Halloween 2018

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays to celebrate. Some would say it is not a Christian holiday, but they would be mistaken as it is All Hallows Eve that is Halloween, a holy night to remember those who have died. People dressed in costumes so that bad spirits would not recognize them as they traveled to the grave yards and cemeteries to remember their loved ones on All Hallows Eve. This year Emma-Caroline dressed as a Dia de los Muertos woman and Sophie dressed as a Pink Lady. Each of them went trick-or-treating with their friends in our wonderful kid friendly neighborhood and we had Aunt Kelly and Uncle Leif with us too to celebrate the night. It was a wonderful Halloween!

Master of Make-Up!

Emma-Caroline was invited to a Halloween party last Saturday. She is dressing up as a Dia de los Muertos Catrina woman for Halloween and wore the same costume for the party last weekend. The key to this costume is the skull face make-up that has to be done to make her look like one of the sugar skulls. Sounds gruesome, but these are actually quite beautiful. My sister Kelly came for a visit last weekend and used her make-up artistry to create a beautiful Catrina face for Emma-Caroline. She won best costume at the party! I'm grateful that Kelly will be coming for Halloween too to do EC's make-up again.

Yearly Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

Over the years with our girls we have made many trips to the Pumpkin Patch. In Knoxville we traveled to Maple Lane Farms, Oak Farms and Cruze Farms. Here in Crozet, Virginia we have visited Chiles Orchards and Farms over the last three years. On Sunday we made our fourth trip to Chiles to pick out a couple of pumpkins again for Halloween carving. I'll never tire of going to the Pumpkin Patch to get our pumpkins. It's a tradition that brings lots of joy and happy faces.

A Visit to a Real Life Harry Potter World

Staunton, Virginia is a beautiful town just 20 minutes from where we live. With it's charming historic downtown and plethora of Victorian houses, Staunton lends itself to feeling more like an English town than an American town. With all of it's charms, Staunton decided three years ago to turn it's downtown area into a Harry Potter world once a year in late September. We were delighted to visit this year and found it a magical experience indeed!