Halloween

We had SO many Halloween activities to go to this week. There was a trunk-or-treat, library story time (with costumes), reverse trick-or-treating to our ward (we went around and gave candy to all the students in the singles ward we serve in), the BYU kids' Halloween party, our ward Halloween party, and then of course trick-or-treating on Halloween. We ended up making Owen two costumes - he was Oscar the Grouch for most of the week, and for our ward Halloween party, we all dressed up together as the Empire State Building (Matt), King Kong (Owen), and whoever the girl is... I think her name is Ann (me). We made all the costumes, which was fun, but I don't think we'll be doing that again. My mom and grandma stepped in at the last minute (they were visiting so they could go wedding dress shopping with Lexie) and helped me finish up the costumes.

Anyway, enough talk. Here are the pictures!

Owen did not like having a unibrow drawn on. :)

Oscar!

Something about the unibrow made everything Owen did 10 times funnier.

After trick-or-treating our ward, we went and visited Michelle and Olivia, and had dinner with them in the Cannon Center. Thanks, Michelle!

Does it make me a bad mom that this next picture cracks me up?

Matt had a little too much fun with the Halloween makeup. :)

At BYU's Halloween party for kids. Owen loves this pumpkin... he rolls it around the house all day.

Picking out a prize at the cake walk.

Costume parade!

Owen was the Grand Prize winner for the best costume at the BYU party!

These were his prizes... a trophy and one of those sticks that makes noise when you shake it. He thought it was pretty cool. :)

King Kong and the Empire State Building at the bishop's cabin for the ward Halloween party.

...and me with them as King Kong's girl Ann. I wore sweats under that dress - it was so cold!

King Kong fell asleep on the way home.

Getting his first haircut... daddy had to bribe him with goldfish.

Before.

After. Not a huge difference, but enough to make it far less shaggy than before.

Trick-or-treating on Halloween to all the freshman living in Wyview. They gave out great candy!

By the third door or so, Owen had it figured out. He'd knock, and then stand there with his hand out ready to grab some candy from the bowl.

Taking a candy break... and a break from his garbage can!

Checking out all the candy he got.

Cousin dinner at Cafe Rio with all the BYU Bromley cousins... from L-R: Janessa, Jacob, Kelly (not a cousin - she's Jake's girlfriend), Lexie, Hilary, Josh, Brant, Jocelyn, David, Owen, me, and Matt. We love having so many cousins up here!

Playing with the light sticks Matt's mom sent Owen.

a clean pantry...

Our pantry here at Wymount is really really big... we got really lucky, considering we just picked our apartment at random three years ago from a long list of addresses online. We're on the end of our building, which contributes to the size of our pantry, because we don't have a fire walkway going between our balcony and the next - which lets our pantry extend another couple of feet outward. Anyway, the size of our pantry often means that things just get tossed in there, since space is always available. I took the time the other day to neatly organize every shelf and get everything off the floor. Now, everything in there has a place, and any new groceries I buy (if we ever get our loan and grant money in *crossing fingers*) will fit right into the categories. Woohoo! Now if only my kitchen were as clean and ordered as my pantry... or the rest of my house, for that matter...

Birthday Boy

Last Thursday was Owen's first birthday! We had a party on Wednesday night with our siblings, and then on Thursday night, Matt, Owen, and I went for a picnic. Owen got so many presents, and he loves them all. Thanks to all his grandmas, great-grandmas, aunts, and everyone else who sent him gifts. Here are some pictures from our festivities:

Owen very proud of himself for ripping the wrapping paper (and checking to make sure it was okay)

He was distracted and wanted to play with everything he opened. This is the jar of jungle animals that Matt got him.

He LOVED the balloon that Michelle tied on top of her present.

Owen with all his presents.

He was one happy kid.

Cake time! This was Owen's personal cake. I got tired of cake-making after the big birthday cake I made, so this one I just poured the hot frosting over it... it kind of looks like an alien blob, but oh well. Owen didn't care. :)

Not sure about the singing and the candle.

Me and Matt trying to get him to blow out the candle. He knows how to blow (he blows bubbles in his bath water), but he was too scared of the candle to do it.

Finally he gets to eat it!

Matt shows Owen how it's done.

This is the other birthday cake I made for all the big people. For those of you who wanted to know how to make it, I've given you a few pictures. This took one white cake mix.

Mix batter according to directions on box. Divide it into six bowls (or you could do 4... or however many you want). I put more batter in the purple and red, less in the orange and blue, and the least in the green and yellow. I think it ended up being a little over 3/4 c, 1/2 c, and 1/4 c respectively. I just used regular food coloring, though if you have those gel food colors for cake/icing, those would work without having to use as much color.

Pour the batter in concentric circles in two round cake pans. (Remember, the purple and red circles have the most batter, followed by the orange and blue, etc.). Bake like normal, and assemble like a normal layer cake!

Here are some pictures of my sweet boy on his birthday.

Yes, he's wearing different shoes on each foot. I couldn't find both of either pair.

How/when did he get so old?!

I love this picture. Owen always does this weird thing with his mouth where he moves his bottom jaw to one side and sticks out his bottom teeth. I'm glad we finally caught a head-on picture of it. Crazy boy.

This was taken at our picnic on Owen's birthday. It was chilly, so we didn't stay too long, but it was fun, and we got to watch the sun set!

These plastic gray boulders came in Owen's jungle animal bucket. He carries them around the house in his mouth, the nutcase.

Love this little cheeser!

My big one-year-old!