Halloween 2017

Tonight we wrapped up another Halloween!  We had such a fun evening as all of our kids are finally old enough to enjoy every minute of it.  We were blessed with beautiful, autumn weather which made for some very pleasant trick-or-treating this evening.  We started out with an early dinner at 5 o'clock before taking our traditional Halloween pictures on the door step.  All five of us then set out as a group to trick-or-treat up our hill and back down again which takes a little over an hour and is the perfect amount of time for our kiddos to be out walking and door-bell ringing.  We then returned home a little after 7 o'clock in order for the children to have plenty of time to answer the door while counting their candy and watching Disney's old school version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow which I love!  Lia and Logan love answering the door as much as they love trick-or-treating, so they were lucky to have many visitors until almost 9 o'clock tonight.  As always, it was such a fun way to spend the evening with our darling children!

Since preschool fell on Halloween, Ella was able to dress up as Snow White, her second Disney princess of the season, and go to a party at Jace's house. They played several games, completed some Halloween activities, ate treats, and played outside.  Here she is standing by the decorations outside their front door before going in.

Ella and all of her preschool friends dressed up in their darling costumes.

Top Row (L to R):  Jacob and Jace

Bottom Row (L to R):  Valerie, Ella, Emma, and Isla

Our traditional, sibling picture on the front porch before we headed out to go trick-or-treating.

Ella decided to dress up as a third, Disney princess (Rapunzel) while Lia and Logan stuck with their original costumes of Rey and a pirate.

Lia as an adorable Rey--the coolest heroine from the Star Wars franchise.

A side shot of Lia's awesome Rey, hair-do.

Logan the pirate.  Arrrrrr.

Our darling Rapunzel with short, brown hair.

The gang heading out on the street!

Lia, Logan, and Ella walking up to our neighbor's door.

Ringing the doorbell!

Trick-or-treat!  Papa and the kids get for another door to open.

Jack-O-Lanterns!

We gathered around the table tonight for our annual, pumpkin carving.  The kids were so excited to participate in this activity and Lia even tried cleaning out and carving her pumpkin all by herself.  Ella wanted a sad pumpkin, Logan wanted a scary one, and Lia strayed from the group and decided all on her own to carve a cat pumpkin.  As for the parents, Ron carved out an intricate face of the Oogie Boogie character from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" movie and my pumpkin ended up resembling an ant.  After finishing the carving, we lined up our pumpkins, lit the candles, and turned off the lights and marveled at our glowing creations.  We then wrapped up the evening by singing the song, "There's No Such Thing As a Ghost," while I attempted to accompany the family on the piano.  What a fun way to spend the evening before Halloween!

Ron and Logan looking at papa's phone for ideas for Logan's pumpkin.

Lia scooping out her pumpkin's guts.

Sweet Ella playing with my Albino pumpkin before I carved it.

Mama and Ella posing with her pumpkin after we finished it.

After we lined up the pumpkins on the counter, Ella and Logan immediately ran over and started playing with them.  They are just the cutest thing!

Our pumpkin family all lit up and glowing.

Ella posing by her lit pumpkin.

Golden Anniversary Celebration

Although we have been planning for quite some time now to celebrate my parent's 50th wedding anniversary this coming summer at some tropical location with the entire family, we had never thought about doing anything on their actual anniversary until last week my mom asked us if we wanted to get together and celebrate since their actual anniversary fell on a Saturday.  By some miracle, everyone was available the Saturday before Halloween and so we all agreed to get together including my brother and his wife who live in Montana.  I quickly set to work helping my mom find a restaurant for all of us to meet at for dinner.  After looking at several menus online, we decided that we should go back to the Lobster Shop which is the same restaurant on the Puget Sound in Tacoma where we met five years ago for their 45th anniversary.  We all gathered at 5:30 tonight and enjoyed the incredible views of the water and the mountains from the restaurant as the sky was totally clear from a beautiful, Autumn day.  After we enjoyed a delicious dinner and a special dessert for my parents, we returned back to our house for cards and gift opening.  My mom even brought her wedding dress and wedding album to show us.  They have been such a wonderful example to my brothers and me over the years as to what a committed and loving couple should be.  I am so grateful to have them in my lives and so grateful that we were able to be with them on this very special and momentous occasion!  Love you, mom and dad!

The entire group posed outside the restaurant before we started our dinner.

My darling parents with Mt. Rainier in the background.

A close-up of the special couple.

Eating dinner inside the Lobster Shop.

My parents before blowing out their candles on their creme brulee dessert.

Trunk-or-Treat!

Tonight was our ward's trunk-or-treat event at the church.  Since our ward boundaries just changed less than three weeks ago, our bishop decided to keep the entire affair simple since we had no idea who would be left behind in our ward to plan and carry out a large-scale, Halloween party.  So, we just showed up tonight for some donuts and hot chocolate in the gym before heading outside to participate in the trunk-or-treating.  Unfortunately, Ron had to supervise a playoff game for his high school football team and was unable to join us for the first time ever which was a bummer.  I managed to feed the kiddos an early dinner and then got them all ready in their costumes.  Lia chose to dress up as Rey from the new Star Wars movie, Logan decided to wear his pirate costume (of course), and Ella went back and forth for quite some time between several Disney princess costumes before settling on Merida.  The three of them looked so darling and we had a great time being together for this Halloween party.  I love how all of my kids are getting old enough to really enjoy and appreciate all of the holidays.  They help to make everything more exciting and special!  Here are some of the pics from the evening...

The kids and me standing in front of one of the beautiful trees in the church parking lot after first arriving.

Rey, Logan the pirate, and Merida all dressed up and ready to go.

The Hartland kids with Evie and Oliver, two of their friends from church.

Enjoying donuts and hot cocoa.

A close-up of my cute Lia.

Logan munching away on his donut.

Ella striking a pose for me.

Since one of the boys from Lia's primary class dressed up as Kylo Ren, we decided that we needed a picture of the two of them even though Lia reminded me that "we don't like each other." (She was referring to their relationship in the movie and not in real life.  It totally made me laugh).  Here is Lia and Winston striking their best Star Wars pose.

The three kiddos stuck together during the entire trunk-or-treating.  Here is Ella getting some candy while her older brother and sister wait for her.

The kids posing with one of the decorated cars.

Trunk-or-treating from Little Red Riding Hood.

All finished and ready to head home!

Preschool Fun!

Although I had massive reservations about Ella starting preschool this Fall due to the fact that she is the clingiest child we have ever had, I have been so relieved to see that she has actually been doing okay.  Although she was scared to be dropped off at someone else's house the first few times, she really has gotten braver the last few weeks.  In fact, today was the first time this entire school year that I was able to drop Ella off at preschool without having to bribe her with a piece of candy.  Now that is progress!  And this is the adorable picture that my friend, Alisa, sent me during preschool today.  Here is Ella with her other "friends" coloring a Minne Mouse Halloween picture during Activity Time.  All of these kids are really well behaved and are making this co-op a positive experience for all of us moms!  As much as it makes me sad, I am so glad that my Ella is growing up and gaining some independence.  Love you, Ellie B!

Aladdin on Broadway

For the third holiday season in a row, I have taken Lia into Seattle to see a Broadway musical with the other ladies in my family.  It is becoming a fun, annual tradition and a great way to start the holiday season.  Although we bought tickets months ago to see Disney's Aladdin, I didn't tell Lia until this past week.  I surprised her after school one day with a little gift bag sitting on her pillow in her bedroom.  I had placed her Jasmine Barbie doll on the pillow in front of the gift holding a little sign that said, "Lia, Please join me on a magic carpet ride.  Love, Jasmine."  Totally confused, Lia opened the gift to find our two tickets inside.  Once I explained to her that we were going to see this musical on Broadway, she was totally excited!!  We had a great time tonight being with all of the women from my family including my mom, Natalee and her two girls, Rebecca and Vivi, and Natalee's mom.  We first met my mom, Rebecca, and Vivi for dinner at Applebee's in Bellevue for dinner before driving to the Paramount Theatre in Seattle in a total rain storm.  We had a great time being entertained for over two hours by the amazing costumes and sets, beautiful music, and always entertaining Genie.  It was a wonderful way to spend the evening with my Disney-loving daughter!

The gift that Lia found on her pillow earlier this week.

A close-up of Jasmine holding the sign.

Vivi, Lia, and Rebecca eating dinner.

The view of the Paramount Theatre as we drove by it looking for a parking spot.

A close-up of the marquee sign.

Lia and Vivi under their umbrellas outside the theatre.

My mom, Lia, me, and Vivi all hiding under our umbrellas.

The poster outside the entrance of the theatre.

Lia and I standing outside the entrance of the theatre before entering the lobby.

We enjoyed wandering around the gorgeous, Paramount Theatre before the show began.  Here is a picture we took after stumbling across this fun photo op with Aladdin's magic lamp.

Family Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

We headed out early this morning to arrive at the pumpkin patch right as it opened at 9 o'clock since we had a busy day ahead of us with two soccer games and Ron's high school homecoming dance in the evening.  It was rather chilly when we arrived, but we enjoyed the smaller crowds in comparison to when we have normally gone in the past later in the day.  We started out in the barn looking at all of the animals before heading to Logan's favorite activity:  the duck races.  After taking a gander at the goats, we finished off in the pumpkin patch where everyone had a chance to pick out their pumpkin for carving in a few weeks.  We had a great time kicking off the holiday season this morning and can't wait for all of the fun and festivities to come!

Lia, Ella, and Logan posing outside of the baby bunny barn.

The kids standing in front of the turkey cage.

Logan and Ella in front of the adorable, baby chicks.

Logan having a go at milking a cow.

Ella following her big brother's lead.

How tall this fall?

Logan is almost 4 feet tall.  Gasp.

Lia is almost 5 feet tall.  Double gasp.

And sweet Ella is almost 3.5 feet tall.

The kids and me sitting on some very large pumpkins!

Lia enjoying the duck races.

Ella and Lia loading up their trough.

Logan pumping away!

All three kids hard at work.

Lia, Ella, and the goats.

The kids with rows and rows of mini pumpkins behind them.

Our traditional, family photo in the pumpkin house.

Logan loading up his pumpkin.

Papa putting Ella's pumpkin in the wheelbarrow.

Lia and Logan in front of one of the large spiders.

Mama and the kiddos posing for one more picture before heading out!