Saturday, October 31, 2009

Trick or Treat and Truck or Treat at McKinley Presbyterian Church

It's October 30th and while others were at home watching TV or maybe heading over to the Illini game, 75-100 people gathered at McKinley Presbyterian Church for our 2nd annual Trick or Treating at Presby Hall and our 1st ever Halloween dinner and Truck or Treat. It was great.

The Bechtel Family and others gather for a hotdog, veggies, chips, and cookies before Trick or Treating!

The Harrell Family found the perfect spot to enjoy dinner together.
This cheerleader, devil, and ninja got Halloween support from their parents!
The kids enjoyed their time together.
Everyone was so excited when they realized it was almost time for Trick or Treating!
Amara and Barbara went for the overstuffed, fluffy costumes this year- too cute!

ooooh...look at these scary McKinley Kids!

Look at Veronica- she's the beautiful butterfly from The Very Hungry Catepillar-GORGEOUS!



Mara with her spots and me in my bonnett!
Amy and her son, Gabe- get ready for Truck or Treat at McKinley!
So many people participated in our early hotdog dinner and Halloween Fellowship time! What a joy to see everyone together.
Pastor Keith and his Fairy helper give directions to the large group of kids and families on how to navigate through the Residence hall.
Mara shows off her new candy bucket made just for her by Grammy- a fire hydrant!
Eleanor was ready to go in her fairy dress and HUGE candy bag!

Olivia, the bumble bee, enjoyed her first Halloween with mommy. SO great to see so many little ones experiencing Halloween for the first time at McKinley!
Luna, Alaric, and Garrett knock on thier first door!
The Presby residents were amazing and decorated their hallways and doors to add to the fun!
Here come the Trick or Treaters-grandparents and friends joined us for the fun!
Jonathan and KC find the perfect piece from the Presby residents!

Amara and Alaric focus on the task at hand- getting as much candy as possible. You should have seen Amara. By the second or third door, she was a master and took such pride in putting each piece in her bucket
These McKinley Kids couldn't wait to trick or treat at Presby Hall!
Angela and Jess loved participating and handing out goodies!
Look at the Orr Family! Is that Arlin Orr on his first Halloween- no, it's Willie Nelson!
Cody and Callie loved the swimming pool with leaves- look hard enough and you'd find candy and spiders and worms in the leaves too! Trunk or Treat was great for grandkids too!
A few Presby Hall women came down to check out Truck or Treat and fell in LOVE with the cute little dalmation!

Alaric brought his Build A Bear, Lightning Blue, whom he dressed to match!
Jonathan LOVES candy- especially when it comes from a bowl that tries to grab your hand!
Kayden loved all the games- especially the fishing game!
Alaric too- he loved it when he got a fish and got to pick a stuffed animal from the Cain's truck!
Harry Potter, I mean Gabe, shows Alaric how to throw the balls in the bucket and will a prize!

Grammy adds the finishing touches to make their TRUNK the most festive of the night!
Papa mans his station

What a perfect location- INSIDE, plenty of light, lots of room, and tons of fun!
The Firefighter and the Dalmation take in every station, especially Grammy and Papa's!
Cousins Amara, Veronica, and Alaric LOVE Truck or Treat!
Dads and Brothers=fun at McKinley with their kids!
A Big Baby and Bob The Builder- what a pair!
Taylor enjoyed his first McKinley Trick or Treating!
Joshua and Gabe lead games for the kids at everyone's station!

Simple Hoola Hoops please the crowd!

The Fultons!
Elisa enjoyed her first Halloween!


I stripped the kids down while cleanup was going on and got them into their jammies for the ride home. Can't stop little kids who still want to play- they found the leaves and still partied!Once Mara was in her jammies, she and I were twins!
The Fulton Kids were the last little ones in the garage and as we broke down the tables and took down the chairs, Amara found herself, in her jammies, still on the lookout for candy!

What an absolutely wonderful night of fellowship, food, TONS of candy, games, and so much FUN!!! Thanks to Pastor Keith and his team and the Christian Education Committee for planning this event and for everyone who came out to enjoy-it will be even bigger and better next year! Happy Halloween!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Halloween Party at Kairos

Today was the Halloween Party at Alaric's school. They were supposed to go parade and trick or treating on the Square but it's pouring rain.

Here they are this morning getting ready. Mara just wants to be like her brother.

He just got a huge opack of firefighter tools from Grammy and Papa to complete his outfit. I told him he could only choose two today.

Mara. a bit drunk and sick looking plays at school while mommies take pictures.
Firefighter Alaric, Pirate Cole, and Diego Reagan strike a pose.
Class photo- with a few kids missing!
Brayden and his mommy, Kristy
Transformer Alex makes a puzzle
Look at Cole's handmade outfit-"RRRRR"


Sierra was a super cute dinosaur!


Gabby looks adorable as a bee!
Josephine, Reagan, and Alaric hold hands before the go on their parade outside the classroom

Since they couldn't parade outside, they did a fast parade into the santuary of the church for the church employees!

Look at Al!

Class picture with all but one child!

Here's Sophia, the lady bug!
I'm sad they didn't get to parade and trick or treat to the businesses on the Square but the kids were so happy no matter what- what a fun weekend this will be!
!