Little Ghosties!

The girls are forever walking around the house with their blankets over their head, pretending to be a ghost or sun or just hiding. Which gave me the idea of dressing up as ghosts for Halloween. They were super excited with the prospect, and although the costumes were simple, I thought they turned out well. The little girls inside really make the costume the best anyway, right? =)

This was the best I could get of Mallorie, who was on a pre-sugar high at Grandma Nancy's house while getting ready for the first of many Halloween events of the week. Her face pretty much sums up her attitude these days!

It was truly a Halloween marathon for us. Wednesday evening (when the photos were obtained and the costumes at their most complete) we joined Nancy and some of the other Fife relatives for an event at Spring Creek Assisted Living, where Grandma Fife resides. The children were able to trick or treat at each of the residents' doors and the Institute choir filled the halls with music. Mallorie was not at all certain about walking up to complete strangers and saying the required "trick or treat," but she soon got the hang of it once she figured out she was getting something in return. It was something of a madhouse with kids everywhere, residents wheeling to and fro and passing out candy by the fistfull. We came home with two buckets of goodies and the official holiday hadn't even dawned on the horizon yet! It was fun to see some of Chadwick's cousins, and we were lucky to have him with us that night!

Aunt Ramona, Grandma Fife, Chadwick, M&M

As neither of my ghosties smiled much on Wednesday due to the facial constrictions from the dry, white paint, we went without paint the following two nights. Thursday night was a Spook-tacular Carnival at the church, and the youth outdid themselves! In addition to a soup/chili/bread dinner, there was face painting, a bean bag toss, fishing, a maze through the primary room, and dutch oven cobbler for dessert. After the chaos was finishing within the building, the children happily ran laps around the parking lot for the annual trunk-or-treat. Lucky for me, I was able to unload my two buckets of candy from Spring Creek as well as three purchased bags from Winco. We wound up with moderate amounts of goodies after Evening #2. I might add that I rooted through the buckets before the church event and saved the best of the candy - mostly anything to do with Butterfinger, Reece's pb cups, or Snickers! There are two young women in our ward who have completely adopted Morgan and Mallorie, and they were happy to cart the little girls around all evening. As Chadwick was working late that night (both at work and helping the neighbor down the street whose ewe suffered a nasty cut on the back leg), it was a welcome break for me. We love those girls!

The finale, Halloween. Our good friends Donna, Madelaine, and Benjamin came by the house for a good part of the day to play and make ghost/cat/bat sugar cookies. Morgan didn't even want to put on her costume that evening, but I talked her into the basics to walk around our cul-de-sac. Many of the neighbors had goodies and they were excited to see the girls. The owner of the hurt ewe makes delicious caramel apples for everyone each year - that was the first caramel apple I've consumed in I don't know how long! What a yummy mess.

We wound up with two buckets full of candy, which Chadwick and I are trying our best not to devour in one week. I've got them hidden in the pantry so at least the girls aren't asking about the sugar non-stop. =) Overall, a good time.

On to Thanksgiving and Christmas....my favorites....