Halloweeeeeeeeeeen!

Edited to add: I forgot to thank all of you for chiming in on the family photos. Merci! Also, for the record, I don't usually do Christmas cards this early, but the photographer in our ward had scheduled these "mini sessions" at a reduced price so we took advantage of it. This is the only reason I'm ahead of the game. Anyway, now on to our regularly scheduled Halloween-related programming:

We had a good Halloween this year -- lovely weather, very few costume/decoration/candy - related snafus, good company. The kids had fun, even the older ones at our ward Halloween party, and the candy haul was high on the chocolate and low on the Now & Laters (yay!). The only bad point was when Wyatt got a little spooked by a neighbor who was sitting on the porch like a stuffed dummy and then "came to life" as soon as he reached for the candy bowl. TERROR! After that, he made me scope out all the front porches and wouldn't go up if there was anything remotely horrifying near the front door. Pumpkins: okay. Vampires, ghouls, scarecrows, Frankenstein's monster, witches, zombies, dead people (who just might come back to life??). NOT okay.

But he still had fun. Here are the kids, all costumed up:

Remember how I said I was going to get Ethan a mask? Then I found this puppy on sale at Target (BEFORE Halloween). Figured it would be a good investment -- reusable and all that. And he actually liked it! Terrified some women in the ward by scampering around at the trunk or treat, so I think he would call it an all-around success.

Arrrrgggh, ye maties! The cutest pirate in our landlocked state!

Elise, as Chell from the video game Portal. And yes, I frantically magic markered those socks (shoes on underneath) to look like the character's "longfall boots"??? mere moments before we had to dash out the door. She was happy, that's all I cared.

Zombie boy! I found this costume at Goodwill, new, for $10. Who knew Goodwill was such a great place to buy Halloween costumes??

The whole spooky clan

On Halloween night, we had the Ponczochs over for chili and trick or treating, and we were so happy to see Kim's mom Jennie (Darrin's sister, so Forrest's pseudo-sister) too. The Ponczoches have a beautiful new house, but it's pretty rural, so we figured it would be fun for their kids (and for Wyatt!) to hit our kid friendly streets. (Okay, kid friendly except for the terrorizing Wyatt part.)

Ready to take to the streets!

Jonas and his buddies. He's graduated to "independent" trick or treating and  organized a group of about seven boys to roam the neighborhood. They weren't home until about 8:45 and ended up with quite a haul.

Wyatt, getting to be the big kid for once!

Inspecting the haul.

 Before I sign off, on a sadder note, it seems as though we've lost Buttercup. The week before last she went out for the night and never came back. We held out hope for a while that she'd turn up and looked for her at the shelters, but it looks like our kitty is gone. The kids were really sad, and the hardest part is not knowing what happened. As much as that cat drove me crazy, I admit that I miss her. I know the kids do. Wherever you are Buttercup, hope you have a nice bottom stair to claw and that every night is nice and warm so you can run around to your heart's content.

And finally, Ethan's opening night for The Mystery of Edwin Drood is tonight. Break a leg, bud! And next week is Elise's play. We'll keep you posted.