Experiencing Halloween living on post is quite the experience. We were introduced to it in Leavenworth, Kansas and it has been upped several notches now that we are living on one of the main streets at Ft. Bliss.
EA and MC went with a Mario and Luigi costume this year. Last year we decided to do homemade costumes since they were getting a little old for the character costumes that are sold in stores. I had great plans to make these costumes but was pretty happy to discover that everything I needed for them was available on Amazon. So, I put everything in my cart and purchased them the easy way! The only thing we needed to get on our own was the t-shirts and those were easily found at Hobby Lobby.
I had no idea how popular Mario was going to be this year! We had a ton of Mario and even Luigis show up at our house trick-or-treating.
We also decided last year that EA and MC are really a bit too old to go out trick-or-treating, but they had just as much fun handing out candy. In fact, I think they had more fun giving out candy than asking for it themselves.
The official hours for trick-or-treating was supposed to be 6-8 pm, but we began getting knocks on our door around 5:30 when we were still eating dinner! I thought we were going to be in for a busy night and we were!! We probably had around a thousand visitors.
I took Will and Jenny, who dressed up as Wonder Woman and Chewbacca, trick-or-treating down the street while EA, MC, and Keith passed out candy. Will had a goal to visit every house on our street. We gave it our best shot but didn’t quite hit every house. I had no complaints from Wonder Woman and Chewbacca, though. The weather was cool and windy, so they were happy to go home and warm up.
One of my favorite parts of the night was watching these compare and trade candies after we all came in. I love that they are such good friends!!
I’ve seen a lot of discussions about whether, as Christians, we should celebrate or even take part in Halloween. I think each family has to do what is best for them. Our family views this as an opportunity to welcome neighbors to our home and have fun with them. There is no other night when a thousand people are going to show up at our home. Halloween is the one night that we have an opportunity to smile and give to so many of our neighbors. And what an opportunity that is!!
I am thankful for the great opportunity Halloween provides us to love on our community! I’m also thankful for the opportunity it gives me to do something fun with my own family who I love dearly.
Whether you participate in Halloween or not, I pray that you took the opportunity to love on your own family and your neighbors. That’s what we’re called to do above all else.