Poo Poo Trunk-or-Treating

She thought the method of passing out candy was as a lame as we did.

We had a quiet and fun Halloween. Our neighborhood did a trunk or treat. The whole trunk or treat phase came after I was done trick-or-treating, so I'd actually never done it. It was fun to get out and see all the costumes and see all the neighbors. But passing out the candy felt like a mechanized assembly line to maximum candy received in the shortest amount of time possible. It totally felt gimme-gimme. Maybe it's just me, but I much prefer going house to house, and working for the candy. I felt so accomplished and proud of my candy as a kid--I just don't see how the kids can get that same feeling of accomplishment, when they walk in a slow line with their bag held continuously open repeating monotonously "trick-or-treat." And I hardly heard a "thank you."

Not to mention--most of the people there, were just there to "get" candy. Only about 1/4 of the people were also passing out candy---that's not how Halloween works folks. 

After the trunk-or-treat we went home, hoping to pass out more candy at home. We did, a little. We had maybe eight small groups of trick or treater's for the rest of night. Spoiled my night a little, I've waited to pass out candy for oh... since I moved out of my parent's house--you don't get trick or treater's when you live in College apartments--so we've had really lame Halloween's for the past few years. 

All in all, I think we should scrap the trunk-or-treat idea and get back to good old trick-or-treating. You can go on and on about it being safer...blah blah. My dad went with us until we were about 10, and he had as much fun as we did. 

We'll come to the trunk-or-treat next year, but we'll be saving the good stuff for those who actually put forth the effort to come to our house. We'll be waiting ;)

Our cute little Strawberry.

Ben

Grandpa Andrus and Ben 2010

I hardly know what to say. But I feel like I should say something and not pretend like nothing happened, and that everything is okay, because it's not.

On October 12, 2013, Eric's little brother Ben passed away.

It was unexpected and tragic, but we are dealing with it thanks to the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement (which heals all pain, not just sin).

We miss Ben so much. And it hits us at expected and unexpected times. Thanksgiving was hard, Christmas was hard, many times in between were hard, and I'm sure Ben's birthday in April will be especially hard.

I think the hardest part of all of this for me has been watching Eric struggle and miss his little brother. The little brother closest in age to him, that he shared a room with for most of his childhood and adolescence. A little brother that shared a love for similar hobbies and outdoor activities. A little brother that he loved to joke around with.

Or watching Eric's parents struggle. He is still their precious baby boy, their baby boy that they won't get to see for a very long time.

I can't imagine loosing someone and not knowing that we will see him again, it just makes death far too tragic. Thank goodness for The Gospel. It is sad, it is hard, but we can carry on. He is absent, but he is not gone forever.

But at every milestone, every family gathering, every happy moment he will be missed.

We love you Ben.