SPOOKTACULAR

For all the teasing I give Nikki for constantly coming home with new Halloween decorations, I have to give her credit for making everything so festive.

Here are some samples of the magic she performed last weekend. Great job, babe!

This is my masterpiece from last weekend. Not impressed? What you’re not seeing is the 50 lbs of concrete it’s buried in. Come wind, snow or drunk teenager, that thing is not moving… ever.

So what if I accidently cemented it in upside down. It’s nothing that some creativity and broken drill bits couldn’t fix.

Halloween 2008

I know it isn't Halloween yet, but tis the season!! We love this time of year and love the Halloween Holiday. We try and dress up and go out at least once during the season. This year we were invited to a Hogwarts, Harry Potter Party. We decided it would be fun to go as the dark side of the Harry Potter characters and go as: He who shall remain nameless/ Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange

This party we went to is up in Ogden at an old historic mansion. The owner of the place goes all out and this year was no exception. I really felt like I was at Hogwarts, with the Hogwarts Express and all.

The best costume by far was a gentleman that came as Hagrid. If you are not up on your Harry Potter trivia, Hagrid is the very large man who is the Animal Keeper at the school. This guy walked in and the entire room stopped to look. He must have put 12 inch blocks on his feet . .he looked exactly like the character.

We always attend this party with our dear friend, Jayna. This year her Mom attended as well . .Jayna went as Indiana Jane and her Mom went in Black and Orange!! Here is a picture of the girls!!

I hope all of you have a very fun, festive and safe Halloween!!

New York, September 2008

Brendan and I decided to take a little trip, before the little guy is born. We decided it would be really fun to go to New York and see a Yankee's game before they take down the old stadium. Brendan is a huge Yankees fan and has been one for years.

We got to see one of the final games in Yankee Stadium. The Yankees played the White Sox and ended up winning by a landslide. It was a very fun experience and Brendan loved every single minute of it.

We also took in a lot of the tourist sites: Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rockfeller Center, Central Park, etc. And much to Brendan's chagrin, did a ton of shopping!!! We also went to two musicals: The Little Mermaid & Mary Poppins. Brendan was a great sport for going to 2 Disney musicals with me.

The Little Mermaid was absolutely awesome!! I would highly recommend it to everyone traveling to New York. Mary Poppins was good, but our experience was somewhat dampened by the people behind us singing along with every song.

Here are some of our photos from our New York Adventure:

POLITICO

A harmless blog such as this may be no place for politics, but I have to vent about a phenomenon sweeping our country, the uninformed voter. Let me preface by saying that I am a registered Independent because I dislike the two-party system. I believe it hinders progress, action and harmony. That said, anyone who has gone toe-to-toe with me in a political debate knows where I stand.

Now, I have friends on both the right and left, and I respect anyone with deep political convictions, as long as they actually know what they are. The trouble lies with those who preach about, glorify or criticize candidates without knowing the issues/facts.

For example, and in my opinion,

-Voting for someone because they remind you of your grandpa is ridiculous
-Voting for someone because Oprah and Leonardo Dicaprio tell you to is ridiculous
-Voting for someone because you think their running mate is cute is ridiculous
-Voting for someone because of a trendy slogan is ridiculous

You get the idea.

So, in the spirit of this political season, I’ve included a cheatsheet of some prominent issues/facts and each candidate’s stance. (A friend recently sent this to a few weeks ago. I have tried to strip it of any bias. Forgive me if some still lingers.) Enjoy:

ISSUE: Favors new US drilling offshore
John McCain: Yes
Barak Obama: No

ISSUE: Served in the US Armed Forces
John McCain: Yes
Barak Obama: No

ISSUE: Time served in the US Senate
John McCain: 22 years
Barak Obama: 3 years

ISSUE: Will institute a socialized national health-care plan
John McCain: No
Barak Obama: Yes

ISSUE: Supports abortion throughout the pregnancy
John McCain: No
Barak Obama: Yes

ISSUE: Would pull troops out of Iraq
John McCain: No
Barak Obama: Yes

ISSUE: Supports gun ownership rights
John McCain: Yes
Barak Obama: No

ISSUE: Supports homosexual marriage
John McCain: No
Barak Obama: Yes

ISSUE: Voted to make English the official language of USA
John McCain: Yes
Barak Obama: No

ISSUE: Voted to give Social Security benefits to illegal immigrants
John McCain: No
Barak Obama: Yes

ISSUE: CAPITAL GAINS TAX
John McCain: 0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). Does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax.
Barak Obama: 28% tax on profit from all home sales.

ISSUE: DIVIDEND TAX
John McCain: 15% (no change)
Barak Obama: 39.6% dividend tax

ISSUE: INCOME TAX
John McCain:
Single making 30K - tax $4,500
Single making 50K - tax $12,500
Single making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 60K- tax $9,000
Married making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 125K - tax $31,250

Barak Obama:
Single making 30K - tax $8,400
Single making 50K - tax $14,000
Single making 75K - tax $23,250
Married making 60K - tax $16,800
Married making 75K - tax $21,000
Married making 125K - tax $38,750

ISSUE: ESTATE TAX
John McCain: 0% (No change, Bush repealed this tax)
Barak Obama: Restore the inheritance tax - New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet - New gasoline taxes - New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity) - New taxes on retirement accounts - New taxes to pay for socialized medicine

Please refer to the following sites for verification:
http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/election/2008/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.taxes.html

http://elections.foxnews.com/?s=proposed+taxes
http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/politics/articles/mccain_obama_offer_different_visions_on_taxes.html

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/barack_obama/
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/john_mccain/

PICTURE PERFECT

A picture is worth a thousand words, and we all know I’m rarely short on those. So, here are a few of my favorite things, in picture form.

THE HARLINE CATCH:
At the risk of sounding like a Ute fan still talking about 2004, I still get chills when thinking of this moment. Never has blown coverage looked so good. Never has BYU victory tasted so sweet. It should be noted that my brother and I were dangerously close to a fist fight with several angry Ute fans about 30 seconds after this catch. It was completely unprovoked on our side, of course...

ANCHORMAN:
I could watch it a million times, and it never gets old. “Baxter, you know I don’t speak Spanish.”

SENIOR PHOTO:
Wow. I’ve seen Nikki look cute in hundreds of photos but never with so much hair. How did the photographer fit it all in?

P-TOWN:
No matter where I go, there’s still no place like home.


GLORIA:
She looks gooood after a bath.
*A special thanks goes out to Nikki’s new Pilot. Its presence has enabled me to retire the big, old Suburban and reunite with my automotive crush.


SHOCKWAVE:
My favorite Christmas present of all time. Too bad I sold it on ebay while in college. Nostalgia runs cheap when you need gas money.


BABY BURKE:
Best. Thing. Ever! Even if he looks more like a monkey with a mullet at this point, we can’t wait for our new, little guy to arrive late January. Let's hope he looks like his mom and doesn't act like his dad.

FALL = FOOTBALL

I know it is not Fall quite yet, but still we love this time of year! It starts cooling down, the leaves start changing making the mountains amazing and of course, BYU FOOTBALL!!!

We headed down to Lavell Edwards Stadium on Saturday, along with 65,000 other BYU Fans for their season opener vs. Northern Iowa. You might be asking yourself, who is Northern Iowa . . .I had to ask myself the same question!! :)

Brendan, his brother Chris and myself were overly excited to head down south to "COUGAR-TOWN!!"

The game was fun and exciting. We had plenty of opportunities to stand and sing the BYU Fight Song as BYU cruised past the Northern Iowa Panthers 40 to 17!!

**A note from Brendan: While Northern Iowa is technically not a "real" team, we look forward to stomping better opponents soon!

DANCE FEVER

Recently, I contracted the fever, Dancer Fever. No, I’m not the one dancing, but it has been on my mind. Maybe it’s because I joined Nikki in watching ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ this season. Maybe it’s because I was asked to be a returning judge for the Jazz Dancer Auditions.

Who's to say how I got it, but allow me to share some of my favorite dancing:

Berries & Crème:
Very odd, very quirky, but it makes me laugh every time.


the commercial:



Hooked on a Feeling:
Impossible tobogganing, the gift of flight, the ability to create three-dimensional boxes from thin air… is there anything the Hoff cannot do? Throw in some Dachshunds and Angels in, say, the Amazon Rainforest, and you’ve got something special. Truly, truly Hoffrageous.



Aicha:
Gellie Man, you genius! Never mind the fact that your video failed to impress your prospective online girlfriend. Never mind the fact that she disrespected you by sending it to the entire world. Even if you can’t spell, “Aisha”, you’re still a creative mastermind in my book. Your teenage angst and cinematic use of Minnie Mouse bed sheets is unprecedented.

“She moves how???” That’s right, Gellie Man, like a briz… like a briz.

I anxiously await your next masterpiece.



Finnish Delight:
Forget Napoleon Dynamite, it’s obvious the Finns created the most entertaining dance sequence ever two decades earlier. BEST. MUSIC. VIDEO. EVER!