Obligatory (But Sort of Sad) Halloween Post

We had a nice Halloween.  Cinderella's friend E was spending the night with us because her younger sister Amanda was recently diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and is in the hospital.  We wanted it to be fun for her so she could kind of forget about her stress and relax.  Thank to a few friends joining us, we kept E fairly distracted and had a great time. 

We had our traditional "Dead Man" Meatloaf, Green "Brain" Casserole, and "Ghostly" Mashed Potatoes with three families from our ward.  (Of course no pictures.  But, I assure you, it did not look very appetizing.)  ;)  Then it was time for costumes and a few pictures. 

Ceiling Fans, "Mexican Dude", and Little Red Riding Hood

Snow White's, Sleeping Beauty's, Cinderella's

Princess Peach, Red Riding Hood, Mexican Dude, "Tangled", Mario, Cutest Doggie Ever, and Ceiling Fans

I felt the girls were too old for trick-or-treating this year, but they didn't think so.  In the end, I figured they might as well do it if they wanted to.  What better distraction for E than running around the neighborhood begging for candy with some of our darling friends?  They came home with quite the haul.  We ran into more friends while out in the neighborhood.  It would have been impossible not to, there were so many people out and about!  It was a pleasant evening. 

And our "punny", sarcastic ceiling fans had a good time puzzling the crowds with their clever costume.  (Thanks to a suggestion from our friend Susan that morning, and her sufficient browsing of the web for easy costume ideas.)  :)  I just was happy to make it through the day in one piece.  I dressed as a worn-out mother.  The costume was spot on, if I do say so myself.  :)

Honestly, it was a little hard to do something as menial as "celebrating" Halloween with E's family having their lives sort of crashing down around them with Amanda's diagnosis.  Prayers for Amanda's recovery from surgery would be so appreciated.  She is having a hard time recovering from the brain trauma during surgery, with complications in eating, speech, and double vision.  They have a long road ahead with this recovery and chemo and radiation to come.  They'll need all of the prayers they can get.  I know the Lord is in charge and "that all things work together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28) but it sure is hard to watch someone else we know struggle with this terrible disease. 

Anyway, thanks to our friends for joining us and making our day fun.  It's so great to be with friends and be festive.  And I must say, it's also pretty great to steal good candy from my children's Halloween buckets.  (Did I just type that?  Whoops.)  :)