estes Park. I had the time of my life! There were so many men and even women wearing kilts. Bryan wore his kilt and it was cool that he actually blended in this time. The higlight was listening to a huge bagpipe band from Scotland all play in unison. Scottish people have interesting sports as well. Before they had modern technology and sports, they used to compete with their trades. The blacksmiths would see how far they could throw hammers, the lumberjacks would see how far they could toss logs, the stone masons would see how far they could toss stones. The festival had these sporting events as well. The participants even had to wear kilts while competing. The most interesting one was the log tossing or as it is officially called "caber toss." The video upload function is freaking out on me so I can't include any of my videos, but here are some pictures.

-Nat

Fun in CA

Last week we visited Bryan's brother and sister in southern California for 5 days as a "Burningham Family Reunion." Bryan's parents rented an RV and drove us all there from the Salt Lake Airport. Riding in an RV is a very unique experience. I felt like we were driving a fifteen foot tall wall down the highway. I was amazed that we were able to reach 70 mph considering the lack of aerodynamics. I get carsick easily so I ended up in shotgun most of the time. Pearl had the time of her life crawling around and entertaining everyone. The highlights of the trip for me were jet skiing in the ocean with Bryan as he jumped mammoth waves (I squealed a lot), swing dancing with Brenen, and seeing Pearly destroy her birthday cake (video posted earlier.) We love Bry's siblings and parents so it was just plain fun to hang out with them. Bryan's parents had us wear tye dyed shirts for the reunion. Here are a few pics:

Pearly in the ocean with Mari.

Pearly pulling Grandpa's mustache.

The tye dyed clan minus Brenen.


Grandma having a serious discussion with Pearl.

-Nat

Our Japanese Friends

We know some really great Japanese people. I homestayed with them when I was an exchange student in high school. There are two couples; the Aoyamas and the Taguchis. They came all the way from Japan to visit us a few weeks ago and we had a wondeful time. Whenever they come to the United States they are always shocked at how large everything is, including food portions. They would always have to share meals at restaurants so they wouldn't waste food. They took pictures of the long line of check-out isles at Target because it took up so much space.

Here is a picture of us in front of "Domo" restaurant. It was so popular we didn't get in until the second time we came.

This is Bryan sitting in front of the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. We visited with the Aoyamas over the weekend and had a blast. The Stanley is famous for being the site "The Shining" was filmed.

We took the Aoyamas inside of Rocky Mt. National Park and hiked around a bit until it rained on us. Here is a picture in front of Bear Lake.

We all rode the Georgetown Loop Railroad. Mr. Taguchi is a railroad enthusiest so I think he enjoyed it the most. The ride was full of beautiful outdoor canyon scenery. I would recommend it.

We were very sad when they had to go back to Japan. We feel we love them and miss them very much.

-Nat