Last Halloween on the Mish :)

Here's Dan's Halloween entry! Enjoy!

11/02/10- "I have had no time to catch up in my journal at all! I have so much to write about! 1st of all a year ago today I was on the plane right now coming out here to the field! We were very tired from waking up at 3:30am but very excited to be leaving the MTC and coming to the real deal. Also Toy Story 3 is on DVD now... I know I've said it a million times but todays the day! :) Ok now onto the rest of Halloween!!! We went home after church for a quick snack and I took just a couple minutes to open a couple more things (the banner my mom made- I hung it up in the Byington's living room! And the candy corn tie from Brita so I could switch my ties halfway through the day! I'm gonna go into details of everything as a whole soon :) We made some visits and tracted until our 5:00pm dinner. It was at the Marshall's. They were nice. We had to get in by 6pm so we did. I was so excited to finish opening everything!! Now I can write about the contents of my spectacular packages!!!!! Oh my goodness!! I'm soooooo grateful!!! WOW!!! I was completely amazed by these. I had such a fun, festive time opening! Leave it to mom, dad and Brita to make my holiday out here so magical! In my parent's package to me I got: my Jack O Lantern tie (love it!! I got lots of compliments for it at church!) Shrek 4 soundtrack (thank you!! I listened to it while I was opening stuff! The cover is perfect for Halloween too! I noticed that detail mom :), "That Terrible Halloween Night" book (!! So classic! Helped bring the magic of home Halloween out here!! That was thoughtful and now I have that special hardcover version for my kids to enjoy someday! :), Pirates of the Caribbean Liar's Dice (!! That was such a cool surprise! I was like "Nooo way!" when I opened it! Very cool! I love that game!), a nice AE sweater and GAP jacket ( I love them!!!! You guys made such awesome choices and they fit perfectly! I tried them on right away! Perfect for fall!!), a dancing/singing Frankenstein (What a funny surprise! Where did he come from? We all got a kick out of that and the Byington's cracked up :) that was funny and festive!!), Halloween plates, cups and napkins (great choice! Is that what the family breakfast had? Thanks for making it more like home!!), Halloween cards (from mom, dad, Rob and Katie's fam! So cute!), fall brownies made by Jenny and Darin (So delicious! Thank you!) and Laurie's Halloween book so I could see it! I love it! I love stuff documented like that! So organized! I'm gonna do all sorts of stuff like that someday! Books, slideshows and home movies on DVD. Very cook! THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING MOM AND DAD!!!! You have NO idea how grateful I am!!! It was sooo fun!!! You made my Halloween the best a missionary could ever have! Next year I'll be home!! I love you SOOOO much!! I'm just overwhelmed with love! Now onto Brita's spooktacular package!!!! Brita sent me: a candy corn tie (so cute! I love all the ties that mom and Brita find to go with the holidays! I'll have them for years to come! :), peach salsa (She knows I love that! That was so thoughtful!), gum and mints (I just ran out so perfect timing!), candy corn (such a classic Halloween candy! Yum!), popcorn ball (I've always loved those! :), pumpkin body wash (perfect timing once again! I was actually hoping for some of that! We're so connected!), Bath and Body candy corn hand sanitizer (smells so yummy! That was such a cool idea!), a pumpkin face cloth (I've used it the last couple of days! Thank you! So many fun/festive treats!), a Scrabble card game (I always love new games to play out here! Thank you! That should be fun! We'll probably play it today at lunch! :), crayons for kids to play with while we're teaching (great idea babe!! Thank you!!), homemade by Brita "Boo" blocks blocks (Sooooo cute and just our style!!! She did such an amazing job! They'll be in our house someday! That was such a cool idea! Thank you babe!) and ALL the stuff to make Ghosts in the Graveyard pudding!!! Yay!! Brita was so thoughtful! I've been making that with my fam since I can remember! That gave me something so fun to do since we had to be in! I have the best girlfriend EVER!!!!! Gosh! THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING!!! I'm so incredibly grateful for you honey!! I love you all soooo much!! After I was done looking through everything and reading my cards/letters, I started the graveyard pudding! It was so fun and turned out perfectly! Mathis crushed all the Oreos and I did the rest. We all enjoyed it on festive plates I got from mom and dad! It was tasty!! Soooo fun! I even had story time with Mathis and the Byington's, I pulled up a chair in the living room and read them "That Terrible Halloween Night"! That was fun! They thought it was cute. I read it how I always remember mom reading it to me! I organized all my stuff and went to bed early- because we could! That was my amazing Halloween on the mish!! Thank you all again sooooo much!!"