Here is the weather at a location I wish I was at right now.

Thomas James Maxwell

On July 9th, 2008 our son Thomas James Maxwell was born.

He was 7lbs 7oz and was 21 inches long. He was born early Wednesday morning and he and mom came home on Thursday afternoon. Big sister Katie just loves him and has been a great big sister.

You can click here to see some of the other pictures.

Back-2-Back MAC Champs

The Chips won the MAC Championship aganin this year which sent them back to the Motor City Bowl where they took on the Purdue Boilermakers. The Chips were down big early but came back to make it exciting game. Purdue kicked a field goal as time expired for a 51-48 victory. My dad was in town visiting for Christmas so he was able to go to the game with me again. My neighbor hooked me up with some great tickets, 7 rows from the field on the 35 yard line behind the visitor's bench.

Hopefully the Chips will win put together another great season next year and make it back to the MAC Championship game and/or the Motor City Bowl.

2008 Ford Fusion

We finally decided that it was time to retire the trusty Focus and upgrade to something that was a bit newer. After checking out what was available we decided on a 2008 Ford Fusion.

We opted for the fully loaded one with some of the main features being the heated seats and the new Sync system from Microsoft. It is pretty cool as it connects your phone to the car's audio system. When you get a call it turns off the radio, shows you who is calling on the display, and lets you answer it with the touch of a button. The audio is pumped through the speakers so you don't have to mess with hands free wires. You can also play all your music from an MP3 player with voice command.

2007 Ford Edge

Our lease was up and we had to choose a new car so we decided on the 2007 Ford Edge. I think it looks really sharp. We have only had it for a few days but so far so good. It doesn't have as much storage space as our Freestyle did but it is a lot more stylish and has lots of room up front.

The picture to the left is the same color we have. We have slightly different wheels and no roof rack but for the most part this is what it looks like.

Our 7th Anniversary

On May 27th, 2007 Tara and I celebrated out 7 year anniversary. To celebrate we took in a Detroit Tigers game. Tara scored some really sweet tickets from a co-worker that are literally front row. We got to the game much earlier than we normally would and watched the teams take batting practice. I bunch of the Tigers came out just before the game and were warming up and stretching right in front of us. It was fun to see all the kids get excited when they took the field and a few of the players came up and signed autographs. Unfortunately the Tigers didn't win win but it was a fun night anyway.

My Pimped Out Rider

I recently purchased a new lawn mower. Now this is not just any lawn mower but a riding lawn mower. This is a big deal for me as I have been talking about getting a rider since we moved into our new house. For those of you who have seen my lawn you know that it is not massive but it is not tiny either. For the past year I have been using my 22 inch walk behind which had done a great job cutting my lawn but it just took too long to mow. Well, I have that problem no longer now that I have the Yard Machines Lawn Tractor with its 42 inch cutting deck and 7 speeds. And best of all there is a cup holder built right in for my beer!

It will probably take me a few times to figure out what pattern I want to use to cut around the yard but once I have that figured out I should be able to make quick work of my lawn and have fun doing it at the same time.

Katie meets the Maxwells

On April 27th we all took a trip to Denver to visit my family. This was the first time Katie met all her Colorado aunts, uncles, and cousins. She had lots of fun playing with Naomi, Ayanna, Elijah, Nate, and Gavin. This trip was also the first time Tara and I saw Gavin - he is such a cutie!


I took a ton of pictures and videos. Here are a few of them and this link will take you to the rest.

Katie's Baptism

On March 25, 2007 Katie was baptized at St. James Catholic Church by Father George. Sarah and Tom Walsh, Tara's brother and sister, were Katie's godparents. Katie looked really pretty in her dress and did a great job during the ceremony. We had several friends and family members at the ceremony and Katie's cousin Teddy helped with her Baptismal candle. After the baptism we had everyone back to our house for a little get together.



Below are just a few of the pictures and video's that were taken at the ceremony. You can see the rest of them here

Gavin Maxwell Gallegos Arrives!

On February 14th my sister Sarah and her husband Lonny had a baby boy - Gavin Maxwell Gallegos. Both baby and mom are doing great. Gavin has already had lots of visitors and all his cousins just love having a new baby in the family. I have posted a few pictures of him below and there are lots more here and in the Family Pictures section of the Picture Gallery

Katie's Firsts

I have added another section to my web site named "Katie's Firsts" where I will document all of Katie's milestones. You can get to this page by by clicking here and you will also be able to get to this page by clicking on the "Katie's Firsts" tab near the top of the page, just to the right of the "Picture Gallery" tab. I will still continue to put all the new pictures of Katie up in the Picture Gallery so you may see some pictures in both places.

Some of the things I currently have posted are:

Katie sucks her thumb

Katie's first trip

Katie's first bath

Make sure you check back often for all the new and exciting things Katie does.

Chippewas WIN!!!

The Chips put on great performance on both sides of the ball to defeat the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State University in the 2006 Motor City Bowl. Aside from the great plan on the field the most impressive performance that night was the display of school pride by the Chippewa fans. The announce attendance was 55,000 and by looking in the crowd I would have to say that at least 90% were Central fans. I wouldn't be surprised if there were more fans at this game that went to see the pitiful Lions play this past weekend.

My dad and I went to the game (He was in town visiting from Colorado). We ended up getting nose bleed seats and watched the game from there for the first half. At halftime I bumped into some friends from work who were in the Compuware suite and they were able to smuggle us up there for the second half. The picture to the right was one I took on my phone in the suite - not a bad view to watch the Chips capture their first bowl win ever.

The last time Central was in a bowl game was in 1994 (my freshman year) when we went to the Las Vegas bowl. I went to that game with the team and my dad and good friend Eric met me in Vegas for the game. Hopefully there will be more bowl games in the future for the Chips. Now all they have to do is figure out who is going to coach the team.

The launch of BurkeMaxwell.com

I finally have my own official web site! It is no coincidence that I got it set up in time for the baby's arrival. This will be the place to check for all the newest pictures and news about our baby (that is, if you are interested). This isn't going to be a typical blog where I write down my thoughts and keep you up to date on the life and times of Burke Maxwell. It will be more of a toy for me to learn some new things about building web sites and a place for me to share pictures of what Tara and I are up to for those of you who we don't get to see enough since you live so far away.

I would like to give a special thanks to Jay Dreyer for helping me get my site up and running.