Halloween festivities.

This year we also went to kid fest at George Washington University on Saturday. Then on Halloween Alyssa had her school party and costume parade, then that evening our ward had a trunk or treat.

Nate and Catharine let us tag along to the kid fest at George Washington that was being put on for the students families.
Alyssa with the George Washington Hippo. Everyone thought she planned her outfit to show some school pride so she was getting all kinds of attention from the students that were running it.

They had a bunch of fun stations set up for the kids to play games, make crafts and face painting.

Alyssa and claire decorating their cookies.

Then they would call a group to go out and trick or treat through the student dorms. it was a lot fun and we are glad we got to come along.

Alyssa had school on Halloween and so of course they were going to celebrate. They did a party during class and had lunch served to them. After lunch we got them in their costumes and took them outside to have their costume parade for all of us parents that think (know) that our kids are the cutest ones in their costumes!
Alyssa with her class. it is apparently not easy to get them to all look at the same time.

Lunch time.

Time to go out for the Parade!

Alyssa thought she was some kind of celebrity out there and loved every minute of it!


Last but not least... The ward Trunk or Treat. It was a lot of fun. They had a soup/chili dinner and then the kids go out to the parking lot and do a much faster version of trick or treating.
Ryan had to go to class that night so he didn't get to come with us but I think he had plenty of Halloween fun for the year!

Alyssa with her friends.

We certainly had our share of Halloween festivities and by the end of the night I was defiantly ready to say goodbye to Halloween for another year!

Baby Shower!

My friends threw me a baby shower at the Olive Garden last week. It was so much fun to have a girls night out. Especially when all you can eat salad and bread sticks are involved!!


I decided that I just wanted to have a smaller shower with my close friends since it was my second baby. I got a lot of boy clothes and blankets which was exactly what I was in need of. Now I am ready to get out all of the baby stuff and start preparing for him to arrive.

Boo at the Zoo!!

Alyssa's favorite animal is the Hippo, so we can't say we were too surprised when she insisted on being one for Halloween this year. when someone asked her at dance if she was going to be a ballerina for Halloween, she told them she was going to be a hippo ballerina which is what she ended up being this year.

We kicked off our Halloween festivities with Boo at the zoo this year. Unfortunately we picked the only day that it was raining. We still had a lot of fun though, and Alyssa was just happy to go see all of the animals, especially the Hippos!!


They have a wedding for a dead couple all set up and the kids think it is funny to go sit on the benches and watch like they are a part of the wedding.

Alyssa with the wedding backdrop behind her.

Alyssa the "hippo Ballerina" and Claire as "Nemo"

Alyssa making her Hippo face in front of the smaller pigmy Hippo.

Alyssa was so excited when she saw that the big hippo was out of the water walking around.

Ryan and Alyssa walking to the next treat spot in the pouring rain!

Afterwards, we headed into Shirlington for dinner with Nate and Catharine, and warmed up with some Chili and Hot chocolate.

Alyssa's 3rd Birthday!!

We Celebrated Alyssa's 3rd birthday!! It is so hard to believe that the time has gone by so fast. Her Birthday fell on Friday this year so we decorated the whole house for her to see when she woke up. She was so excited to see all the balloons and streamers everywhere. We went out to the park to play during the day and then when she got up from her nap Ryan came home and we got to Call grandma and grandpa Gillan on the computer to watch open presents with us. We had cake and then later that night we called Grandma and Grandpa Pett because they were both working till later in the day and Alyssa opened their gifts with them on the web cam.

On Saturday we celebrated her birthday with her friends at chuck E cheese, She really wanted to go there, so she could go on all of the rides, and eat pizza. We had a lot of fun, even though I would never recommend going to chuck e cheese on a Saturday afternoon!

Alyssa just after she woke up on her birthday. She was so excited when she saw all of the different balloons everywhere.
Alyssa opening up presents from mom and dad.

She didn't waste any time breaking in her new stuff.

Alyssa was so excited about her cake because it was a pink cake and had pretty sprinkles all over it. I couldn't decide on a picture with the cake because they were all too cute! She had to squint her eyes because the candle was too bright.
After cake she got to open up more presents from Grandma and grandpa Pett.
She was so excited about the present and wore her sticker earings everyday!


Here are some pictures of her party the next day at Chucke Cheese.

Alyssa with her BFF's Claire and Emma.

After the kids played for a while we rounded them up for food and cake.
All the kids. On the top: Emma, Alyssa and Max
On the Bottom: Bentley, Kenny and Claire.

The Adults.

Alyssa was so excited that she got to open more presents all over again.
It was a great Birthday and we can't believe our baby is already 3. We love her So Much!!

Pumpkin patch field trip

My Favorite time of the year is the Fall! I love the change of the season, the smells of candles burning, the excitement of the Holiday's right around the corner, pretty much everything that has to do with it. I was really excited to kick off the season with a trip to the Burke pumpkin patch with Alyssa's Preschool.

Here is Alyssa with her class.

She loved all the rides and toys they had to play on.


The carpet slides were by far her favorite. She went down it over and over again while we were there.
At the end of the day we got to pick out a pumpkin to take home with us.