Fall Holiday...

Halloween Festivities.

Wade and I went to Chicago (another entry yet to come...) and we got back to St. Louis the afternoon of Halloween.  We hadn't yet carved our pumpkins so we put off the unpacking and did what needed done.  Pumpkins carved and pumpkin seeds roasted....check.  

This year Riley did hers entirely on her own.  She drew out her design, she gutted, she carved... 

Well, she did get a little help.  JP was very helpful in helping her make a big mess. 

Sampson to the rescue.  God love that dog.  He cleaned up anything he could get to...

 

Costume changes and trick-or-treating...check.

Annual "dressed up" kids picture...not so check.

This is the best I could get...JP was uber cooperative, as you can tell.   

Once again we celebrated the Wilson Christmas early, to ensure all of us could be there.  We took the kids to the Transportation Museum which we was fun for all ages.  The picture I took of the group of kids isn't very good...but I like this one below...love that you can see the boys exploring up ahead of the group. 

This.  This is my favorite picture from the whole darn weekend.  These 2 really got to spend some good bonding time.  The girls usually dominate in these get-togethers so I really loved that everyone had a friend to buddy up with and no one got left out.  These two were like peas and carrots (name that movie...)

Meet my nieces and nephews...

That's Aiden rocking out to the Dora guitar.

Garrett is the elusive picture subject.  He's hard to capture.  He was enthralled with playing here so I did get a sweet picture of him playing.

Kate' and Kelsey opening their Christmas gifts.  Love the excitement on Kate's face!

Miss Violet...the youngest of the group...isn't she just adorable?

Grant. This one might be our performer...he was cracking us up at dinner (video).

This still makes me smile...love how he was so happy to entertain us.

  Love watching the dynamics of different families and the similarities/differences.  For the most part all the kids got along really great.  Sure there were a few disagreements, but all in all, they got along, they respected each other, and they truly enjoyed being together. 

I really have loved watching my brothers turn into fathers and am so happy for the families they've all created.  I know I say this a lot, but I feel so truly blessed!