Halloween

We had a fun Halloween.

The boys dressed up for school and I was able to sneak in to both class parties.

Peter was having a great time making cookies.

Ammon had actually gotten sick swinging on the tire swing during recess.

His teacher said he was starting to get his color back.

But by the time the parade stared, he was doing well.

My sister-in-law and I sat together and watched to parade.

We were right outside Peter's classroom.

When he finally circled back and was finishing his portion of the parade, he was excited to say,

"I saw Grandpa Fred!"

I had invited my grandparents to come see the parade, but I hadn't followed up with them.

They had made it, though, so I moved locations and watched the rest of the parade with them.

We saw Ammon come through.

He had lots of fun, but he was mostly excited to point out his two favorite costumes:

A toilet, and a Rubik's Cube.

After school we headed over to my parents house for a visit.

We have always done our trick-or-treating in their neighborhood.

This was the first year we really had our own responsibility of handing out candy.

I guess that's the downside of home-ownership - No more trick-or-treating as a family.

Andrew came home from work in time for dinner.

Every year on Halloween he makes Red Beans and Rice.

I had been counting down for weeks!

It was delicious!

Ammon had two friends at school that had arranged to trick-or-treat with him.

I joined with one of the friends mom's and we took our group around the nieghborhood.

Andrew stayed home to pass out candy.

He was excited to see his primary kids.

He bought them each a custom ordered super-sized treat.

Andrew's dad came and hung out with him for the evening.

We never did get to see Grandma Peggy on Halloween since she was being Nurse Peggy.

At one point I lost Ammon.

He was racing from door to door, which I was fine with.

Until it got dark and I realized he was in all black.

And we got to a point where he could have gone about three different directions.

I didn't know which one he picked.

But we found him after a few minutes.

Soon after that Peter got tired.

Andrew came to pick him up.

He brought a glow-stick necklace to keep Ammon visible.

I was shocked when we finished trick-or-treating by 7:30.

But the boys were satisfied with their loot and content to call it a night.

Amazingly, kids were in bed by 8:00 and sleeping soon after.

The Halloween of the Ninja's was a success!

Halloween Cruise

This semester has found my children parent-less on Monday nights.

Andrew works until after bedtime.

And I was beyond belief frustrated when I learned that I had a class I needed to take during that time.

It has been hard on me to leave my children abandoned week after week.

So when I saw discount tickets for a "Halloween Cruise" I decided to jump on them.

And to celebrate Fall Break - my one week without a class - I took the boys.

I picked them up from school and we headed down to Orem.

After running a quick errand for my Grandma, we stopped for dinner.

(McDonald's - seriously gross, but it made me the coolest mom ever!)

My sister and her family met us at the cruise.

We were the first riders of the night.

The weather was pleasant and the boys had fun with their cousins.

The boys LOVED the pirate that "attacked" our cruise.

He asked if anyone knew any pirate jokes and Ammon immediately piped up.

"Why does a pirate have a hard time learning the alphabet?"

"Because he always gets stuck at 'c'!"

On the way home we stopped by to drop some things off to my Grandma.

Peter couldn't stop talking about what a great time he had.

The details of every moment just kept pouring out of him with so much enthusiasm.

(Ammon was busy "helping" Grandpa play a computer game.)

The next morning it was Ammon's turn to share the story of our evening.

He had the same unbridled animation as he told Andrew about our cruise.

It was a fun night!

I wish Andrew could have been there with us.

In the mean time, I think it was a good memory for the boys.

I know it was for me.

Witches at Gardner Village

One other impromptu Halloween activity we participated in this year was going to see

The Witches at Gardner Village.

I had never been.

It is an outdoor shopping area, and witches were decorated throughout.

We had a paper with clues about each witch and we had to try to locate them.

The kids had a great time and it was fun to have all the Nunes cousins together.

Thanks for inviting us and taking the pictures, Krista!

Halloween Fun

Pictures taken October 29, 2011

Last year I felt like Halloween was a month long event.

It was fun, but I was relieved when it was over.

This year was just the opposite of that.

I never even really caught up to Halloween before it had come and gone.

Still, we did some fun things.

We had a Halloween party with friends I went to High School with.

We had a ward party/trunk or treat.

We went trick or treating at the district.

And finally, on Halloween,

Ammon marched in the school parade

(and even though I didn't have my camera, both Andrew and I were able to go see him)

we ate delicious red beans and rice for dinner,

trick or treated in South Jordan,

and visited grandparents on both sides.

We never did carve pumpkins this year.

Sad.

I guess we'll have to look forward to that one in 2012.

Halloween

It amazes me every year that Halloween has turned in to a month long event.

Even the day itself, was a marathon day.

The boys spent the morning trick-or-treating at the zoo.

We did this once before when Ammon was younger and it was fun.

This year it seemed like an obvious thing to do.

(We live half a mile from the zoo and have an anual pass.)

As it turned out, I had some assignments due that day so I spent the morning working on school.

The three guys went to the zoo and left me to my homework.

I was able to finish my school work soon after they got back.

We began to prepare for an afternoon trick-or-treat activity with some neighbors.

They were all heading over to a local shopping center.

Before we headed out, I received an unexpected call.

I knew it was bad news when the person introduced herself as the sister of my friend.

She was calling to ask if I could teach a lesson in church the next day.

My friend, who was supposed to teach, wouldn't be there.

She had taken her 5 month old baby into the instacare and ended up at Primary Children's Hospital.

The diagnosis of baby Aubree - lukemia.

Of course I was more than willing to prepare the lesson for the next day.

And then we headed out to trick or treat.

The place was a zoo.

We only ended up with one of our neighbors, but it was still fun for the boys.

I was terribly distracted and worn out.

As we left, the rain started in.

We had intended to head down and trick or treat in South Jordan but aborted that plan.

We went home for dinner - Andy's red beans and rice.

(He makes it every Halloween.)

I talked more with Autumn's sister and was able to arrange to take her dinner.

(Yay for being able to do something helpful!)

While I was at the hospital, Andy took the boys out one last time

They trick or treated around our place to some of our friends and neighbors.

Honestly, I think they had more fun passing out candy to the people who came here after they got home.

Overall, Halloween was a fun month.

I'm glad it's over.

For updates about Aubree, you can go here:

Aubree Labarca

I was going to say more about Aubree's mom Autumn,

and how amazing she is, but I'll leave that for another post.

Halloween Fun Run

We have a fun tradition with Andrew's parents.

The Saturday before Halloween we run a 5K.

At night.

In the dark.

Through a graveyard.

This is our third time participating in the race.

(We missed last year.)

I had actually been sick for most of the month, and was still on the mend.

But I'm glad I went.

Peggy and Derrick both placed for their age group.

Andy's time was somewhere betweeen the two of them.

I came in last (of the four of us).

Every year Andy runs ahead to finish the race.

And then he comes back for me.

I always end the course with my amazing husband running by my side-

Holding my hand as I cross the finish line.

It's a great tradition.

Jack-O-Lanterns

Pictures taken October 26, 2010

We told Ammon that we couldn't do Jack-O-Lanterns until we were within a week from Halloween.

And so, exactly one week before the big day, we were cutting into our pumpkins.

Poor Andy was sick.

He would have preferred to wait at least one more day.

But he's an awesome dad and did what it took to make his boys happy.

And boy were they happy!

Our designs are simple - figure it out as you carve.

But Ammon and Peter were delighted with the results!

Peter even brought people to our door the next day specifically to show of his final product.

Just goes to show that a little family fun can go a long way.

Trick or Treat at the District

Pictures taken October 23, 2010

The Saturday before Halloween

(Or in the case this year - the Saturday before Trick or Treat day)

The District (shopping center in West Jordan) puts on a big hoopla of Halloween fun.

Traditionally, we join the cousins on my side of the family for the event.

We went trick or treating from store to store.

We had balloons.

We ate cookies and hot chocolate.

We did pumpkin painting.

And most importantly, we made great memories together.

Happy Halloween!

Corda Halloween 2010

It started when Ammon was three - our annual trick or treat at Grandpa Derrick's work.

Every year we head down and enjoy their haunted office and fun treats.

2007

When it is all said and done, and we are ready to head home,

We try our best to get a picture of Grandpa and the kids.

2008

This year I was disapointed to not be able to go.

But at the last minute, Andy decided to leave work early and take the boys.

I sent him with camera in hand.

2009

He was instructed to get lots of pictures -

Especially, I emphasized, one with Grandpa.

Now I know my pictures in past years aren't the best.
And yet, I was still a bit disapointed when the only picture that came back to me
Was this:

2010

 Andy explains:

I can only do one thing at a time.

I can take pictures OR make sure nothing in the office gets broken...

NOTHING IN THE OFFICE IS BROKEN!

And the truth of the matter is - they had fun.

Which is what I really wanted.

Pumpkin Patch

Just about every year, we head to a pumpkin patch for the boys to pick out a pumpkin.

This year has been hectic, though, and we just haven't made it.

But Grandma Lynn saved the day by having a pumpkin patch in her own backyard!

We stopped by for a visit and ended up with pumpkins for everyone.

(As well as several for her front porch.)

Thanks, Grandma!

Halloween Project

I picked up these little kits from a craft store the other day.

They were super cheap and came with glow-in-the-dark paint.

On Monday night we sat around the table and enjoyed great gospel conversation

While the boys listened and painted.

It turned out to be a great activity and Ammon and Peter couldn't be more proud of their bats.

Pretzel Turtles



I discoverd this recipe last year and LOVED it.

Shockingly delicious and deceptively easy!

Last year it was a Christmas treat.

This year we've made it twice already:

Once for general conference, and once for a Halloween party.

For general conference we topped them with M&M's which just made it a fun, colorful treat.

For the Halloween party we used cashews and then drizzled orange chocolate on top.

Peter was my helper for the Halloween batch.

Just lay out your pretzels on your baking sheet.

Unwrap Rollos and place on top of pretzels.

Melt in the oven for about three minutes.

Choose your topping to squish down the melted chocolate, and there you go!

So fast, so easy, and seriously EVERYONE at the party asked about how to make them.

I'm addicted.



Halloween Preview

The other day I took Ammon and Peter to the store.

We were in search of Halloween Costumes.

I came home with the cutest Luigi and Woody I have ever seen.

These boys are bursting with excitement for Halloween.

And when I see them so full of joy, so am I.