back to october

I just realized there are three different posts that I *thought* about writing, but never got around to making it happen.  So, before the holiday season becomes too crazy and my memories fade, I'm attempting to catch up on some noteworthy events . . . namely Halloween, our NYC/Boston trip, and Yosemite.

I'll begin with Halloween festivities:

Sophie and friend Gracie as "Hansel and Gretel" for the 5th grade "Fairy Tales on Parade"

  Liza and her friend Gracie as "Mario and Luigi"

 A card from Alice in Wonderland, Hansel, and Gretel

 Halloween piano recital - Sophie decided to dress up as Gretel (gotta love past dance recital costumes)

Liza's very first piano recital (in the 2nd costume choice of the season)

 Nicely done girls

 Halloween Night - Sophie and friend Emily as M&M's

Caroline and friend Maddie - pirate and a gypsy

 Neighborhood street party!

 Mario and Luigi ready to start trick or treating

My favorite costume of the evening by Isaac and Megan - MINIONS!!

 oh, how I love Halloween night . . .

 all finished - exhausted, but happy (what would we do without the Osterloh family??!)

HaPpY HaLLoWeeN ~ 2011

HALLOWEEN '10

Halloween Memories

• Carving pumpkins and roasting pumpkin seeds
• Digging through the memory filled costume boxes with the kids to find that "perfect" costume for this year and trying to figure out how to fulfill Liza's wish to be the "Target Dog," until she decided she wanted to be a witch again . . . phew.
• YW/YM activity - bowling in costume with the kids from the "hood."
• Elementary school Halloween parade
• Neighborhood costume party at the Farnsworth's (no kids :-).
• Primary Halloween party with the Burmese primary children
• Scarrots!!  Yes, my clever idea of a healthy Halloween treat for trick-or-treaters (found in the produce section - individual packages of baby carrots in cool Halloween wrapping) wasn't as well received by my family as orignally thought, but sure made for a good laugh and a lot of teasing!  In the end we figured our guests would rather have cookies.
• HALLOWEEN NIGHT: trick-or-treating with the little girls, first dodging the rain in our little neighborhood, but then enjoying a most perfect evening watching the kids run through the leaves from house to house, chatting with friends and neighbors while sipping hot chocolate around a fire at the Lundbergs, and just LOVING the fresh canyon "after rain" scent permeating the cool night air . . . ahhhh my favorite, then coming home and dumping out candy, jumping into warm pjs and cuddling on the couch to watch "Harry Potter."  Such a fun, yet exhausting night . . . can't wait for next year!

Sophie and Liza before school on parade day

Ryan and ward friends at their party . . . and yes, that is our YM president as Superman - love it!

Maddie and Caroline at the party (sans the wigs)

With friend Jen at the neighborhood party . . . yes, that is part of Sophie's costume ;-).

Before trick-or-treating

All set to head out in the rain with our friends

The two pirates collecting their booty!

Spooky night . . .

Keeping warm at the Lundbergs - neighborhood pit-stop for doughnuts and hot chocolate

Liza and best friend Gracie

Traditional final stop before heading home . . . THE HOGGANS!

1. The Fall Season

Everyone who knows me well knows that autumn is my favorite season - LOVE it! So much to be grateful for during this time - it just lends itself to gratitude, so I'll begin my list today with this spectacular season (if you have no idea what i'm talking about, read the post right below this one). Everything about fall makes me smile: the leaves changing and falling, the cooler temperatures, Halloween, apple trees, crisp air, harvesting the garden, Thanksgiving, family, baking autumn treats, the brilliant blue sky . . . the list goes on. It is such a relaxing time of year for me and every time it comes around I can't help but feel like a kid again as I walk through the falling leaves, dress up for Halloween, or get up in the mountains to breathe the autumn air.

Speaking of kids - here are some pics from our Halloween:

Elizabeth before her Halloween party at pre-school in her first costume creation: "a little girl dreaming she's riding a unicorn."

Liza's class watching in awe as their teacher stirs up some Halloween brew.

Liza and a little friend during their pre-school program.

Caroline and Sophie off to school for the Halloween festivities. The 6th graders dress up in what they would like to be in 30 years - then have a "reunion" on Halloween.

Sophie in the school parade - marching with her 2nd grade class.


Caroline and friend Sophie in 30 years - the pastry chef and the clothing designer.

Elizabeth and friend Gracie helping out at the 6th grade reunion party . . . Liza now in her 2nd costume choice - a rhino!

Later that evening . . . The witch, the rhino, and the cowgirl

Liza and Sophie gearing up for some trick-or-treating fun!

The gang . . . don't you just love these girls!

The DICE (Caroline and friend Kelsey) . . .

What a FUN night . . . I'm just disappointed that I didn't get any pics of Ryan and his friends at their party. Oh, well, he had a great night as well and only dressed up for about an hour as a football player to grab some loot :-).