Halloween with Elsa and a Pumpkin

Halloween has come and gone, but what a fun holiday! I think Halloween is especially special as a child. There is something so magical about dressing up as someone else and eating candy to your heart's content. Okay, maybe magical isn't the word... stellar? Marvelous? I guess I'm at a loss for words. Let's just say it's great.

Ben was on a business trip the week before Halloween so he missed our ward Trunk or Treat. The kids were so excited. Nayeli dressed up as Elsa from Disney's Frozen and Teddy went as a pumpkin (the same costume Nayeli wore two years ago- I'm all about recycling costumes). To make their costumes coordinate, I said it was Queen Elsa and her pumpkin jester.

For the Trunk of Treat Ben was in charge of making targets for a marshmallow shooting game. He brought home big pieces of cardboard from work to cut holes in, but didn't get a chance to do it before his trip. I told him I could do it, but I did it in my own way. Behold, how I cut holes in cardboard:

I finished the ghost to my satisfaction, but by the time I called it quits at 1am I was too tired to make the pumpkin more elaborate. I don't think anyone noticed anyway.

We had a great time at the ward party and our neighbors Pops, Makayla and Maddie also came. They were super helpful with the kids and Pops even made some chili for the chili cook-off (he and Ben have a rivalry each year to see if either of them can win). Unfortunately Ben couldn't compete this year and Pops didn't win anything, but we still had a great time.

Saturday the 31st started with cards from our neighbor Nana, who has adopted my kids as her surrogate grandchildren.

Opening Nana's cards

Ben was studying for the GMAT all day, so I took the kids to a Halloween celebration at our local grocery store. We rode the city trolley, decorated sugar cookies, and drank hot chocolate. It made for a fun morning.

Trolley ride!

After we returned from the grocery store party, the weather began to unleash it's fury and I think the only way to describe it would be monsoon-like. Raining pouring from the sky, wind, puddles that were filling up cars- it got pretty bad. Luckily by the night it was just lightly raining. We dressed the kids up and took them to trick or treat at a few of our neighbors.

Of course the candy isn't the thing that grasped Teddy's attention- the puddles were. We let him get soaked to his hearts content. He was thrilled.

Our last stop for the night was at Pops and Anita's to show off costumes and chat until bedtime. The kids ate candy until they were sick and then Ben and I put them to sleep and watched Studio C on YouTube. It was a great Halloween and I can't wait until next year to celebrate it again.

Halloween 2014

About two months ago, Ben took me completely by surprise when he stated, "Let's dress up as a family for Halloween!" I was shocked because Ben hates dressing up, but since he was offering I began plotting costumes for our family.

I found two animal costumes on Craigslist for only $16 for both! They were a lion for Nayeli and a monkey for Teddy and they were the perfect sizes! I was so lucky! As a bonus, they were in great condition since they were worn by an only child once. Welcome to buying children's clothes secondhand in Oregon. It's awesome.

Anyway, I hadn't wanted to do something too complicated for our family and the costumes sealed the deal. With a small excursion to Goodwill and some khaki items from our closets we were officially headed on a Halloween safari.

Nayeli the Lion

Ready for candy! (Teddy was napping when these photos were taken- we love him just as much as Nayeli I promise :) )

Thursday night (the 30th) was the ward Halloween party. There was a chili cook off and Ben made his "award-winning" chili (it won first place in our ward in Provo). It got a runner up prize last year and this year too! We've now dubbed it "Three-peat champion chili".

The Petersen Family Safari

The carnivorous lion enjoying a corn dog.

Halloween night we made pumpkin pancakes for dinner and then took the kids trick or treating to a few of our neighbor friends. We have the only kids who live in our area of the apartment complex and so Nayeli and Teddy were the stars. One elderly neighbor even got them special gifts. So sweet.

The cutest lion and monkey I ever saw.

 

The "silly" pose

Halloween 2013

Halloween has come and gone but I have to share some pictures of our cute little girl. Wednesday night was our ward party and unfortunately I didn't get any pictures. I must mention however, that for the second year in a row Ben won a prize in the chili cook-off. He's such a stud.

Nayeli had a great time at the party and loved seeing the other kid's costumes. I dressed up as a tiger (the same costume I wore last year) and Nayeli was a pumpkin. However the next morning (Halloween) she found my cat ears and put them on. I was just fine with that and thought they worked great with her striped pants.

 My cute little tiger

We spent the morning at the library for story time. They had a fun "spooky" story time and then let the kids march around the library in a parade. Nayeli loved it. 

That night we were invited to a friend's house for a dinner of pumpkin pancakes. We decided to Trick-or-Treat on the way back from dinner. 

Ready to trick-or-treat

 She looks thrilled, doesn't she?

This is after I told her that we couldn't see our neighbor's "doggie" until after dinner. Keep in mind she had not had a nap all day.

A sad pumpkin who just wanted to go see the "doggie". Luckily she was able to drown her sorrows in pumpkin pancakes with whipped cream. Delicious.

After dinner we trick-or-treated a few apartments but each time they put candy in Nayeli's bag she wanted it immediately. So I let her have a piece after every door. What we ended up with was a chocolatey and content pumpkin in need of a bath.

 I think this face is evidence that our Halloween was a success.

Bring On Halloween

Fall in Oregon

This fall has been so beautiful here in Oregon. The weather is just perfect; crisp weather that only requires a long sleeve shirt or, at most, a jacket. We've been trying to get out as much as possible since we know the rainy season is just around the corner. Here are some of our latest (or not so recent) adventures.

 What is it about a child that loves to push something around? 

I found this stroller at a yard sale for $2 and it is Nayeli's favorite toy.

We have a playground by our house that has a gigantic volcano slide. One evening at the end of the summer I got this great picture of Ben and Nayeli at the top. They are best buds.

I am guilty of bribing my child with Cheetos so as to enjoy a trip to Target without any interruptions or tantrums. It worked like a charm and it's become my secret weapon when my sanity requires it.

Nayeli loves books. I can often find her alone in her room "reading" to herself. It makes my book-loving heart happy.

Another day when she put on her pumpkin hat and wore it around the house.

I love my girl

On my entry table I had a beautiful white pitcher with flowers in it as well as a porcelain fall pumpkin. The flowers sang the siren song to Nayeli and before I knew it they were in a pile of glass on my floor. I just try to think of what my mom said when I broke things as a child; "I love you more than I love my... (fill in the blank)". Wise words.

Ben and Nayeli after dinner. One of her favorite things is watching videos of herself on our phones. Yes, we're raising a narcissist, but can you blame her? 

Her latest obsession is dogs. Our sweet neighbor, who adores Nayeli, gave her a stuffed Chihuahua. She carried it around for days.

General Conference this year was wonderful. With a toddler, it's its own challenge but I think we did okay. Besides trashing the house to keep her entertained. But that probably would have happened anyway. Here she is leading the music (notice her blurry hand).

There are lots of pumpkin patches in our area with free animal petting zoos. A friend and I took our kids to see the baby goats at this one. Nayeli loved to see them but refused to feed them.

She also refused to look at the camera. Oh well.

She loves swings, or "wee", as she calls them. This tire swing was no exception. She held on for dear life while giggling excitedly. She's got such a life in her that I love.

As of late I've become mildly addicted to Pinterest. I found a tutorial for a pompom garland but you had to make your own pompoms. Since I have no patience for that, I bought a package of pre-made pompoms at the dollar store, used some twine I had on hand, and voila! I love how it turned out! I think I'm going to make one for every holiday. Can't get enough of a good thing right?

Last but not least, this is video of Nayeli saying her favorite word. She will walk around the house saying it over and over. Despite excessive coaxing she only says it once in the video. Notice her tone. That's how she says it every time.

Happy Halloween!

Today was Nayeli's first Halloween. She was so cute dressed up as a strawberry. We went to our ward party earlier in the evening then came home to be together. Side note: Ben won the Chili Cook-off in our ward! When I groaned to him yesterday that I had to make a pot of chili for the ward party, he was more than willing to make his famous Taco Soup. And then he won. I'm so proud.

In other news, Nayeli recently turned seven months and is getting so big. Being her mom is wonderful. If I had to use one word to describe her it would be intense. What I mean is, she loves to be part of the action. It always seems like her mind is going 100 mph and she wants to discover everything. We love it.

A few days ago the weather was beautiful, so she and I went outside to take some pictures of her in her costume. Most of the pictures involved her eating the leaves, but I got some cute ones nonetheless.

 Hope you had a happy Halloween!

Halloween 2011

Halloween is so much fun! Saturday was our ward and then my family party so Ben and I got all dressed up. Can you guess who we are?

If you guessed Paul and Rita DeBry (my parents) in the 1970's, then your right! Okay, maybe it wasn't that obvious but my mom and dad sure got a kick out of it. And although my costume wasn't a dead ringer for my mom (I couldn't get my thin hair to stay poofy), I thought Ben pulled off my dad very nicely.

Ben's suit was given to him as a going away gift by one of his elders in the MTC (when he taught there) and my dress, necklace, and shoes were compliments of Savers.

And the greatest thing about the dress? It fit my pregnancy bump. A week from tomorrow we find out what we're having. Can't wait!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

October Happenings

Here's a little update on some fun things we've been doing this October:

Ben's Mission Reunion

(L to R: Ben, Me, Landon Larkin, Jessica and Nate Shepard, Tim Wood,
Trevor Atkinson and Ryker. Not pictured: Brian)

On Saturday the 15th Ben invited a bunch of his mission friends over to our apartment for a get together. It was really fun to see many of the people so dear to him and also to get to meet Tim, a member from his mission who was visiting from Texas. We chatted until late and I got to hear some great stories from Ben's mission. He served with some great people and I loved having them come to our home.

Gardner Village

Halloween wouldn't be Halloween without a visit to Gardner Village. It is so fun to see the shops and how they decorate it. My sisters and I have the tradition to go every year.

Just a few beautiful things from the shops (and things I'll only be able to afford when we earn our first million)...

This chair, priced at $929 dollars, stole my heart. The fabric can be purchased for only $179 dollars a yard. What a great sewing project right? For that price I think I'd rather just buy the chair and forget the sewing.






And this amazing rug...












And of course, my beautiful sisters and mom:

Someone made a comment about my pregnant belly