Hello everyone! And Happy Holidays!We have finally decided to join the blog generation. Hopefully this will help us to keep in better contact with our friends and family around the world.
We celebrated our first anniversary in August. It's been a really incredible year of building our family and organizing our home. We live in a comfortable home in the Jackson School area of Hillsboro. The kids love the trampoline and swing set in the back yard. I just love having a back yard! So does Sophie, our Labradoodle. Nathan is in 2nd grade this year and Aria started kindergarten. Both are at City View Charter School, which offers them some unique opportunities and experiences. We're so excited at how much they're learning.
We have recently collected quite a menagerie. For Nathan's 8th birthday, he received a ball python, which he named Julia Olivia Kwanda (he says it's the most beautiful name in the world!). A few weeks later, we found a Cockatiel flying around the backyard. Sophie was very interested! I got the bird to come to me and took it inside. Keith's sister had a spare birdcage. We're still looking for the owner, but in the meantime, Aria has named the bird Red Lilly Delphius (we're not sure where she got that, but it's kind of a cool name!)
The biggest news in our family is that we are expecting a baby girl in February. We are ecstatic, of course, although we learned a few months ago that she has a genetic condition called Trisomy 18. It's a heartbreaking condition that basically means our little Hannah Miriam will not be with us very long. The good news is that we had an ultrasound yesterday and found out that she is growing pretty well and some of the issues we thought she had seem to have self-corrected. So it looks like there is a very good chance she will make it to delivery and perhaps a little longer. We will hope for and cherish every minute we can get with her.
Keith is working at Intel as a Senior Program Manager heading up the redesign of Intel.com, the corporate website. It's a big job and he's overseeing a team of about 100 people. He celebrated his 12th anniversary with Intel earlier this year. I guess you really can spend the bulk of your career at one company.
My job with Wells Fargo was eliminated about a year ago, and we decided that if at all possible, it would probably be best if I could stay at home to run our household. Now that Hannah's on the way, it makes even more sense for me to be home for a while. I've been enjoying learning better money management, landscaping, interior decorating and many other domestic skills that I haven't been able to focus on previously.
I guess that's the update. I'll try to keep the blog updated with current news - especially about our baby. Until then, our thoughts and prayers are with all of you and we wish you the happiest of holiday seasons.
Love, the Burtons
