dear santa

We're making our list and checking it twice ...

my favorite veteran

Since it's Veteran's Day today, I thought I'd post a photo of my favorite veteran.  So proud of my dad ... a veteran of World War II.

I'm honored to be your daughter.

halloween

We had a happy halloween around here.  Of course we carved pumpkins:

And Sam and Luke went trick-or-treating:

Emery was MIA since he's too old to trick-or-treat.  He spent the evening with friends watching scary movies.

We were so happy that my mom and dad, Ben's mom and dad, and Preston and Kambria came and hung out with us, ate chili, and played games.

And the next day Sam and Luke held their annual candy inventory and exchange:

Happy halloween!

school pictures

Yes I'm a total sucker for school pictures.  I know they aren't the best photos and they're pretty much a rip-off, but I can't help it. 

Why?  Because I love that just one look at that blue-ish gray-ish background (that has been used since I was their age) instantly tells you it's a school picture, and I love the expressions that can only be captured by a picture taken in front of their entire class.

So here they are ... school pictures 2011-2012.

halloween parade

One of the few things I remember about being in elementary school was the annual Halloween parade.  I loved dressing up, going to school, and marching through all the classrooms to show off my costume.  I remember the parents lining the halls taking pictures of all the cute and spooky costumes.  So I've been so sad that my kids have never gotten to experience this fun tradition.  Their schools have never had a halloween parade ... until this year!  I was so happy when I learned that there would indeed be a parade this year ... so off I went, camera in hand, to the elementary school parade.

Luke was a vampire.  But no need to fear ... he claims he was a nice vampire.  And Sam was a 7-11 employee.

And since they go to the same school as a couple of their cousins, we got to see them, too.  Jake and Logan were both darling clowns.

It was so fun to see all the cute kids parading in their costumes.  Plus, I got some great ideas for next year.  :)