Happy Easter!

I have been facinated with the new movies that have come out representing the Life of Christ from the Bible. If you haven't seen them, you should definately take some time and watch them. They make is so much more real. My personal favorites are The Savior Suffers in Gethsemane and He is Risen.

I have heard the statements that Jesus suffered to the point that he bled at every pore. It didn't become concrete until I was watching these. To see the stream turn red as he is washing himself, and his robes covered afterward as the mob comes to take him... wow. I admit, I cried as I saw the angel in Gethsemane with Him.

You can see everything they have here too.

I know that my Redeemer lives, that he loves me as a precious daughter of God. He suffered and died so that I may live with my Father in Heaven again. I am eternally grateful for the unconditional love He has shown me and for the guidance and support He has provided throughout my life. I hope you all have a happy Easter!

Halloween Monster Bash!

This year's Halloween Bash was the most successful party I have thrown yet. I am so pleased with the turn out. Thanks to all who came and made it the success it was! It was fun to see everyone who came and their costumes. (This is a looong post... just warning ya!)

We had a "Monster Mash-tinis" complete with the "spare parts" bar. Guests were served martini glasses filled with mashed potatoes. Everyone was then able to put whatever toppings they wanted on them and eat them out of the glasses. (hence, the spare parts...)

The spread also included a few... "Dreadful Edibles" including "Purina Wolf Chow" (Chex muddy buddies with candy corn and peanuts), Fruit "ninja bites" (Ica's delicious fruit pizzas), a jello heart, and my mom's panna cotta brain.

Jell-o heart

Ninja bites

As this was originally a cocktial/mock tail party, we had a few drinks. There was pumpkin poison (which was actually a recipe for Butterbeer I found on the Internet), "sweetened swamp water" (hot chocolate), and "bug juice". The bug juice turned out to be my favorite... did you know that if you put a raisin (or in our case, raspberry crasins) into a carbonated beverage it will rise to the top and sink to the bottom? It was way fun to watch! I used the Berry 7-up that was purple and plopped them in. The picture doesn't capture it all the way... but we took video of it too! :)

We also had our traditional pumpkin bowling lane set up in the carport, but this year we decided to hold a graham cracker haunted house contest! Entry into the contest was a bag of a candy you could use to decorate with. We provided the graham crackers and the royal icing. (I found this awesome tutorial on the icing here.)

Tip: glow sticks in the water bottles made them easier to see.

can you guess who's house this one is? :)

After everyone had built their houses and voted on favorite house, and the three costume categories (Creepiest, Cutest, & Most Creative). We started the Ghostbuster movie and held an award ceremony for the winners. The party ended with the movie and the after party began (that is when the clean up happens so we don't have a pile of dishes for the next week and a half.)

we won the office "best family theme" prize at Bryce's work. just FYI.

I had so much fun this year and am already planning next year's bash! I have some crazy ideas and possibly an awesome new venue! So excited! :) Thanks for reading!

xoxo

one more, just because it makes me smile... :)

Witch's Tea Party!

Welcome to the first annual Witch's Tea Party!

Each participant competed for Creepiest, Cutest, or Tastiest treat. The selection was wonderful!

 Starting was a little rocky, but we had a bunch of witches and we had quite some fun! There are some ideas I have for next year... but this party is officially a success. Can't wait til next year!

On the Eve... Hallows Eve...

As it turns out, I have inherited my mother's crazy love-for-Halloween gene. It was dormant for some time but has reared its head full force the past couple of years as I have found myself on my own. What a fun time of year! You get a day to dress up and wander around and no one questions... (well you might get a "what are you?"). We are supposed to have some fun in life... why have a holiday if you don't celebrate it? Why not use the excuse? Right?

Big Bird and I did our pumpkin carving a few days ago. He got a little crazy with the knife... but they both turned out rather well!

Halloween is also the best party of the year to throw... why you might ask? Think of the endless possibilities as you ponder on possible details for a party... go ahead, it might surprise you! When else can you go pumpkin bowling? Fill jars with crazy food colored water and they fit right into the spider-web decor (which by the way is the easiest way to decorate a house for Halloween). Flickering candles give an eerie atmosphere... and the food... oh the fun you can have with food this time of year... Let your imagination run wild and feel free to run with it! It only makes it better!

The annual Halloween party was thrown on the Hallows Eve this year. (That way we could drag it out a little longer.) Big Bird has had a few laughs on my part as we have gotten ready for this year's "Monster Mash". But he had a blast and isn't too proud to admit it. :)

Our spread of food was disgustingly delicious this year. I tried to keep it simple, but with all the fun ideas out there... its difficult to choose just a few... and then there are the party favorites that we know everyone will eat (Queso Dip anyone?). Queso dip and chips became a scarcity as the night wore on, but surprisingly we had some blood worms make it through. We also had grubs (not as gross as it sounds), caramel apple dip, homemade root beer, monster toes (a Halloween party favorite), and cookie decorating. (to find recipes and directions check out What's Cooking)

The Grubs

Caramel Apple Dip

Monster Toes

The Blood Worms

And the cookie decorating station...

As I said, we had some fun pumpkin bowling... the costumes were fun... and the company pleasant. We had a pretty good turn out! Everyone from the M&M to the Wii-mote to Glinda the good witch and a Christmas tree...

Big Bird and I went as Mr. Green and Mrs. Peacock from the game Clue. Here is the handsome Mr. Green with the wrench... (sorry, I was the one behind the camera... thus I have no pictures of me...)

The costumes were fun anc

Pumpkin bowling is a favorite game for us. It consists of taking a pumpkin (we choose little ones... and we had a fake one this year...) and rolling it toward 10 water bottles... Its always a hit and it is fun to watch certain costumes throw it...

This is the Wii-mote attempting to bowl the pumpkin...

All in all we survived and had a lot of fun! Tomorrow we get to have dinner with my mom in the kitchen. Anticipation for what we will find there is terrifyingly exciting!