Who needs a Theme anyway?

I remember Halloween a couple of years ago. Braxton was a baby and Eli was talking about being a Scarecrow for Halloween. We had a warm, cozy Lion costume that Easton loved to wear regularly, so it was decided, The Wizard of Oz it would be. My friend, Julie, had a Dorothy costume she had made years ago, and said I could use it and the little Toto costume for Braxton. Yes, that's Brandon as a Lollipop Kid, he says that's the last time he'll wear tights, but we'll see.

I had planned on dressing Braxton as the Tin Man, but thought Toto would be a good back up. After spraying silver metallic paint on a yellow jumper I had found at some random "Mart" or "-vers" store, and having the paint rub off onto my 5 month-old baby's skin, not to mention the fumes that emanated from the fabric, even after drying for days before the fitting...

Toto was a blessing in disguise (no pun intended).
The picture looks better when you click on it, it didn't scan too well. So much for a theme this year. Everyone had their own ideas and here is what they came up with, just in case you aren't familiar with the characters... Easton "White Ninja" - GI Joe Storm Shadow, he saw a commercial and made the decision. Eli "Hippie" - does that mean he's becoming a pre-teen? I remember it was better to have a cool costume as I got older. Braxton "Black Ninja" - opposite of White Ninja, originally planned to be a Ninja Turtle. I need to remember not to buy costumes weeks before Halloween, more than once my boys have been known to change their minds the day of the event, I guess it's a good one to have for dress up, right? "Witch", I mean Chandy, who said that? I went to a fabulous Witches Tea Party a few weeks before Halloween and had run out of time to paint my face so the boys wanted me to dress up again in the complete costume. I always hesitated to dress as a witch for the fear of looking too true to the part, my blessed pointy nose, at least there's no wart. Brandon or is it "Brandie" a "Worker" as the boys call it (you would never guess that Brandon works in Construction). Braxton actually wanted him to be a "Fat Wrestler" (sumo). Brandon wasn't too sure that would work too well at the Ward Trunk-or-Treat.

Tricks

When we were in Utah in September, Braxton saw his cousin, Boston, riding his 2-wheeler. Boston is a few months younger than Braxton and they have a lot of fun playing at Grandma's house when we visit. Anyway, Braxton decided to try the job out for himself since Boston has the same little bike as him. This was his first go around... Thanks for being on guard Uncle Coby!

Easton showed us his "back flip"... you may notice the Lego Star Wars Jedi-Style nature to it. A few weeks later, when we were home and others had been giving him tips on how to perform an actual back flip, he landed on his head and sure enough the chin went into the chest pretty hard. He was sore for several days and I was worried how the injury could have been so much worse.... Trampolines, ugh!

Eli was determined to Wake Board after a recent boating trip with friends when he declined and regretted the decision afterwards. Too bad Flaming Gorge was beginning to cool back off after its one to two-month warmer temperature in the summer months. You are there, Eli! One more try....?