Halloween Fun 2022

We have had lots of fun Halloween activities to attend this year. Last week on Thursday we went to our old ward for their chili feed and trunk or treat. It was so good to see friends again and visit. They started with eating either chili or soups and rolls/corn bread. Then there were some games and activities for the kids to do in different parts of the church building. The girls took off and did most of them without me but I did see Alice get some whiskers and a nose painted on her face. Then it was time for the trunk or treating! I wasn't sure if I was going to dress up or not because I didn't find anything at the thrift stores that I wanted but that afternoon I dug out our old costumes and decided I was going to wear my old prisoner costume. We originally bought these way back when Nikki was 2 1/2 and Garrett was a newborn. Back then we had fun coordinating costumes so we were all prisoners. I left Curtis's costume out on the bed in case he wanted to wear it and he did! Garrett did not want to go so he stayed home to watch a movie.

Since Garrett didn't go to this party I had him take a picture of the rest of us. It was fun to dress up so I'm glad I did.

Alice is our little bunny rabbit this year. 

Charlotte is our dinosaur, a raptor called "Blue" from Jurassic World. She found another person dressed up in a dinosaur suit so we had to get a picture.

The next day the kids did not have school so we got to sleep in and then Charlotte decided she wanted to learn how to make German pancakes so I helped her with that. I am trying to learn to jump on these opportunities when they want to learn how to bake.

It doesn't normally get bumpy like that in the middle so I'm not sure if we over mixed it or what but it still tasted good. Usually the two sides come way up like a big wave. Then it curls over as it cools. I also taught her how to make syrup to go with it.

We did do some cleaning up of the house on Friday but mostly relaxed. We did not have anything planned for the evening after Curtis got home but we thought we might go visit my grandma whom we thought had broken both of her wrists the day before. I came to find out after talking to my dad again that I had misunderstood him the first time. It wasn't Grandma that broke her wrists it was Mom (Laverne)! They were getting ready to go to the temple and she somehow fell down the last half of the stairs where she broke both of her wrists and hit her glasses and eye, giving her some nice cuts and a black eye. Big OUCH!! She was not feeling up to visitors and they were going to bed early anyway. I ended up making some Ritz cracker sandwiches with peanut butter in the middle and dipped halfway in white chocolate to bring to our activity the next day while Curtis took a nap on the couch. The girls put on Hocus Pocus. By the time that was finished I told Curtis I wanted to do a fire. He got a fire going while I finished up my treat. Then we went out to sit around the fire. It was a nice clear night where we could see the stars.

Getting cozy on the bench.

Curtis and Jack

We were told to make a face. Looks like we're on fire! 😂

Garrett didn't want to get too close to the fire because he was wearing his new jacket and didn't want it to smell like fire. He decided to make some hot chocolate and bring it outside (far from the fire).

Saturday was busy starting with Charlotte's basketball game at 10:30am. Well, it was supposed to start at 10:30 but the game before us went way past their time so we didn't start until about 10:50 I think. It was a tough game for the girls but it was the first time we had all 7 at a game so we had 2 subs instead of 1, which was good. Our girls only made a few baskets but I'm happy to say that one of them was Charlotte. Yay! After her game we went back to the house to eat lunch and make Pigs in a Blanket appetizer for our ward's Fall Festival/Trunk or Treat. This activity was combined with 2 other wards and was open to the community as well. They had it outside at the Greenhurst Stake Center (which is our building that we attend). There was a photo booth, appetizer table, lots of carnival type games, face painting and a trunk or treat. They also had music playing which made it more fun. 

Since I'm the coach I don't get many pictures but I got a few this time. Charlotte has the ball in this one.

The girls brought their friend from our old neighborhood, Brooklyn, to the festival.

Alice had a different costume on today because her bunny dress broke and I didn't have time to look at it before we left. Good thing we have extra costumes.

Jack helped with a game called Monster Smash. The kids built a tower with cups and then knocked it down (smashed it down). 

Leftover donut from the donut eating contest.

The classic fishing game.

Garrett helped with the fishing game. He enjoyed it.

Someone brought goats to pet and feed.

Trunk or Treat time!

In line for another game just before we were done.

They had several corn hole games set up and so Curtis and I got to play a round before everything started. We were told to get there early if we were participating in the trunk or treat (handing out candy). Anyway, the weather was perfect, sunny and warm enough to not need jackets. It was a big success and a lot of fun!

After the festival we came home for a bit where I cooked up our extra Pigs in a Blanket appetizers and washed dishes. Then we headed to my grandma's house to watch the Boise State football game on TV. Laverne was there too. It was a very good game and BSU won big. When the game was over we headed home, dropping Laverne and Brooklyn off on the way. (Dad had gone to the game and I didn't want mom to have to wait any longer for him to come home.)

Fast forward to Monday, the day of Halloween! The girls had the option to wear costumes to school but they chose not to. I decided to do Papa Murphy's for dinner since they had their traditional Jack O' Lantern pizzas. We all ate before Curtis even got home. After he got home we left around 6:00 to drop the boys off at a party they were invited to by the Hansen family in our ward. Then we drove over to our old neighborhood to trick or treat on our old street. We started at Aunt Cori's. Then went down to say hi to friends. My friend Ashlie loaded the girls' buckets with lots of chocolate candies. Her little girl was sick. She has been sick since last Wednesday. Poor kiddo! 

We then headed back to the same neighborhood where the boys were at their party and did some trick or treating. It turned out to be a good neighborhood to do it in. Lots of houses were handing out candy. We actually started out at a family's house from our ward, the Ostler's. They were cooking hot dogs and had hot chocolate for anyone who wanted some. I was full of pizza but I took a hot chocolate so I could sip while walking and keep warm. Fortunately it was a warm day and evening so it wasn't bad at all. 

Our Jack O' Lantern pizza. Yum!

At the Ostler's for hot dogs and hot chocolate.

Saw this really tall skeleton while trick or treating. Alice really wanted to go over and touch it so I got a picture.

This house was decorated pretty scary but the girls had no problems getting to the door.

Finally got a picture of all of the pumpkins. I never did carve mine (the one in the middle back). The one on the far right was Charlotte's painted pumpkin she did at activity days.

We went down one street and the girls were done. Halfway through, Alice really need to go potty so we stopped at the Hansen's. Thank goodness they were close and we knew some people on that street. We drove home with the girls to go see my in laws. Then came back to put a movie on. The girls really wanted to hand out candy. This is a quiet street so we didn't get many trick or treaters but we did get some. One thing I love about my girls is that they will donate candy from their own buckets to hand out to trick or treaters since we didn't buy any candy to give out on Halloween. All of our candy went to the two trunk or treats. Curtis picked up the boys at 9:00 and then watched the movie with us. The movie the girls picked was "The Nightmare Before Christmas".  Then it was bed time.

On a side note. Curtis finally had a conversation with his boss yesterday and was given an official offer in writing for the move to Washington. They did not get to talk about money until now. Unfortunately, the offer he gave us was lower than we were hoping for. They basically gave him the same raise he would have gotten in January anyway. And with the interest rates way high right now we need to make sure we can afford to buy a home over there. Curtis did not sign the offer letter yet. He and his boss are both going to look at some numbers for different things and then we'll see what happens.