Halloween 2018.

First up was the trunk-or-treat on Saturday, Oct. 27th.
(I think my phone camera lens must have been dirty... or something... these pics are NOT the high quality, bright pictures I had hoped for)

Bill and I scrambled a little last minute to come up with costumes because our friends had invited us to another party later that evening.

Ta-da!

Black-eyed P's.

Thank you, Pinterest.

Mar was a {buxom} pirate haha.

That's what a corset will do for ya.

Tay, Nae and Evie joined us, too.

I made smoked Gouda mac and cheese, and won 3rd place. Nice.

I didn't even get to try it, since it was gone by the time we made it through the line. That's good, because there's nothing worse than bringing food to a ward function, and taking most of it back home afterwards. What do you even DO with it after lots of people have stood over it... breathed over it... possibly dropped a hair over it... EWWW! Better for it to be gone.

(Can I express again my disappointment in these foggy pics?)

That's what you call a Bro. Martin photo bomb.

(Yes, now I'm sure it was something on that back phone camera lens, since this selfie is much brighter)

After the trunk-or-treat and a tiny nap, Mauri went to a party at a friend's house, and Bill and I went with the Goubert's to another party. Janene wasn't totally sure of the details, just that a friend of hers had invited them to attend. What we DID know: it was held at a church building, it was for adults only.

When we arrived, we discovered it was a Stake activity (not our Stake activity, just to clarify).

There was a live band that played 80's tunes all night, and since I am definitely a child of the 80's, it was totally my jam. My date, however, did NOT want to dance much.

WHAT? Billy "The Bay" Syddall lost his groove sometime in the last 30 years?

Throughout the night I noticed a couple... the guy was dressed as a taco, the girl was dressed like a princess. I thought it was a unique pairing, but didn't think too hard on it. When Bill and I were dancing {a slow dance}, I was going to mention it to him, since the couple was dancing nearby. As I formulated the sentence in my head, IT CLICKED. I was about to say, "That couple is a strange pair... he's a taco, and she's.... 'Belle.'" HAHAHAHA... Taco Bell. So punny!

That's okay, some people at our ward trunk-or-treat didn't figure out what we were until they saw my Insta/FB post. 

Janene was the big winner of the night - winning 1st place for her chili at our trunk-or-treat, and the big jar of Smarties for guessing closest to the correct amount at the Arapahoe Stake Halloween Party.

Phew! That was a whole lot o' social for me for one day. But I survived.

The day of Halloween {a Wednesday}, I invited Tay, Nae and Evie over for an early dinner. Their ward was having a trunk-or-treat that night (it was actually more like trick-or-treating at doors inside the church, which was awesome for kids Evie's age, not to mention it was super cold that night, so inside was the best place to be). I've yet to hear from them how things went down... I'll update when I do.

Evie has had a slight fascination with my styro head (I started out with 3 of them years ago, now I'm down to a white one and a super creepy silver one that Mar created a couple years back). 

As you can see, Evie made her mark (styrofoam is so irresistable to sink your teeth into). It really isn't a big deal because 1) the styro head just looks creepier, and 2) it has already more than filled the measure of it's creation.

Bill had dressed up a bit for work, since his CoSprings office was participating in a local business trick-or-treat event that day. He was supposed to be a warlock, as all the ladies in the office were dressing up as witches. Evie thought he was... interesting haha.

Evie thoroughly enjoyed her first piece of candy for the evening.

(So what can I say except "You're welcome!')

And they were off to the ward activity... such a cute family!!

Mauri had a party that evening at a friend's house.

She and Annie went as Wendy and Captain Hook. Their friend Jaden was supposed to be Mr. Smee, but he apparently got mixed up, and showed up as a beenie baby (that's what the three of them had been at school that day). 

It was quiet the rest of the evening. A clean-faced Bill handed out candy while I... did nothing, if I remember correctly (except the dishes haha). The trick-or-treaters seemed sparse this year, perhaps because it was such a chilly night. I heard a story on the news that the powers-that-be might designate the last Saturday of October as the official day to observe Halloween. WHAT A FABULOUS IDEA. I'm not quite sure why it's taken so long to figure that out. Fingers crossed that it will happen!

That's it. It was enough.
Let the holidays commence.


Post post: That WASN'T it. It WASN'T enough....

Mauri had one more party today... Nov. 3rd.
With her thespian troupe.

She was tired after a long day at play practice, but she chose to go because "hardly anyone else is going, and I feel bad for those hosting the party if nobody shows up."
I love her.
I love her kindness and inclusion. I love that she's less concerned about whether it's the cool thing to do, and more concerned about doing what she feels is the right thing.

(Still not the greatest quality of pictures... what's up with my phone?)

Just to give the whole dressing up thing a little variety, she dug through the costume box for something different. She found the devil dress (you can see her original devil get-up here... along with a Shilo bonus), and decided to put the Thespian/musical spin on things, so she's "Devil Take the Hindmost" -- an Andrew Lloyd Webber song from Love Never Dies.

Since I have no clue what that phrase even means, I looked it up and found this:
"You can say the devil take the hindmost to describe or comment on a situation you disapprove of because people do only what is best for themselves without thinking about other people.
Mmmmmm.... I wonder if Mar is making a thespian troupe political statement haha.

That is all.
I hope.