halloween... just a few days later!

As promised- pictures from Halloween. Mr.Pate was Billy Ray Cyrus, in the early years, and I was Hannah Montana.
Our church does "Trunk or Treat", which is an event where people decorate their trunks and give out candy from there instead of at their house. It is a neat thing really. We grill up lots and lots (over 800 hundred this year) of hot dogs, make lots of warm soup and setup tables right in the parking lot so families can feel free and safe to sit and eat. It is hard to get the kids all dressed up, take them out door to door and still get dinner on the table. We want to serve our community by just providing a time for them to focus on time with their family without worrying about money or time. These days you never know where is safe for children to go, but by doing this we hope families know there is a safe place for their children to come and be loved.

We decorated the back of our van with Hannah Montana stuff, and had the "Hoedown Throw-down" playing for 2 1/2 hours!! No joke. I heard it in my sleep I am pretty sure! And at one point this little girl came and stood in front of my van and did the dance over and over, for at least 10 minutes.

All in all a great night! God is growing a huge love in me for Smiths Grove. There is such a mix of people there: those that have 'grown up' in church but never experienced the gospel, the rural poor, and the rural rich. They all need the same thing- to experience the Grace of Jesus Christ. We are just praying that small events like these water the seeds that God is growing in these people.

**And I was even a pretty good Weight Watchers girl too!! I had 8 pts worth of candy (translation: 4 Hershey's small bars and some Starbursts).