The Halloween Piano Recital

 

The Halloween Piano recital is a lot of fun.  Here is the 5:00 recital

The 6:00 recital

The 7:00.  There was an orange blow-up dinosaur in both the 6:00 and 7:00.  It was rather a trick logistically to fit them onto the bench to play their pieces.  We made it work.

Peter played Witches' Brew

George is Professor X and Linc is Nacho Libre.

George played Ghostbusters

Greta didn't play in this recital.  Because she plays violin, piano practice is optional for her.  She decided to sit this one out.  Hopefully she'll be back for the Christmas recital.

George and cousin Aliyah-- they are becoming good friends and it makes my heart so happy.

Greta and Jules

Peter and Eric

Greta, Aly, Ethan, and Andrew

The traditional after-recital celebration at Arctic Circle

Halloween and There Abouts 2025

Clark organized a siblings night at the corn maze.

Prepping for our family Halloween photoshoot

Landen and Faith-- I believe they were going for convict and Washington DC National Guard (rather than police).  It was a stretch:)

I can't love this picture of George and Leland any more than I already do.  

Forrest Gump, Jenny, and Lieutenant. Dan

Lieutenant Dan-- HA HA HA HA!!!  I'm dying

Peter (in the middle) designed his costume off a video game character.  I'm sorry I cannot remember  what it's name is.  George 3D printed the helmet for him and I teased him that it looked like a milk jug with horns.  

On this day--for no particular reason-- we braided our hair to look like Wednesday--and went thrifting.  And it was great fun and we found treasures and thoroughly enjoyed each others company.

The jack-o-lantern masterpieces of 2025

Bethany took Greta and George to a pumpkin patch for some fall fun.

The church trunk-or-treat

The kids (and adults) could sign the "Declaration" with a feather quill pen

Nothing makes a good party like a little drum and fife music in the background.

A Revolutionary Halloween

Sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle

Yankee Doodle went to town 

to celebrate the season

We're patriotic, proud, and true

It's time for revolution!

Abe as General George Washington

General George was six foot two

A gentleman and farmer

Father of our nation loved and

No one else loomed larger.

Yours Truly as Betsy Ross

Betsy Ross,  a seamstress boss

She started as a Quaker

We don't know, but legend goes

Bets was the first flag maker

Bethany as Benjamin Franklin

Franklin had a lot of friends

All Philly-Town adored Ben

Invention and diplomacy-- 

Two words that soon defined him

Ben as John Hancock

Hancock was a wealthy man

Helped fund the revolution

With feathered quill he signed his name

all of his own volition

Cannon as Thomas Jefferson

Thomas was a thinking man

He built his Monticello

Declared us "Free! No Brits we'll be!"

Now history will echo!

George as a drummer boy

'Twas just a lad, this nameless one

His job, no less important

His fife and drum helped everyone

Made wartime less abhorrent

Peter as Paul Revere

In Boston Town he looked afar 

and saw two glowing lanterns

Jumped on his horse, yelled "Out of bed!

The Lobster Backs are Comin'!"

Greta as Abigail Adams

Wisdom was her stock and trade

She wrote and she advised him

In one brave act she took a chance 

On small pox vaccination

Elinor as King George

King George was a stubborn man

Perhaps a little crazy

Said you don't vote but must pay tax

'Cause I've the strongest Navy

Hunter as a British Merchant

The merchant man, he crossed the seas

To make a lot of money

Sailed into port with crates of tea

To sell to Boston City

Faith as a Son of Liberty dressed as an Indian

The Sons of Liberty said NO!

They dressed up like the natives

They snuck aboard the merchant ship

And threw all of the crates in

Landen as Henry Knox

Henry Knox was big and tall

Loved books and even sold them

Stole British Cannons from New York

A chicken bone did choke him.

This was a fun way for us to wrap up a year of studying and visiting the people and place of the American Revolution

A Hodge-Podge of Fall

 

A little while we had our first family book club-- we read "The Witch of Blackbird Pond".  We wore witch hats while we discussed and then played a card game we enjoy-- "Salem".  

Next month's book is Ender's Game

Sleepy little sweetie love birds.  This semester Faith's clinicals are  Fridays from 7 pm to 7 am.  So she just doesn't sleep.  Then, rather than coming home and immediately crawling into bed, she goes to teach swim lessons Saturday morning.  So this is how we usually see Faith on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.  Missing a whole night's sleep sounds like complete torture to me.  I think nurses are made of different stuff than I am.

Little Charlie is the sweetest!

HE LOVES HIS MAMA!

Clark organized a siblings corn maze night.  It makes me so happy to see them choose each other.  From left to right-- Faith, Landen, Elinor, Hunter, Brianna, Clark, Ben, Bethany, Cannon, Rachel, Cannon's friend Sterling and his date (I don't remember her name)

Meanwhile we had a night with the GRANDS!  

A night at the theater to see Sister Act.  Here's kind of a fun thing.  The guy on the far right (Devon) is Andrea's cousin.  The guy next to him is a delightful Frenchman named Jerome.  He also happens to be a dress designer who was off the next week to London to do fittings for  costumes he made for a West End production of The Greatest Showman.  He has also created pieces for the show Guilded Age.   

I mean, come on-- that's just cool!  We've played games with them on another evening, and they are a lot of fun and very nice.  

Greta hosted a little Halloween craft party with friends.  She made and delivered her own invitations.

Nine year-old girls are so much fun.  They aren't quite tweens, but they aren't little kids who need a lot of help and supervision.

We've been enjoying some beautiful fall weather.  I mention it every year, but once again, I declare October to be the BEST month of the year!  Last Friday we had Daniel with us for the day, so we went on an adventure to the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point.

I love this picture!  

I'll admit, it's more fun to be a grandparent when the grandchild doesn't live with you.  It's special and fun and you really can spoil them and then send them home.  It's a pretty great gig!

The Frog and Toad scarecrows were my favorite.  George loved Frog and Toad as a little guy, so of course we needed a picture.

I bet you didn't know that K Pop Demon Hunter scarecrows are all the rage these days.  True fact.

A Twilight scarecrow.  What they won't think of next!

People are so clever

After Thanksgiving Point we went to visit Landen at work and get some yummy Chubby's food.

Friday night Abe and I took Peter and Greta to go see The Addams Family at the Draper Historic Theater.  I hadn't ever seen the show and I was planning to go anyway, but when I found how the guy playing the part of Gomez was the husband of the friend who introduced Abe and I at BYU, we were for sure going to go.  

It was a great production, but Gomez (Brett Haymond) was particularly fantastic!  

I quite liked the music.  There is a song called "Full Disclosure" where the characters are supposed to share something they haven't told anyone else (sounds naughtier than it is in the show).  I had to chuckle because it was so much like our family tradition of "Camp Fire Confessions"