Halloween Recap 2014

Halloween is officially over!  Our party was last weekend but I have been so busy I haven’t had a chance to recap the festivities, until now! :)

This year’s invitation was based on a Ouija board.

Since we had so many kids in attendance this year, we decided to have the party in the afternoon instead of at night.  Guests began arriving around 4pm and we partied into the night and still had time to drive home before bedtime!

The house was decked in its usual lights and garland with ghosts and skeleton hanging here and there.

This year we had a massive pile of pumpkins on the porch (some of which were later carved by the guests).  I also added a trio of witch hats on the left.  It was spooky!

The inside of the house was trimmed from top to bottom as well.  No detail was omitted, as usual! :)

My raven themed from the mantel continued around the room. 

Skellyton was on hand to greet guests in the front room.  He was dressed as Zorro. :)

Dinner was set up in the living room (AKA the “library”) with all our party favorites on the menu. 

Drinks and food for the kids was in the kitchen…

And taco salad bar and desserts in the dining room.  We are all about the food! :)

The haunted house that my niece, Abby and I built last year was on display.  Isn’t it cute?

The parlor was set for dining and pool playing.

Guests mingled, ate dinner, played pool and carved pumpkins. 

And Papa entertained on the guitar.

After the sun set we had our annual scavenger hunt.  It was a chilly evening, so everyone donned their jackets and set out for their first clue!  We had six teams hunting this year and everyone had a great time scouting all over the property for the various clue locations.  I enjoyed listening to the hunt and documenting the proceedings, as usual. :)

The kids were running to their clues in the effort to finish first!

Hijinks ensued as rival teams tried to sabotage each other in the hunt. :)

After everyone finished hunting and had claimed their prize, we settled down to play Halloween bingo, finish our pumpkins and have dessert!  Then it was out to the firepit for s’mores!

Near the end of the night I had the difficult task of awarding our costume prizes.  My skeleton trophies were highly coveted and everyone was vying for a prize! 

Mama was awarded “Best Dressed”, for her sorceress costume.  I may have been a bit biased, since I made her costume! ;)

Hannah was awarded “Most Original” for her portrayal of a gumball machine:

Michael easily won “Funniest Costume” for his Weekend at Bernie’s interpretation:

“Scariest Costume” was awarded to Brandon who was attired as a Skeletal Swamp Zombie!

And the “Cutest Couple” was a hard decision, but I picked Kayla and Caroline for their cute coupling of Tinkerbell and Peter Pan:

And in true Halloween tradition I must now award a few more superlatives to some of our notable guests.

Josh and Ruger are simply “the cutest” in their matching costumes of Ax Men complete with age-appropriate chainsaws! :)

There were three of my Frozen costumes in attendance, so I must award a three-way tie for “Best Fairytale character”!

Cassie as Elsa:

Lily as Anna:

And Abby as Elsa, the smallest:

Debbie and Nelson are the “Best TV Characters” in their portrayal of Amy and Sheldon from Big Bang Theory.

Ronnie was voted “Most likely to put down some walkers” as Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead.  He is pictured with his wife, Alisha as Hermione Granger, and Reese and Reid as a spider and the Cat in the Hat!

Wendy and Jimmy were voted “Most Spirit” for their costume as ASU fans.

The Berriers are awarded “Cutest Family Costume”.  Levi is a cute little ball player and Emli is the most adorable cheerleader! :)

John and Julie are also “Best Dressed” in their cool mobster get-up.

I am voting myself “Most Super” both for my superhero costume as Black Widow and for my super party-throwing abilities! :) 

Hope everyone had a blast this year, we are counting the days until we can do it all over again!  Until then, we will be busy having a baby shower, Thanksgiving and then decorating for Christmas!  Whoo hoo!  Holiday Season! :)  Come back soon!