Halloween 2009

We had such a great Halloween this year! Seriously, I love this holiday and this time of year. The weather was gorgeous (77 degrees) and our day couldn't have been more fun or festive.

So here are the kids in their costumes...all ready to party.

Emily dressed up as Hermione...

(note: when Emily told me that she wanted to be Hermione for Halloween this year I was totally surprised. I am actually a huge Harry Potter fan, but I didn't know she was too. She hasn't read any of the books (not yet at least...I think they are a little too scary for her still) and she has only seen the first movie. But upon reflection I decided Hermione would be just perfect for her. I have had the opportunity to observe Emily during school, during primary, and during FHE and she is totally one of those kids who raises her hand for every question and usually has her hand up before the teacher has even finished asking. She's funny like that. So Hermione stuck. :) )

Justin was Cowboy Woody...

(after two years as Buzz he was ready to move on, but not too far. :) )

And my sweet little Eden was Minnie Mouse.

(she had no say in the matter. :) )

I just wanted to mention here that we borrowed all of our costumes this year (and lent out a couple of ours as well.) :) It was totally a great way to go...it was so nice not to have to spend the money! I want to say thank you so, so much to Cortni, Cheryl, and Lisa for being so nice and lending us your awesome stuff!

Cutest. Mouse. Ever.

Finally time for Trick-or-Treating...(actually Trunk-or-Treating.)

Trick-or-Treating was SO much fun this year because it was Eden's first time ever. She was so funny...

Sometimes she would take the candy being offered...

And sometimes she would only stare at it...

And other times she would just plop herself down in the middle of the parking lot and stare at it some more...

My parents drove out to go trick-or-treating with us which was so nice of them and so fun for the kids!

Almost done...yay for candy!

Our happy family...

We love you, Halloween!!!

Hair

This post is totally silly, but I think it's still blog worthy. Last week my friend was watching Eden while I was helping at Justin's school. When I came back to pick her up I found Eden in her first EVER ponytails. My friend had done them while I was gone and I just thought it was the cutest thing ever. I know this may not seem like a big deal, but it kind of was to me. I had no idea she was ready for the whole ponytail thing. I probably should have realized it because she's been sporting a pretty sweet mullet for awhile now. :) But I didn't even think to try. I (of course) had to take pictures...

(Thanks Lis!)

This is also a good chance to share this photo of Eden wearing a wig Emily wore for Halloween a couple of years ago. I think it's pretty funny...

Princess Eden

Oceanside 2009

Every September we go to Oceanside, CA with my family. We always have the most amazing time just soaking up the beautiful weather and spending hours upon hours at the beach. It is really one of our favorite places to be. It was especially fun this year because Eden was old enough to really enjoy it.

In fact, here is a picture of the first thing she did when she saw the ocean our first day there. She just took off running strait for it...

The kids were in heaven...

Me and my Dad...

My Dad and his awesome goggles...

Babies and seaweed are a cute combination...

A couple of wipeouts...

Our little crab friend that almost got Eden's toesies...

Eden was so well taken care of by her sweet cousins...

Some boogie boarding fun...

Emily and Justin caught a wave together...

Eden really wanted to catch one too...

Me and Dave...

Our Beach Babe...

(she really, really loved it)

Eden and Ryder hard at work...

The last Beach photo...

We went out one night to celebrate my mom and my sister's birthdays and take some family pictures...

Justin and Eden, excited for the cupcakes...

Me, my parents, and my sisters...

(two of my brothers joined us for the last day)

My parents with all of their grandkids...

We took one morning off from the beach to use our bounce back tickets to SeaWorld. We only went for a couple of hours...but it was still super fun.


Eden playing the huge instruments...

Emily and Justin loved playing in the awesome bounce house and fort again...

Before we left we had to say goodbye to Shamu...

The end.

I know this was a huge post. If there was a class to take on narrowing down pictures for a blog, I would take it. I'm sure less is more when it comes to blogging, but it doesn't feel that way when I'm going through my precious photos. :) Thanks for bearing with me!