Trick or Treat!

Tonight wraps up a marathon few days of Halloween festivities.  From a carnival at the YMCA to a preschool party to the ward trunk-or-treating to the actual holiday, it has been a whirlwind of candy and the reappearance of the Ariel costume.  I think our little mermaid is finally satisfied with Halloween 2012 and ready to move on to other things.  Here's a quick recap of the last two days.

 

The Hartland fam braved a serious rain storm last night to attend our ward's trunk-or-treating in the church parking lot.  I was finally able to convince Ariel (a.k.a. Lia) to wear her complete costume for the first time with the wig and crown and all.  We also broke out Logan's official Halloween costume--a stuffed monkey.  I don't think there was a cuter baby there!

 

Ariel armed and ready to go!

 

Logan cruised the evening in papa's arms under the protective covering of a very large umbrella.

 

Getting some loot out of someone's trunk.

 

The stars aligned (or should I say the starfishes aligned) when we found a pumpkin carved with Ariel's face on it.  I just had to take a picture of this for "Lia's princess files."

 

 

Today, after Logan's nap, I was able to take my monkey into the living room for a little photo shoot.  He was in a very good mood and willingly posed with a smile for me many times. 

 

We call this the "I'm sexy and I know it" pose.  Although Logan has been striking this pose for many months now, I have never been able to capture it on film until today!

 

Quite possibly the cutest picture ever taken of Logan!

 

 

Ariel graced us with her presense one last time tonight.  Here she is posing for a quick photo before heading out to treak-or-treat in our neighborhood.

 

Our mermaid and monkey all dressed up and ready to go!

 

 Mama and kiddos leaving the house...

 

The gang working their way down the street! 

Happy Halloween!

The Hartland Pumpkin Family

We wrapped up our annual pumpkin carving tonight for FHE.  As always, good times were had by all.  Logan stayed busy in his saucer while I worked on Lia's and my pumpkins and Ron worked on his behemoth.  We ended up with a nice little family of pumpkins that are sitting peacefully on our doorstep right now.  Can't wait for Halloween!

 

Scooping out Lia's white pumpkin with Logan in the background.

 

A close-up of our boy and his sucker.

 

Ron carving away with Lia at his side.

 

A silly picture par Lia's request.

 

Our family of pumpkins:  Lia's happy-as-can-be, Ron's big and goofy, Logan's broken hearted, and my evil and sinister.

Halloween Parties Galore!

Much to my chagrin, our ward has only hosted ONE Halloween party in the past six years that we have lived in Puyallup.  This makes me sad because I know how much Lia would love it.  Luckily, between Lia's preschool and the YMCA where she is now a member, we were able to make up for our ward's lack of enthusiasm in throwing parties.  The YMCA hosted a Halloween carnival on Thursday, the 25th, and a trick-or-treating around their facility on Saturday, the 27th.  In addition, Lia's preschool hosted a wonderful Halloween party on Friday, the 26th.  Needless to say, after these three events, we felt "complete" with our 2012 Halloween party experience and are now ready for some real trick-or-treating this coming week!

 

Lia in a partial Ariel costume posing next to Logan as we entered the YMCA's carnival on Thursday night.

 

The cutest pumpkin around.

 

 

Lia enjoying the first of two bounce houses!  Oh, how she LOVES these things!

 

Lia coming down the slide after playing in a second bounce house.

 

 

Our two kids getting their picture taken.

 

Lia and I inspecting some loot after playing one of the many carnival games.

 

 

Lia kicking a ball at another station.

 

Lia and Logan competing in a costume contest.

 

 

Lia sitting with some of her classmates at the beginning of the preschool Halloween party on Friday, October 26th.

 

 

Lia's teacher, Miss Vera, helping Lia introduce herself as Ariel to the group of parents and siblings present at the party.

 

 

Ariel waiting for the go-ahead to sing one of the Halloween songs they had learned.

 

The three teachers directing the students in singing.  Lia is directly across from me, to the right of her teacher.  Just look for the flaming, red Ariel hair! ;-)

 

Lia performing one of their songs!

 

 

Lia posing with the other two girls who dressed up as Ariel for the party.

 

Like the YMCA's carnival, we enjoyed walking around the room and participating in all of the games they had set up.  Here is Lia golfing for a candy.

 

And lifting up some cups in search of a candy.

 

And digging through a box of shredded paper to find some more candy.

 



 

And fishing for some candy!  You definitely can see a theme in all of these games!

 

 

Lia posing with Miss Vera who was dressed up as Mrs. Potato Head.

 

 

Lia and her good friend, Kaylee, who attends the same preschool, but is in a different class.

 

Lia enjoying the inflatable haunted house at the Halloween party!

 

 

On Saturday, October 27th, we participated in the YMCA's trick-or-treating activity right after Lia's swim lessons.  Here she is posing with her friend, Ellie, from church who we saw in the gym while waiting for the event to begin.

 

Lia posing with some bars (that she wishes she could use during her gymnastics class) in the gym.

 

And, we're off!  Lia collecting candy from one of the many employees around the Y.

 

 

Logan and Ron tagging along for support.

 

And getting some more candy!  Needless to say, most of this candy went on top of the fridge and has been doled out in tiny increments once a day ever since! 

 

Much to our chagrin,

 

it looks like Logan is already getting ready for Mardi Gras at the ripe old age of 8.5 months! 

Celebrating 45 Years!

Tonight was a special evening.  We celebrated my parents' 45th wedding anniversary.  Last week, my parents came up with the idea to take their children and spouses (sans grandchildren) out to dinner at at a nice restaurant to celebrate this momentous occasion in their lives.  We all jumped at the idea and quickly booked babysitters.  I suggested that we try out The Lobster Shop, a fabulous restaurant on Commencement Bay in Tacoma.  Although Ron and I had eaten at the sister restaurant in Dash Point, we had never tried out the one in Tacoma.  And it did not disappoint.  We were seated at a large table by the window and enjoyed feasting on the delicious Twilight menu while watching seals bobbing up and down in the water outside.  After dinner, our parents opened our cards and the group gift--a personalized, anniversary plate with everyone's signatures on it.  We finished off the evening by coming back to our house for some more conversation and laughter.  It really was a wonderful evening. Thanks, mom and dad, for a lovely time and for setting such a wonderful example over the years of what a marriage should be!

 

The biggest highlight of the evening was getting to see my brother, Brent, who drove the seven hours from Missoula to Issaquah last night after work--surprising my parents in the act!  It sure was fun to have him join us.  Here are Brent and Ron holding the two babies who were "allowed" to join the dinner.

 

All of the grown-ups in my family minus Susie who stayed back in Montana with the kiddos.

 

Logan grabbing onto grandpa for dear life!

 

 

My mom and dad opening up their cards.

 

And opening up their gift!  Love you two!

Lil' Pumpkin

This post is dedicated to Logan's grandma who has been calling him "Lil' Pumpkin"
since he was just a few weeks old. 

Today, her nickname actually became a reality. 

Talk about a cuh-ute Halloween baby!