pete and the whole pan bunch...

We seriously had the best Halloween ever. I thought for sure we'd be jinxed with bad weather (turns out this week's cold spell was short lived...we were lucky to enjoy 80 degree temperatures for the day) or the swine flu (Asher's been over it for at least a week, and how blessed the rest of us were/are, to have avoided catching it from him)...seeing how we've been planning, talking about, and envisioning this day for, well...only about 365 days. We came up with our plan months and months ago. We started thrift shopping for costume pieces back in July, and I officially started sewing and putting everything together in August. I finally put the final touches on my Wendy costume the first weekend in October...and that was the very last costume. So, needless to say, we were getting pretty excited as the weeks and days of Halloween approached us. I love that it fell on a Saturday this year. It was nice to have John home to help me put everything together, and get everyone dressed and ready. Ruby, of course, took the whole thing very seriously. As we were getting ready, I would tell her to do something, and she would reply, "yes, Wendy". And then if I slipped and accidentally called her Ruby, she would correct me with, "Ummm, my name is Tinkerbell!" We were a little too excited, and ended up being all ready by 3:00. No worries though, the night was young...we had places to go and people to see. First stop, the home of our dear friends, George and Ruby. We always love spending time with them. We adore them, and our kids adore them...and I like to think that they adore us, too. They had some fun little goodies and gifts for our kids, and we enjoyed visiting with them and taking pictures of them with our kids. Next stop, Aunt Julie's. Ruby was in heaven as aunt Julie beautified and adorned her face with green eyeshadow, lots and lots of glitter, and glue on earrings. She was the prettiest Tinkerbell I have ever seen.
We then had a great time in the company of many of our friends and community members at the annual trunk-or-treat party. It's my favorite thing to walk around and see every one's costumes...and of course, to show off ours as well. We ate some yummy chili, mingled with our friends, played some carnival type games, and got lots (but not too much) candy. The night wouldn't have been complete without stopping in to see Grandpa Jerry and Cheryl. They've recently re-landscaped their backyard...which was nothing short of neverland itself. After walking along the bridge to the tiki hut and looking for fish in the pond, we were off to make the final stop of the night...Aunt Lori's! It's tradition every year to end up at Aunt Lori and Uncle Joe's house. It's fun to get all the cousins together, take some pictures, and just be able to unwind. By the end of the night, I was completely exhausted...but somehow still managed to lie awake conceiving, envisioning, and fantasizing over our costumes for next year...

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