Halloween Cookies

Earlier this week, Andy told me they were having a Halloween lunch at work, Samantha told me they were having a "Harvest Party" in one of her classes at school and Amanda informed me they were having a party in Seminary. SO....I looked at Matti's blog from last year (her Halloween Dinner post) and then I went online in search of ideas. I needed something that wouldn't take us until midnight to make, (we get up between 4:30-5:00 in the morning), yet we wanted something that would be fun for their parties. We loved the monster fingers that Matti made last year, so we made those with a different twist of our own. We also made mummy cookies, which turned out better than I thought they would. (You know how it is when you see something online or in a magazine and when you try it, it doesn't look ANYTHING like the picture.)

Camping Overnight......Brrrr....

This last Friday night Andy and Samantha went to Mt St Helens with the 12-17 year olds and their leaders from church. They camped overnight and then went hiking through Ape Caves the next day. This is something our ward does every year in October and Samantha looks forward to it from one year to the next. Last year, however, it was canceled due to "activity" with Mt. St. Helens. Sam was not happy about the cancelation, to say the least! I had wanted to go too, but my sinuses have been acting up so I thought it best to stay home and take care of that insteaad of getting sick again. (DARN!) When going through Ape Caves, you have to have a flashlight, water and a helmet/hard hat. (Actually, the helmet is a requirement of the ward leaders. They don't want to take anyone back home with a concusion. Hmmm....I wonder why??) Anyway, both Andy and Sam had a great time!

Halloween roller skating party

Amanda and Samantha with Dr. Yorek (the orthodontist).

Playing "red light - green light".

Looking for prizes and candy in the hay.

The orthodontist the girls go to puts on a Halloween Roller Skating Party every year at the local skating rink. They have games for the kids (of all ages) to play, snacks and drinks, and, of course roller skaing. At the end of the evening, they hand out door prizes and prizes for costumes. Usually, both girls dress up in a costume, but this year Samantha couldn't find a costume. Amanda was a doormat! (She loves coming up with original costumes.) We went to the thrift store and bought a black t-shirt and black sweatpants. Then we spelled out the word "WELCOME" with silver duct tape down the shirt and one pant leg. Next we took brown paint and a flip flop (one that we could throw away, because I wasn't about to wash paint off a shoe) and added footprints and scuff marks all over the clothes. I made a "key" out of cardboard and covered it in aluminum foil to glue on the back of the shirt. Then we took a rolled up newspaper to glue to the front of the shirt. Her and I had fun making her costume. We love making our own costumes....it's more fun that way.