"Magnolia May" Makes Her Entrance
Major Changes in the Family!
1999 proved to be a year of great change for the Burkes. As the '98-'99 school year drew to a close, we made the decision to transition the boys back into regular school this Fall. It was a tough decision, given that we've home schooled for three years now and loved nearly every minute of it, but it felt right for us in so many ways. And it was certainly easier to make the decision knowing that we've got such great schools here in Huntsville.
Home schooling left us with at least one
lasting stamp on our lives, though! At the end-of-year picnic for our home school group we were introduced to young Magnolia May and her siblings, a litter of half Lab - half Australian Shepherds which one of the families was giving away for free. It proved to be an offer we couldn't refuse, so we added the first new member of our family since Philip arrived. Tigger and Piglet, our 13 year old 
cats, continue to be largely unamused by Maggie and her puppy enthusiasm, but they seem to have developed something of a watchful truce between them. Maggie attended puppy school to become the refined southern belle (with limited success), but she is most definitely one of the family now!
