Halloween 2016

I've said it once, and I'll say it again. Ellie and holidays are the best! She was a hoot this year. She had her costume planned out in September, which she of course, ended up changing TWICE on Halloween. We kicked things off with the ward trunk-or-treat. Melinda and I decorated her van together. It's a sweet gig. The husbands took the girls around and we got to hand out candy and chat. Also, the donuts! The donuts were so good.

On Halloween Eve we watched Halloween at the House of Mouse. We cozied up the house with lights, candles and some hot cocoa. The kids wore their festive jammies and were out within 10 minutes...and so was j.rue if memory serves me correctly.

Jeremy was off with us on Halloween which was awesome! We missed trick or treating up at his office, but I'm sure there will be many more years of that to come. That morning we headed up to Ogden for my mom's school Halloween carvinal. We've gone every year since Ellie was born, which I guess is only 4 times, but it's become quite the tradition. We also roped Micah into joining us. Ellie and Fitz loved all of the games, treats, and my personal favorite, the cupcake walk. The cupcakes are amazing! Ellie was supposed to be Ariel. Halloween morning she decided that she wanted to be Ariel in the pink dress and wouldn't even wear her red wig, dang it. That's 3 year olds for you, right?

We lunched at Lee's Mongolian, a Ruesch/Lasater/Kwallek favorite and headed home to take some naps before trick or treating. Ellie drew her first self-portrait and got an extra kick out of herself by dressing up a "me" and thought she was hilarious. The pictures and poses were all her idea. This girl, what am I going to do with her!

We headed out around 4 to go trick or treating on main street. It was packed but it's been so fun. Plus, it's easy candy because I never know how long we're going to make it actual trick or treating. They made out like bandits! Oh, and as you can see, Ellie decided that she would be Elsa when all was said and done...just like she is every day. I'm telling ya, 3 year olds!!! Random fun fact, her candy bag was mine when I was her age. My mom made it for me and I about cried when she pulled it out again for me to use with my kids. I remember filling that thing to the brim and I can't wait for Ellie to do the same...and them reap the rewards of her hard work.

Another beloved tradition we've been doing for at least 4 years is heading over to James and Melinda's house for chili before trick or treating. It was delicious as usual and the kids loved running around in their costumes. It was a bit of a chillier Halloween so their running and antics definitely kept them warm. We usually go trick or treating with them as well, but wanted to scout out a new neighborhood. It wasn't bad, but we'll definitely be caravanning back to Clinton with them next year!

My mom came up to go trick or treating with us, which was fun. We loaded the kids in the wagon (a new obsession for sure!) and made the rounds in our ward first. Ellie loved visiting her favorite neigbors and having them ooh and aah over her costume. She is full of it, let me tell you! Then we headed off to the other neighborhood, it wasn't the worst, but it also wasn't the best. The kids didn't know any different and they got lots of the good kinds of candy.

After everyone was burnt out we headed home and feasted on Costco pizza. We were pooped, the kids were pooped. And of course the second them went to bed, I helped myself to their bucket loads of candy! A happy Halloween it was, indeed!