Grandma Burkemper

On August 31, 2024 my 91 year old grandmother, Virginia Burkemper, passed away in her sleep.  She was our kids' last remaining great grandparent.  She leaves behind of great legacy of love and faith that will remain forever.  She has been a tremendous part of my life since birth.  I have way too many fond memories of her to list here, but here are just a few:  She was a stickler on manners and and taught me how to set a table and host a party.  She loved to host parties, from the huge themed parties in her back yard "at Windy" to her widow luncheons she was so proud of, to all the family Christmas parties, she was the hostess with the mostess!  She loved to incorporate silly and fun games, loved a good game of cards, and love a good Manhattan on the rocks!  She loved Mother Goose, the Sun bonnet babies and Jenny Wren.  She loved her birds and bird feeders but was not a fan of the squirrels on them and will quickly take up her pellet gun to take care of that.  She had a ton of cuckoo clocks all strategically timed at slightly different times so you could hear each one go off separately, so every hour is symphony of clocks lasting for 10 minutes! She loved to read and always instilled in us the importance of reading and learning life long.  She was always up for a dressing in a costume or wearing a fun hat.  Her knowledge of old movies and movie stars was unmatched by anyone I've ever known.  She had a lifelong crush on Tom Selleck.  She loved to decorate for all holidays and always went all out - her Christmas Village - hand painted by her - was one of my favorites.  I helped her put it up for years so when she gifted it to me in her later years I was thrilled to be able to carry on the tradition with my kids.  She loved to fish and was always up for trying new things.  She loved God and her family more than everything and served her church and her family tirelessly her whole life!  Grandma, thank you for all you taught me.  I will remember you, cherish our time together, and love you for always!!

At my wedding

At my baptism

At my rehearsal dinner

At my first communion

August 2024

Nicholas ran the Mustard Seed 5K with his BT XC team again this year....and he won the whole race, running 18 min flat!!!  Great run Nicholas!

Samuel also ran and placed 2nd in his age group (0-10) with a 29:47.

Henry ran a 22:23 and placed first in his 11-12 age group

Grace had a fun swim party with her Alpha Crush friends.

At church one Sunday we helped make food packs for the hungry

As an 8th grader this year Grace has a kindergarten buddy, Annie, whom she adores!

Walking to mass together

First XC meet of the season at St. Mary's

Henry enjoyed a weekend with the Scouts at the McKenna Lake house.

Making breakfast burritos

Grace and I attended the NCL Tea

Nicholas joined the Kyle Pease Foundation - running pushing wheelchairs for the disabled - and he pushed his first race - a 5K.

He was teamed up with another older more experienced pusher the first time and thank goodness, because Nicholas said it was super tough, even with switching off and on pushing.  It was a really hilly course and the chair was heavy!  Strong work Nicholas - we are proud of you!

Henry decorated a cookie cake like a cell for science project.

More cross country....

It was so cool, Connor Mance, who just ran the Marathon in the Paris Olympics a few weeks before, placing 8th ad setting the U.S. Marathon record, was at a XC meet that Henry and Nicholas ran in and Henry got to meet him and get his bib signed!!

Fun Cub Scout water day this year - Roswell Fire Department came and cooled the kids down!