{trick-or-treat}

There were so many things we wanted to do yesterday, and I think we managed to fit almost all of them in! The day started out perfectly, when Rick was able to take the day off and spend it with us.

We sent Ryan off to school with his costume packed and ready to go, and then we got the girls dressed in their costumes. The library was having their annual Halloween Parade and festivities that morning, and it was our first stop of the day.

The parade!

Of course there are treats...doughnuts and milk.

Any time they can color, it's a great day!

That afternoon we headed to the school, to watch Ryan in the parade there. We stood in the gym, and cheered everyone on as they made their way through the parade route. He dressed up as a doctor, and felt very official with the borrowed medical name tag, stethescope, and lab coat. I thought he was adorable, of course, but had to tell him that he looked "cool". :)

We left Ryan at school to finish up the last part of the day, and we headed to pick up some pizza for an early dinner. We usually eat around 5pm, and so even though we would be eating later, we needed something to tide the kids over until then. We tried a new pizza place in town, and YUM--we will definitely go back.

After Ryan was home from school, we ate, got everyone into their costumes, and headed to our ward trunk-or-treat. What a great turnout! Lots of friends, candy, and fun.

.....

Ryan, M.D.

Kate, the cowgirl

Emma, the Native American princess

We are huge Pittsburgh Steelers fans, and so are our good friends, Justin & Erica. They dressed up as the players, and we came as their fans. :)

When the trunk-or-treat ended, we headed back to our neighborhood. With it being our first Halloween in our house, we really wanted to take the opportunity to meet more of our neighbors. I wasn't sure what to expect--since we live in the country, homes are pretty spread out, and I didn't know how many kids would actually be out trick-or-treating. Boy, was I surprised! It was like one huge party! All the houses are setback quite a ways, so most people had the portable firepits set up at the end of their driveways. They sat around the fires on campchairs, and passed out candy as kids went by. There were small tractors pulling flatbed wagons behind them, and they were carrying bunches of trick-or-treaters. We met almost every one of our new neighbors, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

We pulled the girls around in the wagon, and as you can tell, they were VERY focused on all the candy they were receiving!

After finishing up in our neighborhood, we headed over to a Halloween open house and dinner at the home of some our good friends. As soon as Ryan got out of the van, he was bombarded by boys that had been waiting and waiting for him to get there so they could do more trick-or-treating. He headed off with them, while we stayed to eat and chat with friends.

The "cool" cowgirl

When we headed home, we were tired, but glad for the really wonderful day we had--

Happy Halloween!!