Throwback Thursday 12- Halloween!!

I love Halloween!! I love dressing my kids up and I so love all the decorations!! Second to Christmas is decorating for Halloween to me! I look forward to buying new stuff next week for next year!!

This first picture is from 1978- 30 years ago!! This is my brother and I- can you guess which one I am?! How I got to be C3-PO, I have no idea! Apparently it was my parents attempt to make us match in costumes! I know Sean loved Star Wars, and maybe I did too, so here we are:

Isn't that hilarious?!
Well, onto my kids...starting in 2000, the year Alex was born:
We didn't really dress him up- I just took him to the pumpkin patch where this was taken and then put a pumpkin headband on him (I couldn't find that one).

2001- GeeGee sent him Tigger and he loved it!
2002- Leah was just a tiny and she was a lion and he was a giraffe- I loved his face in this one!
The first year of dressing alike: 2003- Leah was a cowgirl and Alex a cowboy- so darling!

2004- Tinkerbell and Peter Pan- and my friend Shanti's kids were Captian Hook and the crocodile- we had a blast with that!!

2005- Snow White and a knight in shining armor (or something like that!) This would be my last attempt to dress them together- it just got too hard and they didn't like me choosing anymore- plus we added Celeste, so 3 became a crowd!!
2006- Leah was Ariel and Alex was Zorro- I loved this year, too.
Celeste's first Halloween- she was bunny and she loved it!

2007- Celeste was the perfect Piglet, Leah was Princess Jasmine and Alex was Chipper Jones.

How cute are they?!

And to refresh your memory 2008: Leah is Belle, Celeste is Baby Jaguar and Alex is a ninja.

So, what will we be next year?! If you ask the kids, they already have an idea! Crazy kids!

Bonfire Babes

Thanks to Aunt Liza for inviting us to come over on Sunday for dinner and a bonfire at her house!! It was awesome!! We had such fun! She made yummy soups and had great cupcake treats, candy apples, and of course, smores! She even played Halloween music and the kids were groovin to them all! She really knows how to have a good time!! Aunt Ivy was there too, and so here are some pics- thanks to Liza for having her camera- I forgot mine- what was I thinking?! These are so cute:

We love you, Aunt Liza!! Thanks for the fun night!!

Trunk or Treat 2008

On Friday our Ward had it's annual Trunk or Treat Halloween Party!! This is an really fun activity each year and even more fun this year. The YM and YW are in charge of it all, and each auxiliary had a part too- the EQ had a cookie decorating table, the Primary held a cake walk, and the Elders provided us with a musical number- even more hilarious than it sounds (we have really great missionaries!!) Anyway, my kids look forward to this activity more than any other Halloween function- they were super excited this year, because even I was dressing up! This never happens, by the way- I haven't dressed up since I was a punk rocker back in middle school! I think I used my cheer leading uniform a few times in high school, just for fun, but I just don't dress up.

BUT, I love dressing up my kids, and we plan it out months in advance. This year we starting buying our costumes in August. I am just like that- I am a planner! (shocking, I know!)

Actually I bought Celeste a cat costume at Children's Place last December on our shopping trip, and just kept it in her fall clothes. When we got out the fall wardrobe, she saw it and immediately wanted to wear it and call herself "baby Jaguar", from Go Diego Go- her very favorite show! It is perfect! She was in love!

For Leah, she almost always chooses a Princess- last year it was Jasmine and this year she pined for Belle. They are soooo expensive, and hard to find- though now Target has plenty! Anyway, I found her one on ebay that is from Disneyland! So perfect, and I won it for $11!! Score! It is a little big, but a few safety pins in the back and she is good to go!
Alex chose to be a ninja. We looked and looked for a cool one on ebay, but all of them looked too cheap. We finally settled on one, but the next day, before I bought that one, I found a used one at the thrift store for $1.75!! Seriously?! This was a perfect find! He was ecstatic about it- and then I bought him the weapon package at Target for $5! He was very happy.
Since we were all dressing up this year- Dana decided he couldn't be left out, she he went as Gangsta Guy- check us out- we are quite the pair...
Okay, so Leah wanted me to be a princess too- but I told her I was too old to be one, so I can be a "fairy godmother" instead- I even had a tiara and a wand. I wore the dress I wore in Sean and Steph's wedding 7 years ago- it still fit- amazing! I ironed it out, and actually got more than one wear out of it- that never happens, right?!

Here are some more pictures of that night:

Celeste and Emma were hand in hand nearly the whole time- they are so cute!!

Our friends came and Sam was an army recruit!

Me and my girls.

3 of the best costumes you will see...ha ha!

Our happenin' Elders- aren't they fun?!

Since it was raining, we had to go door to door throughout the building for the candy- Alex was sweet enough to take Celeste with him- they got a ton of candy!

Here they are again...during the costume parade.

G-man- he thinks he is cool...funny thing, the kids loved it!

Leah with a prize from the games.

You can't see it, but my tiara was a butterfly that lit up- super cute!

Johnny Cash was there, too- how cute is little Ross?!

Celeste and Abby have fun at the party.
The YW had a display that they took family pictures at- it was so nice- can't wait to see ours!
A view of the crowd- we had a record number of people come- it was awesome! We had a pizza potluck and it was perfect!

I was surprised that many of the adults dressed in full costumes- even our Bishop! It was a really good time, and everyone even stayed to help clean up- sweet! The kids have 2 more times to wear their costumes: Friday for their class parties and trick or treating, and then on Sunday for Celeste's birthday party at my parents' -no worries, I'll have more shots for you of that!

Special People- Special Day!

Today two people in my family have birthdays!

Julian, a nephew that lives very far away, turns 3 today! Hooray!! We love you, Julian! We haven't seen Julian since he moved away when he was a baby- but thank goodness his mom, Dana's sister keeps a blog and we get frequent pictures of this great little guy! He is so stinkin' cute and does so many fun things. We look forward to visiting someday soon! He and Celeste are only 6 days apart in age and so Annie and I were pregnant at the same time- that was really fun!

We send our love to Julian today and wish him a very Happy 3rd Birthday!!

Also today is my best friend, Jen's birthday!! I won't tell you her age, but she is one year older than me (well, really only 10 months), so you can probably figure it out! She is assuredly having a great day- she always gets really fun birthdays- and her family will make sure it is fantastic and special- just like her!

It is hard to believe that I have known her for 14 years!! We were incoming Freshmen at Ohio State when we met at Orientation. Her roommate didn't show up and neither did mine- so we met in the corridor and became instant friends! I can't imagine my life without her in it. We are so fun together and have done so many things. It is never dull when we are around each other. My cheeks usually start to ache when we tell stories about all the fun we have had through the years- we could do that all night and not even get tired! We have traveled together, and since I can't locate the pics, will spare you the 90's looks we had, but we went to Arizona and Mexico on Spring Break and can tell stories until the sun comes up about that! It was an interesting trip, to say the least! We also lived together our Sophomore year and part of our Junior year together- that was fun, too! We went to 3 years of OSU games together and we are both die- hard fans, of course!

Sadly, she lives so far away and we only see each other about once a yer if we are lucky. But, when we chat on the phone, or read each other's blog, it is like we are right next door. She is an amazing mom and wife (so Keith says!), and I feel luckier than I can say that she is my friend, and treasure her more than I can even express.

I love you, Jen and hope you have a wonderful birthday!!

4 X 4

It hasn't been that exciting of a week (thank goodness!), so I thought I would complete this tag from Katie: Look in the fourth folder of your pictures and select the fourth picture and write about it, so here you are:
This was 2006 and I was serving in YW with Katie and Amanda. This was a mutual my girls, the Mia Maids were in charge of and so we went to the Temple for a testimony meeting. We had snacks at the little picnic area we have off to the side and then we gathered for this group picture. I just loved serving in this Presidency. I am not just saying that because Katie was President, but because she and Amanda became such good friends of mine. They are both amazing women who serve selflessly. They have a pure love of Christ and for these girls, who let's be honest, are sometimes hard to love! I served with them for about a year and a half- and Amanda is still in there! (Sorry, Amanda- I feel your pain!)
Anyway, this was a really fun activity and the girls all wore white, which we requested, and so they got the feel for the purity and sacredness of the Temple. I love the Temple and being there with the girls was a great time- I pray that they each get married there and realize the importance of marrying the right person, at the right time, in the right place. To my girls I promised that I would be there when they did.
Now, if you haven't been tagged and you're reading this now- it's your turn- have fun!

Fall Photo Shoot

Yesterday the weather was soooo nice! I took advantage of it and Celeste and I went to the park to play and to snap a few photos of the scenery and this adorable little girl. She was so fun and these were terribly easy to shoot.
Here you go:

She was so done by this time- she fell asleep as soon as we got home! I guess being a model is hard work! She'd better get used to it now!