Halloween '13

I love Halloween. I love the kids, I love the costumes, I love visiting friends, and I love candy. It seriously is so fun. We celebrated two days this year. Yesterday was the trunk-or-treat. We left work a little early and raced home to get the kids in their costumes and be ready by 5:30. We got to the church a couple of minutes early. Bronson found a Sugar Daddy and was sneaky stealing it from Grandpa Birchell. He grabbed it and took off to hide. He got the wrapper off and was eating it, but he was acting so secretative. He felt like he was really getting away with something. The kids started making their way around the trunks and Bri just jumped right in with Chloey and Marley. She was so big. I followed her because she was so cute, not because she needed me. I was proud of her as I heard her say "Thank-you" for each piece of candy she got. Numerous people told her how sweet and polite she was. Jake tried getting Bronson to come out of hiding and go to the trunks, but he wouldn't. He just sat there eating his Sugar Daddy. He has no clue what he missed out on, but he thought he was winning the lottery. After Bri had been to all the trunks Jake, Bronson, and I took off. (I am super paranoid about Bronson in pot luck situations.) We cooked dinner and get our pumpkins ready for carving. As soon as Angie dropped Brilee off we started carving. Jake carved his brand and a happy face pumpkin. I did a mean pumpkin, and then Bri said NO MORE! She hates touching the "guts" and thinks it smells gross. Jake and I were good with this. We lit the candles, threw the kids in the tub, and had them in bed just after 8. This morning we dropped Bronson and Jake off at Grammy's and Bri and I headed to the preschool party. I love watching Bri in the school setting. It is so cute and so fun!!!! She made it to the championship round in musical chairs... TWICE! One time she won... one time she lost. The class was talking about rhyming words. The kids are all struggling with the concept (they are young!), but there were two kids kinda getting it. The word they were rhyming was LIP. The class worked out sip and rip. Then Bri gets all proud, raises her hand, and says, "KANGAROO". haha... close but not close.  Grammy worked with her, and by this afternoon she told me chip and dip. After preschool I went to work while Bri, Bronson, and Grammy went to Stacia's class to help with her Halloween party. The kids loved it. After work we got the kids back into costume and grabbed dinner with Grammy and Stac. Then Grammy went home to man the fort and the rest of us went trick-or-treating. We went to Jesse Bassett and Morgan's house first. They were prepared for us, and they were so sweet! They spoiled the kids rotten. Like Bronson got a full bag of dum dum suckers. After we went to Sarah's and ran into the Nybergs. Bronson was sick of getting in his car seat by now so we cut the night short. We went to the Bertagnolli's and there house was hopping with treaters. They had 30+ in the 15 minutes we were there. They also spoiled the kids with cars and fancy chocolate. Bronson loved their house and all their fun pumpkin decorations. We loaded in the car and went to Grammy's. We walked over to Parrack's and then to Grammy and Papa's. We said our tearful goodbyes (Bri really wanted a sleep over but the tears made it so her parents had to say no). We got home went to Granny's, came home, bathed the kids, and put them to bed! Exhausted and happy. What a good ending to Halloween!

Here comes 100000000 pictures and a movie...

 This is their new favorite toy/past time. They love when I get the laundry baskets out for laundry day. 

Salty

I cannot believe it's Sunday night, and the weekend is over. We were pretty much go-go-go all weekend long, and it was great! Friday Jake spent the day selling cows, picking up pipe, and helping a friend train her horse. I worked, and spent a lot of the day with the kids. I picked them up at 3 so Grammy and Papa could walk. We went to Sarah's to watch the horse training and to play. Around 5 we took the kids back to Grammy's and were willing to try a sleepover... for BOTH children. We said our good-byes and headed home (after stopping in LaPoint to borrow a costume). We got home and got all dressed up for the Taylor's party. We love our annual Halloween party! We were the first ones there, and so I had Wyann give me a tour of their brand new beautiful home. It is perfect, and I loved it! Pretty soon others started coming and it was a blast. We had a ping pong tournament and the Taylor couple proved to be the most competitive people there. Around 10 I got a call from Grammy... As soon as I saw her name on caller ID I knew something was up. Sure enough, Bronson was a stinker. He wouldn't settle and would bawl whenever he saw his crib. Grammy and Papa didn't want to torture the poor boy by making him stay, and so they had no choice but to call. Jake and I left instantly and met them at the White Rocks HWY. Of course, he had gone to sleep, but we knew it was best for him to come home. Around 3 in the morning he woke up with his dang teeth hurting him. I finally got some medicine in him around 4 and he was asleep at 5. I was exhausted. Jake and I said how we wouldn't do the whole Barney thing with Bronson (Bri was obsessed, and it's annoying). Well, we buckled and he watched the whole farm episode. What do you do though? We slept until 9, which was much later than I had planned! We woke up and hurried to get packed and ready to head out to Salt Lake. We were on the road by 10. The kids traveled well, but by Heber Bronson was yelling, "OUT!!!" So we stopped at a western store. Bri made everyone fall in love with her as she explained to the workers her Halloween costume, how she shops at Cal Ranch, how she trains Goldie. She was so cute and so grown-up. We bought her a new Cowgirl hat, and Jake admired some elephant hide boots (600$$$). We then were starved so we went to Olive Garden. The kids loved it! Olive Garden doesn't use egg for anything in their cooking (except the salad dressing). It was so awesome to just order Bronson mac-n-cheese. He loved it too. Next stop... Toys-R-Us and Carters. Finally... we went to Costco. Bronson was over everything by this point, and just needed a nap. (He didn't sleep at all in the car.) Jake let him down and just chased him through the store while Bri and I shopped. We were fast and stocked up in a hurry! We then went to GMA and GPA's. As always it was a refreshing break, and just what the kids (and us) needed! We visited and they ordered us pizza. It was so nice and so fun! At 5:30 we left and went to Chucky Cheese. WOW! Now that is some place. We played for a hour and a half. Won lots of tickets that got us a sucker and a two inch wand. Brilee and Bronson both had a blast. At 7:30 we checked into our hotel, and got the kids swim ready! We stayed at the hotel with the water park, and it was great for our family. Josie and Derrik had a concert and so we had their girls with us. They left at 8, and we went right to the pool. It was a little nerve wracking with all the kids but we were good. Jake and I had a system. We each just had one of the little ones and both kept track of the girls. The water was really shallow so we knew they were fine. They played on the slides and just loved it. But we didn't wear our bracelets. After 15 minutes the life guard came and told Jake we had to have them. Jake said he didn't dare leave me with the four kids and asked if he could show them when we were done. (We knew we weren't going to make it too long in the water.) The dude said no, and that he would just watch Jilli. So Jake went to our room. The life guard tracked Jilli better than we could have and so it all worked out fine. Jake got back and we swam about 15 more minutes and were cold and tired. We got the kids out and put their jammies on and had them have quiet time. Bronson was asleep the second he laid down and Bri and Jilli not far behind him. Jake and I stayed with Addy in her room while the others slept. Josie and Derrik got back around 10:30 and we visited for awhile and then went to bed. The kids slept great and we got up around 8. We ate breakfast and then swam again. After swimming we showered and got ready for a day of fun! LAGOON! We got to the park just as it was opening and were so glad we came early. It wasn't too busy. The kids rode every ride they wanted, and didn't have to wait in lines. We started with a spook ally ride, went to the kid park, and just enjoyed ourselves. The kids LOVED everything and were so good. I was a little hesitant with how Bronson would do (like almost had Grammy come so we wouldn't have to bring him to the park), but I was so wrong. He loved it and had a blast. We rode every kid ride (and rattle snake rapids... not great in the colder temps), and then the lines started getting long. Bronson hated lines, and it was 3 so he was hours passed nap time. We decided to let the girls win a prize and then hit the road. While the adults were trying to win a prize the little girls were picking ducks. I heard the lady say, "Is your Mom going to give me money?" They didn't know, and really didn't care. They were just out to win. I went over and she told me, "This girl picked the duck with the big prize, but if you want to just pay 2$ more they both can have a prize." UM... YES! They were thrilled, and then even better they let Jilli in on the deal. So the girls came out winners and we left with big smiles. Bronson fell asleep in the stroller during the game, but he stayed asleep as we transferred him to the car. Bri was asleep before the freeway, and so Jake and I had a great ride home. We stopped in SLC to get our frozen stuff from Costco and say bye to GMA and GPA. The kids wouldn't even wake up there. So we were fast. Bronson slept until Fruitland, and Bri slept until Myton. Both kids were STARVING when we got home. They ate, took a bath, and were back in bed around 9. We had such a blast, and we are so grateful for our Nyberg friends. We have so much fun with them, and our kids have fun playing together. Thanks for the great weekend guys!!!

 Bronson at the doctors office. He has to look at the baby on the phone to stay entertained. This week was super hard. Bronson caught a cold, and it affects him badly. His asthma was making breathing a chore, and he just struggled. He was put on a steroid, and an antibiotic. His ears are both horribly infected (she said both were bulging with green junk on them). He also had to do breathing treatments every four hours. I did all that plus I borrowed a diffuser from Julie and diffused peppermint and thieves in his room. Not kidding... it helped. A lot. He is on the mend now, and much...MUCH better!

 Halloween Party!

 Bronson won the sucker!

 

This freak drove like this for MILES!