Meet The Flintstones and The Rubbles

Happy Halloween!!  Introducing: Fred, Wilma and Pebbles Flintstone.  And don't forget their best friends from down the street, Barney and Betty Rubble.

We had another busy holiday this year.  Halloween wasn't just one night - it was almost a week of festivities.  And the day it all began we were lucky to have Nana join us!  We kept her occupied.  Here's where it all began...     

Branson had multiple school parties to attend. He started with his little Joy School group and the party was at our house! We played games, had treats, and read spooky books.  But they mostly enjoyed running around to Halloween music. 

Soon after, Branson had another Halloween party with his pre-school class.  He got to dress up again with all of his buddies from school and make special Halloween crafts and schoolwork.  He came home with treats and stories about the songs he learned and games he played. 

Natalya earned the Citizenship Award in recognition of the character trait responsibility for the month of October! And her teacher had it right when she submitted her name; Natalya has become quite the responsible little girl. She listens and follows directions. She helps her brother and sister - and me - a ton. She does her own chores. And she's an excellent student. She earned a well deserved award!

Hayden was another little boy in her class who earned the award. He dressed as Agent 007 for Halloween. Don't they look like they are headed to the Oscars or something??

I love this picture of Nana and Natalya.

When Nana decided to visit I'm not sure she knew that we were putting her to work! We volunteered in Natalya's class together. We made crafts, photo copies, helped a child read, and organized the Halloween party. Here's Nana handing out pizza and juice.

Natalya with her girlfriends, Hannah Lee and Pammie Worthin.

Never a dull moment! After we recuperated from the party, we got ready for Trick-or-Treating at Daddy's office.

Every year Brian's office does a special Halloween activity for all the children of office employees. The secretaries have candy or toys at their desks and some even decorate for Halloween. The kids look forward to this every year!

Daddy's office takes up the top two floors of his building. The kids like to look out the big windows and pretend the cars are toys because of their size.

This is Julie, Brian's secretary. She's always good to us and she loves our kids.

Our whole family dressed up for our ward's Trunk-or-Treat. But by nightfall we were all exhausted! It was hard to keep the kids awake on the way to the church parking lot.

The cultural hall was crowded with hungry people. They served chili and macoroni and cheese with corn bread. We were lucky to get a couple of bowls.

One of our friends dressed up like pebbles and her son was Bam-bam. I had to take a picture of Pebbles with Bam-bam.

Irelynn with her best friend, Karlee.

The next day we took our time waking up and getting ready for our day. We had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and did a little shopping in the afternoon. (Natalya had outgrown all of her jeans and pants.) After the kids displayed descent behavior at the GAP, Dad rewarded them with a game of bowling.

Bumpers are the best. The kids scored almost as high as Dad!

Irelynn needed some direction - like, which lane she was allowed to bowl in and whos turn it was... She had missed her nap and was truly beyond tired.  But she was also super cute when it was her turn.  When a pin knocked over she would celebrate yelling, "I did it!!  I did it!!"

Natalya came in a close second to Daddy and was very proud of her score.

Irelynn's ball made it down the lane maybe 75% of the time. The other times Dad had to walk down the gutters to push the ball the rest of the way.

Did I mention that Irelynn was exhausted?? When we have special company in town we tend to forgive a missed nap.  Here she thinks that it's her turn when it was really someone else's turn. I love this picture because of the look on Brian's face. Haha!! He does not look amused.

Here his expression is better! I didn't snap the photo fast enough to get his sexy-man face. Instead I photographed him right before he busted up laughing. Just looking at this picture makes me laugh!

At the end of another busy day, we finished with a yummy sugar cookie recipe and let the kids cut out their own Halloween shapes. There were pumpkins, witch's hats, cresent moons, and ghosts. The moons were done first so here they got decorated and eaten first. :)

Serious sprinkles.

We had a really fun Halloween and the kids were sad when it was all over. Taking down the decorations was painful for them! Having Nana return home was a let-down.  No visit ever seems long enough.  (We all wish we lived a little closer.)  Irelynn called me "Nana" by accident for a few days after she left.  And at one time or another, all the kids have prayed for Heavenly Father to send Nana back here soon.

But we are trying to make Thanksgiving really special this year. So I got them all excited for the next holiday.  And I have a feeling time is going to fly by with all the business of the holidays.  We're just trying to enjoy the day-by-day. 

Until next year, Happy Halloween!