All Saints Day Party

This past Sunday, we all loaded up into "Big Blue" to attend an All Saints Day party at the Church of St. Paul in Ham Lake, MN.  This is the church we are hoping to move closer to as we are also part of the home school co-op and Family Formation program there.  This was our first year attending the party, and we didn't know what to expect.  Because we had an hour drive to get there, we had to choose the party or trick or treating because there wouldn't be time for both.  The family chose the party, and as it turned out, we are so happy that we did!

The evening began with a simple hot dog dinner which was a big hit with the kids.

The Guarding Angel and St. Elizabeth of Hungry feasting on a hot dog dinner.

Next there were games set up in the classrooms.  There were about a dozen carnival type games for the children to play and they absolutely loved them!  Each of the games had some sort of a saint theme.   There was also cotton candy (super popular with the kids!) and popcorn being made fresh all evening. 

All of the kids at the Saint Walk (aka cake walk)

Joseph putting on St. Patrick's Green.

Lillian pulling a sucker out of St. Therese's bouquet.

Joseph (St. George) shooting a dragon with a Nerf gun.

There were hay rides/tractor rides throughout the evening which was great.

Hay ride fun!

The evening ended with each child taking home a HUGE bag of candy and treats along with the prizes they had collected from the carnival games. Our children had a fabulous time and can't wait for next year's party!

It was fun to see all of the youth walking around dressed as a favorite saint.  My older girls really put a lot of thought into which saint they wanted to be.  Madeline finally decided upon St. Therese of the Child Jesus and Haley chose St. Elizabeth of Hungry.  Joseph, being a typical 7 year old boy, was one of the many St. Georges walking around with a sword and shield.  Lillian was a guardian angel.  Eleanor was a puppy and Esther a mouse which aren't saints, but two of God's creatures.  Next year, we'll have Todd be St. Francis so that the animals fit in a little better!  This year Todd was St. Maximilian Kolbe with a prisoner's shirt onto which we sewed his prisoner number.  I was St. Elizabeth Ann Seton who is the patroness of our home school.

On the drive home, the kids chatted about the fun evening and talked about how much more fun it was than the traditional trick or treating we typically would have done.  Joseph said it best when he said, "And to think that I almost didn't want to come...it was AWESOME!"

God Bless!

Heather :-)