A really long post to catch up on our Hawaiian Halloween...

We had a great Halloween this year--busy, but wonderful. Since I've been so remiss in blogging I'm going to cram the happenings of our holiday into one gigantic post. Feel free to browse at your own pace! :)

We did some research before determining what Kennedy should be for Halloween; here are a few pics of us exploring our options:

Dad brought the kimono home from one of his trips to Japan; the umbrella and hat are courtesy of Mom's thrifting adventures (99 cents!)

The Wonder Girl costume was a little too short for my liking (though Kennedy loved it most)

And the snow white dress was too long and big...and just not fabulous enough. She seems to rather enjoy the idea of being a princess though!!

The witch costume was my very favorite;

She even had her "little sneaky witch face" down pat:

Schaffer's options were more limited and less cool. The honey pot was his personal nightmare (and I've always had an slight aversion toward "pooh" stuff). We also had a little turtle shell that was awkward and a little big...

We finally decided to go with a Pirate theme, mainly because...

That way they could go as a PAIR! (I know, I'm one of those moms!) Here are my two little pirates right before our ward Halloween party:

Of course a few ghoulish reminders of the season were snuck in &

around the corners of our home...

Red Hill Elementary had a fun "Halloween Parade." Only the Kindergarten classes were allowed to wear costumes, and they did a parade around the school for the rest of the kids. Kennedy decided to be a flower fairy that morning.

Kennedy's teacher, Ms. Wong, was so cute. We just adore her; she's such a wonderful, sweet teacher.

Mrs. Sandy is our most favorite of them all. She's a teacher's aid, and is just an amazing, angel of a woman...you can just feel how much she loves all those kiddoes.

Little Brooklyn Feider was adorable. You can almost see a future beauty queen waving from a convertible in a small town parade!!

She demonstrated for me how her skirt could become a cape...

Very talented indeed!

Kennedy was very somber and serious...perhaps I should view it as "lady-like?!"

All the other kids watching the parade:

Kennedy looks so old next to her bestest-friend, Brooklyn...makes me a little misty-eyed. I just love their cute little faces together though!

To their delight, they discovered that they matched once they changed out of their costumes.

The Ward Halloween Party turned out to be one of our favorite Halloween activities of all time. Our current ward is fantastic. Not only are there oodles of super-cool military families, but there are lots of lovely Hawaiian "locals" who go all out for ward activities. We invited a couple of neighbors to come and we all had a great time. Here's Kennedy and Schaffer before we went in:

And some of our buddies that we brought along:

There were lots of booths that various families had set up to give candy out at. My personal favorite was this one of "Nightmare Before Christmas." Kennedy was a little unsure of whether to take candy from "Jack Skellington" at first, but we convinced her she was safe.

There were also games galore, like this one: "Make a Mummy," which Kennedy and Daniel did:

Heather and I sent our husbands to get some "Psychiatric Help:"

Nothing could stop these competitive military men from joining in on the games (sheesh!)

I think this one was pin the tail on the spider-monkey?

Then the tickets they earned could be turned in and redeemed for cool prizes.

Schaffer spent most of the evening biting down on his stroller

(not long after he had 2 teeth pop through!)

A few of our favorite friends from Aliamanu ward:

The Ballard family (he dyed his hair to be the Russian from "Rocky!")

The ridiculously cute Rich family:

We can't do much of anything without these guys...our next-door besties, the Whitakers:

Tracy and her cute boys, Jacob and Jonah (also favorite neighbors of ours):

Mirra Mitchell was obviously "Little Miss Muffit."

Rodney and Monica Rivera (how cute are these costumes?):

And then the dinner afterward was fantastic, complete with over-the-top cakes. My favorite was once again the one from "Nightmare Before Christmas."

We even had first-rate entertainment while we ate. A hula dancer, a fantastic singer with his yukelele, and various other singers made Kennedy's night.

It ended perfectly with Schaffer winning the contest for best costume for his age group. You'd vote for him, wouldn't you?!!!