Halloween is for ghosts, goblins, witches and buzz lightyear.

I am not a big fan of Halloween. Never really have been all that into the holiday. But it wasn't Thanksgiving or Christmas where most of the family was otherwise occupied, and my family had a 4 day weekend being a State Holiday, Trent has 2 sisters who live here and his parents do not live far, so.... Trent and I thought it was a great time to throw a party. We are so glad we did. Our pantry and fridge are now stocked :) First time that's happened in a long time. We had KFC the first night and got to meet some of Ashleigh's roommates and friends. Then, on Saturday we went to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point. It was cold, but at least no one showed up with wet hair on top of the maybe 40 degree morning...oh wait, that was Maddy. Silly girl. Brenden is happy that she is silly since she'll go with him down the slides.
At first he wouldn't go without sitting right on top of her.

Then, he got up the courage to go down next to her, but on his own slide.

Later, we convinced him to go down on his own......and this is what happened...

He tried to show all the other kids up by doing a 180 on the way down. Impressive.

And this was his reaction after such a performance.

We ran over to the tractor trikes. Again, grateful to Maddy for providing some good company for Brenden.

Poppy and Gma on baby duty.

Then there was a game called run away from the attacking stroller. I think Brenden won.

Scotty was especially anxious to check out the Pumpkin Princess Playland.

Kyleigh didn't look too pleased about the place. Maybe in a couple more years.

Oh no, it's a holiday and they stick a School Bus in here! What were they thinking? They weren't thinking.

Duck Races were particularly entertaining. You pump water into your slot to push the duck to the other side and see who can get their duck there the quickest. Maddy, Scotty and Trent are all into it. Who won?

From the above picture, it looks like Maddy lost by alot, so the second round, Scott worked 2 pumps while Trent joined Maddy's team by pushing back Scott's ducks and letting Maddy through...

Maybe Maddy's pump was just busted cause she ended up throwing her duck to the end...and made an excellent throw, by the way, cause it landed perfectly on the other side in her trough.

A couple of Desperados.

One is probably giddy to be inside a Train of any make or model and the other one is pleased to be playing around with his little Buddy.

Mom and Maddy couldn't resist. Actually, they were searching for Scott and Poppy who wandered into the Kiddie Corn Maze.

Trent and Brenden are off to find Poppy. Wish them luck!

Which way did he go????

OOoh! I think we've spotted him. It was probably that blasted bright orange stroller he was pushing around that gave away his 20.

Poppy went and hid behind some other corn stalks and jumped out right as Brenden was turning the corner. All fun and games when Grandpa comes to town. I have a couple shots on my camera taken right after this moment. Brenden must love all the fun and games he plays with his Poppy because he was practically on top of Grandpa's heels as we wound our way through the maze to find the exit.

I swear, we were innocent. Brenden's happy no one will be around to tell him what to do anymore.

There is a good reason why there was absolutely no one at this stop.

While waiting for the John Deere tractor train ride, Mom, Dad, Trent, Scott, Maddy and Brenden went through this lizard. They were scared to death of the sudden drumming near the end. Came out screaming and running for their lives :)

Happy to be in a boxcar.

Another tractor-type race maze thing. I heard that Maddy won.

After naps and grocery shopping, Maddy and Trent helped dress up our little Buzz Lightyear complete with jet pack wings.

Ready for take off. Probably helps him get around the block faster for more candy-getting.

The process. Sooooooo very grateful my Mom and Dad came to make, I mean help out, with the food preparation. Baked Sandwiches (a Halloween tradition that my Grandma started when my Dad went out to grab as much candy and sweets as he could. Helps to fill the kids with something good for them before receiving sugar highs), 2 salads, Mummy Dogs, Corn Chowder and Green Gog to drink. The best part was probably the desserts. Mmm....Tuxedo Chocolate Mousse, Pumpkin and Apple.

Our door greeters. Lighted candelabra and Maddy Anne.

Baby witch putting on her boots/shoes to gather her...errrrr, her Dad's....candy.

Even Trent's Mom got in on all the festivities and dressed up as a Ghost. We had to convince some of the kids that it really was Grandma Sorensen inside. They weren't so sure.

We had a bumblebee in the house.

And a skeleton.

3 pretty purple and black Witches. (Cousin A isn't pictured here).

All the trick and treaters. Ash, Buzz, Maddy and K Mae, Bumblebee, Venetian princess, baby T, Pippy Long Stockings (I think), Skeleton and another purple Witch.

Was it a good night??? I think the bags look heavy enough.

Then it was time for a few games. The kids had to reach blindly into a cauldron to search through the Monster's brain (pumpkin guts and seeds) to find a treasure (skeleton, bat and spider rings). They all succeeded. Then we had guess-how-many-candy-corns are in the 3 glass vases. The answer was 680. Cousin C was a little off with her guess of 88. I think it was Pippy who guessed correctly.

Next, time for a little pin the heart on Skeleton Bob. Almost everyone succeeded in this one, too.

Even the 'big kids' joined in on the fun and games.

We are an equal opportunity party throwers.

Later, we went down to the garage where we had eating a donut off a string without using your hands set up. Grandma graciously let Kyleigh eat hers using her hands instead of fighting to keep it from falling from the string like so many of the others. Kyleigh was appreciative.

Kid version

 Big kid version. My favorite part: once the competition is over, Ash asks, "Are there any more donuts?"

The desserts. They were delicious.

The next day, we did it all over again. This time we had my Mom's 2 sisters and their families as well as Ash's 2 roommates and friend. Next time we need to buy another Chocolate cake. One to share with everyone and one for me. :)

Mom's sister Shari, her husband and son were kind enough to join us for some Honeybaked ham and smoked Turkey sandwiches and fruit salad.

I attempted to use my fondue to melt and warm carmel so that our chopped apple could be dipped and enjoyed...but I need to put in some Carnation Evap Milk or something because it was just too hard and had a hard time sticking to the apple. The 7 layer bean dip was good, though.

And I should have taken a picture earlier because the fruit salad looked very nice. Good colors and layout. Sure we could have used a few more colors, but I don't think anyone minded.

As if we didn't have enough to eat, Brenden polished off the night stuffing in a few kernels of homemade Carmel Popcorn...

...before his Dad took the goods away.

Poppy pulling double duty at Church.


Monday, we ran over to Cabelas. HUGE fish aquarium, Gun Library, mini Stuffed animal museum, and a shooting range upstairs. And let's not forget fresh fudge samples.

Brenden trying to find Little Nemo.

Kyleigh extremely fascinated by all the large dead animals.

Brenden learning the difference between white tip, mule deer and moose. He looks completely drawn in.

After checking out others' kills, we went upstairs to try our own hand at the sport. Poppy and Brenden made a great 'team'.

Poppy aimed the gun and Brenden pulled the trigger.

Scott going for the little skunk in front. Guess the bear and deer were too complicated. :)

Mom, Dad, Maddy, Brenden, Ashleigh, Scott, Kyleigh and myself all took a round. I really like this setup. Some of the animals move if you hit them. We also tallied up most of our scores at the end.

Maddy and I tied at 190, Scott at 170 and Mom 160 (but Brenden did pull her trigger rapid-fire so she wasn't able to aim at anything for a few of her shots). Ash didn't report her score. Hmmm.....

Just another day at the Range.

Now Uncle Scott helping out little BS. This kid must have made the rounds. Smart boy.

Guns don't quite peak her interest just yet, but these mini chairs just her size did. She kept going from one to the other and back again. Simple things are so fascinating at this age.

"Come on, Mom! It's only $129 and it would look great in the front room!"

A little more target practice. He needs all the practice he can get if he wants a prayer of a chance to beat Maddy and I next time. :)

Dad and girls scoping out the $3,000 gun. They sure do have quite the collection.

Ash wants one for next Christmas when we all go shooting again. With this thing, I think she would win.

Brenden walked away from this rendezvous with a pop gun. He loved it in the store and he loves it at home. So far so good with not shooting people. Will be a great addition to our yearly trip to the Ranch when his Dad takes his 22 to git dem squirrels.


Baby girl also got a treat. A dog. It's soft and very cuddly. Her favorite.



Mom and Dad also got a treat, too. Baked crunchy curls. Like Cheetos, only real and much better. After feeding us and buying ice cream from a neat little place that makes your ice cream in front of you by 'freezing' it with liquid nitrogen, they were on their way home and made it in time to sing Happy Birthday to Uncle Jared. Great great trip and we are incredibly grateful for our families who made the trip up to spend Halloween with us. Today we had Honeybaked Ham sandwiches and the Sea Salt chips just before watching BYU beat UNLV. Thanks so very much for the gift that keeps on giving. We all (even Kyleigh and Brenden) enjoyed it.
Brenden has stopped asking me so many times a day if we can go to Poppy's house, but he hasn't completely given up. Today he asked if he could go to the Boat-House because he was sure Poppy was there. That reminds me of our Family scripture time when it was Brenden's turn and he repeated "And. it. came. to. pass. that. they. went.....swimming in the water!". Lake Powell has made quite the impression on this little 3 year old. It's always on his mind. Or maybe it's the combination of Poppy and Lake Powell that make it unforgettable. Either way, we just can't get there fast enough and there are too many sleeps left until the next time he sees Poppy. It is a tough life.