Tropical Halloween

Okay, not tropical, but certainly balmy.  I didn't even bring coats to St. George. Even though I usually LOVE arguing with the kids about putting coats over their costumes, I didn't bother this year.  I might consider Halloween in St. George every year.  And not only were we able to celebrate Halloween, we were there for some other awesome events as well, which made it all the more fun.

So despite our late-afternoon drive and even-later-evening guinea pig delivery, we still had some quiet time on Friday evening to spend with the family and we were able to meet little baby Samuel Miles.  What a treat that was.  It took us all of .052 seconds to absolutely fall in love with him.  My kids included.  It was certainly a joy to see them snuggle up that baby and get all glowy as they gazed at him.  Made me a little glowy myself.  We were so lucky to get a chance to spend some of that very very precious time the first week of Sam's life.  I tried to fight off my swaddling obsession.  It wasn't easy.

Saturday had much going on long before we donned our costumes.  First thing was that Siena got baptized - I hope the big events of the weekend didn't make her feel overshadowed; I know there was much going on but I think she felt deservedly celebrated. She was absolutely darling in her white dress and happy smile.

I love this picture.

And also this one.

And this one too.  So cute!!

Following Siena's baptism we enjoyed brunch at Peter's house, and we lingered for a long time.  That was partly because we were waiting for their bishop to make an appearance so that baby Sam could be blessed.  Usually folks wait a month or two instead of five days to give their babes a name and a blessing, but since as much family as could possibly gather were already gathered, Peter and Sheri went for it.  I'm so very glad they did.  My dad was very brave and brought mom down to St. George for one horrible night's stay at a hotel (mom is not a very good sleeper these days) in order to be able to be present for Siena's baptism.  I was so happy he also got to take part in Sam's blessing.  It was pretty tender to see both dad and mom spending time with their (probably) last grand baby when he was so new, and be able to be with Siena on her big day.  After the blessing dad hit the road to get mom home and hopefully get a better night's sleep. It can be really hard for him when he has mom on a bad night.

We had a little quiet time which included dashes to Swig (duh) and a couple of other errands.  During our quiet time we enjoyed a walk to the neighborhood school and playground.  There Cap found a lizard climbing the school walls and was absolutely relentless in hunting it and eventually capturing it.  The man does love lizards.  He was considering asking us if he could keep it but we just said, "What would the Kratt brothers do?" and that was enough to stop the question mid sentence.

Then it was time for costumes! Peter and Sheri's ward was holding a chili cook-off early that evening, and it was very conveniently held in their circle so we could all enjoy the company and the food while Sheri could keep Sam in the house and away from too many germs all at once.  It was a fun dinner and seemed like a great tradition. The chili cook-off was short and sweet, and not long after we were ready to start roaming the roads of St. George to collect candy and see the sights.  I have to tell you, I don't think I have ever experienced a Halloween like this before.  I have only ever been in colder climates, and I'm used to dark streets and freezing fingers and the hills of the avenues while kids are gathered here in there in rather small numbers.  That seemed pretty normal to me.

St. George was NOTHING like that.  It was warm out.  The streets were well lit.  Absolutely EVERYONE had decorated with lights and sometimes music and there were haunted houses in people's garages. Trucks with trailers drove around with speakers playing holiday tunes.  There were throngs of kids absolutely everywhere.  I couldn't believe it.  I felt like it was Halloween in the movie E.T.  I was kind of in shock.

We spent an hour or so walking up and down the street near Peter and Sheri's place, but soon we hopped in our cars and headed to Sheri's parents hood where word has spread that they have the best candy and decorations of anywhere in town.  I'm sure the rumor is true - what a fun neighborhood!  And if you get past the first few blocks where there were Disneyland-esque crowds, it was just a fun and pleasant place to walk and collect a dang lot of candy.  My favorite was the house where the dad dressed as Santa Claus and handed out little mini ice cream cones.

And I have to say...dang dang dang it.....Bitty looked darling in her Turkey Dinner costume, much to my chagrin.  And delight.  Parenting is hard. (See two posts ago regarding our costume trials.)

We didn't stay out too super late, we didn't collect an obnoxious amount of candy - just the regular shocking amount.  It was just right.  And the next day before we headed home, of course, we did a little more Sam-snuggling.