Halloween/Harvest/Fall Celebration

Well, I don't care what you call it, our family really enjoys it. We started out 10 years ago with the attitude of "Oh no! Not the evils of Halloween!" Well, we soon got over it and started down the slippery slope of moral demise.

Sasha, pictured here, was aiming for "Mexican." I told her that was not politically correct and so she revised it to "South American Peasant Woman." I think she looks more like Cher.

Gabriel is my cabellero. Sasha did his make-up and I'm darned impressed.

Lily is an amazing pirate. The Dred Pirate Roberts be warned!
Chloe is a clown. 'Nough said.

Isaac refused to dress up, but that did not keep him from getting handfuls of candy when we went trick-or-treating. I think his "4 year old boy" costume was appreciated by all.

We went trick-or-treating in Seatac (the town, not the airport) and our group of 13 (!) made quite a parade. Randi and Chad, Mike and I, and all 9 kids certainly stopped traffic.

The kids all had a slight cold so we skipped the AWANA Harvest party, which was a good thing after all, since they only allow the kids to dress up as Bible characters. We worked long and hard to figure out whether any pirates, clowns, cowboys, or Mexicans showed up in the Bible. We tried, really we did.

Instead we had a party over at Randi's house and it turned out great. The kids all got really creative and planned games, contests, and even prizes. They played "Pin the wing on the airplane", "Fishing" (a clothespin attached to a string and stick) and bobbed for apples. Micah, who just turned 12, said it was the best Halloween ever. You just know you've done something right when the 12 year old enjoys his younger siblings and cousins enough to say that! Good job, Randi and Chad.

So, whether you celebrate Harvest of Halloween, we hope your holiday was as blessed as ours was. I've come to believe that God can handle Halloween, and just might enjoy the costumes as much as I do!