School Halloween Party

The fun thing about having multiple Halloween events to attend is that you can dress up in a different costume for each one!  “Just wear whatever costume you want to wear,” I said to the girls, and they happily rummaged through the dress up closet.  For her elementary school’s Halloween party Annie chose the pirate costume (Leah wore the pirate costume to her preschool Halloween party) and Leah chose her trusty old Belle dress.  She wore this dress for the last 2 Halloweens, and dresses up in it all the time at home . . . . we definitely get good mileage out of our dress ups:)  Anyway, this was actually Annie’s school’s 1st annual Halloween party (since it’s a pretty new school) and it was a definite success!  There were tons of people there, and the kids had a blast. 

Trying their luck at the Cake Walk. 

Lots of games were spread out around the school.  Kids just love dumb stuff like this:)

See that ghetto orange “Bean Bag Toss” sign?  All the signs for the event was my contribution.   I went through quite a few Sharpies making those things:)

And of course trick-or-treating!  James was getting the hang of it by the end of the night . . . . although he was a little scared of this lady dressed up as a witch (well, I’m pretty sure she was dressed up:)

It was a fun night at the school!!  Except we ended by going through the haunted house, and even though they tone it down for the little kids, both my girls came out crying.  I even jumped (and perhaps screamed) when a middle school kid in our ward popped out and grabbed my shoulder!  That might have added to the girls’ crying:)  But overall, it was a successful night! 

Picking Pumpkins

It’s a little hard to get into the fall spirit when it’s still 80 degrees out.  And now that we live in the desert, there’s not really an abundance of trees with leaves changing beautiful colors to get us in the mood either.  This time of year always finds me a little homesick for Ohio.  There is just so many fun fall activities to do in Ohio.  Not that I’m complaining about the weather here these days . . . . I mean, if we can still pull off flip flops in October, I’ll take it:)  Anyway, we decided to be festive and after school we met up with some friends at a local pumpkin patch that is actually owned by some members in our stake.  It’s a fun little place, with some kid friendly activities . . . . next year I’m thinking we’ll go ahead and buy the friends and family “season pass” (for all of October:).

Isn’t Leah a cute little cowgirl?  Love the tongue hanging out – she’s really concentrating on her roping skills!

After our little hay ride, it was time to go out to the pumpkin patches and pick some pumpkins! 

Oh, and if you’re wondering about Annie’s outfit, it was pink day at school today . . . . October is also breast cancer awareness month.

Searching for the perfect pumpkins . . . .

After looking through lots and lots of pumpkins, James finally found his, nestled up to a nice big one.

Ta-Da!!

He didn’t let go of that little pumpkin for the rest of the afternoon.

Annie went for the big one.  But could barely lift it:)

Then we went and saw the scary goats.

And I guess the chickens were scary, too.  Good, we’re getting in the Halloween spirit!

The Wedding!

Well, they did it!!  The much anticipated day finally arrived, and my little sister is now Ashley Mecham!  We are so happy for her and Spencer.  Spencer is a great guy and we couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome him into the family!

The festivities started the night before, at Mike and Beth’s house where the wedding dinner was held.  We had such a fun night meeting all of Spencer’s family (he’s the 8th of 9 kids), and being with all my extended family as well.  We got home really late that night, so the next morning was a little hectic, but aren’t all wedding mornings like that?  Here we are getting ready for the big day!

Once we all made it up to Oakland and found a room in the multi-stake center to put our 20 little kids and the 7 teenaged babysitters (um, yeah, that was craziness), it was so fun and relaxing to be able to be in the temple with my family and just enjoy the ceremony. 

And here they come!  All married and cute and looking sooooo happy!!!

The girls were so excited to see them come out! 

And when Ashley started walking, the girls, taking their flower girl duties very seriously, carefully carried Ashley’s dress as she walked.  They were in little girl heaven.  All Spenc could do was just shrug and walk along beside:)

Oh, and isn’t Ashley’s dress just gorgeous!?!  It looked amazing on her.  She was so excited when she found it.  It was exactly what she had been looking for!     

My sister, Stephanie, made all of these little flower girl dresses.  Aren’t they adorable??  We’re so lucky to have a seamstress in the fam . . . . if we can’t find what we’re looking for, she just makes it!  And she didn’t even use a pattern.  She just whips them out like nothing.

The Cole Family!

I love this picture . . . .

And this one of the 6 of us . . . .

And this one of my sisters and me . . . . ok, yes, I love them ALL!

Ash’s bridesmaids were Allison, Andrea, and Hannah (cousins) and Anneliese (Spencer’s little sister who is Ashley’s age).  

The Reception

The reception was that evening from 5:00 – 7:00 in my parents’ backyard.  An outdoor reception in California is still usually pretty safe in October, but we had a little scare when the day finally popped up on the 10-day forecast as a rainy day.  Luckily, a few days later it was showing clear and sunny skies, and in the end, the weather ended up being absolutely beautiful.

 

So, my mom has a very talented friend in the ward.  Kathy Lovelady.  We cannot even begin to describe how awesome she is.  She’s like the ward’s personal wedding planner.  She’s done all of my family’s weddings (including mine) and now she says she’s retiring . . . . so we’re glad she was still around to do Ashley’s!  My mom and sisters decided on an apple theme (isn’t that perfect for a fall wedding?) and Kathy created these adorable centerpieces.  Stephanie, my mom, and my sister-in-law, Katherine, made all of the table runners.

Even Michael went around making sure everything looked perfect.  It was definitely a team effort:) 

And Stephanie also made all of the cute pillows on the couches . . . . what can I say, that girl’s got talent:)

Kathy and my mom snagged these white shutters from a neighbor that was getting rid of them, and then Kathy created this cute entrance as you walk up the driveway.   

And Kathy bought this dresser off Craigslist for $50 . . . . it was the perfect present table!

And as usual, when we’re all together, we tried to get a picture of the 4 little boys, and as usual, they weren’t all cooperating at the same time:)  But that’s okay . . . . we’re just keeping it real:)  It’ll still be fun to have these pictures of them together as babies.  And we had to have at least one picture of them in their matching wedding outfits!   

The older cousins are much easier to get to smile all at the same time!

We needed a place to corral all the kids during the reception so they set up some kid tables in the side yard, complete with candy centerpieces.

It worked for a little while.

But not even Starbursts and big lollipops can keep kids too long from the lure of the swimming pool . . . . why are kids just naturally drawn to the water?

Oh, well, when it’s a pool full of apples, who can blame them? 

Even the big boys couldn’t stay away!

Voted Best New Pool Toy of the Year: the fake apple.  And I’m not joking.  These things provided HOURS of entertainment for the kids . . . . even after the reception, the kids all got on their swimsuits and got in the hot tub, and they played all kinds of games with these bad boys.  My uncle, Mike, was seriously saying he was going to buy some for his pool!  haha.

And with all these little kids playing dangerously around the pool all night, one was bound to fall in at some point . . . . the lucky winner: my cousin’s little boy, Drew.  My aunt, Monica, made a lightening speed rescue, and I caught the whole thing on video!  He spent the rest of the night in his jammies:)                              

Ahhh . . . . the food:)  The food was delish.  My mom used the same catering company she always uses, and they did not disappoint.  And check out that gorgeous flower arrangement by Kathy! 

Bundtinis for dessert from Nothing Bundt Cake.  Oh man, we love these things!

And caramel apples to go along with the apple theme.  This was such a fun idea!!

Oh yeah, and candy:)

Ashley, Spencer, and the parents formed the line and greeted people as they came.  There was a pretty steady flow of people coming and going all night long. 

  

Cutting the cake!!                                                                                 

The chandelier was so pretty, especially when it got dark. 

Still playing with them apples! 

It was a great party and a very successful day!  We were so happy to be a part of it all and to share this special day with my family and especially with Ashley and Spencer.  They are such a cute couple and we know they will just be great together!  We love you guys!!