Liam's Birthday

Our nephew Liam has officially turned one and to celebrate the occasion his parents threw a big party for him at Jungle Jim's Playground. This place was really neat and was like an amusement park tailored for toddlers. There were rotating swings, flying airplanes, and even a mini roller coaster. Liam, who clearly was having a blast, was a gracious host and made sure to mingle with all of his guests. He especially loved riding in the airplane with Grandma. Bryn was a little less thrilled and refused to go on the swings. She really didn't want to ride in the airplane either, but after I had banged my knee and bruised my shin to get in, there was no way she was escaping without at least taking a couple of laps around in the airplane. 

Hudson must have been feeling a bit more festive than Bryn. He was completely mesmerized by all the bells, whistles, and seizure-inducing flashing lights. He was so preoccupied with the chaos surrounding him that it was hard to get him to look at the camera. But then again, maybe Hudson was just checking out all the babes. Allegedly, the best part about going to an amusement park is going on rides with all the new girls you meet. I didn't grow up around Lagoon, but Nate and all his friends swear this is true. I will have to take their word on it.

Eventually, Nate got tired of trying to convince Brynlee to go on the rides and decided to play a few games instead. She had a great time playing skee ball and, unfortunately for Hudson, got pretty good at Whack-A-Mole. When all was said and done, she had enough tickets to redeem them for a couple of suckers. Five dollars in tokens only generated enough tickets for a couple of suckers. That's highway robbery if you ask me. 

And despite the picture below, Liam really did have a great time. He couldn't wait to dig into his own individual cake and was quite proficient at shoveling his cake into his mouth. And then somebody probably made some remark about him not having good manners and using a fork. Poor Liam must have taken offense to this and was then too self conscious to eat anymore.

Following the cake, Liam opened his gifts. He was so excited with each present that he really didn't want to let go of it and move onto the next one. Needless to say, Neal and Erin won't have to buy him any new toys for Christmas. Or they could just steal a page from our play book and re-wrap some of the gifts. Nate and I may have gone a little overboard with Christmas last year and ended up taking some of her presents back and giving them to Bryn a few months later from her birthday. Bryn never even knew the difference. But given her memory these days, I no longer think that is an option.

And finally, yes it is true. Sometimes Hudson has to support a hat to hide a little male pattern baldness. Don't judge. He pulls it off quite well.

Sidewalk Chalk and Bubbles

We are trying to squeeze every last drop of summer out of this year that we possibly can. Every afternoon while Hudson takes his afternoon nap, we head outside with our bucket of chalk and container of bubbles. For the first half hour, Bryn just runs around checking to see which of her flowers look exceptionally beautiful today. She can't help but pick a few and insists that we put them in our hair. After picking flowers, she loves to practice her summersaults on the grass. When she "just needs a little a break," Bryn likes to flop down in the grass and stare up at the sky and watches clouds pass by.

Bryn's expressions crack me up. If she has "a great idea" her eyes light up and she will tell you all about her moment of pure genius and will nod her head the entire time to make sure that she is getting her point across. Another thing she has been doing frequently is crinkling up her nose followed by a "that's nasty!" I hear this phrase often whether she is using it in reference to Hudson's diapers, my cooking, or anything else that her highness finds unpleasant.

And then, finally, we actually use the chalk and bubbles. Most of the time, I get the responsibility of drawing big "Daddy hearts" for Bryn to color. Sometimes she will let me have free reign, but usually I am drawing shapes, animals, and her favorite letters. Bryn loves bubbles and especially loves to try and knock them out of the air with a spinning dance move. We usually end the afternoon covered in sticky bubble solution with chalk dust all over our butts. But what a way to spend an afternoon.

Just Stop

Hudson is now 5 months old. Eeek! I find myself telling him everyday to stop growing up so fast. And just like his sister, he prefers to pretend he didn't hear me. To be honest, I love this stage in babies. It is a time when they start to grow out of the newborn stage, plump up, and personalities really start to show through. Hudson is starting push himself up onto his forearms and breaks into a grin every time secretly congratulating himself on accomplishing this amazing fete. He is also quite flexible and likes to impress everyone with his party tricks like grabbing his toys with his toes and producing pools of drool. 

Speaking of drooling, Hudson has officially entered into the teething phase and it has come with a vengeance. Last week when we were in church, Hudson gets bored with chewing on his hand and grabs the next available thing which just so happened to be Nate's finger. After a good chomp, Nate quickly jerked out his finger and mouths to me "I think Hudson is getting teeth!" I give him and odd look and shake my head as if such an event is impossible. Bryn didn't start teething until she was like 9 months old. Nate tilts Hudson back and peers into his mouth. Without even looking in Hudson's mouth, I know that Nate's big grin is in fact a "ha ha told you so" smile. I peer into Hudson's mouth and there are not one but TWO teeth just getting ready to break through the gums on the bottom. Gulp. We will see how long this nursing thing continues. But if we are speaking candidly, this boy could afford to miss a couple of meals. His cheeks and thighs just continue to blossom, and I swear this kid is going to catch up to Bryn in weight by the end of the year. Hudson's body is so amazing, that even Nate gets a little jealous sometimes.

Even though he is starting to get some teeth, this little boy is still all smiles. Some parents have a hard time getting pictures of their kids smiling, and yet, I am hard pressed to find a picture where he isn't smiling. How we love this little guy! And you know what? By all his sweet expressions he gives us, we think that he is quite fond of us too. 

The Holy War 2012

Nate's new job comes with a few great perks. Not only do we have great benefits, but we are also now privy to season tickets to all the University of Utah sporting events. But, if we are being honest, I prefer to watch my games up in the club seats with my in-laws rather than mingle down in the bowl with the "commoners." It is always a good day to be a Burk, but it is especially good to be a Burk on game days. With Utah being in the Pac-12 now, most of the games this season have late kick-offs. The kids and I join Nate at his tailgaiting party before the games and then meet up with his parents in the box right before kickoff. While some games are more enjoyable than others, my favorite game each year is one known throughout the country as "The Holy War."

I am a competitive person by nature. I can appreciate a team looking to exert their dominance over their opponent. It's good old fashioned competition at its best. I personally find it amusing that most Utah fans think BYU's fan base is nothing than "a bunch of self-righteous zealots." BYU, on the other hand, believes that all Utah fans are a bunch of "classless godless liberals." And those are only the more mild insults I have heard over the years. Although I appreciate all the "Max Hall hates me" t-shirts and other slogans that serve as punchlines, that still isn't my favorite part. I love the rivalry simply because anything can happen. And once again, this year did not disappoint.

I left with the kids shortly after halftime. It was late and the kids were beyond done. By the time I got home and put the kids into their beds, I was able to catch the last two minutes of the game. Not in my wildest dreams did I think those two minutes would be crammed full of such odd and dramatic events. Here is the official excerpt from Wikipedia because despite my best efforts, I would not be able to explain the craziness.

"With less than 30 seconds remaining, BYU quarterback Riley Nelson successfully drov into Utah territory on 4th and long with a 40 yard pass to wide receiver Cody Hoffman. On what was thought to be the final play of the game, Nelson's deflected pass fell incomplete as time seemingly expired and the Utah fans rushed the field. The pass, however, was shown to hit the ground with one second left, giving BYU an opportunity to kick a field goal from 51 yards (once the fans had been cleared from the field of play). On the attempt, the kick was blocked, the ball recovered by BYU, and the runner subsequently tackled. However, Utah fans rushed the field, this time before the play was over, thus earning a penalty that gave BYU another chance at a field goal, this one from only 36 yeards. That attempt was unsuccessful, however, when the kick hit the post and went awry. Utah won the game, 24-21."

A simple break down of the number gives us:

30: the amount of seconds remaining on the clock

4: the quarter this all took place

3: the number of opportunities BYU had to win/tie the game

2: the number of times the Utah fans rushed the field prematurely as well as missed field goals

1: the number of teams who went home crying

By the end of the game, I was laughing so hard I fell off the couch. Perhaps even more entertaining was listening to the announcers on ESPN try to make sense of this fiasco. You couldn't have asked for more exciting and better ending to a football game. . . that is unless you happen to be a BYU fan.