Scary!

We started off the week with quite a scare this week.  Sunday evening, we got a call from Travis' friend, Shelby's, mom (Sandy).  Shelby had been having some horrible stomach pains and they got so bad Sunday morning that she took her to the emergency room.  She had been there all day having tests and ended up being rushed in to surgery around 10:30 p.m. to have a rapidly growing cyst removed.  It had grown from the size of a egg to the size of a grapefruit in a matter of hours!   Travis and I ran over to the hospital as soon as we heard she was going into surgery to keep Sandy company and give her some moral support.  Poor Shelby!  She ended up staying in the hospital until Wednesday.  She is doing much better now...she's really a tough little cookie!

Saturday was the stake youth Halloween carnival and dance at the stake center.  The kids had a few ideas of what to be, but of course procrastinated until the last minute and were rushing to make vampire and vampire victim costumes.  

The amazing fall colors are making their last gasps and I just cringe everytime I see another beautifully colored leaf detach itself from it's branch and swirl around and around until it hits the ground.  In my head, I'm saying "and another one bites the dust" and thinking the dark, cold, barren days of winter are just ahead.  Ugh!

Tonight is Halloween!  I used to love Halloween, but find I don't get quite as excited about it as I used to.  Those of you who know me, know I love to go all out decorating the front porch and dress up on Halloween..but sadly I didn't bring all of my stuff over here to Germany.
 

First of all they don't really celebrate it here.  We will be lucky to get 6 little goblins at the door tonight.  It will more likely be a few German teens, without costumes, holding out their empty hands and saying "Trick oder Treat" in their cute accent. 
 
Secondly, Halloween is just a whole different experience than it was when I was growing up or even when my older kids were growing up.  

 On Halloween, the kids rushed home from school and could hardly stand waiting until mom had a quick dinner or manwiches ready and then it was time to meet up with friends then rush from house to house for as long as their legs would hold out, or until the candy bag was filled.  The neighborhood was full of little witches, ghosts and goblins.  

Nowadays...it's different for safety reasons.   The city, or in our case the base "schedules" trick or treating days for when it's safest or most politically correct.  Ours was scheduled for Saturday the 29th from 5-7 p.m. on base.  On Friday, our church hosted the other trend for Halloween...the Trunk or Treat (mass organized chaos).  This makes it safe and easy for the kids to get massive amounts of candy in a short time period and in a confined, safe space.  

C'est la vie!  

I'm starting to compile my Favorite/Best Photos 2011 Portfolio.  I have to narrow it down to about 25 from the thousands I've taken this year. I'd love any input you have! Here are a few contenders (click on them to view them larger):

love and miss you all,
-corri