Our Halloween

Started out with this:

Which resulted in these (all Joseph's handiwork):

Bentley's dump truck

Caroline's penguin, "Waddles"

Joseph's scary squash

We fit in a fun ride over to the temple:



And our day ended with these darling trick-or-treaters:

I think this has been the most relaxing and calm Halloween I've had in years. It began with a slow, lazy morning and while Joseph and the kids carved pumpkins, Livs and I hung out together. I love that I could fit in a long bike ride with my hubby and then come home to take a menthol enriched and very hot bubble bath right when the first rain storms rolled in. Later we snuggled up with kids to watch a cartoon Halloween show and Joseph and I fell asleep on the couch for a solid 30 minute nap. Then it was time for dinner and getting layered-up for a night out in the neighborhood. I guess we fit plenty into our day but never felt rushed or too busy--Halloweens in the past just seem to have been crazy, full and exhausting days.

My kids and hubby got quite soaked tonight (did yours?) but loved every minute of it :) Livs went to 2 houses right at 6:00 and then Joseph brought her home to enjoy eating her two candies while we stayed dry together handing-out treats.

Gardner Village

Heid is still in town, Bentley had school off today and Cec's kids are off-track--made for the perfect day to visit Gardner Village

Look who we ran into? More cousins! Love Isabel's pout.

October

Season's last soccer games

Watching Bentley's game in the rain

The kids' Primary Program

Little Livvies wanted to line up for the picture too :)

Trying yet again to do Livs' hair...

and she still won't leave it in for longer than 2 seconds...

And more BYU football

Pumpkin Patch

We fit this activity in pretty last minute this year--and gave it a whopping 20 minutes which is what happens when it is freezing outside, the sun has just set, and there's a lot of mud to trudge through. Joseph brought home an oblong, knobby and colorful squash to carve...can't wait to see what he comes up with...

This baby was having such fun on the old tractor.
It reminded her of the horsey rides she gets from her Daddy...and then she was done.

Spooky Smiths

Year 2 of our annual celebration:

Skeleton cupcakes, spooky candies, and creature chips and dip

all the boy cousins:
Lion, 007, builder, Buzz, cow and Percy Jackson
(We had all the grandkids together! Tye and Stacey even got to join us--in part so we could celebrate Mason's 1st birthday too)

all the girl cousins:
BYU cheerleader, piggie, black cat and pink poodle (who was not into her costume at all)

Maddie and Cares sipping up Boo-Nilla shakes

Our "wagon" ride (towed around by my Dad's car)
(the rain broke just in time for us to enjoy a crisp, clear ride through the neighborhood)

Heid's family

Cec's family

cutie pie girls

a little pumpkin bowling

matching sparkly girls


And, because I basically have no shame (and apparently get a big kick out of myself)
pictures of me from Saturday night:


What? Isn't this what you're supposed to wear to aerobics class? Those neon blue hot pants and pink tights are directly from my mom's dress-ups box...so somebody in my family (Cecily) actually wore them to workout in back in the day. Totally awesome.


I was really into stretching Saturday night...I guess I couldn't get enough of it. It must have been the leg warmers...

My favorite quotes from Bentley that night: "Mom, you're wearing Dad's belt!" and "My mom is dressed up as a fashion girl." He's funny...

Evening at the Beach

Gilson Beach

So our last day in Chicago was well spent. After church and the temple we finally got Livs home in time to nap in her own bed! When she woke up, we popped over to Gilson Park for some serious beach time. The kids loved playing in the sand and the playground on the beach was just an added bonus.

We returned to John and Krista's for a delicious Sunday dinner of Ruth Ann's ribs (frozen from her own trip out a few weeks before) and Krista's homemade french bread and apple crisp for dessert.

Once the kids were in bed and Joseph and I felt mostly packed up, the 5 of us played Ticket to Ride. It was just too much fun--those brothers together are so silly and Krista and I are total suckers for all their jokes. Our lovely Sunday afternoon and evening together made me so happy that we had booked a Monday morning flight (at 6:30 am!) and were able to enjoy a long, full family day.

However, the alarm clock at 4:15 am was not so enjoyable. And even though the traffic was obsolete that early in the morning, the airport was still plenty busy--but we made it to our flight with time to spare and home to Utah early enough to get Joseph to work Monday morning and Bentley to school by 10:15 am.

Oh Chicago (and Johnny and Kica and Bob) we miss you! We loved all our adventures between Evanston and downtown and especially loved that we could spend time with family in such a beautiful place. We will be back--most likely with older kids--but back again someday.