Halloween!

It was weird not to have any kids at home this year. Heather was at college and Jenna went to a party. No more trick-or-treating for these girls. I was feeling the end of a season for sure. To be honest, we got many more trick-or-treating years than I thought we would. It's awesome to have my girls love Halloween like I do. I made muffins for Jenna's seminary friends. The morning forecast on the television cracked me up. They posted temperatures from Halloweenishly named towns--Death Valley, CA; Ghoul Creek, WA; Mummy Pass, CO; Devil's Lake, MO; Skull Creek, NE; Boos, IL; and Sleepy Hollow, NY to name a few.  Jenna wanted to do mermaid makeup for school, and she did a fantastic job. She woke up about 4:00 a.m. to do it and was a little late to 5:45 a.m. seminary. This was costume number two. I had no idea she had a third costume in mind for the evening party. She was a deceased girl who had hung herself. Kind of creepy especially with Jenna's make up skills off the rails again. Her wounds looked so real. I whipped up a batch of cupcakes for Sarah's party. I had forgotten that I'd said I'd make them. They came out of the oven just in time, and I got to use a lot of my cupcake Halloween decor today which was a happy bonus. The last picture posted here are the Holbrook's daughter, Hannah, her husband and their baby.  They are the Matlands and Lydia from the movie, Beetlejuice. Too clever. Hannah made their masks herself. We were so impressed, and this is one of our favorite movies.

Baking

Having our new oven has been awesome!  Our thanksgiving turkey was divine.  We've also baked lemon cakes, cinnamon rolls, brownies and I baked our holiday goodie items as well.  I even pulled out a cookbook and savored the time choosing the right baked goods for the holiday platters.  I took no pictures (I know), but the platters had Oreo Cookie Cheesecakes, Chocolate Malted Cupcakes, and Applesauce Spice Cupcakes (all Martha Stewart recipes).  It's great to have an oven that heats up quickly and cooks things evenly.  Kelly has made three batches of cinnamon rolls this month, and they've been delicious!  Here are some pictures of our delicacies...

Brownies cut out with a biscuit cutter and topped with cream cheese frosting and white chocolate peppermint chips

Cinnamon Rolls!

Kelly made cinnamon rolls tonight, and our friend, Michelle, came to learn. The best way to adopt Kelly's grandma's recipe is to make them with Kelly, and she did just that. We (I count me because I washed dishes) made three batches. Michelle mentioned her mom using string to cut dough, so we got out some fishing line and had fun cutting. Sarah and Jenna watched that part. Warm and gooey goodness abounds on my kitchen counters.