Halloween fun!!

We made sure to make the most of our Halloween weekend: a party at Sutton's office, a party at the American Corner, an adult Halloween party at Sutton's boss's house and then a kid's party at our house--what a great time.

At the American Corner we had games, treats, stories, and made skeletons.  It was fun to see the Banja Luka kids even dress up.   Later that evening we went to a party at the Gallagher's. Dad, as a Banja Luka Beach Bum, was the hit of the evening.  Great memories!

 

 

Rosey the Riveter and the Beach Bum dance.

Nothing gets by by me these days

Yes those are Foster's shoes in the toilet a nice middle of the night surprise for me.  I couldn't understand what had happened, Foster wouldn't do this.  Then I remembered the conversation John and I had in the evening, about how Foster's shoes were so dirty and needed to be cleaned.  I guess a certain two year old took it upon himself to clean his brother's shoes.  Yes, nothing gets by Kai these days. A little walking talking boy who has lots to say and his own way of offering to help.  He also decided the other day that he needed to call a taxi, a very useful skill.

Pumpkin Carving

We weren't sure if we were going to fin good jack-o-lantern pumpkins for Halloween--the stores only carried the tiny little ones, but never fear.  Vera went to the market and back she came with "the great pumpkin" weighing in at around 10 pounds and two smaller ones at about 5 pounds each and so John and Grandpa got a work out cutting into these thick pumpkins while the boys watched and Foster searched the internet for scary ideas. And it was extra special this year with Grandma and Grandpa and reminder of Foster's first pumpkin carving 5 years ago.

And some videos:

Happy Machine

Fall is also known as rakija-making season in this part of the world.  People head out to the villages and take advantage of all of the ripe fruit to make home-made brandies.  My dad and I were lucky enough to get invited to a small village outside Derventa where we saw how rakija was made in old-fashioned "happy machines" and got to try all of the rakijas too.  It was a perfect day to get out of the city.