A BRINGHURST FAMILY FAVORITE

Halloween is one of our favorite holidays. It might even be our very favorite holiday of the year. Since we homeschool, we can choose just about anything we want to learn about, and so we've been able to study many of the cultures and traditions that have contributed to what we call Halloween. Like most holidays, Halloween has it's roots in ancient Pagan traditions, traditions that were celebrated based on the earth's cycles and their very survival through agriculture and healthy crops. So we've had fun researching why we carve pumpkins and light up our jack 'o lanterns, to why we bob for apples, to why... ooops..! Did I just accidentally treat you all like my students? So sorry! Anywho, for all those reasons, and because we looove candy, Halloween is the best!

Jeff and I had a costume party this year with friends. Can you guess who we are?


Jeff would add that he likes Halloween because he loves to scare people. And it's true! I hardly ever let my guard down around here. On Halloween he can scare people without it becoming a police matter.

This year Kaylee wanted to dress up as an '80s popstar. Brit had taken a couple years off from wearing a costume, but decided to dress up as a hobo this year.


We like to wait until later in the afternoon on Halloween to carve pumpkins and this year we had some visitors to help us. My dad and Diane came to see the kids' costumes and Devin and Addy brought their little cuties to help out. So here's how it went down. Dad and Diane ooo-ing and aaah-ing over the kids, taking pictures. Addy carving a pumpkin, and Devin trying to manage two babies, changing diapers, giving bottles, adjusting costumes.
Devin is a really good dad and Addy is a great mom... and as it turns out, she's also great at carving pumpkins! Alias was dressed as a German Shepherd and Jacoby was dressed as a giraffe. So cute!


After pumpkin carving it was time to visit Jeff's parents which has also become a Halloween tradition. My parents usually make the rounds to see all of the grandkids, but Jeff's parents have been living in their home and neighborhood for over thirty years and many of the neighborhood kids look forward to trick-or-treating there. Jeff's mom is very creative and always makes something special out of her Halloween candy and this year was no exception. After our visit we were ready for dinner, but the kids still wanted to do some trick-or-treating of their own. We decided Jeff would pick up take-out, I would man the door for trick-or-treaters, and Brit and Kaylee would hit a few houses. We ordered Chinese/Vietnamese from Cafe Trang (one of our favs) and then watched a scary movie to finish the night.

Another great year! Now I can't believe it's already November!!!