Good times...

We survived another Halloween.

With a Hulk who refused to wear makeup

A witch who got very unhappy and cried off most of her makeup

A vampire, prettier than any from the Cullens clan could ever hope to be

A yucky oozing wound zombie ghost lady. Yikes.



And a girl who had half her face ripped off, poor thing.
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We had a fun time trunk or treating and visiting with family and friends.

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But the next day was even better when we all got together for our first annual Dia de los Muertos celebration. This year we kept it simple with just a few pictures of our loved ones on display, but the food was so YUMMY and the company PERFECT.

I didn't get very many pictures because it's hard to hold a camera while balancing on crutches (and heaven forbid that I should ever ask for help) but here's a few from the program portion of the evening.

We all gathered around and listened to stories of our grandpas. I told the kids that the reason we had steak for dinner was because Grandpa Johnson had been born a fish, but his parents fed him steak everyday until he turned into a boy. It was a favorite childhood story that my dad used to tell us, claiming that he had a scar on his bottom from where his dad had chopped off his little fishy tail. We kids always loved that story and the grandkids loved it too.

Rick then explained that we ate shrimp because it was one of Grandpa Turk's favorites and he told a funny story of Grandpa's allergic reactions to shrimp. He'd have these allergic reactions then eat it again anyway. That's true shrimp love right there.

We sang some favorite family songs. "Once Traveling with the Circus" in honor of Turk and "The farmer boy" for Grandpa Johnson.

Well, my brother Lynn sang "The Farmer Boy" for us because none of our kids have been taught it yet (sinful).

My sister Laurann's wonderful beau Jon (we love him) came too and shared some stories of his dad who passed away also. It was a Day of the Dead, Dad addition. Those silly dads. What are they thinking leaving us all like that?! It was cool to hear Jon's stories and to see a picture of his dad who looks just like Jon and his two brothers. Fun.

Overall it was a great evening with oodles of cousin fun, good conversation and yummo in your tummo food, food, food. Love it.