Halloweekend

 My kids are growing up, so Halloween is less crazy for me. There were still lots of activities going on, but when they are more independent, everything is more manageable. 

Kai had a marching band trunk or treat last Wednesday right after practice. That was because they had practice till 6 on Halloween. Never fear, Kai still went from practice on Halloween to Lee's house (best marching band friend) to eat dinner and do a little trick-or-treating there. Kai was unable to go to the ward party on Saturday because of the Great Lakes Invitational that our high school hosted. I volunteered there earlier, selling hot chocolate, then went to the party, then back to the school with some friends from church who wanted to watch our band perform at the end. The host school performs last and is not judged, so there was no pressure, but it was a very good performance!

Kai's easy costume after practice.

Some dark pics at the performance.

Halloween night at Lee's- Kai's a vampire.

Kai made all the cupcakes for the ward party!

Austin had a party at his school Wednesday after school. I was thinking of volunteering for it, but he didn't want me to. I was fine with that because when I did before, the music was so loud in the gym, I thought my eardrums were going to burst! I didn't get any pics of him afterward, but I got his masked face before going to our ward party (where you can't wear masks). It didn't matter anyway since he was a part of the spook ally and was busy hiding under a table and reaching out to grab kids' ankles as one of the scares. He was pretty good at it! Interestingly enough, he decided not to trick-or-treat on Halloween and instead rode over to his friend's to pass out candy there. I'm sure they ate their fair share too!

Guess who Austin is? And we had to get Jacob in since he and Victoria were both cops!

Jason's awesome idea of a costume!

A Mongolian costume my mom and Jim made while on their mission in Geneva.

Austin's Halloween night.

Erik's Haunted Hallways (basically trick-or-treating in the hallways and all the teachers have a theme for their grade level hallway and they're always super good!) was on Thursday, the same night as his last soccer practice and almost the same time. He was so torn about which to go to, his last practice of the season, or his last Haunted Hallways at Miller Elementary. We ended up going to 40 minutes of practice, which was fun 4v4 scrimmages and his group won every time (so hopefully they didn't miss him when he left), then to the last 15 minutes of Haunted Hallways. The funniest thing was that in all the years (minus 3 years for covid) we have been going to Haunted Hallways at Miller, we always went when it started and had to wait in a very long line. It was always fine because we'd see friends in line, but it was a long wait! This time, we hardly had any wait and two kids actually came behind us and then Erik got some bonus candy when the event ended and some teachers wanted to get rid of the rest. Who would have thought that going at the end would turn out so well?

This wasn't his practice, but his last game on Saturday. It was very fitting for 2 days before Halloween!

Haunted Hallways

A classmate of Erik's was right behind us and her mom was in the car with her sleeping brother, so she got to go around with us!

At our ward party, Victoria's best friend was Yoshi, so perfect for Erik!

Parade!

No school events for Victoria, but she went to a party on Friday after dance practice and then on Saturday night after the ward party, which she was basically in charge of- really, she went to a real Haunted House with her senior friends. That was all in addition to her finishing up her application for BYU, which was due Tuesday, but we said it should be done by Monday, and her application to Grand Valley State University, since Michigan schools waived application fees through the 31st. It was a very busy weekend for her and Halloween afternoon. She was super stoked after she completed them both in time to go to another party on Halloween. 

She was a pirate for the party on Friday.

Decided to be a cop on Saturday (this may or may not be a dance costume that she received Friday night for competition, shhh!)

And comfy onesie for the party on Halloween after all that admissions work!

Victoria, taking charge at the board at Youth Night for the ward Halloween party.

So, that left Erik to trick-or-treat at home and he went with some friends from the neighborhood. When they tired after over an hour, and he was still wanting a bit more, I met him to complete his two hours of trick-or-treating! There was hardly anyone out that night, even though the weather was pretty warm. It rained a little, but it was nothing compared to years past. Jason and I got to relax on the porch and hand out candy to the few groups who came by. It was the first time I ever sat down to hand out candy! And the first time the weather permitted us to do so outside!

Looks like I won't be using my pumpkins for anything for us this time...

This squirrel has been loving it though!

Bonus treat for the weekend (besides Victoria completing her first and hardest applications): Erik's last Primary Program in sacrament meeting. He's the oldest in primary, followed by twins who are his best friends. They're December babies and those 3 little guys were narrators and sang out so well, low, and loud! They will move on to be Deacons in January, even though they will all have just turned 11. I have mixed feelings about my baby growing up! I'm just so glad he participated in his final Primary Program!