Friday night, while Peter had a guys' night out, I took the ladies to my parent's church for their Halloween party. It was our first opportunity to don the costumes. Peter made Rebecca's "Annie" dress--sewed that bad boy from scratch, pleats and all--and the rest of us had store-bought costumes. This was our first year NOT to have a family theme, but we just couldn't get one together this year. Anyway, the party was a blast, cake walk and haunted house, costume contest, hot dogs, and the first of what would be a great deal of candy.
It was a perfect Saturday. Sunny skies; clean, crisp air; moderate temperature. I took Molly and Rebecca to their school book fair (which, I am pleased to report, they were almost as excited about as they were about Halloween itself). Then we all loaded up and went to our church's Fall Fest. Pony rides, rock wall, giant inflatables, decorated tables and games for the kids, more candy.
After a restful afternoon, we suited up for Trick-or-Treating. We love our neighborhood on Halloween night. The laughter and squeals of gazillions of children fills the air. In fact, it was 2 years ago on Halloween, when we were living in our apartment in Memphis, waiting for just the right house, that we peeked inside the house that would become ours! We were T/Ting with Uncle Matt and Aunt Laurie and the cousins--Amelia was 3 weeks old, and Annsley was 7 months old. The house we now live in was one Peter and I had admired for several years on visits to Memphis, but we'd never seen the inside. On Halloween night of 2007, the house was for sale, we peeked in as the girls T/Ted there, and fell in love. Three months later, we moved in. Anyway, back to the present. My parents came over to be part of the fun. Papa came along on the walk, and Granna graciously passed our candy to our guests. So we combed the neighborhood, filled up the pumpkin buckets, and made a quick-but-fun stop at our friends' party (kids played, grown-ups had a little big people conversation) before calling it a night. Watched the end of the World Series game to top off a perfect Halloween.
Granna and Papa and Aunt Jo joined us for dinner. Amelia's turkey hit her right away, and she was asleep in her high chair before dessert! Aunt Laurie, Uncle Matt, Caroline, Hallie and Annsley came over later for leftovers, basketball and cousin playtime. To close out the day, we watched Miracle on 34th Street--the original, in black-and-white--and kicked off the Christmas season officially. Thank you, God, for your many blessings! 
