Halloween 2009

I really wanted to do a group theme for our family's costumes this year but could not decide on what to do. Eventually, we ended up as Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz and I loved how our costumes came together.


On Friday, we hosted a party at our house. I tried to get pictures of everyone's costumes but I know I missed a few people! This was our first big party since having Charlie and it was a lot of work and really hard to juggle hosting duties, taking care of Charlie and snapping pictures. Luckily, my sister-in-law Kerry entertained Charlie for the first hour of the party. I would have been lost without her! We made it a potluck which helped lower the stress level, too.

Carley (chicken), Spencer (tiger) and Bart + Michelle (Construction worker and Hazard Cone). Funny moment: Bart was holding a tray of breadsticks and I cleared a spot on the table for him to put it down. He had to ask me to put it down for him because he couldn't bend his arms in his costume!

Quinn + Kristi (baseball coach (giant gut not pictured) and player)

Jesse, Brynn + Gavin (fire hydrant, dalmatian, and fire fighter)

Cody, Casey and Addie (dalmatians and Cruella DeVille)

Lindsey, Hailey and Tommy (Queen of Hearts, Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter)

Breea and Dave (80's rockers)

the gals

Liz and Steve (Jelly fish and Tornado) (Steve had little toy trucks and buildings tangled all over him, hilarious!)

Lily and Steve (Tinkerbell and Cowboy)

Sam (Venom from Spider-man)

Jeris and Suzanna (Biggest Loser contestants)

Apparently, the Wizard of Oz theme was a popular one this year. It was fun to see everyone's interpretation!

Melanie and Bronco (Dorothy and Scarecrow)

The Dorothys (Melanie, Barb, and Andrea)

Maren and Ben(Balloon Boy)

My decorating attempt. For those of you familiar with my family's history on Halloween decorating, this was definitely the "lite" version. I missed my mom and dad's panache and flair for the dramatic this year!

On Halloween night, we put out a bowl of candy for our usually scant showing of trick-or-treaters (it was still mostly full when we got home!) and headed over to Grandma and Grandpa T's house (where they had 90+ trick-or-treaters!)

We had fun visiting with each other, watching the U game, and playing Beatles RockBand.

McKenzie as a Goddess

Emily as a Genie

James the little Froggie

Charlie the chubby skeleton with Auntie Chelsea

Intensely focused on RockBand

We had a good time for Charlie's first Halloween and continued creating traditions for our family!

6 month portraits

I'm learning more about myself every day, especially as I explore the roles of mother and photographer. On this particular day, I learned it is pretty difficult to fulfill both roles by yourself, especially with a baby who is still a wobbly sitter and likes to eat leaves. We had a good time anyway, just capturing the moment- Charlie at 6.5 months, the beautiful leaves, and my burgeoning photography skills- it was a good day.

Love the sun flare on this one!

Charlie meets Mo

Grandma and Grandpa T's neighbor got a puppy and we had go over and say hello. Charlie hasn't been around many animals in his short life (probably because I'm allergic) so he's pretty disinterested. We thought Mo was pretty cute, anyway.

Thanksgiving Point Farm

Two of my best friends have recently moved out of my ward. Wah wah. I miss seeing them and Charlie misses the company (now he is the only baby in the entire congregation. Yeah, every time there's a crying baby during church it's mine.) We met up at Thanksgiving Point to check out their little farmyard, Farm Country.

Laughing Skeleton Charlie

AUTUMN!

I love autumn in Utah- it is so gorgeous. We were in Chicago where it was cold, rainy and gray and we came home to blue skies and trees exploding in color. I was so enthralled that I kept trying to take pictures of the foliage while driving erratically- a little dangerous. There was even a rainbow one day which only added to the idyllic scenery! (Of course, since I took these pictures we've already had our first snowfall. Ah, Utah, your fickle seasons doth vex me so.)











So after getting a few pics with my iPhone, I actually broke out my big camera and took some time to take some real pictures. Charlie and I went to Grandma Sue's house. Charlie was the model, I was the photographer and Grandma was the assistant (photo shoots go much better with an extra set of hands).







I took these on the U campus later that day.