Halloween!

Today I’m taking advantage of two of my talents. I’m 1) good at entertaining myself, and 2) even better at putting off homework! So, I am writing in my new blog! And the exciting news is, there is now something to actually blog about! That is, of course, showing off our Halloween costumes and food! The story of our Halloween began a few weeks ago at church. Someone announced a ward Halloween party, but the announcer had no clue about the time, place, or host of said party… helpful, right? But, no matter, I started getting excited for it anyway. Gradually, details surfaced, and we found out they were having a costume contest AND a creepy food contest! My specialties! Just kidding. But anyway, I was excited, despite the fact that I had no plans for costumes or food.

Throughout the month of October, I was able to successfully waste plenty of time (see talent #2 above) browsing the internet for both costume and food ideas, and like the details of the party, things gradually started coming to me. First, I thought we could dress up as a Spanish dancing couple. I have no idea what they’re called, but the girls have such cute billowing skirts! But because we didn’t own a single piece of either person’s would-be Spanish outfit, I had to discard that idea. Then, I had the fabulous idea of John Smith and Pocahontas! Again, however, we owned no part of those costumes, plus, Bowman thinks John Smith is dumb. So that idea was also a dud. And basically that was the end of my costume searching until Thursday morning, the day before the big party. So I was in the bathroom, brushing my hair, when I started to think, “What am I going to do when my hair starts turning gray?” Because I worry that with black hair there’s no graceful transition into gray—it’s just salt and pepper for many years. So anyway, I’m thinking this, when I have a stroke of genius. And what, you ask, was that stroke? We could dress up as… senior missionaries!

Perfect! Because 1) we owned pretty much everything we would need, 2) it’s basically just a great idea, and 3) I was hoping that Bowman might let me shave the top of his head so he could have an authentic bald spot! Don’t worry, I didn’t. But anyway, that was how we came to the idea of our costumes. And with the simple purchases of white hair spray and dated spectacles, we were totally set!

This, my friends, was the finished product…



And what about the food? This was even more fun because I feel much more confident in the cooking arena than I do in costume design. So I searched and searched and found plenty of sick recipes (litter-box cake anyone?) but I couldn’t make myself choose one. And then, I found it! The one I had been looking for my whole life (well, since I heard about the party). Mummy toes!



Sickeningly real-looking! And totally easy! You just take Lil’ Smokies sausages and cut off a piece of the end. Then, slice a tortilla into strips and wrap the strips around the ends of the sausages. Hold it with a toothpick, bake for 7 minutes (350), and for the finishing touch, add a ketchup toenail! Delicious!

So, you’re wondering if we won the contests, right? Bad news! We didn’t! Because of homework and meticulous costume and food preparation, we were late to the party! So late that we missed the contests! Sad huh? But, honestly, we had way more fun getting ready and looking at ourselves in the mirror than we would have had accepting first place prizes for both contests. Which I know we would have won if we had been there. But we’re over it. Pretty much. Anyway, here are a few more pictures of our masterpieces.




We had tons of fun, and I am so excited to save these pictures for 40 years so that when we’re missionaries for real, we can look back and see how we compare! Happy late Halloween!