Halloween Wrap-Up.

I had a few more pictures to share from all of the halloween festivities that went on this past month.

Which leads me to a certain thought.....when I was a little kid, my parents did the whole dress-up, trick-or-treating thing with us like normal. We would hand out candy to other trick-or-treaters, and we would participate in school costume parties. But as we got older, my parents started changing their minds about the whole Halloween idea. Em and I were getting older (well, she was still kinda young) and I they just didn't like the idea of what Halloween represented and it wasn't like we were little kids who didn't have a clue about demons and scary spirits any more.

Truth be told- Halloween is evil. Pure evil. There is nothing redeeming, uplifting or Christ-like about the whole Halloween holiday. As a Christian, and especially as a parent- I have been starting to debate on how to handle Halloween as my kids get older. Should I be OK with them celebrating a day that glorifies demons, witches and ghosts? I'm going to go out on a limb here (and I might lose a few of you reading...) but I believe in all of those evil things. I truly believe that demons exist. Satan has a very strong hold in people's lives, and I believe there is a whole spiritual battle going on around us that we cannot see or understand. Which is why I cling to Christ.

So should I regard Halloween as just a silly, unimportant holiday? Does Satan win a little victory over me every time I allow my kids to participate? It may seem like a small and trivia dilemma ...but my kids are on loan to me from God. He has trusted me with more than just their physical well-being, I am supposed to be raising them to keep their eyes focused on Christ; protecting them from their influences around them. If any of you have thoughts, please feel free to share. I'm still learning about this whole parenting thing- so I struggle for answers all the time!

So changing pace here- look at this adorable picture of Bella and her best friend from school Avery. I'm sorry it's all blurry and out of focus, but I snapped it so quickly to capture this cute little look and exchange between the two of them! Such cute little friends!!

Avery and her family came over to have dinner with us and to take all the kids trick or treating. Avery and Bella are just a few months apart in age, and Avery's little brother is just a few weeks younger than Ty! It's like our mirror family!

Speaking of friends, this isn't from Halloween, but I just had to include this picture of Ty and his girlfriend Allie. Looks like someone might finally be warming up to Tyler! :-).....

And here are Bella and Avery getting ready to go out and collect some candy!

A few weeks ago we spent a long weekend in San Diego, and the kids dressed up and went trick-or-treating at Legoland. Grandma and Papa loved every minute of it :-)

That's it for now- more to come later.

Happy Monday!