Yip, yip, yip, yip, yip! Uh-huh! Uh-huh!

If you watched Sesame Street much during the 80's, you probably remember these guys:


The Yip Yip Martians scared the pants off me when I was a kid!

As an adult, I think they are pretty funny and make for awesome halloween costumes! Bryan and I took 1st runner up in the costume contest last night!

Happy Halloween!

Andrew and Logan wanted to dress as Shaggy and Scooby-Doo for Halloween this year. I snagged an awesome Scooby-Doo costume from eBay, and thought making a Shaggy costume would be a piece of cake.

I didn't realize, however, how impossible it would be to find a men's v-neck lime green t-shirt in October. I made a "help-me-Mom-what-am-I-going-to-do" phone call the morning of the ward party. Of course, she saved the day, suggesting I buy a white v-neck mens undershirt and dye it green. Brilliant!!! I bought a shaggy men's wig to complete the ensemble, but Andrew said it made him look like a girl...

...So we ditched the wig for the costume parade at Andrew's school. I'm not sure how recognizable he was when he was when he wasn't standing right next to Scooby, but Andrew seemed satisfied.

Hannah and Daddy enjoying the costume parade.

Pumpkin Hannah at the ward party.

I think the boys love ward parties because I'm too concerned with keeping Hannah from making a mess that I seldom monitor what they choose to eat there. Here I caught a glimpse of Logan's "dinner": shredded cheese, sour cream, and a handful of candy corn. Yeah, I'm a good mom.

HaHaHa! I loved this costume! When Logan fell asleep in the car and his head bobbed down a little bit, it looked like Scooby was riding in the car with us.

It was so fun to have Nana here with us for the Halloween festivities. On Halloween morning, she made us pancakes shaped like ghosts, bats, and jack-o-lanterns! They were sure tasty spread with pumpkin butter!

Thanks for all the fun Halloween goodies, Nana and Papa!

Carving pumpkins with Nana.

Poor Logan was grossed out by the whole pumpkin carving thing, and kept his head down while we scooped out the seeds and pulp. "It's yucky," he announced, "I don't like yucky things!"

SO, I bet you can guess which son chose the nasty puking pumpkin design and which chose the benign smiling pumpkin design. The cute girly Minnie Mouse was for Hannah. What a grouping!

My Lil' Punkin

Scooby and ShaggyWe had a great time Trick-or-Treating with the Weights and Brimhalls.

My favorite moment of the night: When we found a giant blow-up Scooby-Doo in a yard,

Logan walked up to it and shouted, "ARE THERE TWO OF ME?!"Happy Halloween!

Trick-Or-Treat!

Who would have guessed, after all the cold, rain, hail, and snow on Wednesday, that we would have such PERFECT Trick-Or-Treat weather?! We had such a great time!

Hannah and her boyfriend, Hudson.

In this picture, Hannah looks so much like Andrew when he wore the Eeyore costume.

It was no surprise that the boys wanted to dress as their favorite Star Wars characters. Darth Vader was an easy costume to find, but R2-D2 took a little more creativity. A few weeks ago, we found this little plastic domed garbage can and thought, hey, we might be able to use this!

Bryan cut out the bottom and made arm holes in the sides and spray painted the top silver and the bottom white. Then, using an R2-D2 toy as a model, he drew and painted the markings. Finally, he used his little blow-torch to burn battle wounds into the body. Great job, Babe!

R2-D2 and Darth Vader

We were intending to dress Hannah as Princess Leia to complete the Star Wars theme, but to save money, we ended up dressing her in the Eeyore costume that Andrew wore on his first Halloween. She made a pretty cute Eeyore, I think.

The force is strong with this one!

Andrew really enjoyed trick-or-treating with his best friend, Noah, who dressed as Luke Skywalker. Luke, I am your father!

Logan was a little slower and stuck closely to his Daddy. After every house he said, "I want MO candy!"

Bryan makes a pretty good R2 too!

This Halloween thing is a pretty good deal!

I have really loved Halloween the last six years; kids make it so fun! I love the excitement they have for their costumes, and how they seem to stand a little taller the moment they put them on. I love seeing their energy as they run from house to house and their smiles as they examine their loot! I love the warm feeling of community as neighbors, who may have never met before, literally rub shoulders and share a laugh on the sidewalks.

I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father allows us joy and even FUN in this life! "Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured!"