halloween

We started our Halloween festivities with the ward Trunk-or-Treat...

Brooke has so many dress-ups, so I was thrilled when she wanted to wear something she already had.  I found really cute fake nails (orange, black, and glittery) which were perfect for her witch costume, and she was sold!  She has nearly outgrown the costume anyway, so it was the perfect opportunity to use it one last  time. She requested wavy hair and make-up, so that's exactly what we did.  She made a beautiful witch...

Colby picked out this awesome viking costume at Costco, but as we pulled into the church parking lot, he became self-conscious about his hat.  He kept commenting that he looked silly, but I assured him that it totally made the whole costume, so he kept it on! Oh, and he requested facial hair, which was the perfect finishing touch. 

We invited the Nesbitts to join us and the kids were so excited that they did.  Brooke palled around with Zalaya the whole time and the two girls coordinated so perfectly with their witch costumes. 

They played several games, ate dinner, and received TONS of candy during the Trunk-or-Treat portion of the night. 

Marlie asked to borrow Brooke's old dance costume and looked absolutely adorable.  I think Brooke and Marlie had originally planned to be ballerinas, but since the costumes are pretty small on Brooke (from when she was 3!), she changed her mind. 

Colby was glad that Braxton was there with him!

Kevin dressed as a hippie, and I was shocked at how many people didn't recognize him!  It started with the wig, then quickly evolved into the handmade foil peace sign necklace and my flare jeans, haha.  Troy bought his whole get-up from the thrift store, and I'm not sure what Joe was supposed to be.  Maybe a farmer? 

I didn't get a picture with my family, but I did get a cute picture from my friend Mandy. Her son Jack has loved pirates for a long time, so this might be the second year in a row that we have pirate pictures together.  

Right after the Trunk-or-Treat, we headed to a block party for Colby's friend Noah.  We met their family through baseball and really hit it off, so we were glad they wanted us at their party.  They live in a cul-de-sac, so the last few years the neighbors has all pooled together to rent a bounce house and then order pizza for everyone.  It was super low key, but really fun.  The kids played for hours in the bounce house, and although Brooke completely tore the tulle layer on her dress, it was a great night. 

Our neighbor, Sandra Equivel, put together these cute goody bags for the kids with treats, crafts, and cute plushies.  She is always doing sweet things for the kids, and they appreciated her thoughtfulness. 

All dressed up and ready on Halloween Night: My sweet, yet serious viking...

And my cute and creepy witch...

She was in love with the nails, so we had to capture them in the pictures. 

Brooke had actually stayed home sick from school, but since she seemed perfectly fine by that afternoon, I decided to let her join in on the fun. Love these two!

One of the greatest things about being besties with your neighbors is that you can go trick-or-treating together.  (I did let her know that Brooke had been sick, but since she never ran a fever, Joanna wasn't worried.) We loved our time with the Hawkins...

They always love the house with the fog machine, but wanted to hold Kevin's hand :)

We walked our entire neighborhood, then finally drove over to the creepy house on England Parkway (imagine at least 20 bloody, creepy, and animated things in the yard).  I knew it was a bad idea, but Colby and Marlie REALLY wanted to go and were relentless in their begging.  As we left the neighborhood, I was shocked with how busy it was!  I guess I've never driven anywhere on Halloween night, but our whole development was packed and the streets near the creepy house were full of people and cars.  We parked around the corner, and as we walked over, Colby questioned whether it was a good idea.  Then he determined that he would just close his eyes if he got scared. 

Well, I wish I would have trusted my instincts because Brooke woke me up in tears multiple times throughout the night.  She was so scared and said she kept seeing the creepy faces in her mind.  I felt completely awful and sad, so I will definitely not be repeating that mistake next year!

But the good (or bad?) news is that they got loads of candy...

And glow fangs...

Overall, it was a fun and festive Halloween season and hopefully Brooke won't be traumatized for long!