Halloween 2020

 Halloween is always a pretty great holiday at this house and this year it was probably more looked forward to than ever before. One because of Covid and two the kids are getting older and remember what we do and look forward to it. We put up all the Halloween decorations on Oct. 1st. This is our first holiday season in this house so it was fun to see it all come together in this new place. We also started talking about Halloween costumes really early and because I was feeling crafty I feel the costumes are a little more than I usually do. That said they are still homemade and you can tell, but my kids loved them and we had fun dreaming them up, and putting them all together. We were characters from our new favorite graphic novels Mighty Jack and Zita the Space Girl. All that said this is how Halloween shook out for us this year.

We started with our traditional meal of Autumn Sausage Casserole on Saturday night. Then Sunday we had moldy mac and worms. I was feeling like baking that day, so I also tried a fall fruit pizza. It was really good. I will probably pick a stronger flavored apple next time, but it was still really good. That night we also got 'Boo'ed. The girls were so excited. It was a really good boo. We got lanterns, glow stuff, witch hats that light up, candy, and other toys. My girls loved it and it was the perfect start to Halloween week. 

Fall Fruit Pizza

Moldy Mac n Worms

Kylee eating worms

Gaupo helping Kade learn to eat worms

Abby and her worm

Tia with a mouthful of mold

Monday school was cancelled for snow. It was so great and sadly wont happen again because the school district said that every day they have in school matters, so now we have to do virtual learning on snow days. LAME! Oh well, I enjoyed the one I got and so did the girls. They got to play outside with our neighbor for about 2 hours because none of them had school. It was so great because then I could work inside in piece. The gloves I was making still failed and I was out of fabric to try again, but I got to do it alone. Anyway, we tried a new dinner--spaghetti brain. Luckily soccer practice was cancelled due to snow, so Gaupo had plenty of time to figure out what to do. I take Tia to swim lessons, so he made dinner while we were doing that. I think it was a win for our family because it was pretty simple and they ate it. There are things we will do different next year, but it probably made it on to the tradition list. That night as FHE, we passed the BOO on to a neighbor and then to a family in our ward. It was so fun and the girls loved it. It is totally their first ding-dong ditch activity.

Spaghetti Brain

Abby learned she likes to eat and play in snow.

Tuesday was meatloaf ham and spider spuds for dinner. It was good planning on our part because Tuesday the girls are at school and so I had the afternoon to work on meatloaf and potatoes and then when they got home I could pay attention to them.

spider spuds

Monster hand

Wednesday was the kick-off for school festivities. Tia got to dress-up in her costume and she LOVED it. They were going to do a virtual Halloween parade, but have had technical difficulties, so I don't know that will work out but Tia still loved wearing her costume. While she was at school and the twins were napping, Kylee and I worked on her costume. It was mostly done, but she needed  belt or sheath to hold her sword, so we did a four-strand braid to make a belt for her. It was fun to work together on it. That day also a friend dropped off a bag of hand-me-downs and in it were a pair of black boots. She really wanted boots for her costume, but that was too much money for Halloween, so I had said no, but then there they were and free, so she had them and she was so excited. It was a very fun tender mercy. That night Tia had swim, there was still snow so soccer was canceled and so Gaupo was on dinner duty and made great spider chicken burgers.

Spider Burgers

Thursday both girls got to dress-up and go to school. They were so excited to go together and be all dressed up. They had a great day at school. We had jack-o-lantern cassadias for dinner.

Lilly King Kylee and Tia as Zita the space girl

More of the girls.

Just one more because they are so cute!

Zita the Space Girl (Tia)

Lilly King (Kylee)

Jack-o-lantern Cassadias.

Friday, was a big day. Not so much for Halloween though we miraculously got some of that in there to but because we made applesauce a ton of it. Kitt and Matthew came up for the weekend and we did applesauce. We eat a ton of it and I had some apple from Idaho, plus apple were on sale, so I bought more and so did Kitt and we did them all. I started the process solo around 11-ish and we didn't finish until about 10-ish. It was a long day of applesauce. We canned about 80 pints and 14 quarts of applesauce. My new kitchen is amazing for canning and it took 4 adults and two kids to do it all and boy by the end we were tired. However, we not only canned applesauce, we managed to do monster tacos for dinner with homemade root beer. Home made root beer I think is our kids favorite Halloween tradition. They love the fog that comes off of it. I also think it is the first time I have canned a whole day and not been like 'lets just pick up a pizza.' Anyway, it was fun and accomplishing. That night we also showed the girls Girl vs. Monster which they liked and it did not give them scary dreams so another win for sure.

Homemade rootbeer. Tia, Kylee, and Kade.

More rootbeer funn. Abby, Kade, Gaupo

Applesauce galore!

My monster taco

Gaupo's monster taco

Saturday was another big day for us. The morning started off with Gaupo going to work and the rest of us enjoying pumpkin pancakes with the kids getting pumpkin and ghost shaped ones. Then Kitt took Kylee and Tia to Kylee's soccer game while I worked on the the twins costumes, made a picnic lunch, and visited on the phone. When they got back from the game, we all quickly changed into costumes and headed to the ward party. It was at a park in Mead. My kids are still kind of getting to know the kids in the ward, so it was a little hard for them, but they still had fun playing. There were also some spookily dressed kids that made them a little leery, so that wasn't great especially when Tia was to scared to go to bed that night. Anyway, we had lunch played at the park, talked to some people and then they did a trunk-or-treat which pretty much was people stand around the park and hand out candy as the kids walk around. It was fun and the kids got a ton of candy, so they were all very happy. When we got home we put the twins down fr a nap and just relaxed for a minute. Then we carved pumpkins. It was fun to let them do it again. I forgot I didn't have candles or sparklers this year, so we stuck playdough in the bottom with a birthday candle and it worked great. That night we had pumpkin and snake shaped pizza and leftover root beer for dinner. Then we met up with our neighbor for some trick-or-treating. It was the first time Gaupo and I have ever been able to go together (Thanks Kitt and Matthew for handing out candy for us) and you can tell who wants to go to every door with a light (me) and who wants a candy but with minimal effort (Gaupo). Its all good though and then kids had a blast with friends and seeing neighbors and it was really fun with way to much candy. Once home, we looked through the candy ate a bunch, lit the candles in the pumpkins, and sent the kids to bed. Once they were in bed, we watched Mostly Ghostly,  and then the adults went to bed. 

Kade as Mighty Jack

Abby as Jack's little sister Maddy

Tia as Zita

Kylee as Lilly King

Tia, Abby, Kylee, and Kade

Kylee, Abby, Tia, Me (as Madrigral) and Kade

Joseph, Zita, Jack, Lilly Kind, and Maddy

Team USA--Matthew, Kitt, and Jay

Carving pumpkings, Tia, Matthew, Kitt, and Kylee

Tia and her pumpkin

Kylee and her pumpkin

Playing around while trying to light pumpkins.

The kids pumpking shaped pizza.

Snake pizza.

Tia with her candy.

Kylee with her stash.

Abby 

Kade

Tia and Kylee with lit pumpkins.

Sunday, was a day of rest a much needed day of rest. We went to church, although, I probably shouldn't have because I had a runny nose. I felt bad once I had thought about it more, but I was honeslty like its just a cold, but I shouldn't take chances like that right now. I am still learning with all this Covid stuff when to say no and when it is still okay. Anyway, what is done is done and I went and I will try really hard not to make that mistake again. Then when we got home we had lunch and I took a  nap. Then we had mac and cheese for dinner and I visited a bit with Gaupo and then we went to bed. It was a super fun, busy, week for us but it was Halloween and I thoroughly enjoy it. We celebrated well I think. It wasn't too crazy hard (at least by our standards) we still had fun and it was a combo of big and little things. Plus, it was so fun to watch the twins figure this whole Halloween thing out. I don't know that they super get it, but they do get that they have a treat bucket full of candy on the counter and they can eat and they LOVE it.

Happy Halloween!!

Trip To Idaho

Oct. 16-19 was our school's fall break. Normally, we just enjoy the four-day weekend at home, but this year we decided to go to Idaho. Shortly after coming back from Idaho this summer, I really wanted to go back and visit and be there. Sometimes, the summer visits are really crazy with farm work and harvests, and family reunions and the this year top that with Covid it was just kind of busy. So, we decided to trek out there again and I am so glad we did.

We took the kids out of school on Thursday and drove to Logan, UT where we visited Guapo's Grandma. It was so good to be in her home. The kids love that place. She has a jungle gym and many very cool toys and so they play and play and we visit. We didn't get to see Grandma Hammond this summer due to Covid and on this visit we tried to be cautious with wearing masks. She totally spoiled us with pizza from Domino's and the Christmas gifts for the kids. Normally, we would hold those gifts until Christmas, but this year we decided to let them open them because she loves watching them do that and then playing with them. We really didn't do anything to exciting just play, visit, and eat dinner. It has been a long time since, we had the time to go to her house and just be there as long as we wanted, so I am so glad we got to go.

We left her house a little after 7:00 and headed to Swanlake. When we got there we put the kids down and visited briefly and then went to bed. It was a rough, rough, night. Honestly, it might be the roughest night of the twins lives. Abby was up almost every hour. It was terrible. However, we made it to morning and began a very fun day.

This trip was a little different in the fact that Grandma couldn't do much. It about drove her nuts to not scoop up the kids, chase them around, cook, and be outside whenever she wanted. However, her knee and foot were too swollen she couldn't, and so everyone had to pitch in and help. I thought it was great to see everyone working together to get meals fixed and take care of the kids and just make life happen. Grandma is a goer and so most times she does it, but this time I got to see people do stuff they don't usually do and they could do it. They might not do it my way, but they could. The meals were simple and that left plenty of time for visiting, playing, and being together. I hope Grandma's leg gets better and she can do the things she loves, but I also hope to remember how nice it was to be simple and let everyone help and do. 

Anyway, Friday morning I made breakfast of pancakes and eggs. Then the Kylee and Tia ran off to play with Blaine and James. The twins were looked after by either Gaupo or I and they were inside, outside, asking for four-wheeler rides, or swinging. One big project of the day was recovering the greenhouse. Swanlake got some wicked winds and ripped and blew off the plastic on Grandma's greenhouse. Everyone was outside, so Grandma and I got in the side-by-side and I drove her to the middle of the garden so she could watch kids play and her greenhouse get a new cover. Once that project was well underway, the Anderson's arrived! The kids of course loved this because it means more cousins. They played and played while we got lunch ready. Then everyone came into lunch. Tia had a runny nose and was super low on energy so she went and took nap. So, did the twins and Gaupo. Once Tia was up, we carved pumpkins. Aunt Heidi, brought pumpkins for all the kids to carve. They had a blast drawing and cutting the pumpkins. When we were all done we put them on Melanie's steps. It was quite the collections--9 different pumpkins by 9 different kids. After pumpkin carving there was more playing, visiting, and four-wheeler rides. Heidi and Jeff stayed until dark because Jeff went out hunting. We had dinner and then put on a movie for the kids. Once Heidi and Jeff left we put our kids to bed and then played games in the kitchen. Melanie's favorite game is Castle Panic, and I remembered to bring it so that is what we played every night.

Blaine, Hyrum, Arlin, Naomi, James, Katelyn, and Kylee carving pumpkins.

Kylee, Katelyn, Naomi, Gaupo, Tia, Hyrum, Arlin, and James.

Saturday was a new day. With more playing and visiting and fun. Gary made breakfast and it was scrumptious. Pastrami, Ham, and egg sandwiches. The kids played a ton outside. Guapo and I went out and helped turn over some of the sandbox, so the kids could play in there. The big kids had been playing in the sand mound, but when we dug it up the little kids and big kids could play and Grandma could watch from the kitchen. Melanie and I also made caramel apples. Well we dipped them in caramel and then we let the kids that wanted to (Kylee and James) cover them in chocolate and toppings. We had a terrible time melting chocolate, but we finally got some that would work. I don't know what was happening. The first bunch I think burned. Then the next one was really thick, like too thick we couldn't use it, then finally we got some that worked, but it was pretty thick still. Anyway, we got them covered, and they were super good. The kids especially loved them. That night Blaine stayed over and had a sleepover with the girls. They all slept in the recliners in the living room. Us adults played Castle panic and visited.

Sunday was church. I got up to get ready for church. I thought it was plenty early but Grandma was getting up and getting potatoes peeled for dinner. I just let her do it because she is the fastest potato peeler I know. Seriously she probably peels like 10 to my 1 and I am not slow, just normal and she is super fast. Then Gaupo helped with breakfast. It takes awhile to get myself and 4 kiddos ready for church so luckily Gaupo could step in to help with breakfast. We went to church and we all wore masks because that is what we normally do, but almost no one there was. It was crazy and for us awesome. It was great to see peoples smiles again. Everyone has beautiful eyes, but I miss seeing the smiles. Anyway, after church we had lunch at the house. The we headed to Virginia.

Our first stop was Uncle John and Aunt Karen's house. Everyone was gathered there for dinner, so we started there. Randy and Erica and their kids were visiting John and Karen and then Kitt, Matthew, and Grandpa-Great were there for dinner. Since we had already had dinner we just visited and I joined in for some yummy chocolate cake. After visiting there, we took the kids to Grandpa-Greats where we put Gaupo and the twins down for a nap. While they were sleeping we visited, played games, and looked at family pictures. Grandpa-Great loves music and requested the girls sing. So, they did with some help and then we just kept singing for a little while. I love music it can be so powerful and relaxing. After they sang, Tia was ready to move, so I took her and the twins outside to explore the farm. Tia would have looked EVERYWHERE if I would have let her. She was so full of questions and curious about everything. I so wish it would have been a nice day, because it would have been fun to have Grandpa-Great out with us to tell the actual stories that went along with the places. However, she loved looking in the calf sheds, and the two white shed on the west side of the house. While we were doing that Kylee was busy chatting with Grandpa-Great. I have no idea what she told him, but she just chatted and chatted until we called them to dinner. We fixed a fancy meal of mac and cheese and hotdogs. Then we packed everyone up around 7:00PM and headed home. It was a fun afternoon in Virginia. It was so great to have not very many of us and to just be there no purpose except to enjoy Grandpa-Great and each other.

Monday we had to head back. I tried to leave the house in good condition. It wasn't perfect but the bathroom was clean, and once we took all of our apples, pumpkins, and other stuff out to the car it was pretty well cleaned up. Grandma made breakfast that morning since I was cleaning and then we were on our way. We didn't make as a great of time on the way home, but that is how it goes with trips home.

Once back our runny noses and cough were still here, so no one could go to school or work. We were pretty worried though about having visited some high risk people and that we might have given them Covid or something. Gaupo went and got a Covid test mainly so he could go back to work and we have prayed so hard that that test was accurate and that people wouldn't get sick from us visiting and so far it appears our prayers were answered.

I am so glad we could just go and visit. It was so good to see everyone, to visit, and just have time to be with some of our favorite people. I am so glad we went because it was really needed. I feel so grateful to be part of such awesome families. 

Kade loved the cows and the four-wheeler rides.

Abby and Jackson.