Burke Blog

Hi Everyone!! I hope everyone's Summer has been wonderful. It has been so fun to see a lot of you!! Well after much pressure, Brendan and I started a blog . .so feel free to check out our blog at: http://brendanandnikkiburke.blogspot.com/

I hope everyone is doing great!! Love to all!! ~Nikki.

David and The Bear

So while we were at Stephen's wedding, the famous story of David and The Bear came up again. Interestingly enough, it was first mentioned by David himself - not a word was mentioned by Nikki until David brought it up. As I was remembering the story again later, I thought about the horrible story of a little boy who was recently killed by a bear here in Utah. It was a very rare occurrence, but I figured that David does have an excuse to use when hearing the story told again and again. The only thing he won't be able to live down is the fact that he ran right past Nikki in his attempt to get away as fast as he could from the "bear."

I heard that Stephen and Nicole had quite a time while in Jamaica. I was sorry to hear that it had to be shortened but relieved to know they were able to get out OK. It would be great to hear how things went for them.

Love to you all!
Kasey

Another trip to Haiti

We took another trip to Haiti last week. This time Morgan went with me so he could meet our daughter. He had a wonderful time and he and Layla bonded very quickly. She was calling him Papa a few minutes after they met.
She loved playing with her Papa. He would growl at her and she would come screaming and squealing to me to be safe. It was very fun to watch them interact and know that soon it would be like that forever!
Morgan loved interacting with all of the kids at the orphanage. He became popular fast. As soon as we stepped into the orphanage each morning, the kids were yelling, "Papa Layla, Papa Layla!" (They call us Papa Layla and Mama Layla).
It is very sobering to go to a place like Haiti and realize how many blessings we truely have in America. Morgan got to meet all the people I tried to tell him about and see for himself the good those people are doing. It is an inspiring place with so many inspired people! We resolved to try harder to do as much good as we can with the blessings we have been given -- to seek out opportunities to help others. The Haitians have a saying that help them explain why some have so much and others have very little or none at all. It goes something like, "God gives, but he doesn't share" -- meaning that it is up to us who have to share with those who don't, in other words we are the Lord's hands. It was a wonderful experience. We are probably going to take Liam and Brynlee with us the next time we go (probably in November) so they can see where Layla came from and hopefully have an eye opening experience to what the "real" world is like. Hopefully it will enrich their lives as much as it has ours!
We still don't have a great time-frame, yet, as to when we'll get to take Layla home. Someone guessed February or March, but it is just that, a guess. It is in Haiti's hands now, and God's. We know it will happen when it is supposed to, but we continue to pray for a speedy process!

Back from California

We had a great time in California! It was so much fun seeing family members we hadn't seen in a long time. We were able to spend a little over a week in California, so we visited Sea World, San Diego Zoo, and Disneyland - Anja's favorite place. She loves it there! She was happy to have Evan there with her for one of the days in Disneyland.

Stephen's wedding was wonderful! It was a great day. Anja still talks about how much fun she had with Matthew.

Back from Idaho

Hi everyone,

Sara and I are back in Miami, after a wonderful month in Idaho. We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the nice weather. It was hot a couple of days, but there is nothing like those cool nights and the low humidity. The entire Wilkerson gang was together (minus Shawn) the last week of July. We are sorry we missed most of you, but did enjoy some time with Uncle Chuck and Aunt Sue.

Here is a picture of Olivia, Sara, and Isabella in Grandma's backyard. It is very difficult to get two 4-year olds and one 10-month old to pose and smile at the same time. This is the best I could get. The girls had a lot of fun playing together and enjoying cousin time.

I hope Stephen's wedding went well and everyone had a nice time. I look forward to seeing an update about here on the blog soon. (Congrats Stephen!!)

Love to all,

Chelsea

New Phone Number

Hi Everyone!

Denver, Anja and I are off to California for Stephen's wedding. We will be spending some time in San Diego as well as Anaheim. We are excited to see some of you soon. I just wanted to let you know that I have a new cell phone number. It is 801-349-8054. We have had Provo phone numbers for a while now and finally decided to switch to SLC numbers.

I have been thinking a lot about Andrea and her family with the collapse of the bridge in Minneapolis. I hope everyone is fine and that all their friends are well.

I am excited to hear how the Wilkerson trip to Idaho was. Hopefully you all had a great time there! Hope to hear from many of you soon.

Kasey