Catching Up: Halloween & Thanksgiving 2013

HALLOWEEN

Happy Halloween 2013

Yes, I realize this is a very belated post but life just seemed to be full to the brim the last few months of 2013 and I didn't get much blogging done!  Halloween 2013 was pretty fun!  Colton was finally old enough to grasp the concept of Trick or Treating and dressing up so that made it fun.  He was really into "doggies" and loved to bark all the time so I thought it would be just adorable for him to go as a dog.  I found an adorable dog costume at Kmart, that I even got for free with some couponing, and was so excited to get it on him.  He LOVED it in the store but the second I tried to put it on him he freaked out!  We tried for a couple weeks to get him used to the costume but in the end, sadly, he still hated the idea of putting it on and we ended up just sticking him in a buzz lightyear costume I'd bought the year before on clearance.  It was still pretty cute but we had to do some Toy Story marathons to teach him who Buzz is- cause you can't dress your kid up as something they don't even know, right? 
Halloween was on Thursday but Davenports Trick or Treat day was Wednesday and it was pouring rain.  Seriously- cats and dogs style!  We wondered if we'd even get any trick or treaters but- true to the typical candy loving kid- most braved the rain anyway and we got a good turn out!  When the rain finally died down a bit we grabbed our umbrella, threw Katie in her adorable little cow outfit, and took Colton around the neighborhood.

My adorable little trick-or-treaters :)

 It was pretty fun and adorable watching Colton trick or treat and getting to know our neighbors a little bit.   Katie was a trooper for a little while but then got tired and Daddy took her home while Colton and mommy hit a few more houses.  When Colton started barking at the doors (only cute if he would wear the doggie costume) instead of saying "trick-or-treat", I figured it was time to head home.  Friday night was the ward Trunk or Treat and Colton got to dress up again with the rest of the family and go get more candy while I, Katie, and our friend Alissa Thompson hung out in the van handing out candy.  All in all it was a fun Halloween!

Me & Alissa at Trunk or Treat

Handing out candy!

THANKSGIVING

For Thanksgiving this year (2013), we decided to stay home again and have some friends over.  We had a lot of fun with it last year and liked the idea of not having to travel for all of our holidays.  We had our friends Aly & Taylor Larsen, Stefani & Colin Cragun, and Sarah & Jared Haslam over for dinner.  I made the turkey, yams (with lots of gooey marshmallows of course!),  and a fruit salad and everyone else brought yummy food to complete the meal!  I have to say, Sarah makes some awesome mashed potatoes!  I made the dumb mistake of not buying a Turkey with one of those "done" poppers in it, so I had to use an actual meat thermometer.  I felt both annoyed and very culinary at the same time :) 

That night Jon sent me out to the crowds to try and snag him a 70 inch tv on Black Friday sales.  I was happy to do it for him until I got to the store and realized they were making us wait in line outside and it was FREEZING cold! I didn't even have a coat because last year they let us all inside and I was super hot and didn't have anywhere to put my coat!  I was outside about 45 minutes and when I finally got inside they told me the tv's were all gone.  It was only 6:30 and they weren't going on sale until 8 but APPARENTLY they handed out wrist bands for them at 6- and you couldn't buy a tv without one.  Pretty dumb.  What's the point of not letting you actually buying something til 8 but giving out the "coupons" to buy them at 6?  Again I say, pretty dumb.  I found a couple toys and movies for the kids and then headed to 3 other stores to be my ridiculous self.  I waited in line at Von Maur for an hour to spend a free $10 coupon they'd sent me on a $10 toy for Katie.  When I checked out with just one small toy and spent only a few cents in tax, a lady behind me commented, "You seriously waited in line just for that?"  It wasn't rude, she was just amazed.  What can I say?  I love a good deal!  I then proceeded to do the same thing at two other stores.  In the end, was it worth it?  At the end of the night, and even the next day I'd probably say,  "No chance."  However, once I get beyond the crappiness of waiting in lines for about 3 hours for just a couple small toys I'd say "Yeah".  I mean, I only spent like $7 dollars that night combined at all three stores and got like $50 dollars worth of stuff!  Gotta love a good deal!

Playing over Thanksgiving break!