Halloween!!

Alright, I have to be honest. I've been looking forward to this Halloween ever since I knew we were having twin boys and I could one day dress them up as Buzz Lightyear, and Woody the cowboy. Toy Story is one of my favorite movies, and I just thought my boys would make the best toy story characters ever! lol. So, I might have convinced them just a tiny bit that these were the costumes they wanted, but they were totally on board with it! Marc & I got to work on Swagbucks, and both of us were able to redeem points for almost $40 dollars in amazon gift certificates. We ended up spending about $10 our of pocket for both costumes shipped. I made Lexi's for under $10 so not a bad year for costumes :) We were all looking forward to a Toy Story Halloween. So without further ado, here are some pictures of our Buzz, Woody, and Ham the pig:

Tyler as Buzz Lightyear:
Bryce as Woody the Cowboy:
Lexi as Ham the Pig:
Best Buddies:

The only group shot I have of them with Grandma Casper:
The boys enjoyed their first Halloween Party at preschool this year. They were so excited to dress up and be with their friends, play games, and of course, eat lots of treats. We spent Saturday trying to celebrate with fun things for the kids. We drove downtown with the intention of going to Boo at the Zoo, but couldn't find a parking spot within 4 blocks of the zoo, and became very discouraged with the thousands of people that were already there. We didn't want to have to waste our day waiting in line just to get candy & see animals that we can see any other day of the week just as well. So, we left and made the decision to go swimming in Caldwell, visit my grandmother, and drive around neighborhoods instead. We got back just in time to "crash" the trick or treat in the park event that was going on in the Vienna Woods subdivision which is right next to ours and makes up most of our ward. Everyone brought lawn chairs and lined them up around the neighborhood park, and the kids got to go around to everyone until the candy ran out. It was a quick, easy, fun way for the kids to get candy, and provided others a chance to see our kids all dressed up. Lexi got the hang of trick or treating pretty quickly. She wanted to take handfuls of candy at each bowl and was quickly disappointed when we made her put all but one back. She loved being part of the action this year.

When we got back home the kids dumped out all their candy & examined their loot. We had them pick out a few pieces to put in a snack sized ziploc bag, then the rest they put out on the porch for the "Halloween Witch". That night, she took all the candy, and in turn left them each with a brand new book instead. The kids were so excited about the books! They haven't asked or complained about all the candy the witch got because they still had their own little baggies with their names on it. We look forward to keeping this tradition, though the witch needs to be a little more prepared ahead of time so she's not out for 2 hours late at night frantically looking for books that the kids will appreciate :)