Halloween

What is this? What did you say? Someone is just giving out candy? Who is giving out candy? EVERYONE THAT WE KNOW IS JUST GIVING OUT CANDY!!!???
- Jerry Seinfeld

If you've never heard Jerry Seinfeld's routine on Halloween, it's a classic and I would encourage you to check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lfk2me7p9us

We had a fun Halloween. It started out with the Walker party, which traditionally includes stuffing our faces with good food and fun games. The kids throw candy corns in a cup and eat donuts on a string. The boys were the Dynamic Duo of Batman and Robin. I told Hayden that I should've dressed up as the Joker and he said, "No, because that would freak me out and I would have to fight you." That was a great point. From the look of this picture, he was not joking. He takes his responsibilities seriously.

Cole was just fine with the mask, which surprised us. The first time we put it on him he threw a fit when we took it off.



On Halloween night we had a little party. We made some homemade rootbeer. The CO2 was pooring over the counter and the boys had a blast with that.



Here are the kids having dinner before going trick-or-treating.


I thought this was a great picture of Jet, Hayden, and Trey getting into character.


The dynamic duo.



Cole was even beatin' the streets. Candy is a powerful motivator. I was there to filter the candy and make sure it was safe, in other words, pick out the Snickers and let him have the Smarties.


Love,
Brikki

First Trip to the Dentist

If you know Hayden's temperament like we do, you'll know why we were a little nervous about his first trip to the dentist. Hayden had three personality traits going against him on this one: Hayden is cautious, stubborn, and a control freak.

First, Hayden is very risk adverse when it comes to trying new things. Food is definitely the first thing that comes to mind in that department but I also remember when we took him to the doctor for his 3-year checkup and he was scared to death of getting on the scales to be weighed. I picked him up to set him on there and he acted like I was holding him over a pit of hungry crocodiles. We had to weigh the two of us while I held him and then weigh me alone to get his weight. The visit went from bad to worse for him because a few minutes later they gave him some shots. I was holding him for that too, but this time it was more of a submission hold than an "it's OK, daddy's here" type of hold. Second, its next to impossible to get Hayden to do something he doesn't want to do. The harder you try to persuade him, the more determined he gets not to do it. Potty training was the ultimate battle of wills. Even with a 2-1 advantage and supposedly more wisdom we finally gave up. Once he realized he'd beat us, he decided to do his thing in the potty from then on. Lastly, Hayden likes to be in control of everything and everyone all of the time. I think most people would agree that sitting in the dentist chair with a person pokin' around in your mouth with sharp instruments does not feel "in control".

Against all odds, Hayden sat in the chair and let the hygienist clean his teeth. Maybe he's growing up, maybe the hygienist is good with kids, or maybe it was the promise that he could go to McDonald's after if he was good. Either way, we were proud of him.

They did find a cavity, and Nikki took him back another day to have it taken care of, but she wasn't so lucky. It was going great until the shot in the gums to numb him up. Then it was all over. Maybe a little gas is in order next time.

Love,

Brikki

Man, I love Canada.

I had to go to Canada for work this week and I brought Hayden back a magnet with a picture of the Calgary stampede, which is a big rodeo featuring a covered wagon race. He was so excited about something so simple; I think he would've loved a rock off the side of the road. I don't know at what age kids get harder to please but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts. We put the magnet on the fridge and Nikki observed the following: Hayden got a drink from the fridge. He stood their looking at the magnet on the fridge and then said, "Man I love Canada."

Last weekend we finished the wood floors and the kitchen cabinets went in this week. Here are a few pictures of the progress.

Here is Hayden standing where the dishwasher will go.

Me and Cole and the orbs.

Love,

Brikki

House Progress

We've been putting in some late nights and long Saturdays on the house recently trying to get it painted. Here's a few shots of the paint job on the inside. First the kitchen/dining area:

This is the boys' room.

This is the Master Bedroom.

Not much has happened on the outside for awhile but this past week we got a driveway, steps, and a sidewalk. This coming week there should be a flury of work on the outside with the stucco and siding guys working while the framing crew frames the deck.


Love,
Brikki

Cole's 1st Birthday

Our little Cole is one year old. This meant two things for the little guy: a haircut and a party. Before the haircut we got this shot of him punked out in the tub.

For his birthday we had a Hawaiian luau party. Dad wouldn't let us dig a hole in the backyard to burry a pig, so we settled for shish kabobs on the grill. Nikki made an awesome sand castle cake. Hayden and I were the only guys secure enough in our manlihood to wear the grass skirts.

Love,

Brikki

Baby Animal Days

The American West Heritage center out in Wellsville has a Baby Animal Days in the spring with a bunch of activities and interactive displays for kids. Crystal and Tayla were in town so Mom took Nikki, Crystal and the kids out to the festivities. Hayden's favorite part was the baby turtles and he still remembers the name of the pony he rode: TinkerBell. You can see from the pictures that Hayden wanted to wear the tiger mask and the bike helmet, which I think would've looked awesome, but it didn't work out.

Love

Brikki

House Progress

We've been trying to take pictures of our house as it is being built. Right now we have all the rough plumbing, heating and air, and electrical done and waiting for the last few windows and doors to be delivered so they can be installed. It would be nice to have windows and doors soon so I don't have to shovel snow out of our kitchen anymore.

Love,

Brikki

Hayden's Birthday

Hayden had his 4th birthday a few weeks ago. We celebrated by going to eat pizza at Firehouse Pizza, which Hayden calls the "Hothouse". Here are some pictures of that.

Hayden also invited four of his friends over for a Pirate Birthday party. They decorated some treasure chests, played X marks the spot, had a treasure hunt and ate cake and ice cream. Here are some pictures of the Pirate Party.

Here are the boys showing off their pirate tatoos.

Love,

Brikki

Christmas Report

We haven't posted anything since before Christmas so there is plenty to cover here. We had a good holiday...got to see a lot of family. Nate, Crystal, and Tayla were here so that was fun. The day after Christmas we made a trip to Phoenix to see Nikki's family there. While we were in Phoenix we went to see the lights at night at the Mesa temple. Hayden tried to get a little too close to the reflection pool and accidentally jumped into knee-deep water. That caught him by surprise. We loved eating the oranges and grapefruit from Grandma B's backyard. The ride home was long, so long that when Cole offered to drive I had to take him up on it. I was too nervous to sleep though because he wouldn't keep his eyes on the road as you can see in the picture.

I've also got a picture here of Cole stretching...just getting the ham-strings loosened up for the day's activities.

We've had a few choice sound bytes from Hayden that are worthy of recording. The other day Nikki was combing Hayden's hair and he was arguing that he wanted it left messy. He said, "Mom, why can't you just leave me the way Heavenly Father made me?"

Here is a shot of Hayden ice skating for the first time.

Love,
Brikki