“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.” —Psalm 118:1

Happy Thanksgiving!

Grace and peace to you! We thank God for each of you, remembering you in our prayers, and for all He has done in our lives this past year. We'd love to hear from you, too. Please visit us when you're in the area!

Two Burgers, four shakes, a small fry, and one in the oven!

We're delighted to announce that Burger baby #6 is due around April 2, Hannah's second birthday! All of us are excited to meet this new little one. The oldest four sisters are eager to help.

Wishing you the peace of Christ this holiday season,

Bob & Stacy, Elizabeth, Ruth, Sarah, Mariah & Hannah Burger

Bob

• Enjoyed making customer-focused improvements and enhancements to SAMI Workstation EX software that scientists use to automate assays, and added support for Unicode characters for our international customers
• Thankful to survive a recent cost-reducing reorganization, and stupefied to learn one week later that Beckman Coulter will increase costs in 2006 by subsidizing unmarried cohabitation. The social and business benefits of traditional marriage are well documented. Focus on the Family summarizes various research on cohabitation, and Andree Seu of World Magazine illustrates the slippery slope of redefining marriage. The heart of the issue, however, is moral authority: who decides what is right or fair?

  “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” —Joshua 24:15

• Taught Pilgrim's Progress to grades 1—6 this summer at Trinity Presbyterian Church
• Started my fourth year of teaching AWANA Cubbies at Walnut Grove Chapel this fall and take nine children in a neighbor's large van
• Pleased to keep a daily prayer journal again and excited to complete our family's three-year plan to read through the Bible
• Drove the family to Shenandoah Crossing in Virginia with my parents for a week of swimming, boating, horseback riding, fishing, and visiting friends
• Smeared by a pie to support a missionary in India during a Child Evangelism Fellowship 5-Day Club
• Flew with the family to Myrtle Beach for a week of sun, sand, and waves with my parents and sister Wendy's family
• Bought an Apple iBook, a refreshingly easy to use laptop for organizing pictures, e-mail, music, documents, and videos

Hannah & Bob with the iBook	Bob getting creamed

Elizabeth, Sarah & Ruth building a snow fort	Stacy with a snow ball	Ruth, Mariah & Bob sledding

Stacy

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy.” —Titus 3:4-5a

• Glad to be at home with the girls
• Offered to teach an eight-week course at Wisdom Builders titled “Influencing Lawmaking” starting in January. Since then I've had two other homeschool co-ops ask me to give a presentation, so now I'm enjoying preparing for this new adventure.
• Uses the iBook frequently for e-mail, researching on the web, and eBay
• Enjoying good relationships with neighbors and “adopted” Jenny, a medical student who moved next door this summer
• Excited along with Bob to help Elizabeth, Ruth & Sarah learn to share their faith in Jesus through a 13-week Kids' Evangelism Explosion course at church
• Thankful for the certified professional midwives who are educators throughout pregnancy and patient caregivers during labor and delivery
• Recommends Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends by Sarah, Stephen & Grace Mally, the American Family Association of Indiana weekly update, Watchdog.us, and IndianaUnclaimed.com

Stacy celebrating her birthday with Hannah	Stacy & Hannah by the lazy river

Art work: click to view art gallery

Elizabeth

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” —Ephesians 2:8-10

• Turned ten on May 17 and celebrated with friends at the United Skates of America
• Growing in maturity, sees nearly eye-to-eye with Mom
• Reads voraciously, likes the Sisters in Time, American Adventures, and Childhood of Famous Americans series, and enjoys listening to Adventures in Odyssey, Radio Theatre audio dramatizations, and dramatic readings of G. A. Henty historical novels
• Took drama, embroidery, history, science, music, literature, missions, writing, ballet, and P.E. in the Wisdom Builders homeschool co-op. For drama she played Susan in a scene from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.
• Started her third year of AWANA Truth & Training
• Overcame her fear of putting her face in the water, loves swimming, and took swim lessons at Northwestway Park
• Participated in summer art camp with her sisters
• Learned more about government in a one-day TeenPact program with Ruth & Mom at the Indiana State House
• Enjoys baking bread for the family, making cards and gifts, using the computer, and e-mailing
• Encourager who makes friends easily and loves to invite people to our house

Elizabeth on her tenth with Grandma Dianne	Elizabeth with AWANA T&T award

Elizabeth & Grandpa Ron jumping in	Elizabeth under water

Elizabeth fishing	Bob & Elizabeth boating

Elizabeth dressed as Madeline	Elizabeth riding Whiskey

Ruth

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” —Romans 5:8

• Turns nine on December 26 and plans to celebrate early when her friends are available. Last year she had fun in the snow with her relatives.
• Graduated from AWANA Sparks in the spring and started AWANA Truth & Training this fall
• Loves to read and started wearing reading glasses in October
• Enjoys knitting, taught by neighbor Jenny
• Took sewing, science, music, drama, history, missions, literature, writing, ballet, and P.E. in Wisdom Builders. For drama she played Mrs. Beaver in a scene from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.
• Participated in summer art camp with her sisters and the TeenPact program with Elizabeth & Mom
• Enjoys using the computer and e-mailing
• Learned about public speaking from Gadi Lawton and a one-day Communicators for Christ seminar
• Compassionate, good at memorizing, a wordsmith, likes to tell jokes, skilled at exaggeration
• Athletic, swims well, and took swim lessons in the summer
• Loves the outdoors and enjoyed camping with Grandpa Max & Grandma Pam in their fifth wheel at Turkey Run State Park with Elizabeth

Ruth on her eighth	Ruth with her AWANA Sparks award	Ruth in a sari

Ruth with a duck	Ruth brushing Lucy

Ruth reading with new glasses	Ruth with fish she caught

Elizabeth as Susan, Ruth as Mrs. Beaver in Wisdom Builders Narnia play	Ruth & cousin Rebecca jumping in

Sarah

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” —John 3:16

• Turned seven on September 8 and celebrated with friends at the Children's Museum
• Spent Labor Day weekend at a resort in Nashville, TN, with Grandpa Ron & Grandma Dianne, Elizabeth, and Ruth
• Enjoyed camping with Grandpa Max & Grandma Pam in their fifth wheel at Turkey Run State Park with Mariah
• Started her second year of AWANA Sparks this fall
• Learned to read and has started to read for pleasure
• Participated in summer art camp with her sisters
• Likes to swim and took swim lessons in the summer
• Took art, science, music, ballet, and P.E. at Wisdom Builders
• Loves to roller skate in the basement with her sisters and neighbor Adrienne
• Works hard, perseveres, takes initiative, quick to help others, very good at cleaning, creative, has a positive attitude
• Suffered through pneumonia in March and with acid reflux thereafter, likely has dairy allergy

Sarah on her seventh with Grandma Dianne	Sarah & Kit	Sarah with AWANA Sparks award

Sarah under water	Sarah jumping in near Ruth

Sarah riding Brownie	Sarah with the fish she caught

Delaware Indian with Elizabeth, Ruth & Sarah	Sarah taking a bubble bath

Mariah

“Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” —Ephesians 5:19b-20

• Turned five on October 9 and had a double celebration at our house with her friend Cynthia who turned four the day before
• Enjoyed preschool and ballet at Wisdom Builders
• Started her second year of AWANA Cubbies this fall, where Dad teaches the Bible lesson each week using puppets and felt boards
• Loves pretending with Sarah & Hannah and taking leadership roles
• Likes to dress up and play with dishes and Play-Doh^®
• Took swim lessons and participated in her first summer art camp with her sisters
• Has fun on Saturdays with Grandpa Ron, Grandma Dianne, and her sisters
• Exuberant, bubbly, talkative, excellent whistler

Cynthia's fourth & Mariah's fifth	Mariah at AWANA Cubbies

Neighbor Jenny & Mariah	Mariah, Grandpa Ron & cousin Maria

Mariah in the snow	Mariah riding Brownie

Cousin Maria & Mariah at Pokagon	Grandma Pam & Mariah

Hannah

“Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’” —Matthew 19:14

• Turned one on April 2 and celebrated her birthday at the Indiana Historical Society on circus day
• Talks a lot, gaining vocabulary daily, uses hand signals, loves to eat, screams when she's frustrated, has an expressive face and wonderful smile
• Loves to go places and says “Let's go!” and “shoes” to communicate her desires
• Moves stools and chairs around so that she can reach things
• Loves playing with and being held by her sisters
• Hides from her sisters and is good at keeping quiet
• Dances whenever she hears music

Hannah's first birthday	Hannah loves baths

Hannah eating sand	Hannah imitating the sheep

Sarah, Hannah, Grandpa Max & Elizabeth	Hannah at 18 months