Happy Halloween!

Halloween was a great adventure at our house. Ethan's school had a "literacy day" all day which is code for party, so he was all wound up by the time he got home. Then, our cousin Jackie came up from Salt Lake to visit, and see the kids in their costumes. She brought the kids presents, and silly string which we took out in the yard at ganged up on Dad with before dinner. We had tons of fun with her. *Thanks for coming Jackie! Come back again soon!*

Then it was time for the big event. First we went to Aunt Kathy's house for a visit where the kids got spoiled rotten, I mean, well taken care of:) *Thanks Aunt Kathy and Uncle Dick!*

After that we came home and hit the streets. (Troy stayed home to hand out candy because trick or treating isn't for old freaky guys like him:) The kids and I went from house to house filling their bags with treats. Adia figured it out pretty quickly. She would stand right up next to the person handing out the candy. They would give her a piece first, and then they would turn to put a piece in Ethan's bag, and Adia would grab another piece when they weren't looking. Most of the time she didn't get caught, but when she did she just flashed a big grin and the person would just laugh and give her a few MORE pieces. (I thought she should have been popped on the butt, but that's just my opinion.:) We finally got home and went through the candy, Troy and I "inspecting it for safety" (read: stealing out all of our favorites) Then we went down to the family room, pigged out and watched movies all night. My philosophy on candy is they can eat as much as they want for two days and then it gets thrown out. Last year we took it to the Dentist, and he gave them toys, money, and certificates for 25% off a cleaning. We might do that again this year.

Adia is a Princess

Ethan is a Transformer

Finally we all crashed on the floor in front of the TV and woke up bright and early the next morning (tried to shake off the sugar hangover) and went to our ward "rake and bake". The Rake and Bake is an annual thing our ward does with the Youth. Everyone gathers at the church at 7 AM one Saturday, and the Bishopric cook a big breakfast, then we go out and rake leaves in the yards of all of the elderly people in the ward boundaries. It is a great service, and the youth have so much fun. I love this ward and their traditions. The kids here are great, they love rolling up their sleeves and helping out. No complaining, just serving others, it's awesome! It was a great time.