Happy Halloween 2011!!

This year, I was rather overambitious with the Halloween costumes. It made me question my commitment to this yearly tradition. Something about having a newborn baby made making costumes a lot harder.

But we survived, and I feel proud of how the costumes turned out, even if the vast majority of people had no idea who we were:

Abby's Flying Fairy School (from Sesame Street)

We also never got a full family picture. But the kids were the cutest, so it's okay.

Gonnagan and Abby Cadabby

A profile shot so you can see their fairy wings:

A big part of the fun for me in making the costumes is getting little details right. For instance, Gonnagan's different colored shoelaces.

I spent significantly les time/effort on Joel and my costumes, but they were still fun.

Blogg and Mrs. Sparklenose

Bleh. I was reluctant to post any pictures of myself because of three specific, if vain, reasons:

1. Baby weight is in full swing

2. I am out of contacts and don't have a current prescription, so I can only wear glasses

3. I keep getting styes in my eye, so I can't wear any eye makeup, which is all I wear anyway.

So, I've got some major frump going on. But Mrs. Sparklenose had to be represented. My mom pointed out that I am a lot fatter than the tiny Mrs. Sparklenose. Duly noted. And thanks, Mom.

Moving on.

Our first Halloween event was attending Storybook Forest at Arcadia Lake. They set up various fairy tale scenes around the lake, and kids walk around and collect candy. The displays were quite cool, and I was impressed with the event, despite the fact that they made us pay admission for June.

Our camera didn't have a flash (which will be further explained in an upcoming post, entitled "Disasters"), so this is the best we came up with:

Dane knocking on the house made of sticks at the Three Little Pigs' area:

Us with our new friends, the Youngs:

(By the way, Meghan, Michelle Young says she knew your sister in high school.)

On the way home, I asked Dane what his favorite part of Storybook Forest was, and he said, "The candies."

We went to my parents' ward's Chili Cookoff/Carnival Games/Trunk or Treat, where Dane got more candy. I wasn't done with the costumes yet, so I put him in a Buzz Lightyear dress up outfit. All were happy.

I decorated my trunk as Hogwarts, complete with Hedwig and the sword of Gryffindor, much to the delight of the various Harry Potters, Hermione Grangers, and Luna Lovegoods who came by.

Then came our ward's Chili Cookoff/Carnival Games/Trunk or Treat activity. It was even crazier than my parents'. In my opinion, that is way too much activity to cram into one event. But maybe I was just exhausted because, in addition to the costumes, I had signed up to make cookies, a cake for the cakewalk, and chili. I always try to win the chili cookoff. It was a crazy day getting ready for everything. My mom was nice enough to come over to help me get it all done.

Alas, I didn't win the chili cookoff. But I was happy with how my cake turned out:

We came away from the cake walk with a hideous looking zombie cake, which inspired Joel to make a little video:

The intensity of the feeding resulted in frosting up Joel's nose.

Dane had found the clown makeup and decided to paint himself a scary face.

Incidentally, I baked this bread on Sunday. It was pretty and yummy and contained squash:

Finally, it was Halloween day. Dane and I prepared the pumpkin so Daddy could help him carve it when he got home.

Arm yourself with a spoon,

Remove the head,

Scoop out the guts,

Place guts on naked belly.

Once Joel got home, he helped Dane design his face, which he did with careful precision, revising several times because it was "not spooky enough."

Then he proceeded to draw a family portrait on the back of the pumpkin. He would observe us to make sure he was getting our features right, tilt his head, and draw:

It was a cute little artistic moment. And here is the result:

June, Daddy, Mommy, and Dane

Then we illuminated the jack-o-lantern and put it on the porch for all to see:

Then Joel took Dane trick-or-treating with our friends, Seth, Wendy, and Eden (who were a hot dog vendor, baseball player, and hot dog) while June and I manned the door to dole out candy.

It was hard work, so she dozed off.

All in all, it was a busy but fun Halloween.

This was the first time in 5 years we haven't spent Halloween at George and Melanee's house. We missed them, so we called them and chatted until late in the night. It was the closest we could come to hanging out, and we had a great time.

Happy Halloween!