Halloween 2016

I think this Halloween was a pretty successful one! Everyone had great costumes that they were happy to wear, so all of the work was worth the effort.

Marianne was the easiest this year. She wore at least three different costumes on different days (preschool, dance, trunk or treat), and settled on being a race car driver for the official night. (She's holding a little ceramic pumpkin statue that she painted with her friend Cate.)

 Beau's Award Winning Costume was SWEET! Seriously! His was a working, dispensing candy machine.

We poked a little hole behind each piece of candy and Beau had a pencil that he could hold inside of his costume. When someone put in a quarter, he would push out a little piece of candy and then the customer could get it out of the bottom.

Unfortunately we did learn that no one pays for candy when they can get it for free. But he did take the top costume award at the ward trunk or treat!

Jacob's costume was equally impressive - he was a boy being abducted by an alien. We paper mache'd the alien head as a family for FHE. When it was dry we found a long 1" square stick, covered one end with black felt, and then shoved it in a hole on the bottom of the head. Jacob wore a mini camel pack and we put the other end of the stick in it. Then we covered it all with a cape, stuffed the pajama legs and alien arms with stuffing, and after much effort, figured out how to manipulate everything so it looked right. Voila alien abduction! 

Bekah was a gumball machine! After Marianne, Bekah's costume was the easiest, just lots of glue and pom-poms. 

 Bekah had the day off of school because of parent teacher conferences (smart school! They always schedule P/T conferences for Halloween!) She went with me to the elementary school to watch the costume parade. We decided to be silly and wear tails...because you can on Halloween!

Since our ward trunk or treat was earlier in the week, we decided to do some real trick or treating in my parent's neighborhood in Los Lunas. Our own neighborhood is too hilly and few neighbors actually participate. My parents had a fire going in the pit in the backyard so the kids could roast hot dogs, and there was other delicious food for the adults. Jake, DeAnn and their kids came down too. After torturing the kids with stern "Finish your dinner first!" and "Ten more minutes!", we finally went trick or treating! The best house went all out with a haunted house - we took all of the kids through it and it was legitimately creepy! At one point a creepy psychiatric patient was coming down the stairs towards Beau and he started backing up! He didn't want to walk past that person, and I didn't blame him, but I did give him a little shove forward, and we all breathed easier (and shared some laughs!) when we made it out.
They certainly brought in the loot! One of my favorite parts of Halloween night is when everyone sorts out their candy! I loved it as a kid, and it doesn't fail to thrill me now!

I love that my parents were part of our fun night!

Rus and Keri Go to Monterey

Rus had a conference in Monterey Bay, CA in August and he invited me to go along! I don't know what I was more excited about - going on a trip with Rus to the CA coast, or having a few days to do ANYTHING I wanted while he was busy "conferencing." 

I was curious what kind of person I would be when completely alone. I haven't been alone EVER - not intentionally, but still...

And it turns out I enjoyed myself! I walked downtown from the hotel, rented a beach cruiser bicycle for the day, and rode along the coast to my heart's content. 

I stopped at a cozy solitary spot and did a bit of watercolor painting. 

I found myself on another main strip and did some eating and shopping. It was a great day!

That night Rus and I ate clam chowder on Fisherman's Wharf and enjoyed the dinnertime show put on by the sea otters. After he wrapped up his conference the next day (in which I tried the bus system, shopped, found a delicious bakery and several great thrift/antique stores), we met up again at the wharf with some friends and we couldn't help ourselves - we enjoyed the chowder again! (Hey it's so fresh there!)

 The next day we had to drive up to Oakland for Rus to meet with a customer. While he was busy working, I spent the day riding the BART in to San Francisco and exploring the deYoung Museum and the Legion of Honor. I saw SO many beautiful things and safely navigated all of the public transportation I could handle...and at the end of the day when I was safely back in the car with Rus, I have to admit that I started crying. I guess it was just the release of a lot of tension and stress from being on my own for a few days. As much as I enjoyed the vacation from my routine, it turns out that I really like being around people I know.
Our last stop before catching the flight home was the Oakland Temple. We didn't have time to do anything more than walk the grounds, but that was enough. We really enjoyed the beauty of the temple...

 ...And the view of the city from above.

 Such a handsome fella! I'm so glad he took me with him, and for the memorable trip that we had!