Halloween 2012...

Before we get to All Hallow's Eve I have just a few pictures of the annual Mortensen Family Halloween Party.  We come, we eat, we play games, we walk in a costume parade and we leave.  

 Batman in one of his only happy moments. He was quite the booger that night.

 The cute couple, this was Jared's first time at the party.

 Boston and Waldo.  No one could find Pops all night.

This is the group of kids before the parade.  I swear there are about 300 of us there each year. 

And on to Halloween

 We let the big boys go around with a group of neighbor kids and my neighbor Mendy.

 Braden's chest had LED pinpoint lights and it looked awesome, although you can't see it in any picture. Bummer.

 Boston, the monkey butt, was just excited to be outside again!

 The most exciting part of the night was when the Robison family ---I mean, the Avengers came over for a joining of the good guys.

 Kelcie and her cowboy Jared came over and took Brenner trick or treating up the street.  We went a few houses and he was almost done.  We convinced him to take the stroller to Uncle Todd's house.  When we got there Alison answered the door and instead of Trick or Treat, Brenner said, "Do you have a popsicle?" Which she did, and he rode the rest of the way home happy!

 Kelcie and Rusty, lookin' good.

 Laziest trick or treater ever.

 He got no where near the haul the two older boys did, but he was quite content. I was just happy that I could finally wash the costumes!

Trunk or Treat...

I think it is fun to see the people we normally only see in their "Sunday Best" at the ward Halloween party.  There were some great costumes this year. This is actually the first year our ward has had a party, since it is so new. We did it in the park up the street from us. So we were able to walk there and back when the kids were done.  This is was the first time we were all decked out in our family theme, which was, The Justice League.

 Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Superman, and Batman.

 The Flash was so fast that we had to restrain him in the stroller.

 We added La La Loopsy to the League on a temporary basis...

 Boston was perfectly content to sit and eat anything his brothers gave him, including lots and lots of doughnuts.

Here is the "trunk" part of the evening. Really it was a loooooong line of lawn chairs that stretched the length of the park. Brenner was fine to help pass out the candy after about 4 people.  Boston just wanted to know where his next treat was. It was a fun night, good weather and fun games and lots of laughing.

Pumpkin Pickin'

I would like to say every year we go to Mother Nature's and get our pumpkins but a lot of time it just doesn't materialize in the busy Octobers we have.  But this year it did.

 We rode the hayride

 Played in the corn maze...

 And then got down to business of picking the pumpkins.

 (Notice Brenner's Legoland DL is on- he loves that thing)

 Boston couldn't believe we were just letting him touch all the orange balls!

 Brenners, we love this cheezy kid.

Love these happy boys of mine.  We heard awesome things about a pumpkin patch closer to our house so next year we will start a new tradition at a new pumpkin patch.  Thanks for the memories Mother Nature's.

Halloween Week...

Halloween week started the usual way, with the Mortensen Family Halloween party. There is always a huge number of family there and it is a great time for the kids to get to know 2nd, 3rd and 4th cousins. This was the only night Braden wore his 'entire' costume, it was just too hot for it on the other days. He was Shawn White this year.

This was also Boston's big first time out, I was a little nervous, but he was a good baby and slept for most of the party. Brenner shed the top half of his monkey suit and was content to skip the games and drink his root beer. Berkley's Dash costume didn't make it intact the whole night either. He took off the mask and gloves because they were hot.  Only in AZ. Jill made Jaci's Strawberry Shortcake costume, and Maryn and Nana Solomon sewed her Greek Goddess outfit.  So cute. 

We had our ward Trunk or Treat on Saturday night, and I only got few pictures, mainly of Brenner because the older boys had taken off and were playing! (Lower Left pict is from that night). Halloween day both big boys got to wear their costumes to school/ preschool for Halloween parties. After school we went to my Mom and Dad's ward party. It is a HUGE event. They block off an entire street and hundreds of people come. The boys were loving the snow cones, popcorn, homemade root beer, and cotton candy. I love that I get to see a lot of my friends who come back to their parents ward party like I do. So fun.

 Then it was straight home and time for trick or treating. Boss was a good sport to wear the teddy bear costume for the few minutes I took pictures. The rest of the night he helped us hand out candy.  The last few years my parents come and hand out candy here since their neighborhood doesn't get a lot of t-o-t'ers. Rusty took Brenner to a handful of houses and the big boys did the neighborhood with our friends and neighbors the Smiths. It was a good night, and by 8 we were able to turn our light out. The kids came steady from 6 on.

 Nothing gets bigger smiles than CANDY!

Thankfully the Great Pumpkin came just two morning later and took a HUGE bag of candy. In return he left the Cars2 movie, the boys were thrilled, so was I!

I couldn't do this post without including one of Rusty. He dresses up every year for work. This year his team coordinated. His boss Aaron was an iPhone 5, his co worker Erin was a maintenance worker, and Rusty was a cell phone tower.  It was so fun to put it together.  He made the 'hat' and I made the shirt. (I love my Silhouette machine, by the way). I need to take a picture of the back, it is funny. Way to be a good sport Rusty!

Halloween Week Festivities...

In case you can't tell, October is THAT month in our house. You know, the one where you have eighty-nine billion things that you HAVE to do? So, let me re cap our last week.

We had a little pre-pre-pre Halloween party at the Beck's because Jaci (our niece) wasn't going to be here for Halloween. We got the boys dressed up in costume, they played games like bobbing or apples, eating doughnuts off string and ring toss before trick-or-treating 'round the pool.

 Everyone had fun, and got their apple- even if it meant using their little Mario hands...

 Brenner wasn't sure about the doughnut, until he ate it, and then he was in powdered sugar heaven.

 Our trick-or-treat line...

Brenner still clutching the doughnut, not caring so much about the candy as he did the rocks around the pool.

On Monday night we had our annual Mortensen family Halloween Party out in Queen Creek. We eat dinner, chat, the kids play tons of games, and then everyone gets in a huge circle for the kids to trick-or-treat. It was a beautiful night. The kids had a great time, and came home with tons of candy.

 The eating and chatting part...

 The costume putting on and games part...

 Games, games games. And if you are Brenner, sitting on Pops' head so you can look at the starts and planes.

The trick-or-treating part.  Brenner was a squid this night. Like from the under water levels of Mario.  Even tho he was up hours past bedtime he was such a good sport.

On Tuesday, we met Rusty at Mother Nature's Farm for some pumpkin picking!

We had such a fun time. Braden and Berk were more interested in playing on the big dirt pile than actually doing anything else. But they had fun.  Brenner was in heaven. He walked around saying "ball! Ball! ball!!" about the pumpkins. So cute.

Wednesday was a usually crazy day, and I only mention it, although I have no photos, just to remember how hectic this week was. Both boys had school, followed by scouts for Braden, immediately followed by soccer for Berkley and overlapping by 15 minutes to Braden's basketball practice. Whew. Wednesday's are crazy around here.

Thursday I took a much needed deep breath, and stayed home working on a project. Photos to come soon, since the paint is finally dry and said objects are back in the house!

Friday, Berk had school (which is not the norm) so they could have a Halloween Celebration. Here he is with his cute teacher. Braden had a parade at school but Brenner was napping so we missed it.

That night we went on a double date with our good friends Blake & Addi. We met at Kona Grill, and were happy to introduce them to one of our favorite restaurants and then went to go see their new house!  Rusty and Blake grew up next door to each other and have always been best friends. We are so happy they left San Fran and decided to come back to AZ, and not just anywhere, but in our same community. I love that our boys (6 in all) will grow up together like their Dads did!

Whew, are you tired now too? I gotta take a break and post the actual Halloween stuff later!