1st Annual Halloween Bash

I have never been a fan of the spooky side of Halloween...scary movies, haunted houses, freaky costumes...it is just not my thing!  I will never forget going to a haunted house with my brother and sister and friends when I was 13.  I started crying while waiting in line to get in because there were creepy people walking around trying to scare us while we were standing there, and they were especially focused on me because I was a prime victim...I had scared written all over my face!  I remember that night making a commitment to myself never to go to a haunted house or watch a scary movie again!  I love Halloween more for the dressing up part, eating warm soup, going trick-or-treating, and having parties...who doesn't like another reason to have a party!  I was determined not to miss out on Halloween with my family this year since I had missed out the past two years while I was in the Netherlands.  So, I had a brilliant idea come to me to throw a Halloween party for the whole fam!  The more I thought about it, the more I thought it would be a good idea to reserve a church and do it here in Logan.  I made up invites and sent them out.  I know that Logan is a little drive from the Salt Lake City area, especially with young children, but I was hoping that my family would be able to come!  And they did!  23 out of 26 family members drove up yesterday for the party.  I had so much making all of the food and preparing the activities, and I was just tickled that everyone would be here together.  Since I am usually the one who gets pampered, I decided that I wanted to just let everyone come and I would pull everything together.  I made all of the food and came up with the activities except for the caramel apples...thanks for doing those Mom!  Those were a hit and so delicious!  Here is the menu and pictures of the spread:

Goblin Guts: Taco Soup

Fried Bat Wings: Tortilla Chips

Scarecrow Hair: Shredded Cheese

Ghostly Goop: Sour Cream

Witch Fingers: Celery and Carrots

Dead Spread: Veggie Dip

Frankenstein Freezy: Sprite/Sorbet Drink

Blood Clot Brew: Raspberry Punch

Caramel Covered Cat Brains: Caramel Apples

Pumpkin Footprints: Sugar Cookies

Spider Sandwiches: Homemade Oreos

I think that I was most excited to see all 13 of my nieces and nephews dressed up in their costumes.  My Mom made the pirates, bunny, zombie, and dalmatian costumes, my Dad made the Lego man costume, and Kelly made the Harry Potter costumes.  They all looked so cute!  Everyone arrived around 11 and we ate and talked for a bit.  

Lincoln (pirate) and Kate (pink bunny)

Ryan (Harry Potter), Landon (Ron Weasley), and Trevor (Hagrid)

Jack (zombie)

Rhett (Lego man)

Ella (pirate)

Baby Zack (Utah Utes fan)

Ava (black cat) and Crew (dalmatian)

Crew (pirate) and Hannah (princess)

After eating, we started to play games.  I had filled 60 balloons with candy.  Everyone tied a balloon to their ankle and when we said "go", we ran around trying to pop the balloons of others to get the candy.  The kids  loved it and we played a few times.  

Then we had a toilet paper mummy wrap.  Ryan was the winner and the rest of the participants came in close behind.  

To finish off the party, the kids decorated a plastic pumpkin that I had bought for them to put all of their goodies in and we played "Guess Who Ghost" and "Dead Man".  My Dad had gone to the store and bought adorable party favors that he gave out to all of the kids as well.  We had the greatest time together!  It was hard to see the party come to an end.  So, before everyone headed out, we made a trip to the Pumpkin Walk in North Logan.  It was so amazing!  It is one of my life goals to volunteer to make one of the scenes one year.  I will do it some day.  The kids had so much fun looking at all of the scenes and taking pictures afterwards.  Here are a few that I captured:

 I am hoping to make this a tradition!  I don't care where we do it, and I don't care if I have to put it together, it was all worth it!  I love being together with my family.  Thanks for making the trip to Logan!  Happy Halloween!