Halloween Hijinks

I thought I would upload a few photos from Halloween and give an update on my mom. Hannah and JJ both had fun Halloween parties as school and they each had a costume parade. Unfortunatly the timing was such that we all couldn't go to both parades so Lance, Asher and his parents went to Hannah's parade and I went to JJ's. We couldn't find our small digital camera so I had to take my old 35 mm camera. I had forgotten how heavy that camera is, and how hard it is to focus a manual camera quickly. I am really out of practice. It will be interesting to see how the photos turn out. After the parades I ran over to Missy's house to have her help me with my witch makeup - she knows lots of fun tricks - she should be a makeup artist! Can I just say that false eyelashes make your eyelids feel really heavy. Later in the afternoon we trick or treated to Lance's parents house. Asher looked so cute in his cowboy outfit but he just didn't want to have anything to do with it. The chaps were too long so it made it hard for him to walk so we finally ended up just taking them off. The cowboy hat didn't stay on for long either. An interesting side note - the cowboy boots that Asher wore were some that Jake and Carolyn picked up at DI for a doll they have in thier living room - they were just the right size for Asher!! Asher's hat and gun were ones that I had when I was a little girl - no doubt they belonged to my brother's before I played with them. JJ wasn't supposed to wear a mask (he didn't really want to anyway) so that is why his hair was colored. Hannah was thrilled to be a cheerleader - she really wants to be one when she grows up. She and I got our hair cut the day before so I couldn't get her hair in ponytails so we went for the "bow on the top of the head" look. I dressed up as a witch and Lance did not dress up although he claimed he did (he said he was dressed as a psycho killer because they look like everybody else). The ward Trunk or Treat was fun as usual (thank goodness it was in a barn because it started raining!). I entered the chili cookoff - I didn't win but all my chili got eaten so that is saying something I guess. Several of my girlfriends also dressed up as witches so that was fun. The best costume of the night went to our friend Jamie Barnes. She is currently doing chemo for breast cancer so she shaved her head except for a mohawk and she spiked it up. It was awesome! After the ward party we went to visit my mom. Lance and the kids didn't stay long - we could tell that she wasn't feeling well and all the noise from the kids was bothering her. I stayed the night and into the next day. The anti nausea medications that she is taking make her extremely sleepy and groggy. Sometimes it was hard to wake her up to give her the next pills or get her to eat. I can tell when the medications are wearing off because she is more alert and like herself. She has been hallucinating/talking in her sleep alot which kind freaked me out. There wasn't a lot for me to do other than make sure that she was taking the right meds which she seemed to be doing just fine when she woke up. She seemed a little aggitated to have me there so I came home about 11 pm last night and have just called her about every 3 hours today. I feel really torn as to what is the right thing to do. My family needs me here but I also worry about her alone there. I decided that the best was to just keep checking in on her by phone and she seemed happy with that idea. Because the chemo pretty much destroys her immunity to illnesses I am going to have to keep the kids away for a while. I took her my huge bottle of hand sanitizer so I am sure that she will ask her visitors to use it when they come. For anyone who is reading this and wants to visit her please be sure that you are not sick. I am sure everyone understands the importance of her not getting a cold or the flu during her chemo treatments.


Jen, Me, Jamie and Missy


Optimus Prime- JJ

Cheerful Hannah


Dancing Cowboy - Asher