From Pumpkins to Jack-o-Lanterns

So I haven’t had a GOOD day off in….well a long time. My days off from work usually consist of homework the ENTIREEEE day. Today, Russell and I decided to take a break. When I got home from school we ran a few errands and then we bought pumpkins to carve! J I picked mine relatively quickly but SOMEONE, not mentioning *Russell* by name needed to find “the perfect pumpkin”. So we searched….and searched……..and searched some more. Finally he found it. The one. His pumpkin. So we run to wal mart to pick up a pumpkin carving kit; while we’re there I remember that the Stake Trunk-or-Treat was tonight and I thought that it would be a really fun time. So we ended up buying spiders, web, a bowl and LOTS of candy.

After stopping at CVS to get more candy we finally made it home. I don’t think I’d been this excited in a LONG time! I have never really carved a pumpkin…when I was little we got to draw the kind of face we wanted on the pumpkin and then my dad had to cut it out because it was “too dangerous” for us to do. J

This is all obviously pre-mess!! But I was prepared and had about 4 layers of newspaper down for each pumpkin...yeah, somehow we, Russell, still managed to get some on the carpet...BUt we, Russell, vacuumed it all up! :)

So we made it to the Trunk-or-Treat JUST in the nick of time!!! We quickly put the little LED lights in our pumpkins turned jack-o-lanterns and spread web across the back of the Tahoe and threw (literally) the spiders onto the web. It was SO MUCH FUN! Seeing all the adorable little kids run around in their costumes, some embarrassed to say “trick or treat” others boldly sang “Trick or Treat! Smell my feet! Give me something good to EAAT!!!” It was definitely an experience, and a fun one at that.

My Pumpkin

Russell's pumpkin

What made it even more special was that amidst all the costumes and screaming giggles of little girls, all one had to do was simply look up and see the Beautiful Lubbock, TX Temple lit up and standing above all else. It was peaceful, beautiful, and warm even with the chilly air hitting my arms and the wind whipping my hair around. It was a realization of how blessed I am to live here, literally 1 minute from the Temple. The Lord blesses me in so many ways.