Halloween 2009

Like everyone out there, we carved a pumpkin this year. Just one. There's little point in carving multiple pumpkins in AZ because if you put it outside, it will be dead by morning (oooh...an inadvertant movie quote).

The girls thought the process was fascinating, especially Keara who has read Franklin's Pumpkin over and over this month. She was excited to scoop out the seeds, just like Franklin.

When it was all finished, we tried it out. Then blew out the candle and put it on the bar, thinking we could avoid the dead pumpkin in a day curse of Arizona.

Yeah, it didn't work. Sure, it lasted a couple days, but after 2 days, it was already SUPER moldy and getting soft. On Monday morning, we came down for breakfast and Keara asked "What happened to our pumpkin!?!" I was checking my email so I didn't come in right away to see what she was talking about. When I did, I found a totally sunken pumpkin that had leaked nasty pumpkin juice ALL over the counter!!! It was disgusting. So we threw it out. Thank goodness Monday is trash day...

Keara's first Halloween, she was a black cat. CUTE! Her second Halloween, we dressed up as Fred, Wilma, and Pebbles. She wore her leopard print swim suit. ADORABLE! Last year, we were in Chicago for Halloween and she was a sailor with her cousin, Carter. My sister was Olive Oyl, my brother in law was Popeye, nephew Addison was Swee' Pea, and Taryn was a can of spinach! LOVED IT!

But this year, the girls turned heads. Especially Avery who looked so darling! The girls were princesses (or ballerinas, depending on who was looking at them). I love their skirts and they felt beautiful.

Friday night, we took them to my uncle's Halloween party. It was SO cold (60 degrees...but after being over 100 just 10 days before, it was FREEZING!) but they had a good time. The next morning, we went to the AJ library for a scavenger hunt throughout the library. They had a great time, especially playing on the playground equipment that is (semi) inside the library.

Thank goodness there wasn't sand. However, that night, we went to my aunt's ward Halloween festival and trick-or-treated in her neighborhood. There, the girls played and played in the sand and got filthy. Oh well.

It was fun to trick or treat like it was growing up. A lot of the houses in the neighborhood had great decorations, music playing, and one family even puts on a production every year. It was amazing how many people came to the neighborhood just to see it.

Taryn didn't quite appreciate not being able to eat her candy right when she got it (or at all, since she couldn't eat any of it) but she had no problem talking to strangers and charming everyone she met. Keara was all business and loved the whole experience. I'm sure next year will be even more fun.