Super Halloween World!

As the leaves began to fall and we sat down to watch General Conference a few weeks ago, I discovered that the time had begun to gear up for the Halloween season.  Mandy loves Autumn, and she especially loves Halloween.  I could tell from the craft supplies she'd been gathering that she was very excited to greet the holiday, and I couldn't help but catch the spirit as our house was transformed into a halloween wonderland.  We nabbed us a quality pumpkin to complete the ambiance, and we were set!

Awesome Halloween atmosphere (shout out to Derek's mom for having similarly cool rats).

Carving the traditional jack-o-lantern with college football on in the background.  Gotta love fall...

The finished product!

Mandy took the festivities to a whole new level when she found out about our ward's Trunk-or-Treat and a party Ryan and Kaylyn were kind enough to give us the scoop on.  Costumes were in order, and how could I refuse when I was offered the role of Mario?  He's a classic; a man on a mission, who can force coins out of solid brick!  We gathered materials for our costumes from as far away as Arco (thanks Tina!) and I helped Mandy find some creatures for a coordinating-yet-still-Halloweeny trunk.  For once in my life, knowing how to spell things like Goomba and Koopa was a valuable skill.

The Bowens' "haunted Mario world" trunk.

Mario, pre- and post-mushroom.

We had a great time at the Trunk-or-Treat and at the party too, where we were the surprised but happy recipients of two movie tickets for our costumes!  And as you can see in all the photos this weekend, I give the Mario seal of approval to all Mandy did to make this season so much fun.

Congratulations!  You win!