Happy Halloween!

As a child, I got so much joy out of Halloween. My mother, creative diva that she is, made our costumes and we loved wearing them. She made some real winners ... A cheerleader costume (she made the pleated skirt!), Scott (my brother) made first place at school dressed up as Uncle Sam in 1976 (he was six and boy was he cute), The Campbell Soup Kids (along with my brother of course) ... When I got older I started making my own with a friend of mine: Out of two large boxes taped together we made a large computer with colored plastic in front of cut out circles in the cardboard, then we held flashlights inside our box to make the lights "go". A salt and pepper shaker out of two long narrow boxes. Anyway, as Christians, we reject all of the origins of Halloween and instead celebrate God's gifts of creativity, friends and family. We New Englanders can be a bit to ourselves, so it's a wonderful thing to drop by and say hello to our neighbors, and sometimes even have a quick chat. Yesterday we had all of the Aunts and Uncles and Cousins and one set of Grandparents on my SIL Tanya's side over to the house. Together we even managed to pull together a simple dinner of Chicken Soup a la Dulce (my MIL), Panini Sandwiches and Spinach Salad. Enjoy our joy and memories . . .

Pics: Sandy and apple crisp, fun at "the kids table", Aunt Shay with the newest cousin "Spencer".

L-R: Ripley, my brother Scott, Rosalie top, Reese, David aka: "Trapper Man", Spencer

My precious boy Benjamin with the Recycling Bin that we made together. He gave a reusable shopping bag to each house he stopped at.

Sweet Reese
Spencer (3 mos). It's hard being Piglet.
Cousins forever: Dylan, Orion and Benjamin


My BIL Glen with "I Love Shay" on his throat. What a husband.

Our neighbor Michelle tending to our large crowd.