HALLOWEEN

I love Halloween, but now it's over. This year our family packed up and drove to Rexburg to catch Great Grandma and Grandpa Edwards as they made their way down with Dad Edwards to Arizona for the winter.

I have a store of great Halloween memories and traditions. Going to corn mazes, spooky forests, old mills all decked out with howl-iday surprises. In fact, here's a rundown of the last 3 corn mazes I've been to:

1. The one in Indy where it was too hot to be outside on the day we went through. Having to take off Carsen's shirt because he was just too hot.

2. The one before that Travis and I went through as newly-weds with Aaron and Heather and Duke and Morghan. There he picked me up - upside down and spun me around until I got so dizzy that I spent the rest of the night puking in the bathroom.

Those of you who really know Vickie probably understand that she was almost begging me to pick her up and spin around. After being poked and tickled repeatedly I finally complied and now I take all the blame.

3. The one before that I went to with some guy friends who got us kicked out of the maze for pulling up cornstalks and fighting each other with them.

Going out to these type of places, decorating the apartment, and watching Harry Potter movies were all part of my Halloween traditions. But this year we tried for a new tradition.

Doughnuts
(insert sinister music here).

Vickie thinks Halloween is the best holliday, I think she's crazy. How can you rate halloween above Christmas, Thanksgiving, 4th of July or Easter. Even Memorial Day and Labor Day, because at least most people get those days off.

U R A Grinch Travis.

The Grinch who stole Halloween? I think only the Grinch himself would rank Halloween above Christmas.

So that's why I can't find any of my Halloween decorations huh! It all comes together.

Karalyn - my beautiful sister in law who wants to move her family to Boise but doesn't know it yet - makes doughnuts every year for Halloween and last year I was out with them helping with the twins when she made these. I have to admit that I thought she was crazy trying to make such complicated delicacies that took up so much more time than just popping open a box of ready made doughnuts. After I tasted one, I realized how wrong I was. They were amazing. So this year, I thought, why not.

Last week I told Carsen we were going to be making doughnuts and he got very excited. We set up for our practice round on Thursday. It was a disaster. After 3 and 1/2 hours and 5 stinking packets of yeast later, I gave up. I was just so mad.

I've been practicing since we've got back. Not the whole recipe, just the yeast. Still no luck. I need all the help I can get so if you've got some pearls of wisdom on proofing yeast, please post your advice.

Since the doughnut disaster, Travis so kindly reminded me of another cooking disaster. Bambinos. I love the bambino's they make at "La Pizzaria" in Rigby. They're like scones filled with pizza stuffings. The first time I tried making those, it was disgusting. The dough was all wrong. Now in this incident, Travis actually requested I not try again. The result: 5 more batches of bambinos in the next 5 weeks - until I finally got one that although they fell apart, tasted wonderful. Serves him right. Actually, he was pointing out how stubborn I get when I fail at something. This gave me pause for reflection and this is what I've come up with:

Before we get into Vickie's next list, I have to say that even from the restaurant, bambinos are really just okay. The disasters Vickie attempted were mostly inedible. Vickie is an exceptional cook, but her stubbornness got the best of her here as she continued to experiment. It's great that she gets back up and tries again or whatever, just not with something I am supposed to eat.

It makes me nervous when you start smiling about your jokes even before you get them typed out.

Dad always told me I could do or be anything I wanted. I think this is a great thing to say to your children. I think it promotes a healthy sense of confidence and self esteem. Unfortunately, self esteem was not something I have ever lacked... although, in reflection of my 5th-9th grade school pictures, maybe I should have.

I notice I have no argument or comment from Travis here. Hmm.

On the bright side, you did mature from the ugly duckling stage into a beautiful swan.

Anyway, I think telling this to your kids is a great idea, but I was/am a little stubborn. And I actually believed my Dad's words which I think made me even more stubborn. Here are some other examples I think support this idea:

1. I was once told that I could not/ should not play Chopin's revolutionary etude because my hands were too small. The result: I spent the next 8 months learning this piece (which incidently is a beautiful piece despite what Travis will tell you).

Okay so this Chopin (correctly pronounced Chop in) looks very difficult and Vickie's fingers fly over the keys when she plays. If I were to watch a video of Vickie playing the piece would no sound I would just be impressed. Unfortulately however, when you hear it it sounds angry and you realize immediately that difficult does not mean it's good.

It's SHOW-PAN, you poop.

Everybody poops.

2. My parents tried desperately to discourage me from trying out for cheerleading. My mom actually sent me to tryouts wearing a shirt under my cheerleading shell and that shell was turned backwards so that the v neck be more modest. No wonder people laughed at me. But I did still try out. Pee-wee Herman style and all. The result: I didn't make it. I found out many years later that after confronting the Junior High cheerleading advisor, my mom was told that I didn't make the team not because I couldn't jump, or cheer, or didn't have 'spirit' but that I was not as cute as the others. Apparently this made her very upset and after some heated words on Mom's behalf, I was let on the team. - Thanks mom.

3. I brought home a chem 105 test in college that I had gotten a B something on. I was proud, Dad was not. He suggested I take a lower level chemistry class. The result: I changed my major to chemistry for about a year before I realized I would never be able to cut it in p chem.

They must have to do really difficult stuff, like make bambinos, in P-chem.

Be careful, or I'll make them again.

Now I can't remember what I was talking about. Oh yeah, why I believed I could do anything. So doughnuts are my new dragon. Fortunately Yvonne made doughnuts that were perfect so we did have doughnuts on Halloween. We even had a small spook-fest at the sight of Kent's incredibly dense upper arm hair. So all in all, it was a successful Halloween.