Trunk 'r Treat '11

Last night (10/29) our Arizona ward (Ellsworth Ward) teamed up with the Pueblo Branch for their annual Halloween celebration. Gramma's iPhone captured the early parking lot scene as they were setting up for the Chili cook-off, which preceded the candy part of the night.

Once again Becca chose to dress up as Walker Texas Ranger. She now has a Walker shirt (a gift from thoughtful sister Amanda) and an actual Texas Ranger badge and a black cowgirl hat. And she sports a sign that says "Walker Texas Ranger" that gets many comments from adults handing out the candy ("I love Chuck Norris," "Why doesn't he just use his gun?"). Papa's sign says "Walker's Prisoner". That sign gets laughs.

Gramma dressed up as an Hawaiian Lady. She sat near our trunk to pass out candy to the trick'rtreaters. She even decorated her car with Hawaii license plates. yuk

Here is our trunk with a big pan of candy. Gramma is not quite sure what is in the lower corner. She was sure she was alone when she took this photo. spooooky

Eventually the parking lot filled with cars and vans with open trunks and bowls of candy to pass out. There were dozens of running, laughing children dressed up for Halloween. Gramma enjoyed visiting with them as they came up to our car. She really loved this little Rapunzel, who reminded her of grand daughter Sarah.

This holiday is one of Becca's favorite. She begins getting excited when the season decorations go up in the stores. Yesterday she was pumped all day. She loves her costume. And the actual event didn't disappoint her. This was the biggest trunk'rtreat we have been to over the years. It is a wonderful, safe event hosted by wards all over the church. We have been to wards in Azusa near Aunty Pat's, Monterey with Meg's family and Aunt Catherine, Provo with Ganon and Heidi's family and twice near Amanda's, but they were indoors because it was so cold--once at a school and once in a barn, don't forget Kailua, and now Mesa. Becca and I visited every vehicle. She knows the routine, "Trick or Treat," she sings out. She happily explains her costume. And says "Thank you" as we walk away. Coming home she was very happy. Her pumpkin bucket was full of treats she had collected. She said to Gramma and me, "Thank you for trick or treat" Good fun. Good memories.

Puss n' Boots

So, today was the nationwide premiere of Puss n' Boots. This is the nice theater about five minutes from our park.

Here's the three of us (in an Amanda-style self photo) in front of the theater

We're glad that we went. It is a little tradition we like when it fits into the budget. It is in an IMAX 3-D format -- real cool. We got our popcorn and pop--arrived plenty early as some of our children tease us about, but for sure Gramma was able to get her favorite seats.

A mini film review:

A lot of positive things:

• terrific animation, including the fur and whiskers

• excellent use of 3D. Lots of sword fighting, spear throwing, etc

• great music--flamingo guitar and appropriate Spanish style music

• Antonio Banderas (Puss) and Salma Hayek (female interest) characters/dialog enjoyable

• I really liked the Jack and Jill characters

•Much fun use of Spanish (to the bar tender "Give me uno mas leche") and cat humor (hang out for the cats was called "The Glitter Box")

Some not so positive things:

•the story line is flawed, I think. There was no real villain nor evil force for the heroes to overcome. Jack n' Jill and the soldiers are sort of bad guys, but not really

•too much lying, deceiving, stealing

•way too much Humpty Dumpty character

• a little too much dancing for me

More baking

Gramma decided that her next baking adventure would be her homemade cornbread

Gramma still has mad cooking skills!

She is like a chef emeritus, coming out for special occasions

The tooth pick declares the cornbread is baked. Getting the new oven was a grand decision.

We included this in a meal with baked beans and turkey franks. So Ono!

A Lunch Date with David

When David realized that I would be leaving Utah for a long time, he asked me if I wanted to come to his school to have lunch with him.
His school has a wonderful system to feed all their children at lunch, joined occasionally by special guests, like Grandmothers. David patiently explained the somewhat complicated process that I would need to follow. I would get a name badge that would stick to my shirt. He sweetly assured me that it would come off.





I followed the rules and I met him as planned. When it was time for lunch, the children quietly took their place in lines depending on what they wanted to have for lunch. Terriyaki Chicken sounded good to me and David decided on the Tuna Sandwich.


David was a young gentleman. He went back to get me a fork and a napkin so I wouldn't have to eat with a spoon. We both enjoyed our time together. I am so glad to have spent this special time with David.

The boy across from us took our picture.

UT-AZ-NV

One of our favorite stretches of I-15 is this picturesque canyon which takes us out of Utah, through this strip of Arizona and into Nevada.

The towering walls on either side of the road are layered and uneven. The road winds in and out of this canyon, requiring slower speeds and careful driving

This reminds Gramma of perhaps a sample of the earth's upheaval at the time of Christ's crucifixion. (See 4 Nephi, Chap 8)

Below is the muddy Virgin River.

Fillmore KOA

Gramma, our navigator, selected this new (for us) place for our 10/11 night on our road trip south. It is the nicest little park you'd find in the middle of nowhere. The office was an attractive log structure.

As with many KOAs it has little cabins (or "cabinets" as some of our grandchildren say)

The lanes are tree lined, and each site has grass on each side.

This morning we got BF and the Saturn ready to roll.

As we pulled out, the descending moon wished us goodbye

Our goal for 10/12 was another 200 miles to Mesquite, NV

Four letter word

This afternoon I was sitting at the table and looked out the front window. What is that? Local weather guys call this rain-snow mix. But snow ( a four letter word for us) wasn't expected "in the valleys". Sigh

I looked out the right side window and saw some "accumulation" on Becca's bike and on the picnic table.

Gramma looked out the other side and saw this.

I went outside and had a look at the "benches". That is Bigfoot in the fg

Becca and I had some outside chores to take care of. She dug out her jacket and hat to ward off the cold (another four letter word for the Auswanderers)

To be accurate, the snow didn't "stick" and it's not supposed to freeze tonight. That's considered the good news. And it is supposed to warm up some this weekend. But we are getting ready to pull the chocks to head south. Probably Tuesday.

Conference Sunday at Jon and Cathy's

On October 3, we accepted an invitation to spend the day with Jon and Cathy's family to watch conference together and visit with family members. Here is Becca and Papa with TJ visiting Papa's cup.

Here is Jennifer with her good friend Sam

Heidi and Ganon share a quiet moment ( of which there aren't many in their lives)

Did I mention that this is Sam, Jennifer's very good friend

Sisters Rebecca and Sarah make a pretty pair.

I'm afraid I don't have photos of all of the family who were present. Please excuse me. All of Jon's family was there, as was Ganon's. Gramma was there, making time to visit with each of her grandchildren. Kelly and her children came over after the conference to share the delicious dinner prepared by Cathy, with supporting roles played by Heidi and Jennifer with Sam (Did I mention that he is Jennifer's exceptionally good friend?). For dessert we shared a big cake, celebrating Kimberly's and Gramma Parrish's birthdays.

Our new door

A (more than) faint cheer went up when our new door was finally installed. A previous post showed the old door that was twisted by the wind so badly that it would no longer close. It has taken two full months to get the proper door customed built, shipped from CA, and installed by the quality Motor Sportsland service techs in SLC.

Here it is closed (against the disappointed mosquitos)

And here it is open. It now opens and closes like anything.

Since we had to order this custom made, we requested no window. The previous door had a frosted window, which was pretty much worthless except to magnify the sun's heat. You couldn't see who might be at the front door. Of course this door has the same drawback. We are thinking of having a peep hole installed.

I know this post is pretty boring, except to any of you who might have been denied a front door for two months.