Oh, the timing is ironic...

Over the past few years, I've come to love Halloween. It's so fun to see little kids in costumes! And hear one of them say something like "Howdy Ma'am. Trick or treat" while tipping his hat (not the one that was a skeleton). And seeing some of our neighbors go all out in their decorations with old ambulances with flashing lights, zombies trying to rise from the dead and giant spiders...
And here's where I start my story.

Sunday afternoon was beautiful, so Ryan and I decided to take the boys and the dog on a little walk up on the face of the mountain that nearly borders our yard (minus a couple neighbors, a few orchards, and the highway, but those are small details.) It was a perfect temperature, and the view was incredible as we looked over Willard Bay and threw rocks across a small little pond.

Half way up the little dirt road on which we were walking, trying to not laugh as Harley yanked Emmett off his feet as she took off for something or other, we saw this:

Yes, it's a tarantula!!! It's casting its own shadow! Suddenly, living so close to the mountains doesn't seem as appealing as it once did. Bring on the highways, I say.

But I didn't truly appreciate the timing of this little creature popping out of the rocks until the next day--Halloween...

We took the boys down to see Grandma and Grandpa and their cousins in a town not too far away from us, and ended up at a little trunk or treat at the end of a cul-de-sac. One woman was dressed up as a witch and had a cauldron full of cockroaches that she offered to children with a cackle. Real cockroaches. Big ones.

It was very dramatic. But it became truly frightening when my kind-hearted, bug-loving son Josh (entomologist in the making. I'm looking on the bright side) politely took one of the large, leggy, shiny cockroaches and PUT IT IN HIS CANDY BUCKET!!! I experienced a feeling I've never felt before...it can only be described as aaaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkk! It came out before Josh got anywhere near me or the vehicle. (Someone took pity on me and got it out. But not Ryan, because I think I was screeching in his ear.)

Truly a time of frights, right? Not done...

After wrapping up a fun Halloween (shake it off, Kendra) at the neighbor's house with homemade donuts (thanks Sandy!), we opened the door, turned on the light, and found...

A DEAD MOUSE! Seriously? Was this a joke??

I'm not so sure I like Halloween anymore.