Happy Halloween!

Hi there! This would've been split up into several posts if I hadn't been a lazy blogger. oops! So here's the picture tour. :)

Melissa is all moved out! Yay! Good job Mel.

This is what it looked like outside a few days before Halloween. Lame. But it's been deceivingly warm for the last little bit. I chose to boycott the coming weather by wearing capris and flip flops for the last warm day. I'm such a rebel!

Here is our trunk for the Trunk-or-Treat. They picked Halloween day, so that's why it is light. Dad built a coffin and cut a hole in the top. Kidlets (and adults alike) had to reach in to get candy. Meanwhile dad is in the back and would reach out a glove on a stick to scare people reaching in.
I went as the grim reaper.

This was the set-up for Halloween night. Same basic idea as the trunk or treat, but I sat next to the coffin and kept really still. Once they got the courage to reach in, they'd get scared by mom using a duster to touch their hand. Then they'd gather around and that is when I would jump at them and scare them again. It was great! I tried not to scare the little kids (only a few cried- sorry!). But my favorites were the older kids who ran screaming down the driveway, or left without any candy. We scared more than one adult, too. One kid asked his mom if he could "skip that house?" She replied, "Yeah, skip it." It was the best Halloween yet!

Close-up.
At night, you could see the creepy eyes in my costume glowing.

We also got to celebrate Mel's graduation from college! Go Melissa (and friend Cindy)!!

Among other friends and family, mom's brothers came for dinner too. Gerald is on the left and Stirling is on the right. I can't see the resemblance, can you?

We have a "problem" refinery near our home and it keeps exploding. This time it shook our house enough to blow the insulation out of the eaves in the entry way.

You'd think they would close the refinery by now. This is accident #5 since we've been here. Several houses nearer to the site had some serious damage and a few were condemned.

And last, but not least, here's my pumpkins. Sorry this took so long Becky! :)

I rather like this one.

For the MST3K fans out there.

I wanted to do the shadow effect on the back where it would shine something on the wall behind it. However, it didn't really work with little words. Just look through or use a mirror to see it.

With mirror behind.

Ta-da!

Yay for pumpkin carving! Oh by the way, they are fake. I carved them, but they're these foam/plastic pumpkins so you can get fine detail. Now I can keep them for next year!

Happy Holidays!

Start planning!

Guess who caught the bouquet at our cousin's wedding reception?

Yay me!

End of Summer Vaca

Did I take long enough? Apparently Summer is good for a lot of fun things, blogging not being one of them. So I'll try to repent and get back on it with some pictures. I can't remember if I ever showed our garden this year, so I'll give y'all the pleasure at looking at the very few pics I took.

The peas were growing like crazy! And they were delicious. Next year we'll put up a square wire frame so they are easier to pick.

Pretty happy garden with pretty happy pavers. Go dad!
Look! Real corn! I kept getting surprised that stuff was actually growing.

Our squash ended up at least double this size. We ate a lot of squash. It was good.

Also this summer, my old roommate Angie got married and I was a bridesmaid. Very fun!

I have to show off these shoes. This is pair number 3. Remind to make up my mind if I ever have bridesmaids...which I probably won't. But I really do like all the shoes I "had" to buy. oh darn.

Bridesmaids lined up as Angie was coming in.

Cute couple! PS- he was SUPER nervous before the wedding. It was still a couple hours later that he finally started relaxing during the reception.

It was all very beautiful and they had great dinner and dancing.

Me and my old roomie!

So now I can report at the end of the summer how our garden looks. Most of it was done by the time we had a cold front, but the frost pretty much killed off the rest.

:(

Actually there are still beans hanging onto the vines. They're no good anymore, but that thing just kept growing! I think we'll do a little better on portion control for next year's planting.

Oh my gosh! Digging up potatoes was like treasure hunting! It was so FUN! Out of 14 "plantings," with 2-3 seed spuds in each, we had 5 plants come up. I think we would have gotten more potatoes if the frost came later. Oh well, it was still a good haul.

Our corn suffered. Mom finally pulled them all up. We got about 7 tiny cobs, will a sum total of maybe 15 kernals...total.

Mom put flowers in the old pea planters, but I waited too long to get them while they were pretty.

I'm so impressed!!! We grew real potatoes! And this was after we ate a few the night before. They are a red variety- yummy!

This was my favorite one. :)

Happy Fall to everyone and I hope you all enjoy the coming holidays!

Walking...all sorts!

Lazy me! I've certainly waited long enough to get these pics out. I'll just narrate:

Here's the happy grad!With his happy family!

The Marriot Center takes FOREVER to fill up, but the sea of black (except now it's dark blue) finally arrived.

Pres. Uchtdorf and Elder Nelson were the main speakers. It was great!!!

I didn't mean to put this after the pic of Pres. Uchtdorf, it just came next- promise! This was the next day and Mark was getting a little "tired". I have to admit, that the ceremonies really are pretty boring. UNTIL........

CONGRATULATIONS WILL!!! You did it!

Here is the adorable and irresistable Heidi! Thanks for letting us all pass her around Shirley. :)

The Maher kids lined up in a row. I'm not sure what is happening to Wes in the bottom right.
"Yay! It's off to school I go!" (Note Griffin's little backpack)

Such handsome guys, after baby Eva's blessing.

We had lots of fun celebrating with all our family and the Hale's!

The next week was my birthday, and Mom and I went to the tulip festival. I tried to restrain mysef in taking pictures. It helped that my camera battery hit low at the start of the day. I also tried to spare y'all from the many photos. :)

It was really big! 55 acres I think.

LOTS of color and tulips in bloom.


One of my favs.

I love it! More please!

Charming brook. Don't mind the fact that it has charmingly murky water.

I know it is a photography sin to take a shot like this, but I wanted to show the columns they had at the top of a neat spiral hill thingy.

Cool gazeebo type structure in the "Fragrance Garden".
Sorry, I can't help it! It's apparently an addiction. Perhaps I should go to FLA ("Flower Lover's Anonymous").

This is the bottom half of a great big staircase with all these pools pouring into each other.

Entrance to the "Secret Garden".

I guess it's not so secret when all these other people are there! :)

This was really cool, but you have to have a bird's eye to see that it forms a butterfly. We are at the top right wing in this shot.


Anyone want a ride on the Merry-go-round?

World's biggest man-made waterfall. And behind us are all the people selling stuff where mom bought a giant clock. Really.

My pretty cake! Mom got creative when she ran out of the needed letters. :)

Thanks for a happy birthday!