Halloween 2024

Talking about Halloween in February might be a little out of sync, but hey, at least I'm a week before Valentine's Day!  

This year Eli dressed as a park ranger while Annika wanted to be a wolf, her favorite animal. 

Not just any wolf, mind you--a werewolf.  I thought it would be fun to dress as Little Red Riding Hood so that we could be a set, but she didn't want any part of it.  Despite her insistence that she needed to look fierce instead of cute, her costume turned out to be pretty adorable anyway.  Almost as adorable as her Girl Scout friends Nora and Edith who dressed as Maggie and Marge Simpson.  Also, to the far left is Ellie, who designed her own magnificent mushroom costume.

This Girl Scout troop has been going to Bootanical at Red Butte Gardens for years.  What a fun tradition!

Annika and her friend James, dressed as a platypus.  It was James who lent Annika the stuffed platypus that accompanied her to heart surgery.

Ellie looks like the garden was made just for her.  Gorgeous!

Make-a-Wish also hosted an amazing Halloween party.  This organization helps kids feel so loved!

The entire inside of the Wish building was themed like Inside Out.  What do you think of the balloon wall of memories?

Annika seems pretty excited about her candy loot.

A parade of princesses.  Annie was most excited to meet Merida.

Coming home, she made sure to protect her sugar stash from Mom's sweet tooth.

You'd think that we would be out of Halloween fun by this point, but nope!  Check out the Mario amusement going on at the Wilhoit's home.  Brooklyn, Aunt Callie is Toad, just in your honor.

Also, Adam makes an awesome Bowser.

Next up we have Mario riding Yoshi.  Only ones missing are Luigi and Princess Peach!  Eila was offered the princess role, but preferred to be a cat instead.

We took the younger kids up to This is the Place for their Little Haunts celebration.  Annika adopted the feline theme and swapped her wolf costume for a cheetah mask.

Of course, the accessory she wore best was the giant snake.  This would terrify me, but she looks so very happy with a constrictor draped around her neck.

Freedom!

Anders in front of the Andrus halfway house.

Marching with the raptor in the parade.  Plus after the parade comes the candy cannon!

Later that day we accompanied the Wilhoits to their ward Trunk or Treat.  Their kitty trunk is fantastic!  Plus Papa Kay really makes a statement in his orange vest, customized for Halloween courtesy of NomiAnn's cricut.

At last!  After a full month of pre-gaming, we made it to October 31st.  Talia's looking pretty snazzy as Taylor.

Annika's school parade.  She looks so happy to see her NomiAnn!  Plus, her teacher Ms. Birdwell is looking mighty stylish as well.

Our neighbor Rose, dressed as a flamingo.

Sylvie is matching Talia with the Taylor vibes.

After school, I took Annika to SeaQuest aquarium.  With everyone else getting ready for Halloween, we practically had the place to ourselves!

Finally we have trick-or-treating with Papa Kay and the Wilhoits.

Callie and Adam live just one block east of the most amazing Halloween street ever.

The great thing about having younger cousins is that you always have an excuse to keep Trick-or-Treating.

Happy Halloween!