Trick or Treat!

We had another successful Halloween filled with good company, good costumes, and lots of candy.

The boys were blue birds this year. Ali put in many hours of hard work making the costumes herself.

We started the weekend at a "Trunk or Treat" with friends from the Irvine stake, as well as Melissa and Ahma. William and Elliott donned their costumes and traversed the entire parking lot. William was a little bashful at first, quietly waiting for candy to be offered at each stop. By the end of the night, we had him shouting "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you." The trunks were festively decorated, and everyone had a great time, as demonstrated by the level of exhaustion toward the end.

The next day, we carved pumpkins. Daddy, Missy, and William (with Mommy and Missy as consultants) each carved a pumpkin. William's contribution was design and planning. He used a dry erase marker to show us his vision:

From left to right: William's classic jack-o-lantern, Missy's owl, and Mark's Kipper the Dog:

On Halloween, the Carters and Mortensens joined us for dinner followed by trick-or-treating in a nearby neighborhood. William couldn't have been happier to be with his cousins for the big event:

William maintained his bold assertions of "Happy Halloween" and "Thank you." Suddenly, he started adding a stern "No peanuts" to his part of the dialogue. The command caught some of the benefactors off guard, so we promised William that we would take care of the allergens later, and that he should just have fun. From there, he relaxed a bit and focused on chasing his cousins from house to house. It was rather endearing to watch our group of travelling animals consisting of: William (as a blue bird), Ella (as a bunny), and Stephen (as a bear).

Happy Halloween!