Halloween Highlights

During the day we visited In Sync, a big cat rescue. It was definitely not built with the public in mind, but the big cats that would need their help. We walked through muddy paths to check out all the big cats (they have 41 total). They have 3 white lions recovering from maltreatment. There are only 30 known white lions in the world. Sophie saw the tigers, cougars, and lions as well but was really fascinated by the two domestic cats and dog that wandered around the place. Admittedly, they were quite charming.Later in the afternoon, we went over to the carnival and trunk or treat at our church. Neal who jokingly named his beard Jedidiah, decided to go all the way with it and dressed as an Amish man. Which went perfectly with Rhys' costume, a goat. Ironically, Keri caught Neal on his cell phone and got a shot. Sophie, dressed as Pooh Bear, really embraced Halloween this year. She had been practicing saying "trick or treat" and thanked all givers of candy. Then we made it over to Oma and Opa's house to show off the kids.After a few pieces of candy and some photo opts, we were on our way over to the trunk or treat put on by our friend's congregation. Sophie made the rounds, Rhys got held by Grandma J, and we got to chat with our CA friends and enjoy their costumes.Back at home, Neal took Sophie around to a few of our neighbors while Keri handed out candy to trick or treaters. It was a full day and a lot of fun.

Bloodcurdling Brouhaha

Here's what we've been up to over the last two days. Becky, Neal's step-mom, turned half a century old! We joined in the celebration at a dinner with Rudy and her friends. It sounds like she had a great day in all.

Keri dusted off her sewing machine and went to work creating a trick or treat bag for Sophie. It is a cute little bat. And she had so much material left over, she made another one for Rhys' future use. His has ghosts on it. Once she had a grip on it, it was a super easy and fun project.

Tonight we headed out to one of our neighboring towns and viewed a house that goes all out for Halloween and Christmas (but not at the same time). They have large spiders all over the house, skulls and creepy apparitions in the windows, and a graveyard on the lawn. The picture certainly does not do it justice. After getting out and taking a look we headed home for ice cream.More of our kids.

Creapy, Crawly, Oh My Golly!

Our Halloween festivities have been keeping us busy. We went to the Dallas Arboretum once again to enjoy the autumn colors and picked a pumpkin to carve. As if Halloween candy wasn't enough temptation to have around, Keri made Pumpkin Cream Cheese Brownies and Neal toasted up some garlicky pumpkin seeds.