a little bit of our halloween so far this week.

With all the moving around we have done in the past 20 years of my life I have always managed to make great friends...the best. There are the ones that will be there for you when you need a favor, the ones that will immediately text you back the minute you press "send", the ones that will answer their door, invite you in unexpectedly thinking you're only going to say hi, but end up visiting for hours, and the one who was your child's kindergarten teacher three years ago who has now become a part of your family.

That's Maryann.

We love this woman so dang much. She is a gem in every aspect of the world! She seriously is like an aunt to all of my kids. Not only does she spoil them with hugs, and gifts...she is there for me when I need someone to talk to. She truly is like a sister to me, and if I had the room would have her move in with us in a heartbeat. 

She has too much fun with Chelsea. She constantly takes her out to the movie theater, shows, and eats at her favorite restaurant Friendly's afterwards. I swear I think Chelsea has seen more movies than anyone in our entire family! She'll even come over on a random evening bearing gifts for Chelsea & Noah.

Last week she bought Chelsea this cute little hat. It is the cutest thing in the world. When you squeeze the pink pompoms on each side the ears on top pop up! Made everyone laugh.

Last night we had our family home evening, & it went a little bit like this...

We had Maryann over for dinner, and Jon made us some yummy chicken caesar salad (sorry no pictures.) We then gathered around and made caramel popcorn balls, and was amazed at this awesome stainless steel top popper that we used to pop the kernels.

We make these every year, and it is always nice to have had Maryanne over to experience one of our family fall traditions. We made two batches...one for us, and one for our trunk or treat which is being held at our church tonight.

We also had someone "boo" us while we were making them. It had been two years since our last "boo" and we are always happy to pass it on!

It is so much fun having Maryann around, and I'm so grateful to have her in my life, and in the lives of our children. Living aways from immediate family is hard sometimes...especially when both grandmothers are literally across the country.

So...this is just a little bit of our pre-Halloween fun that we are having so far this week.

**Hope it is the same for you wherever you are!