The Herbst Family: Halloween 2011

Ready to go Trick-or-Treating!

This year, Halloween night was very different from the past several years. It always seems that we get a cold snap of weather the week of Halloween, sometimes even the first snow fall. But this year "Fall" decided to take it's time to come to Utah. I've truly enjoyed every warm day. We are still mowing our lawn, playing outside till dark and really love this Indian Summer of warm days and cool nights.

Nathan and Austin didn't have school today because it was end of term and things were slow at work for Mike, so he took the day off. We decided to pack a lunch and head East to the mountains for a family hike. We only went a couple of miles but the view was breath taking. All the different colors of the trees, and the view of the Great Salt Lake and valley below was so beautiful! Megan spent most of her time picking flowers and Jaron filled his pockets full of rocks, but Nathan and Austin couldn't get there fast enough. It was great way to spend one last day outside!

Another difference is that the past several years, my sister Emily and her husband Stephen have come to our house and shared our Halloween traditions with us of "Dinner in a Pumpkin", trick-or-treating, going to Grandma Lyn's and Grandpa Jerry's for a very special treat and then back home to put the kids to bed and watch a scary movie afterwards. But they moved to Chicago at the end of summer and we all missed them so much. It was different to not have them come. Also, my mom was in Houston, TX helping my brother Matt take care of his sweet family. His wife, Andrea has had a hard pregnancy and they really needed her to come to help out. So, with my dad home alone, he decided to come down to our house and spend the evening with us. It was great. All of us loved having him here, but especially for Jaron ... he never can get enough of Grandpa. Grandpa Jerry can get him to eat his veggies, pick up his toys and really loves playing with "Gampa"!

This year it was my turn to take the kids trick-or-treating and Mike stayed home to hand out the candy. We were going door to door with NO coats, jackets, snow boots or even an umbrella! It was warm and very comfortable. Megan was so excited to get candy that we couldn't keep up with her! She ran so fast to each house. Also, this was the year that Jaron really understood what was happening. Every time he walked up to the door, he would shout "Candy!" It was a fun and eventful day, but loved every minute of it! Happy Halloween!