HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The festivities/appointments/commitments/shindigs have been many last few days. Busy! So after putting my little Marcel to bed tonight I too am ready to crash. Halloween pics later I guess, but here's a darling little movie of Luce and Croz from tonight at Auntie Wendie's Halloween party which was grandiose and delightful. Thank you again!

Day left of Halloween Countdown time and I still can't figure out what to be for Halloween.

What's it gonna be, Dorothy



or psycho clown?



C'mon Lis, figure it out!

Days!

I finally got my movies that I've had on hold at the library forever and I was so excited because they happen to be Halloween-type movies. Maybe we can watch at least one of them before Friday??

Only

DAYS LEFT!

Halloween's coming up and I haven't splurged on bags of candy yet, can you believe it? It never fails. D and I really do eat all the candy before Halloween. So this year I just didn't buy any and it's amazing how that works! No candy in the house, no eating the candy. I really want some though.

Aunt Rosy sent Crosby a goody bag for Halloween this year, thanks again Aunt Rosy! Seriously he is in love with those tiny yo-yos. It keeps him entertained while he's waiting in his high chair for some eats.

Anyway, what was our Halloween activity for yesterday?



Filling up the candy basket. We just stuck the rest of Rosy's goodies in there! Like dracula teeth, Ritz bits, and...



Spider rings!

Maybe we'll buy some real trick-or-treat fare tomorrow??

Halloween In

Days...

What to do on a brisk October Sunday evening?



Light a candle!

(For those of you who want the background: back in '02 I bought a "Creamy Caramel" candle from B&B Works. LOOOOVED it. Made it last 'til last year, no joke. Why? Because B&B never sold that same one. And out of ALL the candle scents out there, notta one smelled like this one. So I kept lighting a stump last Fall thinking, 'Whatever SHALL I do?' Well. Around end of August I walk into the store and there, sitting quietly in all its glory... topped with a shining silver lid... was a Creamy Caramel candle. It couldn't be... I unscrewed the lid... I inhaled... IT WAS! And my Autumn days are forever changed... at least for the next five years ;)

There Are

Days 'Til Halloween!

My dad is running for Utah House District #28 (against Jeff Morrow (R) and Brian King (D) and is with the Constitution Party. Croz and I spent a good part of yesterday putting flyers on porches to help spread the word. Couldn't have asked for a better day to do it... Autumn in her glory!



The Constitution Party is looking to limit government rule/power in order to uphold the Constitution since our nation is only moving farther and farther away from it (the Constitution).



If this idea interests you, please visit the websites: www.constitutionparty.com (national), www.cputah.org (for Utah), and www.americantruth.org (my dad's website). No doubt you will be enlightened.

So... in order to keep to my strict Halloween celebration regimen C and I killed two birds with one stone. We ran into some spooky sightings while on our flyer-delivery walks. Well, some spooky...



And some lovely. We spotted gorgeous Fall delights in our beautiful neighborhood, like this ivy-covered house



And this clever pumpkin decor



The local park was having their famous annual Halloween Costume Parade! Actually when we were on our walk they were still setting up. So fun! They had several stations like the cupcake walk, face painting, hot dog stand, and bobbing for apples.



On our way again we ran into these guys:



Yikes.

A street or two east of us they've been filming a movie (I don't know what) at this big white house. It's been crazy because at night there's cop cars blocking the streets. They've had these enormously bright spotlights beaming on the house in the pitch dark and big "CREW" signs directing people where to go. Yesterday though C and I walked by and they were almost all cleaned up.



These two characters were one of my favorite decorations; lawn chair skeletors with bone bits surrounding them:



Or there's the classic white ghost, very tasteful...



See you tomorrow with more Halloween adventures!

Day

Weeks ago my mom and I were saying how much we wanted to watch E.T. again after not seeing it for years and years. This movie came out in '88... Happy 20 Year Anniversary! Last night we had a little impromptu E.T. party at my parents' and a great time was had by all.



What a classic! My (young) cousins were there and I think they were a bit skeptical at first since the movie now looks ancient but they got into it right away and loved it. We were laughing out loud. I forgot how Gertie dresses him up as a woman and teaches him how to talk. I can't decide if that is my favorite part or the frog scene. Or the song Papa ooh mou mou.... or when they dress up for Halloween and E.T. is a ghost...



Anyway, here's Jamie with her popcorn



And Becca, Crosby (our own little ET!), and Brooke



Watching a movie by the fire with treats... can't get any better than that (;

Day #

of Halloween Countdown time, but first of all

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!



To our frog!



He is a dream come true. Eight months old and kind of hard to believe. Every day is jam-packed with huge toothy grins (he just got his fifth tooth!), gabbing back and forth with Mom and Dad (the best), twirling ankles and wrists (the cutest), discovering Desitin (not as cute), etc. etc. etc.

Crosby has never known sugar of any kind unless it's in his fruity baby food. Today he deserved a chocolate graham cracker though and this is what he thought of it:




We sure love you, Frog!

So now back to Halloween, which also happens to involve Crosby today. He helped me make the all-time classic sugar cookie. This is an ambitious task even when going solo, but we got 'er done.

Beginning...



Middle...



End...



Tah-dah! Orange-frosted mega-soft sugar cookies. Can't wait...

Love to all.

Day #

and the only thing Halloween-ish that I had time for today was to dress up our pup.


He has this Mona Lisa-esque quality to his eyes that, when I took his picture, made me feel a little frightened.

Happy Haunting!

Day #

... of the Great Halloween Countdown and I am finally going to read at least a paragraph of Twilight before this day comes to a close. I still haven't read any of these books. I've placed Twilight on hold at the library and it sat for two months. (No time). Everyone around me gives a from-the-gut, "You HAVE to read these," which for some reason almost has made me not want to read them. But my cousin Becca looked at me with her honest 14-year-old eyes and said, "Lis... you need to read it," and handed me her book to borrow. So here I go.



Something kind of strange though... these characters that will play in the upcoming movie... their faces are everywhere now and so will that be bad or good? I guess part of the thrill of reading is that your imagination gets to soar and you end up making up the faces on your own. We'll see how that ends up, hopefully I can find enough time to read!



And!

Happy Birthday today, Aunt Susan!!

And my Nan, who has been gone 11 years now (unbelievable) yet October 22nd is always her birthday.

The Great Halloween Countdown!

Yes, it has begun! I am fully willing to admit how excited I am for Halloween. I get this way every year... even though I don't always go all out like some people do it still feels like Christmas Eve every time!

There are now officially


days 'til the big day. Is everyone ready with their costumes? I'm not yet, but of course Crosby is! Poor little guy will have to indulge me and let me get him all decked out. Above all though my favorite thing is Trick-or-Treaters. Seeing the little ones in costume and being the one at the door to say, "Oooh a pirate!" gives me the greatest joy, that's just the way it is. Anyway...



HALLOWEEN!

I LOVE IT!

Since I am such a lover of the Great Hallow's Eve, I decided to do a Great Halloween Countdown. I will do something Halloweeny every day until the 31st.

Today my Halloween activity is:



ODYSSEY DANCE'S THRILLER!

Enough said, I can barely wait for 7:30 pm.

Head South

All I know is if Winter and its cold weather are approaching, it's time to head South!

D and C and I went down to one of the best getaway spots: Panguitch, Utah. It was so much fun. Too short but that road trip togetherness is the best feeling! Four hours there and four hours back logged some good laughs and good talks.

Panguitch is the Land of Whole Chicken in a Can. We can prove it because we found this item at the market there when we were scrounging for dinner at 8:30 at night. The only place open - Subway - was basically out of meat.



Vee (my Great Uncle) once again graciously hosted us. He says, "Just come in, you don't need to knock... I'll find ya in the morning. And I'm not gonna wait on ya." He was the most adorable with Crosby and Crosby took a liking to Vee really fast but kind of studied his face forever.



I guess Panguitch is also the Land of Light Blue Tootsie Pops. Yet another unique market item on our search for dinner.



Crosby was in ** HEAVEN ** taking his sink baths. He couldn't take his eyes off of the water; totally awestruck with it!



A sight I had to photograph around Tropic, Utah. Such an amazingly gorgeous day.



Off the side of the road this caught my eye... the wind was lending such grace in combination with the sun.



We headed on a nice little hike... I absolutely think Bryce Canyon is the most beautiful (along with Zion's).



Bridge through the sun



Classic Bryce



Crosby was checking out his surroundings and turning his head so quickly that is was impossible to get some good shots of his face straight on, let alone have his attention long enough to bring a smile on! When he was first in his backpack and we started on the trail I walked alongside him and he was just beaming. I wonder if it is because he was suddenly the same height as me or just the great outdoors?



More Classic Bryce. The hike up to this would have probably killed all three of us it would have been WAY too steep.



Lovely waterfall and look at the shadow of our lovely little family under it (;



Had to stop at Old Town Bryce for some freshly-baked cookies and goofy pictures... C and I could star in a Western, no?



Across from Vee's house is the high school jogging track which we love... I went one morning for a quick run and then had the whole field to myself, letting the sun just sink into my skin. It felt so good to have such solitude and warmth at the same time. I love being away from home for a time where there are no demands. Family and memories are the most important and we hope C had fun on our little vacation! He was such a good boy to sleep in his own (cold) room upstairs next to our room. We had to pile four blankets on him and bring in a CD player with his music to lull him to sleep but he ended up adapting quickly. In fact, I think he adapted so fast that he is now officially a full-blown cowboy! (Thanks to Paul Hatch for the prop ;)



Vee, you rock. I know you're not much of a blog-reader but I must say... thanks for letting us stay at your house and eat all your Frosted Flakes and whole milk. And for sending us home with a larger-than-life turnip. And for giving Crosby 18 kisses on his nose. Oh, and... for calling your buddy the Sheriff when I locked our keys in the car late at night. See you next year!