I am not sure what happened but I don't have one single picture from Halloween. To be honest I have to remind myself that Halloween actually came and went. I think it will take us a few years to get adjusted to the climate. The falls leaves and the crisp air that used to be the indicator that Halloween was around the corner were missing. We went from looking for Halloween costumes that were warm and fuzzy to keep the kids warm to finding something with less layers. Teegan wore the batman costume to our ward truck or treat and just about passed out. It was a warm evening in the 90's :). Since Halloween fell on Sunday this year we didn't do any neighborhood trick or treating. As I mentioned we went to the ward truck or treat during the week and got plenty of candy and on Saturday we went to a Halloween party. The kids were really good sports about it and didn't complain once (OK maybe Teegan did once). It actually ended up opening some good experiences for the kids. The next day in Landon's class he was asked to read his journal entry in front of the class. He mentioned that he had not gone trick or treating. When he was walking back to his seat his teacher started to ask him why but then stopped and said "I guess I should not ask you that". Landon said "it's OK you can ask". She said "do you not trick or treat because of your religion"? He said "no, we can trick or treat, it was just Sunday".
Whitney was asked to give a talk at Evening in Excellence (a night for the girls and their parents) on integrity. She was able to use her experience in her talk. Here is what she said:
This Halloween I decided to not go trick or treating because it fell on a Sunday . Living in Utah they go trick or treating Saturday night when this happens. That Monday I went to school and was asked by my friend in class if I had gone trick or treating. When I said no, she had a look on her face like are you serious? Then the words that came out of her mouth were “Oh is it because your mormon?” I told her yes and she understood. The next day in soccer I was getting ready when I got a zip lock sandwich bag of candy thrown at me. I looked up and it had came from my friend that I told I had not gone trick or treating. She said "I got plenty and I want to share". Standing up for who I am and what I believe has a whole new meaning for me. Moving here from Utah has been a really eye opening experience. Not just the questions people have asked me but also choosing the right when you are asked to do something that you know is wrong. I feel like I have integrity now but know that it will keep growing stronger as I choose the right.
So since I have no pictures from this Halloween I decided to share some from Halloweens past.
