To kick off our Halloween fun we went to our ward fall carnival October 22nd. The kids had so much fun. Rachel missed it because she had a birthday party to go to and Nate was on a "business" fishing trip. He had signed up for the chili cook off so I had to make his chili. After two runs to the grocery store, I finally got it done. I dropped it off a half hour early, but didn't see anyone in charge so just left it on the table. By the time I got all the kids ready and Rachel to her party we were 20 minutes late to the fall carnival. Everyone had their seats and were in line getting yummy chilies and soups. I had my hands full with a stroller and trying to carry hot bowls of soup for Haley and Tye..... forget about me. I didn't even get a chance to get myself anything. Good thing my kids didn't eat well so I could have their leftovers. :) All the tables were full so my nice neighbors squeezed us onto theirs. {Thank you Nettesheims!} The best part was my chili didn't even get touched. Not one person had any. It didn't get entered into the contest because I wasn't there to tell anyone. Ha, ha! It was one of those days that you can't really wait to climb into bed and hope for a better tomorrow.... and dream about crock pots of chili!! No really, it was a fun evening and we have lots of chili in the freezer for a rainy day. :)
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We had a family party at my parents house October 23rd. The kids dress up.... the adults not so much. We used to, but no one really does anymore. A few showed up in wigs or something simple over their clothes. I guess we're just a boring bunch. We had yummy soups and the kids played games, trick-or-treated from room to room and watched The Adventures of Icabod and Mr. Toad - minus Mr. Toad. We skipped right to the headless horseman part. I don't even know who Mr. Toad is. Apparently when I was a kid we always skipped to that part too.
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Nate helped the kids put a foam pirate ship together a week before Halloween. It was a little more time consuming than I thought it would be when I bought it. One hour and 20 minutes to exact. They had a good time. (Haley changed into her swimming suit halfway through... don't ask, cause I don't know! She's just been putting it on out of the blue lately.)
Eliza hung out under the table for awhile. Probably trying to eat little foam pieces that would fall to the floor. She was pretty fussy that night and kept wrinkling her nose. I caught a few on camera....
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We had more yummy soups and carved pumpkins for f.h.e. at Nate's parents house October 25th. Nate's dad grows enough pumpkins for all the grand kids. Nate was out of town {surprise, surprise ;)} so ThAnKs to all who helped me gut, trace, and carve 4 pumpkins (labeled below along with all the cousins' pumpkins). Always a fun night! (Minus the gutting. I hate gutting pumpkins!)
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The kids had their annual Halloween parade at school October 29th. Kaden hardly looked at us and all I ended up with was a picture of the back of his head.
Tye smiled at us as he approached.
Then hurried on his way.
Rachel did about the same as Tye.
Zoom! And they're gone!
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Finally Halloween..... sorta. Since October 31st was on a Sunday, the 30th had to jump in and take one for the team. BUT it was cold and rainy so we ended up doing the trick-or-treating in 4 phases. {Phase 1} I took the kids out with 3 umbrellas and we made it to 5 houses before we came back home. About a half hour later it mostly stopped raining {Phase 2} so we went out again, but this time with coats on top instead of jackets underneath the costumes. We made it through 10 or so houses then back to the house. {Phase 3} Nate then took Rachel, Kaden and Tye out for a bit, then {Phase 4} I took Rachel and Kaden to a few more houses around the ward. They got plenty of candy and said they had a fun Halloween. That's all you can wish for, right?
Kaden- Darth Vader | Tye- Iron Man
Rachel- southern belle | Haley- witch | Eliza- lamb





































