The "Burke-Street Boys"

The publications department at Lockheed has a tradition of doing fun things for the kids on "Bring Your Child to Work Day". In 2002, they had scanned magazine covers and were putting folks pictures into them. This one was just too perfect, especially when we hit upon the idea of changing the "Backstreet Boys" to "Burkestreet".

Downtown Rescue Mission

Our Place to Plug-In

Like lots of other folks, we've often wondered where we could plug in and do some kind of service. Over the years, we've dabbled in a number of short-term projects, but none of them seemed to satisfy our need to feel like we were really making a difference. Then, after our trip to Venezuela in 2001, it really hit us again how enormously blessed we are, and how important it was for us to just get out there and do SOMEthing. We wanted to find something that would involve the whole family, so our boys would grow up knowing that the life they lead is not the only existence possible, and to establish service as a part of our lives instead of being just a string of "projects". That's when we found the Downtown Rescue Mission!

We started by just showing up to help serve supper one Wednesday night back in April. It was a little scary and a lot weird that first night, but suddenly it's several months later and not only has Wednesday supper at the mission become a normal part of our routine, we've now formed some wonderful friendships, the guys all call Philip by name when they need their drink refilled, Tuck and Gerrit have both developed a talent for finding whatever needs to be done and doing it, Karen has found her calling in thinking up ways to help out the ladies and kids at the shelter, and our whole church has gotten involved in a big way! The whole thing has taken on a life of it's own, and it's been so EASY! After all those years of wringing our hands about what we could do, all it took was going out and getting started, and the rest just fell into our laps! When one of the ladies got back on her feet and moved out of the shelter with her kids, several Sunday School classes from our church scrounged through their attics and garages until we had enough furniture, sheets and towels to get her started. Others collected money and stocked up her pantry. When it came time for summer Vacation Bible School, the church van provided transportation for several of the kids from the mission to attend. And while they were there some of the ladies from our church provided a place for their moms to be involved, complete with craft projects, Bible study and wonderful desserts.

As the summer wound down, and school loomed on the horizon, it became evident that lots of the mission kids didn't have the means to get the required school supplies or any new clothes to start the year off right. So, once again the church was mobilized. Each of the kids was "adopted" by individuals, groups, or Sunday school classes (so quickly and enthusiastically that we ran out of kids long before we ran out of volunteers!) Armed with the kids' sizes and lists from their schools, the volunteers collected money and shopped until each child had two new outfits, a new pair of shoes, a jacket or sweater, all their required school supplies, and a new backpack complete with a beautiful nametag. The whole thing came together during a pizza party held at the shelter just a week before school started. The kids all stuffed themselves with pizza, mugged for the camera, dug into their new things, strutted around with their new backpacks, lined up for balloon animals made by the clown, and just had a great time! But I think it was we who got the biggest blessing! Of course, it doesn't end there. The church's Fall Festival is just a few months away, and then there's Christmas to plan for, and another lady is moving out on her own soon.... ....and of course we've got to be there to serve supper on Wednesday night!

Titans-Packers Game

"Guy" Road-Trip to Nashville!

The Titans prove to be less than hospitable hosts
for the visiting Packers (much to Philip's chagrin)

Tennessee 26
Green Bay 20

The December '01 holiday season was special for lots of reasons, but the fact that we had tickets to see the Titans play Green Bay was certainly up there at the top of the list!

After coming up empty for the previous season, we finally got tickets to see the Titans, and better yet, they would be playing the Packers! The only down side was that we got the tickets in July and had to wait until December 16th for the game! Though it hardly seemed possible at times during the next few months, December actually did arrive, and together with Dave's good friend Matt from work (and his dad), we headed for Nashville. Equipped with chairs, a tarp, Matt's TV and grill, lots of cokes, and more food than we could possible eat, we tailgated for few hours while watching the early games. We painted up the boys' faces and chomped on some delicious steaks, and then, when we couldn't stand to wait any longer, we headed over to Adelphia Coliseum to see the Titans and Packers. The game was great, and the Packers had their chance right up to the last few minutes, but the Titans prevailed, which pleased Tucker quite a bit since the rest of us were pulling for the Packers :-) It was a great time, and mom says we can make it an annual tradition! Over the next couple of days after the game, we scanned through the videotape to see if we could spot ourselves, but the network execs apparently weren't aware that we were there. Guess we'll just have to get better seats next time :-)

September 11

What could our family do to help?!

The events of September 11th will be burned into our memories for the rest of our lives. Like many others in the days following the attacks, we struggled to find something,...ANYthing, we could do to feel like we were helping. Sitting around the TV and watching the news over and over sure wasn't making us feel any better.


So, Karen came up with the idea of us doing a family project. We decided to try and raise money for the Red Cross by selling items we made, then set about thinking of things each of us could create. The boys made patriotic bracelets, with red, white and blue beads. Karen made little pins with bows made of red, white and blue ribbon. We twisted pipe cleaners into little praying figures. We made gallons of lemonade. We each made posters. Then we packed it all into the car for the next day.

Bright and early on Saturday morning we headed over to the parking lot adjacent to our local super market and set up our little operation. We weren't sure what would happen.

The response was overwhelming! All morning long there were cars driving buy and honking their horns in support. Many people stopped just to see what was going on, but as the morning went along, more and more people stopped to give. The items we brought became "thank-you" gifts for donations, instead of sale items, and by the time we were done, folks had ended up donating over $450!

The next day we presented the money to Barry Porter, the North Alabama regional director for the Red Cross, who happens to go to our church. He accepted the donation with thanks, and several weeks later we received the certificate below. Still, for us the best part of the whole thing was seeing so many people express their patriotism and generosity.

God has truly blessed America!

Family Trip to Venezuela

In June of 2001 we finally made the family trip that Karen has been talking about since we first met,...back to her roots in Venezuela! For two weeks we traveled throughout the country, meeting old friends, saw places we'd been hearing about for years, and (best of all!) ate all sorts of exotic and wonderful foods.

The event that finally brought us south was the closing of Christiansen Academy, the boarding school that Karen and her twin brothers attended in Rubio, Venezuela while their parents were missionaries across the mountains in Colombia. The folks at Christiansen decided to make the final graduation an event to remember, and invited all former students and faculty to come down for the festivities.

Using Rubio as our base of operations, we traveled to Merida and the Andes Mountains (by bus), to Caracas, the capital city (by plane), and to Chichiriviche on the Carribean coast (by van). Each step was an adventure!

As we traveled around the country, we were able to see so many things that make Venezuela unique and beautiful. We also witnessed the disparity between the rich and poor there.

There are so many great memories from our trip that it would be impossible to describe them all here (for that, you'll have to come watch our 7 1/2 hours of video tape!). Some of the highlights included: driving up the highest road in the Andes to Pico de Aguila (13,000 ft); going to church at the downtown Caracas Baptist Church (all in Spanish), being guests in the home of the Canizales family (Karen's childhood friends), spending several days on our own little private island off the coast of Chichiriviche, and of course, Karen being interviewed for national TV while we were stopped at a little jam and jelly shop! It was a coincidence that they happened to be filming in the shop, but it seemed a fitting tribute to this native daughter :-)

All these great memories, and more, continue to bubble up in our conversations since our return to the states. And it now appears that we may be putting the experience to practical use, as our church starts thinking about organizing a foreign missions trip sometime over the next year or so. And you'll never guess where!

Look out Venezuela,
we're coming back!

Disney World

The Burke and Wilson Clans meet at the "Happiest Place on Earth"!

In February, the long anticipated trip to Disney World finally happened. We flew down to Orlando where we joined Dave's parents, his sister Amy and her family, her husband Eric's brothers and their families, and their parents.

We spent 4 days hitting all of the theme parks, meeting the characters (Philip has quite an autograph collection!), riding the rides and seeing the sites. With three boys along it's no surprise that the "theme dinners" proved popular. After all there's FOOD involved! We started with a "Villain" dinner, which was attended by Captain Hook, the Queen of Hearts, Prince John (from Robin Hood), and a few others. Then, on our last morning, we had breakfast with Chef Mickey at the Contemporary resort hotel.

The Animal Kingdom was an unexpected treat, both for the real-life sites during the safari ride and the high-tech thrills at the "Bugs Life" show. But the best part of the whole trip was that we practically had the place to ourselves! February is definitely the right time to hit the Magic Kingdom!



Captain Hook subtly shows his displeasure
with Dave's insistence on whispering
"Tick, tock, tick, tock" whenever he was around.

Washington D.C. Trip

Family Takes School
to Washington D.C.!

Home Schooling definitely doesn't mean sitting around in the house all the time! This Fall we took to the road and headed to Washington D.C for the ultimate learning experience.

As with so many other things in home schooling, we began our trip by first checking out the internet to get maps, information and details about Washington and the many sites to see. One of the best links was to the United States Information Agency, along with the official sites for the Senate, House and White House.


View from the FDR Memorial, back across the Tidal Basin. (you can tell this was Day 1!)

We did science experiments at the Smithsonian and the Capital Children's Museum, saw the actual Declaration of Independence, visited Arlington Cemetery and ALL the monuments, watched the new $20 bills being printed, and basically walked our way through American history for four days.

The whole trip was capped off with a tour of the White House on Friday, and then a marathon drive home.