One of our favorite shows is Nightmare Before Christmas. The two little boys love it. Okay, I love it too. Just enough scary—yet not too threatening. We love the opening song, This is Halloween—or if you’re a 4 year-old, This is Hoddaween.After the show Ryan creeps around the house—claws in the air—and sings it just like that… “This is Hoddaween. This is Hoddaween, Hoddaween Hoddaween.”
Last Tuesday night the Young Men and Young Women in our ward put on a Halloween party for all the little kids in the neighborhood. There was station after station of fun games and candy prizes. Most of the neighborhood showed up and all the kids were in costumes. Before we arrived, Lori dug into an old box and came up with two perfect little cowboy costumes—made 13 years ago in Pennsylvania for Jason and Connor. Complete with boots, chaps, western shirts, vests, bandanas and 6-shooters.They fit Ryan and Tanner perfectly.
I remember when she carefully sewed them by hand. Material spread out on the floor, snippets of cloth strewn around.
I was in graduate school then and we had to make every dollar last. We looked forward to a day when I would have a job and we’d own our own home.But, looking back, we had everything we needed. Two feet to take walks down lanes of fireflies, bicycles with child seats to carry us around town, a few dollars for ice cream cones, and two little cowboys who stepped onto Norman Rockwell-like porches, rang the doorbells and shouted, "TRICK OR TREATIN’!"
We carved pumpkins tonight and those memories came flooding back.Yeah. This is Hoddaween.
4 comments:
Last night we were at a Halloween party when a long-time friend comes up to me & starts going on about how he just can't get over the photography & writing on my brother in law's blog. I had no idea he'd been reading Scott's so I had no idea he had access to yours. I wish you could've been there to hear his compliments. -passing along compliments from a stranger. "What does he do for a living? The guy's obviously a professional photographer & writer, right?" I only knew so quick that you had a new "Hoddaween" post because he told me to check it out. And he's right, it's so cool & fun to read.
...patiently waiting for the photo of Ryan & Tanner in those li'l cowboy costumes.
What delightful memories you have...I love your blog!
Let's see some Hoddaween Costumes baby! Rootin' Tootin' buckaroos! Love the scary pumpkins...
Love the Jack-o-Lanterns.
And Derek I would agree that you are a great writer and photographer!
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