All Hallows Eve

I think I've said this in the past, but I LOVE the east coast in the fall. And I also love the fall traditions we have developed in our short time of being married. Halloween has been really fun with the decorations we have, the books we've tried to read together (Edgar Allen Poe Short Stories, Ray Bradbury's The Halloween Tree and other short stories, etc.) and a tradition I am trying to continue from my family, which is making homemade doughnuts for Halloween night. Below is a little recap of what went down in preparation for and ON Halloween night. 

We got our little guy two Halloween costumes which he LOVED wearing. 

I got Esqueleto, as Kyle called him, right before we came out to D.C. Just a simple little foam cut out but he 'was' my favorite decoration... that is before our wonderful cat started playing with him, pulled him down and ripped him up. Very respectfully and ironically, we said R.I.P. to Esqueleto. 

A year ago, Kyle found creative ways to hide Esqueleto, including the shower early in the morning, which did not go over well. This was one of his less frightening attempts. 

The start of the changing of the leaves. 

I watched Kyle play soccer for the first time this fall. He killed it in this game and if it's even possible, became even more attractive to me. 

Kyle started the tradition of changing up our sugar/flour bowls and I do not complain.

With fall comes the apple picking and all the ways that we try to use them up including, apple muffins one time.....

.....and a yummy apple stuffing with pork followed by.....

.....miniature salted caramel apple pies that I LOVED. It's been fun finding new recipes each year. 

We cheered on the San Francisco Giants when they played in the World Series and won.

Kyle wore his hat and jersey for every game and I kind of liked it.

We got a free one time shipment of petbox for Booskie (new nickname) full of

toys and treats only to find he'd much rather have the box. Good to know.

Boo sometimes likes to hang out with us at our level. Kyle was cooking dinner and he just sort of....sat there, content. He's a great little guy to have around. 

I love Sunday afternoon naps with these guys. 

While landlady Martina was gone for four months traveling the country, we had a cute family who lived above us with two little girls: Eliza and Emma. Emma was OBSESSED with Boo (pronounced him Booey) and Eliza helped us carve a pumpkin one night when we got to babysit them. My favorite is Boo's photobomb appearance. 

And now we come to my first attempt at Halloween Doughnuts...as you can see we were off to a great start. 

I probably facetimed my mom a total of 20 times while trying to figure out if I was doing everything right. (and yes, it's supposed to be that big when it's raised...I just had a small bowl). 

After cutting them out, you let them raise for another hour and then.....let the fry fest begin!

By the time I was done cooking them, I think I had figured out the right timing for each side of the doughnut so they had that perfect golden color. 

And then they are frosted with vanilla, chocolate or maple frosting and then sprinkled with candy corn colored sprinkles or tiny pumpkin and bat sprinkles. And although sprinkles don't have any flavor besides added sugar, they just make everything look so much prettier. 

Another tradition we started is painting sugar skulls the next Day, November 1, for Dia De Los Muertos or Day of the Dead. I actually like the idea behind this holiday because they celebrate it in honor of those who have passed on. Boo didn't know what to think of the skulls and different colors of frosting. 

The end result. Last year we made sugar cookie skulls which were fun to decorate, but these added dimension, making them easier to add flowers and swirly decorations. 

And the best moments of Halloween 2015 go to this guy for always making me laugh!