One Last Stop!

For our last treat, we stopped in to see my parents on the actual Halloween. The girls loved posing on Grandma's mushroom! What a fun and exciting weekend!

Ruh-Roh

We started our Halloween celebrating with a party at Grandma Chris's house and guess who made it...

Scooby!

Bella was so excited. She honestly screamed and giggled in delight and surprise. All the grandkids, except June (of course) thought it was great. Junie was just a little nervous until she realized it was just Grandpa in his costume.

All the grandkids and Shaggy too!

Eventually, Scooby was stuffed. Aunt Natalie had a great witchy hat. We spent the afternoon playing games and winning lots of fun prizes.

Almost as good as Scooby was having baby Rocco. Bella just adores him, and I can't say I blame her!

This little alligator has snapped up our hearts!

Junie was pretty funny with Grandma and wanted her all to herself. Anytime another grandkid came over, she made sure she was right there too.

Later that night, back home into the rain for trick or treating. Junie fell asleep on the way home and slept through most of the evening. Bella and dad went out for a while but then decided it was as much fun to hand out candy. Bella did that until the bigger kids started coming along with scarier costumes and decided she would let mom handle the job. It was a fun day and evening for everyone!

Pumpkin Carving

It wouldn't be Halloween without carving pumpkins. We had 18 to do. Bret and I got them all hallowed out the night before which makes everything much easier!

I did get Junie to touch the pumpkin guts, she was not very pleased.

Bella set to work carving her first pumpkin by herself this year.

Junie was hard at work too.

Bella moved from tool to tool making sure to get it just right!

Her finished pumpkin. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of the rest of them, but trust me it looked cute. I love having so many jack-o-lanterns lining our walk. They even survived the night! Look for even more next year!

Costumes

Friday night and it was time for the Trunk o Treat. The girls were ready to head out and gather up some candy!

We have a very cute ladybug and a beautiful owl fairy.



Junie loved being in her costume, and especially the tu-tu!

Bella loved having a crown, even though she wasn't a princess.

She even brought Alex in her fairy costume to the party!

The Great Pumpkin

Even though I had already bought 14 pumpkins, we headed to the patch so the girls could pick their own. They started out in the wheelbarrow, but Junie decided she didn't like Daddy's bumpy ride. "Too scary, not silly."
Bella found one right off, but then changed her mind.

This one seemed to fit the bill better, no stem for Bella's pumpkins. The girls can have any pumpkin they want as long as they can lift it.

Junie liked this little one, but it was a little heavy. She wouldn't think about putting down the princess bucket to make it easier.

She finally made it!

The triumphant ride back! Junie decided she would rather walk than have Daddy's scary ride. It wasn't the boats!

Junie did finally find something she liked. Popcorn still on the cob. We tried it and it wasn't perfect, but a fun experiment! Now on to the carving!

Dance Class

The girls could wear their costumes to dance tonight and were very excited, especially Junie.

She loves to dance with her teacher.

She takes jumping very seriously.

And she loves to twirl! What a little star.

Bella's class was very cute too. They loved dancing in the dark with glow bracelets to Monster Mash. Here comes Halloween!

The Sorting

Bella had wanted a friend to come with her on her birthday, but had her wait a few days and then bring Taeya with us to Gardner Village.

The girls tried on the sorting hat from Harry Potter. Bella was a Huffle Puff.

Taeya was put in Griffindor. (I was jealous.) Junie wouldn't try it.

The girls had fun checking out the witches and Halloween decorations. Bella was sure these glasses (without lenses) helped her see better. When she took them off, everything just seemed a little gray. Who am I too argue?

Grandma and Zoe met up with us too which made for even more fun. Afterwards, it was off to McDonalds for lunch and tiring out the kids. It worked great!

Bella is 6!

Can you believe my baby is 6. Bella is such a big kid, I can hardly believe it. She is very full of life and loves to do things to the fullest. She can draw for hours on end, and loves trying to write new words. She is a great big sister and can make Junie laugh and laugh when nothing else will make her happy. The girls dance and dance which I love to watch. Bella is such a joy!
She was so excited for this birthday, we had to open up presents first thing. She loves this Chinese dress Daddy picked out for her.

A Scooby Doo game to go with her very own DS! And lots and lots of presents. She loves to open, so we make sure she has plenty.

She chose to spend the day at the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. Unfortunately, Junie kicked Bret's camera just as we got there and broke the lens, so no pictures, but we had a great time. I took a lot of video, but I won't subject you to that! Afterwards, it was back home for a little ice cream.

Her new American Girl, Alex helped her blow out the candle.

Ready for bed after a fun day, in their matching jammies. Happy Birthday Bella, we love you sweetheart!

Happy Happy to Me

We celebrated my birthday by having my family over and Bret cooking dinner. Somehow, I managed to avoid all pictures. We had a great time and I got some really fun presents.

Bella received a few early birthday gifts too. I love this little purse from Grandma Pattie. She made it of course. Bella immediately put her scriptures in it with some special things for her church bag.
She also blew out the candles on her first try. I had a great birthday surrounded by people that I love. Thanks for everything Bret, I love you.

Baby Luc

We have new nephew, Baby Luc. Isn't he adorable? He is just a little thing, just over 6 lbs.
I love his little feet! Poor little guy has to get his blood checked.

With his happy mom!

One Last Time...

And again, Bella convinced us we needed to go to Cornbellies. Good thing I bought season passes, because we are certainly getting our money's worth.
Bella tried lassoing the cows this time and loved it.

Junie wanted to head straight for the slides.

Bella too!

Junie would have Dad walk her up to the slide and then go down. At the bottom she would turn around and say "Daddy too, Daddy too!" How can you say no to that cute little voice?

This time she was not happy about the cow train, so we had to leave.

We wandered around the gardens again, taking in all the changing flowers and leaves. What a great way to spend an evening as a family.