Halloween Week ?!

What a great week ! Does it seem that every holiday has stretched out to at least a week of celebrations, to anyone else? I am not complaining...I love it! I remember as a child lying awake and counting down the days to Halloween. I love the sense of community and fun by all ( young and old)! My Mom was the best at making sure we had great costumes, I always felt my costume was the best even if it was "homemade"...that's the best kind! Anyway, back to our fun filled week of Halloween fun. It started out with a great "Fall Festival" at Toniquant Park. I was surprised by all the work and thought that went into this. The kids had a ball doing all the "spooky" carnival games. They went "bowling" in the graveyard, captured and moved "bats" with a straw, had a spitting contest with pumpkin seeds and pinned a wart on the witch, to name a few. Seriously they had tons of games and they got a cute little prize at each one...and it was all free. We made Monster Snot, and had a nice stroll through the pumpkin path. We filled up on free popcorn, hot chocolate and Great Harvest Cinnamon rolls, Yummmm :)

We also went to the library family night, where we heard Spooky Halloween stories and made some cute crafts. On Wednesday night we had a Creepy Pack Meeting. We went to the Staheli Farm Corn Maze, and had a blast. We were able to rent the barn for the meeting, they had it decorated to the "T" for Halloween. Ryan put together an awesome Arrow of Light ceremony, and the scouts really liked making "MUMMYS" out of their leaders. After the meeting, we were able to take part in all the activities at the farm. I think the highlight was the pig races...the kids loved it. We rode the wagon out to the maze, but decided that it was too cold and too late, so we just rode it back. The boys wore their WOODY and BUZZ costumes that night... aren't they the cutest! Note the cute little girl in the pink, her name is Emma, and she and Jordan are "in lub" Jordan told me the other day, they are going to get married in the temple ... tomorrow. WOW, how fast they grow up...at least we have a cute picture for the announcements!

On Thursday, Jordan's school had a little carnival for the kids. They played games, made "Witch's Brew" and then had a Trunk-n-Treat with the parents. Parker was even allowed to participate in the fun! They each got a huge pumpkin trick or treat bag for all the goodies. The next day, Parker's class had their own celebration. The boys loved dressing up and seeing their friends in their costumes.

Finally, we got around to carving (or curving, as Parker says) our pumpkins. Ryan and the boys did a great job cleaning out the pumpkins and separating the seeds out, so Mommy could bake them YUMMM! We had a pirate flag and a bat sitting on a house, they really turned out well. The boys were so proud, they slept with them in their room that night. :)

We had a blast with our little theme this year, STAR WARS ! The boys have been obsessed with the show for a year or so, since Ryan decided it was time the boys saw the legend and showed them "Return of the Jedi". So we had a Daddy Chewbacca (he looked great) , a Mommy Princess Leia, a daring Hans Solo (Parker) and a handsome Luke Skywalker (Jordan) with whom the force was definitely strong! We got to travel in the Millennium Falcon to the galaxy of SKYWEST for their trick-or-treat party. The kids had so much fun and came home with WAY too much candy. Then after soccer game, we went to the ward Trunk-n-Treat and the neighborhood party. Chewbacca was a hit, although several children were to scared to even get their candy from him (have they not seen Star Wars...he is the good guy!) My feet may not recover from the blisters my Princess shoes gave me, but the look on my boys faces make it all worth it! I must say after spending time trying to straighten and part Parker's hair and get the perfect part and feather on Jordan...I now have an even greater respect for you Mommy's of little girls...that can't just put a hat on everyday ;)

We hope you all had a wonderful Halloween and......MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU !!