trick-or-treat...

we ended our halloween with some good ole fashion trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. it was really fun and the kids LOVED it!! b and pop came over to see the kids in their costumes (sorry no pic of that). they even walked to a few houses with us! o and j were really into going up to the houses "all by themselves", ringing the doorbell and of course saying those magic words "trick or treat."
the smiles on their faces when they would come running back down the sidewalk was priceless.
jack didn't last long, maybe 5 houses. he was tired and had had enough of his costume. he went back home to help mark pass out candy while olivia and i continued walking around the neighborhood. it was just the two of us and we had a really great time. of course there were other packs of kids walking around and every now and then we would get in one of those, but it was really nice to just walk and talk and go where ever we wanted.

o loved this inflatable decoration. one of the last houses we went to.

i am not generally a huge fan of halloween. i could do without the scary stuff and of course the massive amounts of candy that i have to secretly get rid of in the days following, but this year i truly enjoyed it. i loved walking hand in hand with my precious 4 year old (almost 5 year old) through our neighborhood and experiencing this silly holiday through her eyes.

the pumpkin bash...

at our church was a family affair and so much fun!! the kids got all dressed up in their costumes once again.
i decorated our car in all our baylor garb to participate in the 'trunk or treat' part of the event. even i got tired of hearing "that good ole baylor line" and the fight song that was blaring from our car. :0)
mark was the photographer and daddy extraordinaire!! he took the kids around as they loaded up their buckets with candy, petted the animals at the petting zoo, and played some games.
we were also lucky enough to have our "support staff" on hand- chrissie and nana. we loved having them there too to share in the fun and chaos.

we were all hot and tired, but that was not end of our halloween...

celebrating kristy & drew...

i have prayed for my dear friends, kristy and steve, for years as they have tried to get pregnant and start their own family. god has taken them on a roller coaster ride over the last 3 years, but He has blessed them with a baby boy who is due in december. we {all her friends} are so excited to meet this little guy that we have prayed for so many times, but first things first- a baby shower to get these sweet deserving parents prepared for their new little one!! the saturday before halloween we celebrated kristy and her lil' pumpkin, drew.

all the mama's to-be- ashley, shannon, and kristy.

our friend, catherine, opened up her home to host this quaint little party and it was the perfect setting for our fall inspired shower. i loved all the details that we were able to add to reflect our "pumpkin/fall" theme to celebrate kristy and drew.

adorable leaf garland {made by catherine} and themed baskets of gifts
diaper cake and lil' pumpkins
yummy food- the pumpkin muffins were my fav!

i thought the party was lots of fun and my hope is that kristy felt all the love that we have for her and drew. can't wait to meet this sweet little boy and tell him in person how dearly he is loved by so many people, especially me!! :)

trunk or treat, ccdc style...

black cat, ladybug, daphne, and spider

our first costume affair was once again the "trunk or treat" event at our preschool, ccdc. for those of you who might not know what "trunk or treating" is all about, it is basically like trick or treating expect there are a bunch of cars in a church parking lot with their trunks decorated and nice people ready to hand out candy. i love this little event because we get to wear our costumes, take some cute pics, spend a little time with our favorite cousins, and it is short (only takes about 30 minutes) and sweet (we get some candy, but not too much). sounds pretty good right!!

the "bugs" right before the candy collection begins!
"trick or treat!!"
daphne and the cutest black cat in town posing for a picture.

one halloween event down just a few more to go!!

BAY-LOR, baylor bears fight!

this past weekend we headed down to waco for one of my most favorite weekends of the fall- baylor homecoming!! it was a jam-packed weekend full of fun events, friends, and family.

mark and i were honored to start the weekend, on thursday, with an invitation to a "fancy-shamancy" dinner honoring our dear friend, katie. she received the "young alumnus of the year" award for her and ben's work they are doing in haiti. it was a really beautiful evening complete with incredible decorations, lovely dinner, a video tribute, and award presentation.

the beautifully set tables.

mark, me, katie, and ben

friday we spent the day just hanging out with the herridges (our favorite waco residents). that evening it was time to head to the bonfire. this has become such a fun event for our whole family to attend. in years past, it was just a pep rally and bonfire, but now it is so much more. this year my favorite was the book signing for a new children's book, B is for Baylor. it is a darling book about the traditions of baylor, so of course we had to get one!! :)

there was a cute bear that looked like the bear in the book that jack posed with.

after the the band, cheerleaders, hearing from the coach, and the captains of the team it was time to light the bonfire. it was windy this year so it got really big really fast!!

saturday morning is the parade. my husband would probably like me to mention that it is the "largest collage homecoming parade in the nation." it really is very fun!! we got to see katie again on her float. we also had some other favorites...

bruiser!!
the baylor bear balloon
and jack LOVED the BIG basketball balloon

and my favorite part is getting to watch the kids sit on the front row watching the parade march by and catching all the candy being thrown at them. :)

grant,o, abby, jack, kk

when the parade is over we went to take a closer look at all the floats and then tried to get a few family pictures with the beautiful backdrop of the rose garden and pat neff...

my baylor lovin' bowlin/fifer family

game time!! but first we must tailgate at the greatest BU tailgate ever!! yummy food prepared by this guy...

steve-o and his custom BU grill!!

and the chance to visit with dear friends...

some of my sweet baylor friends- kandy, baby sophie, me, kristy, ashley

it was a rainy afternoon that included a rain delay at the game and some very tired kiddos, so the kids and i headed back to the hotel for a little rest before the rest of the evening's activities. mark, christman, and danny all stayed and cheered on the bears to a homecoming victory!!! yay!! we ended our homecoming this year with pigskin. it is very hard to explain but basically a show with 8 organizations that perform an 8 minute mini-musical. it is so great!! we took the kids this year (minus jack) and they loved it. so did i!

the weekend is over, we are all exhausted, but won't trade all the memories we made for anything. sic em bears!!

olivia's first field trip..

was lots of fun! now that she is in pre-k she gets to go on field trips, and the first one was to owen's farm. during the month of october the farm adds a pumpkin patch and becomes the perfect fall field trip because what preschooler is not learning the letter "P" and talkin' about pumpkins!! i was fortunate to get to go on the field trip with her class and even got to drive she and a few of her little friends. it was so funny to hear them giggle and talk on the trip to and from the pumpkin patch. when we arrived at the farm the kids all lined up and waited for instructions about what we were going to do...

then it was off to feed the hungry goats...

after that we went on a really fun hay ride around the farm to see some different animals...

olivia got to sit by one of her teachers, ms. clark...

the kids loved throwing the hay up in the air and creating a "hay shower"...

time for our picnic lunch...

olivia with her friend linley

then more animals. olivia loved seeing the horses...

ms.bosch, o's other teacher, o, and grayson after looking at the horse.

off to the pumpkin patch, no wait!! the whole class did the maze first...

now on to picking the perfect pumpkin...

sara beth and o pose with their perfect pumpkins!! :)

whew!! what a day! so much fun. i am grateful to have had the chance to spend time with olivia and all the friends in her class playing on the farm and in the pumpkin patch.

adios cancun...

we had such an incredible time!! hope to see you again soon!

my parents were super generous and took the whole fam (our little family of four, sean, and of course nana and gramps) to a fab all-inclusive family friendly resort for 5 days. it was so much fun!!

our wonderful hotel...

it was the perfect size, had wonderful food, super service, and lots of little "extras" that made it perfect for families.

we loved...

the hotel robes, that came in adult and kid sizes!!

jack really loved his robe. he wore it everyday and got this big grin on his face each time he put it on. :)

having breakfast delivered to our room.

bubble baths in the BIG tub!

playing on the beach...

and at the pool.

getting all dressed up for dinner.

and being together with family.
thank you mom and dad for a memorable and perfect vacation. i love that i have so many happy memories from family vacations growing up and now we are making more memories together as our family grows and changes. what a special gift. y'all are the best!!

where are we going next? we are ready whenever you are. :)