Have I Mentioned Halloween Yet?

After 17 years together,

18 Halloweens (Our first date was on Halloween, isn't that cool?)

and nine different residences,

this is the first time we've ever passed out candy!!!!

Believe it or not, this is the first time we've lived anywhere where there are trick-or-treaters. (Our apartments have all had security doors!)

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In order to prepare for the big celebration, over the weekend we had loaded up the shopping cart with all kinds of sweets, reluctantly handed over a small fortune, and hunted for all the unused bowls within a reasonable distance.

I rushed home from work on Monday (stopping real quickly at the grocery store for the good 'ol frozen pizza and wings combo) to find Rexy in a pile of newspaper, wielding a sharpie marker, giant spoon and knife, working with Edward Scissorhand like precision on a pumpkin who never really had a chance.

His first attempt was at a block S (Go green!) so we could "represent" during this festive night...but it was not to be. The S came out more like a backwards 3 with a droop, so my little engineer quickly reassembled Jack and started on a new plan.

I too had a plan. A plan I had been thinking about for days...

but first there was a bit of work to be done.

(Here with a little help from one Master Yohan)

In record time Jill had been freed of her excess baggage and I began skillfully

(and rather quickly) creating a masterpiece to be displayed for the world to see.

Just as we had finished creating, the doorbell rang for the first time and the screaming little monsters were greeted by the most enthusiastic (part) German accordian player you've ever met.

For the next hour, our worlds were a blur of candy, children, music, laughter and thank yous. It really doesn't get much better than this. Really.

Can you guess who I am? The little ones knew, and a couple of very special teenagers (because I deemed them so and rewarded them with extra candy) did.

(Yohan got into the spirit of things too!)

In typical I-love-you-small-town fashion, at 7:00 the fireworks went off (in our backyard) and porch lights all around us shut down for the night.

We took one last photo and headed with the herds toward the Lion's Club just behind our house. Neighbors, community members, friends and friends of friends were all lined up laughing, talking and scaring one another. Tables upon tables overflowed with giant bowls of candy, pyramids of cinnamon sugar donuts, hot dogs fresh off the grill and more cider than one could imagine. The bonfire glowed in the background as children chased one another in the dark.

We just stood back and took it all in.

After 18 years, THIS felt like our first Halloween...

and it was perfect.

xoxo,

jenny-lynn