More Birthday and Halloween Festivities

We had more fun this week celebrating Landon’s birthday. Early in the week, we went to Hallowe’en at Greenfield Village with Derek, Janel, and their family. Always a (trick or) treat!

These guys were cute. Noticing Landon dressed in camouflage,  they said, "That's a great costume! What are you, a ghost? All we can see is your head."

Singing Jack O'Lanterns, a new feature this year. 

Eliza watching joke-telling pirates. "How much do pirate earrings cost? A buck an ear!" 

We ended the night in Sleepy Hollow, . . .

where we found the infamous Headless Horseman.

Ichabod Crane mugs for the camera.

Another boo-rific Halloween at Greenfield Village!

We put together a “big boy” LEGO set he received for his birthday. It took three sessions over three days to build Lightning, Mack, and Mack’s trailer. Landon was very patient with his dad while Dad insisted on following the directions.

Landon has learned how to draw faces and squares in addition to circles. 

The green squiggle inside the face is the brain.

He showed off his knowledge as we carved a Jack O’ Lantern.

I love looking at his hands.

That look of intense concentration

Steady. Steady!

With the finished product: A Landon original. 

After pumpkin carving, it was time to make scary shadows!

Fall colors have really started showing in Detroit, and we missed the snow! We feel bad for all of you in the mountains and back east. We’ll have our turn soon enough, but until then we will take our crisp clear autumn days.

Landon received a Hot Wheels motorcycle race track from Sara and Chase for his birthday. Thanks!

We spent a very busy and enjoyable Saturday with our friends Sean and Jen, their kids Katelyn and Bryan, and their family as they went to the temple to be sealed together as an eternal family. We are so happy for them!

Mike was up and on the go from the early morning to the night time. He never got a chance to change out of his suit until the evening! From the temple, we trekked back home to pick up the kids and take them to Fishbones in St. Clair Shores to continue the celebration before we headed down to the church for our branch’s Halloween party. Lots of kids attended, and games, food, and treats were enjoyed by all.

Today (Sunday), the children aged 12 and under participated in our branch’s annual Primary program. Landon and the other kids had been preparing to share music and words on the theme “I Know the Scriptures are True.” Landon, Katelyn, and Bryan sang “I Love to See the Temple,” in part because all three of them have or will have special temple experiences this year.

Eliza continues to amuse and amaze. She is generally quite social, and she enjoys making flirty smiles at everyone. She had a hard time last night. It could have been all of yesterday’s excitement, or it could have been that her first tooth broke through (yay!). Mike was feeding her at church, and he felt it then. It’s barely poking through, so we’ll try to get a picture whenever she lets us close enough.