Trick or Treat!!

We couldn't wait to take our little "Ming-Ming" trick or treating on our street!

But, she wanted to do a little swinging first...

Her first door, our sweet next door neighbor, Connie. She was excited to go up to the door by herself, until someone answered and then she ran to be held.

At the next house, we ran into our good friend Cora the Gnome!

Headed down the street to Pop's house.

Oh! Thank you!

While at Pop's, she had to go in and say hi to Dave the Bear.

More candy!

Our next to last stop was our friend, Knox's house. He let us come in and play for a few minutes. Isn't he the cutest spider EVER!?

Then we headed home. "Hey! This door looks familiar!"

"WRIGLEY!!!! There you are!"

"Ooooh! Is this candy for me?"

Happy Halloween!

Trunk or Treat!

Friday night was the big "Balkman Halloween Bash". They are the most precious family that we are blessed to know from Eisenhower. Every year they invite friends to come to their big party. The evening starts with "trunk or treat" and then everyone moves to the house for a band, dancing and food. They are so kind to host this event every year and we have been looking forward to it since last year! Here are Molly the donut and Olive the Wonder Pet ready to Trunk or Treat!

Molly was so helpful to carry Olive's bucket for her! She is such a sweet friend! She would even make sure they put candy in Olive's bucket first. Thanks Molly for your help!

"I think I can handle it for awhile!"

Daddy and Adrian holding down the trunk and passing out candy. Apparently, they were giving instructions to all of the kids to "eat 5 pixie sticks all at once right before bed time."

All of the sudden...Baby Grady was missing!! I didn't get any pictures of his face :(

I love this picture of Molly! She dropped her bucket...OOPS!

Sweet friends!

Thank you Balkmans for hosting such an awesome event! Can't wait until next year!

Jack-O-Olive

Olive won a pumpkin last night at the Fall Festival and we decided it was the perfect carving pumpkin! We got all of the supplies out on the dining room table. This was Mommy and Olive's first pumpkin carving experience!! I wanted to just let her sit in her little booster seat, but she insisted on having the tray on too. Here she is patting her pumpkin.

Checking out the "guts"...eeww, yuck!

"Be careful, Mommy"

Trying to sneak a little taste.

"Yeah! Mommy, you are doing it!"

The finished product!
I stole the idea for doing her name from a friend's facebook page.

Proudly displaying it on the porch!

Fall Festival

Tonight was the Fall Festival at church and it was Olive's first time to wear her costume! I was a little nervous she wouldn't leave the head on, but she LOVED it!

Here she is...Ming-Ming Duckling! (From the Wonder Pets)
Winner of "Best Costume" in her age group!

Walking in with Daddy! This was Daddy's first big outing since his surgery, we were so glad he felt up to coming. It wouldn't have been the same without him!

Dano, Honey and Gigi came down for the festival too! Look how excited they are about the bounce house!

Going in...

Watching the giant bubbles with Dano

I love you Gigi!

Thanks for coming Dano and Honey

Family pic with our sweet little Ming-Ming Duckling

Get Well Cookies

Stephen had shoulder surgery on Wednesday and is still recovering. He is doing great and we are so grateful the surgery went well! Olive and I (well, I) decided to make his favorite cookies for him in an effort to make him feel a little better. And, I know everybody else makes homemade cookies, but here at the Link house...we rely on Pillsbury! 3 ingredients and you're done!

"Okay Mom, it says the butter needs to be softened."

Adding the box mix.

Ooey Gooey Eggs

The mixer was a little loud, so she opted for the "being held by Mom" view.
*Side note, I have a really nice stand mixer, but somehow I did something to it and it won't mix anymore,
so we used the handy dandy hand mixer.*

"Can I taste the batter, please?"
She got so mad at me when I wouldn't let her.

Waiting...waiting...waiting...

"Daddy! We made you cookies to help your arm feel better! "

Giving Daddy some love. I love how she is touching his face! Clearly he is loving it!

All done! Turn off the oven.

Then she had to sample one. She couldn't take her eyes off the Sooner game,
but really enjoyed the cookie!

We love you Daddy! We hope that your shoulder gets better soon!