party time!

One of the best things about holidays is getting together with other people.  I am combining my post about these two events because they happened one day after another.  (Ward party on Saturday night, Castleberry Party on Sunday night)  For our ward party we (members of the ward) were asked to bring a soup or dessert.  If we wanted, we could enter our item in a "Chili cook-off" but for all items.  We got there 20 minutes late so we did not enter our amazing chili in the cook-off, but are pretty sure it would have had a good chance at winning, because it was amazing! I used a firehouse recipe that had 4 meats, then made a second batch using only beans and veggies then combined the two and it turned out great!! (A little too spicy for me, but with enough chips and cheese it was perfect).  In addition to the food, each auxiliary (Relief Society, Young Women, Elders Quorum, etc) was asked to come up with a self regulating activity (unless they wanted to "man their booth".) Angela Howell, our new Mia Maid leader volunteered to bring her two horses and do pony rides! It was the hit of the party and totally represented for the YW.  The only pictures I took were of Ash and Cars on the horses, the last two rides of the night.  We had a great time visiting with some old and new friends.

The Castleberry party was, of course, a blast.  Grandma pretty much did the whole shebang.  She had three soups (and my second batch of Chili), rolls, and others brought a couple salads (and I brought a "Halloween Jello").  She also had a few fun activities: A marshmallow drop, a costume fashion show, trick-or-treating, a kid cake walk, and an adult cake walk.  We had three out sick (Amanda, KJ and Brooke) so we felt a little incomplete, but somehow managed to have a great time.