Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Ya'll!

 

 

To Matt and I (and Ernie and Lulu), October through December are by far the best months out of the year. Doesn't everyone else feel this way? If not, they should. Halloween kicks off the start of the next two months that include decorating your house, Thanksgiving, turkey, Christmas, New Years, eating candy and other meals/food in excess, seasonal music (like Monster Mash and Jingle Bells), shopping, and the list goes on and on.

 

How could you not think these are the best months?

 

Matt and I have always felt like this way and, throughout the years, the feelings have just grown stronger. For your viewing pleasure, I have compiled pictures of Matt and I since we started dating of all of our Halloweens together. Enjoy!

 

2009:

 

We didn't live together yet, so we didn't have Ernie and Lulu (Lulu wasn't even born!). We carved pumpkins and went to the Boo Bash.

 

Matt is so proud of our pumpkin.

 

 

The only time we ever dressed up together.

I mean, how could you ever top this?

 

 

2010:

 

Our first year living together. We had also just adopted Ernie (March) and Lulu (June). We decided to make pumpkin seeds -- something neither of us had ever done before (and is now a tradition) -- and wrote our names on the top of the pumpkin (another tradition). Ernie, apparently, was no where to be found.

 

 

Holy blonde hair!

 

 

Sweet, curious Lulu

 

 

 

This picture brings back memories of our first home together. My, how time flies....

 

 

2011:

 

Our first year living in Madison. Still an apartment. But this year, we were engaged and Ernie was in some of the pictures!

 

 

Curious Lulu

 

Ernie, near the food, as always.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2012:

 

Our first Halloween in our new home -- the one we officially OWNED! Also the first year I attempted to put Lulu in a pumpkin. I failed epically. But I tried. We also decided to carve two pumpkins that year -  not really sure why....

 

 

Look how long my hair is!

 

 

Ernie is curious, too!

 

 

Lulu hates me in this picture.

 

 

 

 

 



 

2013:

 

 

This year! Well, this year we decided to do a couple new things. For starters, we tried another pumpkin patch and bought a 33 pound pumpkin! I also dressed up E&L as Eeyore and Tiger, that match their personalities perfectly. We watched the entire Halloween series and I made some yummy, yummy pumpkin bread.

 

 

Yum! (put Apple butter from Edwards on top of pumpkin bread for a super delicious treat!)

 

Curious Lulu

 

Not curious Ernie. He was upstairs.

 

 

 

From our sidewalk.

 

 

 

Poor little Ernie.

 

Grumpy Lulu.

 

Yep, I've passed the line.... Officially a CCL (crazy cat lady)

 

Comparing our first year to this year:

 

('09)

 ('13)

 

Tonight, Matt and I are watching Halloween (another tradition on Halloween night), sitting in front of the fire, and drinking our Witches Brew wine (a wedding gift from Courtney).

 



 

Our First Halloween as Ghost and Ghoul (husband and wife)



 

Like I said -- in my earlier post -- we bought a huge pumpkin for a special reason. After reading this Courtney texted me and said, "You better not be planning some Halloween/pumpkin pregnancy announcement without telling me first" And, to that, all I have to say is:

 

I'm not pregnant.

 

Sorry to those who got their hopes up...

 

Come on, ya'll!

Its all about E&L for now.

 

Our little Eeyore and Tiger:

 

 

We bought a 33 pound pumpkin so I could successfully do this:

(and Lulu was a champ!)

 

We've all seen babies in a pumpkin, but who has seen a cat in a pumpkin?!?!



 

We hope you all enjoyed Halloween!!

 

Lulu sure did............

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BRING ON THE HOLIDAYS!

54 days until.....

 

www.xmasclock.com

Children of the Corn

Last Saturday, Matt and I -- along with his parents and sister's fam -- went on our fourth annual trip to Richardson's Farm in Spring Grove, Illinois.

The World's Largest Corn Maze!

We left early in the day so we could stop at Schuster's Pumpkin Patch in Deerfield to find a pumpkin. Originally we were planning on going to the Pumpkin Patch in Poplar Grove (like every year), but we decided to give something a little more local a chance. We were unimpressed and will be going back to the Pumpkin Patch in Poplar Grove next year. Shame on us.

On a positive note: we found an amazingly epic pumpkin. Last year we bought two medium sized pumpkins, but this year, we knew we wanted a super big one (our "secret" plan will be revealed in the next post). And a super big one is exactly what we found.

33 pounds to be exact.

After we left Schuster's, we continued down highway 12 towards Spring Grove, Illinois. We had a slight detour trying to find a Starbucks somewhere near Lake Geneva and finally arrived at the corn maze around 4pm. Matt's Mom and Dad had already checked in and were waiting at the campsite.

Our campsite was awesome. It was in the far back corner and covered with trees (which really paid off when it started to rain) No rain on us!

Brrrr! It's cold outside!

We settled for McDonalds coffee when we couldn't find Starbucks. :-(

Holli, Matt (our brother in law), and Zander arrived shortly after and we started to roast some hotdogs and brats. Yum!!!!

Zander's adorable little chair.

Matt and I had our attempt at imitating "American Gothic" but failed because I stood on the wrong side.

American Gothic but with the Fennels and Cheddar Filled Brats.

We're from Wisconsin ya'll.

 Luckily, we took this picture last year.

After we ate our dinner, we roasted some marshmallows and made some S'mores.

Tom's way of roasting marshmallows is placing them in fire, letting them catch on fire, then blowing the fire out.

I'm very impatient, too.

Matt makes them perfectly.

Matt also builds quite the fire.

Perfect S'mores

After we ate, we bundled up (more than we already were), pulled out the flash lights, grabbed our maps and headed for the corn maze.

Nice Photo Bomb, Lori!

Just like the past three years, Matt was on a mission to find his way through the corn maze. In 2010, 2011, and 2012, Matt would navigate through the pitch dark and freezing cold and find his way with the map with his Dad and me lollygagging behind. Typically, Tom and I would be absolutely zero help with navigating and, instead, we'd act like children by scaring each other, hiding in the corn, and jumping out in front of each other. This year wasn't any different. 

Scary Maze

Pretending to help Matt and being goofy.

Unlike the other years, we didn't finish the entire four mazes. We settled on three. But the four maze, 33 acre long walk that lasts until midnight isn't what its all about. Spending time with family, laughing, and having a great time is what is. The first year (2010) I remember Matt walking several feet in front of me -- like I said -- on a mission and determined to find his way through. If it wasn't for Tom talking to me and acting like a total hoot, I would have been grumpy, cold, and annoyed. Year after year, Tom continued to make me laugh hysterically while we walked aimlessly through the corn field and creating hundreds of memories.

These are the moments that we remember how truly blessed we are.

And these are the moments we will never forget.

Best Buds.

 Until next year and the next corn maze.....