Of Witches and Candles that Spark in the Night

October glows with mysterious light - oranges and purples and blacks dim light,

Little bodies with open wide eyes,

and witches and goblins

that fly through the sky

We bumped and we jumbled with hoards on the street

And paused for a picture of the little ones, 

um...

sweet?

 

(Ok - bear with me here - watch Maddy and Lexi as they patiently wait for the photo.  Then come back and watch Jack's expressions.) 

Oh, no!

A ruckus, a wailing, a gnashing of teeth!

Karsyn was pleased with the rat that she found

sitting in the comfort of the witch's broad lap

 But confiscated by a sister who would not,

  no way,

 Never, ever

 Give that rat BACK!

And thus ends the tale of the smiling face photo 

of sweet happy people

we unfortunately lack.

But never fear, the smiles are here:

Cheetos-loving Karsyn - now who couldn't adore that precious smile?

Our own all-time Jack! o-lantern and his own endearing style.

Grins as wide as her face, our adorable Lexi Mae

And Kamryn aka Witchy Pooh now coming our way

Stephanie, Karsyn, and Maddy enjoying the farm

And Maddy and Leslie with hugs to keep warm

And last but not least, here's Makinzee weaving her charm.

 (And any resemblance to poetry is total happenstance!)
The witches are out in Gardner Village, and we had a great time Saturday night playing Witch Hunt with the rest of the women and children while the men attended Priesthood session of Conference.





Friday I received this wonderful fruit bouquet from our kids out in Maryland.  Thanks, Sean and Linzy, it was really yummy!

Loved, loved, loved! the book from all the kids and grandkids!  They gathered "60" of their favorite memories of time with me (much more than 60), and it is so fun to read.  Thanks to all of you for helping get it together, with a special thanks to Mike for organizing and composing it.  I will treasure it forever!

And all the other gifts and unexpected surprises - everyone just really made the day feel extra special for me - even if I'm still not sure I want to be OLD...
I love you all!

 And Saturday day (my birthday) was spent putting up 27 pints of salsa - all from one picking of tomatoes from my - count them - 1, 2, 3 - three tomato bushes.  Brent was a terrific help and we got through them all in about four hours.  (Having a stove big enough to use two canners at the same time didn't hurt!)

The babies stayed snug and warm in their strollers the night before, so I got their photo on Sunday.  Only problem is they were never smiling at the same time...

And all my cakes:

Pumpkin Bars Saturday night - blow hard, those sparkling candles don't want to go away!

And Heather did my cake for Sunday...CAKES - all three of my favorite!

Blow hard again - same candles??????

One other activity on Sunday - our first annual Haunt Hunt!  (only my camera was set wrong and everything outside came out very blurry so you only get one from outside)...