Today is Friday the 13th, and my husband and I have been married for 13 Halloweens. Halloween is my favorite holiday, and even as an adult, I still love dressing up. I love matching costumes, and my husband has been a great sport letting me choose what he is each year – or at least what theme he has to choose from. So I thought it would be fun to share the past 13 years of couples/family costumes.

2010 – Pictures exist of this year. I have seen them. But I can’t for the life of me find them. Gerson and I were newlyweds, both working part-time customer service jobs, and going to school full-time. So, our costumes were not elaborate. I had a pair of Tinker Bell wings from our honeymoon to Disneyland and Gerson had a Captain Jack Sparrow hat. While the two aren’t in the same series, they both are Disney and both fall under a pirates theme; so they worked on our limited budget.

2011 – I was a witch, Bellatrix Lestrange to be exact. And Gerson was a witch hunter from one of his video games.

2012 – I was heavily pregnant with my first baby during this Halloween, and pre-made maternity costumes weren’t what I was looking for. So, I made my own Cleopatra costume and Gerson was Marc Antony. We repeated this costume when I was pregnant again in 2017.

2013 – This was our first Halloween with our oldest son, and we started family costumes with a bang: Boo, Mike, and Sully from Monsters Inc.

2014 – Another family theme: Sesame Street. The Count and The Countess took Elmo trick-or-treating for the first time.

2015 – A month before Halloween, we added a daughter to our family, so now we had four people to dress up! That year we picked traditional Halloween monsters: Death, a witch, a vampire, and a black cat. Grandma also joined in as a zombie.

2016 – This would be the last year that our children willingly matched with mom and dad, and I didn’t even know it! Gerson and I were Pokemon masters, and our kids plus Grandma and Uncle were Pokemon.

2018 – This is probably one of my favorite set of costumes. My mom, my brother, Gerson, and myself were the four houses of Hogwarts. I was Ravenclaw, Gerson was Slytherin, my brother was Griffyndor, and my mom was Hufflepuff.

2019 – We bought our house that year, and had no money for elaborate Halloween costumes. So I threw together a bunch of random stuff and was this (I don’t think Gerson dressed up. I can’t find a picture of him from that year):

2020 – The worst year of the 21st Century. I turned 30 that year and was supposed to have a masquerade Halloween party. But I couldn’t invite all the people I wanted to. I still spent the better part of the year sewing a medieval royal dress from scratch to be Anne Boleyn. Gerson was Henry VIII. This is definitely a costume that I plan on adding to and improving and wearing again in the future.

2021 – Another dream couples costume that we’ll definitely reuse down the road: Bob and Linda Belcher. The faculty at the school I teach at have a theme each Halloween. That year it was TV show characters. It was the perfect opportunity for Gerson and I to be the cartoon couple who is so much like us.

2022 – I’m not an amazing seamstress, but I’m good enough. Several years ago when I walked out of the theater from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, I wanted Queenie’s pink coat. I dreamed of making it for a Halloween costume. That was before I started a full-time career. Last year, I couldn’t wait to be Queenie any longer and purchased a pre-made coat. And I don’t regret it. Gerson was obviously Jacob; which was perfect because I often joke that he is a muggle. We looked great, and will once again be keeping these costumes in the rotation.

And that’s 13 years of Halloweens! I’d love to hear from you. What’s your personal stance on Halloween costumes? Do you go all out? Are you happy to just wear a pumpkin shirt? Or is it just a normal day for you? Let me know in the comments!