Lewis' First Halloween

How weird is it to think that Lewis' year of firsts is about up! Last year for Halloween you can see we debuted our friends party as a huge basketball and a basketball player (I know, so creative).

This year we have an 11 month old and we let him be the center of attention in the dress up department. He is for sure our little monkey, always climbing and on the move. I love that I found this costume at Kid To Kid for $7! It fits perfectly and keeps him nice and warm. Plus it makes his little chubby cheeks look extra chubby and I totally love that. I'd say it's a win all around!

I'm so glad our Ward did a trunk or treat so Lewis could dress up and (we) could get a couple little pieces of candy. It was so cute to see all the kids in their outfits, they even did a parade to show them off. They also did a chili cook off which was fantastic! I really wanted to find some crazy creative chili to make and win the cook off but it just wasn't in the cards. So I chose my favorite tried and true recipe but unfortunately we didn't win. That just means we have lots of chili to eat for the next couple weeks ;) 

Another Halloween tradition that McKay have started is making dinner in a pumpkin and then roasting the pumpkin seeds. 

Not the best looking meal, but it tastes so great! I love having the sweet pumpkin flavor added into the meal. Proof of the cooked pumpkin in the background.

The Anderson's luckily passed this recipe along to me when we first got married and we have loved making it the past couple years. I had never had dinner in a pumpkin or roasted pumpkin seeds before. Thank goodness when we get married we inherit lots more family members, recipes, and traditions that we get to claim for the rest of our lives. I have loved incorporating both of our family's holiday traditions into our little family. 

A couple things we did this year that we want to continue on as traditions include going to a pumpkin patch to pick out our own pumpkins and also eating soup in a bread bowl. We went to a cute local farm and got taken on a hay ride over to pick out pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. We even found a perfect small one for Lewis. 

On Halloween evening we made a new hearty soup and ate it out of bread bowls. I LOVE sourdough bread bowls, so I was adamant that we needed to find some good ones. I called a couple stores and bakery's to ask about them but they acted like I was crazy. Maybe they aren't as much of a thing out here. Luckily McKay thought of Panera Bread and of course they didn't let me down. 

Since we took Lewis around in his costume last weekend at the ward party we didn't dress him up again today or get many pictures. So I said we should snap a Halloween pre-bedtime picture. It was the first time Lewis really cooperated for a selfie, that little cheeser (he may have gotten that from me). 

After putting Lewis to sleep McKay and I tried to make mini caramel apples as seen on Pinterest. Turned out they didn't work so well for us, Pinterest fail for sure. 

It made for some good memories and we decided this is one of those things that is better left to Pinterest. I will be sticking with Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for my caramel apple cravings from now on. We had a great Halloween overall and look forward to the upcoming holidays that we get to celebrate with our families.