"When cats prowl and pumpkins gleam, may luck be yours, on Halloween"

Halloween weekend was seriously the greatest this year! I've always loved it growing up because with it being Mom's birthday we went all out every year and I've tried to keep up that tradition because its just fun! And this year was the best in a long time!

It started Thursday night when we took off for Utah after school and made it to the last five minutes of Christopher's cousin's reception. Then Friday morning we roamed around Gardner Village for a while with Jenn, Dad, Denise and a couple kiddos. If you've never been there its a cute little village of boutiques and things that goes all out for Halloween and really amps everything up. I've always wanted to go to one of their "witches night out"s but haven't so this was the next best thing. It was way fun and the kids loved it too. Owen even got brave and hugged a random little girl on the stage they set up in the middle of all the action.

After Gardner Village it was time for party prep! We got everything together and then hurried out to Midway for a family/friend party at Dad's new house there. It was a blast to see it all come together and watch a bunch of littles running around enjoying the excitement of the holiday and each other.

We had such blast! Then Saturday we spent the morning out in Midway with Tyson, Maddy and the kids just relaxing and hanging out which was nice because Saturday night we were up late partying at Garth Brooks!!!!

 Guys... I kid you not. This concert was so incredible! It's been a life long dream of Brian's to go and I'm so glad he was on top of it and able to get us all tickets, on mom's birthday no less! It was such a perfect way to celebrate. I don't care  how long he's been gone Garth still has it and it was unbelievably exciting to get to watch him. It was also special to go the last night he was in SLC because he really went all out and sang extra long (3 encores) for us and it was just amazing! Have I said that enough ways! I absolutely love old school country and just hope I can see more of it live like this someday!

The most special moment for me came when Garth was "cleaning house" during a second encore (playing a snippet from random songs the audience brought and held up on posters) and played this last one. Being at a Garth concert. On mom's birthday. Listening to him sing this. I mean really... what better way to celebrate? I miss her more than I can really express but moments like this, sad as they can sometimes be, are special to me. To be able to reminisce about what an amazing woman she was and all the incredible memories I have to cherish makes me grateful to have had the time I did even while wishing I could have so much more.

The other best part of my weekend came in getting to pick up a quilt that has been 5 years in the making. While we were all home for Christmas right after mom passed away and going through her things I suggested keeping all of her pajamas to make into quilts for each of us. She spent a LOT of time in PJs and was known for that and having some awesome ones. You can't really remember mom without remember all the crazy jammies. So we tucked the laundry baskets (yes plural) of her beloved Pajamas and saved them until we were able to get together a couple summers ago and cut them all into quilt squares. We spent HOURS doing it and ended up with enough squares for several quilts. Then, this summer while I was with Brian and Jenn she taught me how to stitch the squares together and I got my first one prepped and dropped at the quilt shop. 2 months later and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out! My first thought when I saw it was "This is my new most treasured possession. I know exactly what I'll say next time someone asks me what I'd grab first in case of a fire." I can't wait to make another (I have a set of christmas themed jammie squares calling my name)!