The One Where They Got All the Candy

Our Halloween celebrations started last week with Cooper's parade. Then they continued on Friday with Phoebe's parade, which was immediately followed by Bryan's work party, then a direct drive to our Ward's Trunk or Treat. We all crashed hard that night and slept in late on Saturday.

Here's Phoebe in her school parade as Annabeth Chase from the Percy Jackson books. She was so sad that only one person at her school knew who she was. I thought it was a great costume, but she's decided that next year she needs to be something more obvious, in part so people stop asking if she forgot her costume.

We didn't take many pictures at the work party. Thankfully we took advantage of the backdrop to snap a few. Here we are as a ninja, Drift from Fortnite, Annabeth Chase, Angelina Ballerina, Mama Dino, Baby Dino, and Bruce Banner.

I'm so glad we got this picture of Sophie with her ears and whiskers because the ears disappeared that night after the Trunk or Treat and I completely forgot to draw on the whiskers on Halloween night.

The ward Trunk or Treat was so fun that we completely failed to take any pictures. One highlight was Peter and the Deacons acting as human targets in their Nerf version of Duck Hunt. The Youth were in charge of the activities for the kids and this was what the twelve and thirteen-year-olds decided on. It was a hit, pun intended.

And here we are on Halloween night, about to go Trick or Treating. I was going to stay home with Topher to hand out candy. Then I realized that if we were home Topher would want to eat, which would make handing out candy frustrating for him and awkward for me. And since he's usually happy people watching in the Bjorn, I decided at the last minute to take the kids around the neighborhood. We were out for about an hour and a half and Sophie wore out before Topher did.

We have sorted and traded and weighed the candy. After eating some of what she got from Friday's activities, and some from last night, Phoebe has ten pounds of candy left. She thought that sounded like too much, so she pulled out about half a pound to take to school and share with her class. I think it's a good beginning.

Wednesday had lots of strong feelings and some of our small people almost had to stay home. I'm thankful that we pulled it together and that the kids all got to go Trick or Treating. And I'm thankful that, for the most part, the kids remembered to say "Trick or Treat" and "thank you" without prompting.