Halloween Festivities: Part II

Wow, October was a fabulous, fun-filled frightfest of Halloween parties, family get-togethers and other festive activities!

To start, there was a little home decorating to spruce up the old townhouse; sans kids, emphasis on the "little". However, I transformed the medical library into a spooky haunted house (er, library), complete with cackling & creepy music, glow-in-the dark spider webs, lighted jack'o lanterns, fudgy R.I.P. cupcakes (that's Research Into Practice, in case you were wondering) and plastic spider, gummy worm-filled skeleton juice. The new decor of this typically austere and quiet space amused the doctors and delighted the hospital staff. Mission accomplished!

Then there was the pumpkin carving party & 1st Annual Viewing of Ghostbusters with James & Sarah (see Halloween Festivities: Part I). Fun times had by all.

Dave, Rach & Rhees drove up from Utah the second weekend in October, which inevitably turned into a weekend of family fun. On Saturday, we drove to Marysville to watch Kali coach Jennifer's Coupeville soccer team. After a slim loss, we all headed over to Alfy's to feast on some pepperoni, sausage & garlic chicken pizzas until we were stuffed silly. We ended the crisp day at David & Kali's old elementary school, where the community built the best wooden castle/playground ever - seriously, it was enormous. We had a blast zipping down slides, gliding on the swings and playing in the dirt... & the kids had fun too! Then we met again for Sunday dinner at Eric & Heather's place, dining on a huge pan of meaty lasanga, chopped green salad, garlic bread, cupcakes & cookies. Food + family= good times!

Next came the great costume hunt. I joked that Dave should go as Matt Hasselbeck (Seahawks QB) because a past Seminary student always called him that... and called me Sister Hasselbeck when I saw him at stake activities. Funny kid. Anyway, it was genius so that was Costume #1 for Dave. My costume had been decided last year, as the YW are in charge of the witch's cauldron for our trunk r' treat each year.

However, then we got the costume party invite which got the creative juices flowing yet again. I can't recall how or why Costume #2 came about but Dave likes Green Day's music and we thought it would be excellent fun to see people's reactions to him in a wig. In the excitement, I too wanted to don a funky wig. So, that is how we came up with the cutest Halloween couple ever: Billie Joe Armstrong & Janice from the Muppets. The greatest part was getting Dave's wig party-ready; I gave him his first haircut and style ever! For those wig-wearing veterans, why didn't you tell us that we'd be a hot & sweaty mess after only a few minutes donning the fake-tressed mops?

Onto the costume party at the Watsons. Entering the haunted house, we were greeted by huge spider webs, a life-size skeleton and a cabinet of various witches potions. After taco soup, salad and fabulous rolls, we mingled with nerds, first-time parents, a rockstar, a witch, a bowling league couple, Fletch and many more!

Later, the group played a rousing game of Scene-It; mostly, we played video clips because they are so darn fun. As we were leaving, there was a basket filled with the coolest party favors; everyone got their choice of invisible suckers with floating candy corns & gummy worms (if you are curious, google Martha for more details). All in all, it was a great party and a fabulous start to the month-long frivolity of spooky events; the Watsons were amazing hosts and the various party-goers had the best costumes! (Picture courtesy of Linda's blog.)

The following week brought us Boogly Nights (our ward's annual chili feed/trunk r' treat/Halloween carnival). As mentioned above, the YW were in charge of the Witch's Cauldron/Cupcake Walk. After a few hours of decorating, we transformed our room from the typical church classroom into a spooky alley perfect for mini Cinderellas, little ghosts, and shy horses to perform their "dance for a cupcake" dervish.

Another fun, yet crazy part of this month was the baking. Honestly, I should rename this blog post "Creepy Cupcakes" or "I'm Covered in Sugar" month. I kid you not - I baked about 9 dozen cupcakes for various events. Not to mention the sugar cookies and large vats of buttercream frosting in lime green, purple, black and orange. Oye.

And with all the fun and merriment, what did we do to cap off the big day of October 31st?, you may ask. Well, I was a bit under the weather. So we totally stayed home. And that was awesome.