My first debut as a wicked witch, was in West Valley, when Catherine Elderedge asked me to come to her home to entertain the seniors at her house. From that point on, it became a tradional party. 17 years ago when we moved to Orem, I was called to serve as the Senior's Family Home Evening Leader, and I threw a "Wicked Witch" Halloween Party. Koa Hansen was my accomplis back then. I remember the year, Koa had Bill Croft(age 89 at the time)convinced she was going to marry him or cast a significant spell on his household.
Over 5 years ago, I was called to be the Seville Retirement Home Enrichment leader. Of course, just like clock work, the October Halloween season rolled around and the wicked witch in me revealed herself. This year Twin Witches came to join in the fun. Monica Martin & her two sons, Thiago & Kevin, along with Monica's sister Casandra Camargo, one of Thiago's mission companions & his little brother who just put inhis mission papers. What a fun evening we had playing, dancing and having fun with all the Seville Saints. As old as most of these folks are, it never ceases to amaze me that the 'little child' in each of them is so anxious for laughter and fun. These ladies were just squirming putting their hands in wet spaghetti noodles and grapes searching for coins. And the race was on when it came time to figure out the word search! They screamed with delight being the first ones finished. Laughter was plentiful and by the time the evening is over, this ole witch had a hard time climbing back on her broom to fly home.
But nothing takes the place of Halloween night. As a young mother, I hated Halloween! So I joined hands with my two neighbors, Linda Christensen and Shauna Harker, and we changed it. Of course, these two ladies are ladies of excellence, and so a simple evening turned into a extensive labor some distraction trying to get away from the "Get & GO" or alias "Trick or Treating." Instead, it became an afternoon & evening full of events: Painting crafts at our house while guessing the number of seeds in a pumpkin or candies in a jar. Then over to Harkers for donut eating & bobbing for apples and dinner with no utinsels. Finally back over to Christensen's for the treasure hunt, pinyata, and carving pumpkins while watching a movie. Elaborate, but so fun. Of course, each year, the children would moan and complain about not being able to go "Trick or Treating" and so they were given a choice of, "You may go Trick or Treating but you can't join in on the family party of events....it's your choice!" They certainly wanted to go "Trick or Treating!" But by the time they came home from school, the family party was in motion. Soon they were involved and distracted. Year, after year, after year we would go through this same "decision" ordeal. I'm not sure how many year this annual custom transpired up on Bourdeaux, but it carried itself down to Orem with our move 17 years ago. However, I thought I would retire my broom when the kids grew up! NOT THE CASE! Then the daughter's in laws wanted the party. My Halloween week has always been filled with preparation & stress. First the "Old Folk" party and then preparations for our family party. Not to mention that our November birthday dinner is in that same week. It is a week that we spend A LOT of serious time together. But hey! That's what being a family is all about.
How much fun is it for Grandparents to see little Lions, Ladybugs, Penguins, Superman, Jasmine, Pirates, and Minnie Mouse walk through the back door? Parents are usually smiling with such pride at their cute little ones. They all came to join in an evening of chaos, laughter, food and fun. It's a tradition to have chicken enchilda's with tossed salad. But this year, (some how) we got jalopaneos instead of green chilies in the chicken enchiladas and they were a bit warm! Most of the adults loved them, but the children & mothers didn't care for the extra heat. We were thankful that Aunt Julie Kaye brough nachos....a tradition she remembered from Bourdeaux. The tiny ones were anxious to remove their costumes & just be embraced and talked to. Little Samantha (who is a natural "little mother") asked Aunti "M" (Mary Ann)if she could put Dayton in her baby doll stroller. Aunti "M" is always so willing with these little ones and Dayton thought he was in heaven riding about the house with Samantha as his mommy. Ben(6)loves the donut eating contest...as do the adults. Hauni purchased Krispy Kreme Donuts and they were fresh.....so everyone wanted in. (It's always so fun to see the adults pretend they aren't children, when in fact their 'little child' is very much alive in each of them.
Grandma prepared a "little tike" treasure hunt inside the house, while Grandpa prepared a "Garage" one. Little or Old, figuring out clues seems to be attractive to all.....especially when there's a treat at the end of the adventure. Candice & Mary Ann prepared caramel apples with tonz of yummy nuts! (which most of the time is just a treat to take home because we're all too full!) This year, we took the little ones over to the ward "Trunk or Treat" for a half hour. Candice is in the Primary, so she & her little ones needed to go, so we all jumped in her car and went with her.... allowing the little ones to make their haul of candy.
Upon returned back to Grandma's, there's pin the tail on the cat or pin the mouth on the jack-o-lantern which the kids like to play until the "Pinyata" alarm goes off. Then coats are on and cheers of excitement go up. Uncle Scottie puts on his "Yank & Dance" gloves while Travis & Ryan take down the tire swing and put up the rope for the pinyata. Then, "let the fun begin!" We always start with the youngest and go up from there. The little kids don't have to wear a blindfold and Uncle Scottie teases them to death bouncing the pinyata up and down. Adults are visiting in the background, laughing with each swing. Grandma has to build a pretty tough pinyata to endure all the beatings it has to go through. Neighbors were wondering what all the noise was about and started throwing candy over the fence to get our attention. They finally just walked over to enjoy our fun. This year was especially fun because it was so warm on Halloween Night. With the new flood light off of the Shabin, the trampoline was lit & full of giggling and laughing children while the ole folks took their turn up to swing at the pinyata.
This years pinyata held up great. Candice.....the oldest of the children (since Scott is busy making the pinyata dance) even got her turn. After a few swings, she tore off her blind fold & "ATTACKED the dangling victim!" Laughter was plenty before she finally tore the pinyata off it's rope and Scottie dumped it on the ground for anxious collectors. A wonderful evening for a wonderful family. Everyone was quick to jump in to help clean up the house. Grandma fell into bed kissing her sheets anxious for a long required slumber.
My first debut as a wicked witch, was in West Valley, when Catherine Elderedge asked me to come to her home to entertain the seniors at her house. From that point on, it became a tradional party. 17 years ago when we moved to Orem, I was called to serve as the Senior's Family Home Evening Leader, and I threw a "Wicked Witch" Halloween Party. Koa Hansen was my accomplis back then. I remember the year, Koa had Bill Croft(age 89 at the time)convinced she was going to marry him or cast a significant spell on his household. 
Over 5 years ago, I was called to be the Seville Retirement Home Enrichment leader. Of course, just like clock work, the October Halloween season rolled around and the wicked witch in me revealed herself. This year Twin Witches came to join in the fun. Monica Martin & her two sons, Thiago & Kevin, along with Monica's sister Casandra Camargo, one of Thiago's mission companions & his little brother who just put inhis mission papers. What a fun evening we had playing, dancing and having fun with all the Seville Saints. As old as most of these folks are, it never ceases to amaze me that the 'little child' in each of them is so anxious for laughter and fun. These ladies were just squirming putting their hands in wet spaghetti noodles and grapes searching for coins. And the race was on when it came time to figure out the word search! They screamed with delight being the first ones finished. Laughter was plentiful and by the time the evening is over, this ole witch had a hard time climbing back on her broom to fly home.
But nothing takes the place of Halloween night. As a young mother, I hated Halloween! So I joined hands with my two neighbors, Linda Christensen and Shauna Harker, and we changed it. Of course, these two ladies are ladies of excellence, and so a simple evening turned into a extensive labor some distraction trying to get away from the "Get & GO" or alias "Trick or Treating." Instead, it became an afternoon & evening full of events: Painting crafts at our house while guessing the number of seeds in a pumpkin or candies in a jar. Then over to Harkers for donut eating & bobbing for apples and dinner with no utinsels. Finally back over to Christensen's for the treasure hunt, pinyata, and carving pumpkins while watching a movie. Elaborate, but so fun. Of course, each year, the children would moan and complain about not being able to go "Trick or Treating" and so they were given a choice of, "You may go Trick or Treating but you can't join in on the family party of events....it's your choice!" They certainly wanted to go "Trick or Treating!" But by the time they came home from school, the family party was in motion. Soon they were involved and distracted. Year, after year, after year we would go through this same "decision" ordeal. I'm not sure how many year this annual custom transpired up on Bourdeaux, but it carried itself down to Orem with our move 17 years ago. However, I thought I would retire my broom when the kids grew up! NOT THE CASE! Then the daughter's in laws wanted the party. My Halloween week has always been filled with preparation & stress. First the "Old Folk" party and then preparations for our family party. Not to mention that our November birthday dinner is in that same week. It is a week that we spend A LOT of serious time together. But hey! That's what being a family is all about. 
How much fun is it for Grandparents to see little Lions, Ladybugs, Penguins, Superman, Jasmine, Pirates, and Minnie Mouse walk through the back door? Parents are usually smiling with such pride at their cute little ones. They all came to join in an evening of chaos, laughter, food and fun. It's a tradition to have chicken enchilda's with tossed salad. But this year, (some how) we got jalopaneos instead of green chilies in the chicken enchiladas and they were a bit warm! Most of the adults loved them, but the children & mothers didn't care for the extra heat. We were thankful that Aunt Julie Kaye brough nachos....a tradition she remembered from Bourdeaux. The tiny ones were anxious to remove their costumes & just be embraced and talked to. Little Samantha (who is a natural "little mother") asked Aunti "M" (Mary Ann)if she could put Dayton in her baby doll stroller. Aunti "M" is always so willing with these little ones and Dayton thought he was in heaven riding about the house with Samantha as his mommy. Ben(6)loves the donut eating contest...as do the adults. Hauni purchased Krispy Kreme Donuts and they were fresh.....so everyone wanted in. (It's always so fun to see the adults pretend they aren't children, when in fact their 'little child' is very much alive in each of them.
Grandma prepared a "little tike" treasure hunt inside the house, while Grandpa prepared a "Garage" one. Little or Old, figuring out clues seems to be attractive to all.....especially when there's a treat at the end of the adventure. Candice & Mary Ann prepared caramel apples with tonz of yummy nuts! (which most of the time is just a treat to take home because we're all too full!) This year, we took the little ones over to the ward "Trunk or Treat" for a half hour. Candice is in the Primary, so she & her little ones needed to go, so we all jumped in her car and went with her.... allowing the little ones to make their haul of candy. 
Upon returned back to Grandma's, there's pin the tail on the cat or pin the mouth on the jack-o-lantern which the kids like to play until the "Pinyata" alarm goes off. Then coats are on and cheers of excitement go up. Uncle Scottie puts on his "Yank & Dance" gloves while Travis & Ryan take down the tire swing and put up the rope for the pinyata. Then, "let the fun begin!" We always start with the youngest and go up from there. The little kids don't have to wear a blindfold and Uncle Scottie teases them to death bouncing the pinyata up and down. Adults are visiting in the background, laughing with each swing. Grandma has to build a pretty tough pinyata to endure all the beatings it has to go through. Neighbors were wondering what all the noise was about and started throwing candy over the fence to get our attention. They finally just walked over to enjoy our fun. This year was especially fun because it was so warm on Halloween Night. With the new flood light off of the Shabin, the trampoline was lit & full of giggling and laughing children while the ole folks took their turn up to swing at the pinyata.
This years pinyata held up great. Candice.....the oldest of the children (since Scott is busy making the pinyata dance) even got her turn. After a few swings, she tore off her blind fold & "ATTACKED the dangling victim!" Laughter was plenty before she finally tore the pinyata off it's rope and Scottie dumped it on the ground for anxious collectors. A wonderful evening for a wonderful family. Everyone was quick to jump in to help clean up the house. Grandma fell into bed kissing her sheets anxious for a long required slumber.
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