Today was our yearly pumpkin carving party, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. It was the epitome of a fall day, a cool breeze and the sun shining brightly upon us all. As you can see above, we were carving quite a few new pumpkins, each of getting to work right away on different ideas and styles.
We set the table on the back deck as always, setting up the implements as always so that it had the appearance of some surgeon's table.
And then it was time to operate! Our guests started arriving one by one, and this is really what it's all about!
We were so glad to see Mary Shannon with us, and of course Camille wouldn't miss this event. Even though she's allergic to pumpkins, she puts on these plastic gloves and gets busy sculpting away. You'll see her end-product soon enough - it was masterful!
Josie and Isaac are getting married in a week, and in fact we moved this carving party up a week so everyone could also go to their wedding.
Here are some of our early guests already getting busy with their pumpkins.
And Maddie is apparently giving some piano lessons a little early on.
Mom photobombs a picture of Joe and Amanda.
Daniel tried the approach of carving through the paper image that was actually saran-wrapped to the pumpkin. It actually worked!
Here's Daniel and his wife Sherrin this afternoon - a beautiful day outside!
Camille is attacking that pumpkin! When questioned about her carving selection, she said she'd take a stab at it.
Joe and Amanda with their family on our front porch for a nice fall picture.
Jaycee is getting to work on her pumpkin design, which is taking a little time, but it'll be worth it when done!
Josie and Isaac seated with some others at the kitchen table beforehand, talking and munching on some of our cookies and cupcakes.
This is actually her first time carving a pumpkin. I spent some time giving tips and so forth - she did a great job in the end!
The cupcakes were nice, something Mom made up last night for today's party.
Daniel's finished product turned out well, despite his fears along the way. it was a complicated creation with a lot of detail, but he finished it well!
Camille continues her carving, and in fact was the last one to finish. However, it turned out the best in the end. I really liked her design idea!
Hannah had one of those melon pumpkins, which smells so different than the others and in fact has a different outside and inside. I did one of these pumpkins a few years ago, and like this one, it turned out really well!
Joe and Amanda, minus that certain photobomber!
I need to run around in the front yard too sometimes. It was great to have everyone over. We had a fantastic time just talking and sharing and hanging out. And eating too. Mom had her famous chili, and Diana brought a buffalo dip, and there were chips and all kinds of sweets too. The weather was perfect outside, and the day was just marvelous. But the sun was setting, and soon it was time to put those pumpkins on display!
You can see Daniel's to the left, the Cruella DeVil one that turned out fantastic. Next is Camille's pumpkin, a small fairy house that has a lot of detail to it. Darrin did one turned sideways, and to the right on this picture you'll see Maddie's pumpkin. Of course she chose a blob fish!
To the left is a design that Nana did. I had her go out there with me and I got her to draw a face on the pumpkin, despite her telling me that she didn't really do that sort of thing. Nevertheless, she relented, and I then carved that face she drew out which you can see above. It turned out well!
To the right is Kroki, the crocodile that appears in the Loki mini-series. That's my pumpkin there. I just got an alligator design and put a Loki hat on top of it. It's a simple idea, simple to draw and simple to cut out, although you have to be careful with the lengthy holes.
Here are a few more in a wider shot, with Diana's pumpkin, and at the bottom you can see Isaac's and Josie's pumpkins.
As mentioned earlier, they're getting married in a week, so these pumpkins are perfect for celebrating!
Here's our neighbor Dawn's pumpkin. She carved this one out with her daughter, Camille. It turned out really well! The next several pictures are close-ups or group shots of our pumpkins at various times. We didn't get them all up there at the same time, as there were various comings and goings, but you can see they all turned out really well!
Darrin brought marshmallows, and we just sat around the fire together, relaxing and talking and laughing. It was very pleasant.
It was nice to see it being used, and such a great day to do that too. I'm proud of Mom for all the work she put into setting this up. At the beginning of the summer, this was one of her goals.
It was an nice day together, and the pumpkins turned out really well. But even better than that were the wonderful memories made. It was a special day.
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