Epic Halloween

I don't know about you guys, but Halloween has been not just a day, but an ENTIRE WEEK! It started with the Young Families Party last Friday night, Fall Festival Sunday night, School costume skate night on Monday, trick-or-treating in my small football-rules-over-everything town on Thursday night, Luke trick-or-treating with his class in town during the day today, followed by a class party, followed by trick-or-treating at Nana's work, followed by a visit to Todd's office. Phew. I'm exhausted! I don't know why, but Blogger is no longer posting my pics in the order I upload them, which makes me mad, but here's a few pics (out of sequence):

Luke at his class party today. That's one of his buddies behind him, and yes, that's Payt to the right. He decided to be in Kindergarten for the day.

Luke & Payt in the costumes Nana bought them to play in at her house. This is in front of Nana's work.

Thursday night we invited some friends over to go trick-or-treating with us in our neighborhood. Pictured are Cameran on the far left, Hope, Luke, Whit, Coulson, and Reese. This was when we returned home at the end of the night.

This is what our group looked like Thursday night... always running. All of them. Fast. I never did get any really good pics of them at people's houses because they moved too fast!

A sweet group of trick-or-treaters!

I have to say that we broke records this year with the amount of candy my kids acquired. It's sick. Literally... looking at all that candy makes me a little sick to my stomach. So, if you need a little pick-me-up, let me know and I'll be happy to pass along a sugar high! I love Halloween, but now I'm ready for Thanksgiving! I love, love the Fall!

Fall Festival 2008

Another year, another great Fall Festival at church! Last night Alameda had their annual Fall Festival complete with food, games and trunk-or-treating. The kids had a blast! They got to dress up in their costumes, which was hysterical! Luke went as his Uncle Buzz (a soldier), and Payt went as Jack Cross. Hilarious! Just a little background on the Jack costume. Many of you know that my Dad and Jack taught JROTC together at a local high school for many years- in fact, that is why we moved to OK. Jack is a retired Air Force pilot. He is the one who introduced my family to Alameda, and needless to say, he is a close family friend. So much so that my kids call Jack "Gramps" too. And just to be clear, Jack knew Payt was dressing as him for Halloween- all in good fun! Anyway- here are a couple pics from the night:

Luke, Hope, and Lydia.

Payt and Biker Gramps.

Payt and Kasey.

Too cool Luke.

Payt giving his best Jack Cross imitation.

Happenin' Halloween Party

Tonight was our newly formed Young Families Bible Class' first social function. Thanks to Darin and Jenny L., it was a blast! The highlight (aside from the fun costumes and good food... and oh yeah, no kids!) was definitley the scavenger hunt that took us all over town- including the cemetary! I was dressed as Midori from Guitar Hero and Todd came as Slash. We won the "Coolest Costume" award (thanks, guys!). Fun times, I'm already looking forward to the next class party!

Ladies and Gentlemen, your church office staff (some of us).

Disco Cool Darin and Amy

Michelle and Palin. I mean Heather.

Jamie and Susan...the "Best Overall Costume" award winners.

Brian, Jenny, Me, Todd, Mitzi & Rusty.

I Heart Blurb

A couple weeks ago I was enticed to make a Blurb book after I saw Steve's book he made of his trip to Alaska with my nephews. I am forever behind on my children's scrapbooks, so I decided to do a trial run and make a book of Payt's second year (since I had only gotten to his first birthday in his scrapbook). I LOVE the way it turned out! Here are a few pictures of the final result:

The cover

The back cover

Sooners for Christ Alumni Reunion

This weekend was the first annual Sooners for Christ alumni weekend... and it was fun! Cary M., Ryan F., and myself planned the intergenerational weekend that started Friday night with a dinner, entertainment (thanks, Kevin!), and lots of catching up. Saturday we arrived at the good 'ole Outreach Center bright and early to get ready for a tailgate party, then there was lots of eating, watching football, an awesome devo (great job, Cary), and more talking. It was so much fun to see everyone again!

The Outreach Center was my home-away-from home in college (even though my family lived nearby). I practically lived there and I made the best friends of my life there. So many things in my life have happened as a result of my being there and I wouldn't change it for the world! Oh the stories I could tell...

Thanks to everyone who made the trek, and for those of you who couldn't... start planning now- homecoming weekend next year... this is our new annual event!

Off the Charts!

Last night was our first Kindergarten Parent/Teacher conference. I wasn't sure what I expected to hear. I know he's a smart kid, but I was a little worried because Luke can be pretty shy and doesn't like to talk to adults much. To my surprise, his teacher said he talks to her all the time, and is doing very well in class. In fact, he tested off the charts for phonological awareness and is now in an advanced literacy group with just four other kids. They will be working on much harder words and long vowels, etc. She also tested him on the 1st Grade reading list and he could read almost every single word, so she said she would like to test him on the 2nd Grade list now. I'm so proud!!! He likes to participate in class and has a lot of self confidence. We still need to work on making the handwriting a little less shaky, but he's doing great- writing sentences and everything! Fun times (for us, anyway)!

I Wish I Were OCD...

Because then my house might be clean all the time. Or at least half the time. Why can't I ever keep up? And then, once I've let it go, what's the point in cleaning now? Sigh.

*Editor's note: I know that my title technically reads, "I Wish I Were Obsessive Compulsive Disorder," which clearly doesn't make sense, but the title, "I Wish I Were OC" just didn't sound right. What's a person to do?

More RFC Pics

Blogger stinks sometimes. I couldn't put all these pics in one post, so read the second post on the page, then come back to this! :)

Kyle, Jennifer, Coulson, and Kathryn at the starting line.
The Evans clan (most of them, anyway). Thanks for letting us have a Team Evans every year. We love you guys.
The happy family... and Brian trying to flee the scene.
Two crazy boys and their daddy.
Chasity, Brennen, Abby, and Marcus after the long walk.

Thanks everyone!

Race for the Cure 2008

This morning was the annual RFC and we had a wonderful tunout again! Team Evans was out in full force and we had a great time together. So, maybe getting up at 5 am wasn't exactly fun, but it was completely worth it. The RFC is such a great reminder that breast cancer affects so many people. It is a great time of fellowship and hope renewed.

So, I know some of you were wondering if I was going to walk after my foot injury. Well, I didn't know until I got there that I would even attempt the 5K... but I did. And I finished! Thanks, Jenny, for letting me use Abram's stroller as a walker! ;)

Here's Luke with his good buddy, Cooper, and Payt.
Payt & Wyatt. So Cute!
The Carpenter clan. Notice the extremely cute hair bows the girls are wearing! You want one, don't you? I know you do. Write me... I'll make it happen. "Bows by Jennifer" rock!
Awwww. Aren't we... tired? Okay, so Jennifer & Jenny (and Reese, too) look great. But I look like it's still 5 am in this picture. Oh well.
Our good friends, Rusty & Mitzi.