Happy Halloween!

Today is one of the biggest holidays of the year in the Philippines--All Saints Day. If you would like to read what it is all about you can read a blog I wrote this time last year -http://thegilmers.blogspot.com/2005_11_01_thegilmers_archive.html You will have to scroll down to the bottom of the page to Nov. 1.

Last night though was the American holiday of Halloween. This day is not really celebrated here, although the checkers at the grocery store were all dressed like pirates yesterday. I guess that shows some of the American influence. Since the kids were out of school today, we decided to have dinner with our neighbors last night and let the kids stay up late. For dinner, we had a great meal that is a common love between the 2 families--tacos. I had made a cake shaped like a pumpkin complete with orange frosting. After dinner, Emily and Will and the other kids watched a movie and then played with legos. Mary, the mom next door, happened to find some candy to bag up so at about 9:30 the kids dressed up and ran next door to "trick-or-treat". Since the door bell is out side the gates and wall that surrounds the 2 houses, the 4 of them just chimed "ding dong". It was really cute. They also took the dogs along for treats. I was surprised that Will didn't try to dress WAGs up too. It was a good night and a fun time.

The next American holiday we celebrate, Thanksgiving, my parents will be here-- less than 2 weeks until their visit!

On a humorous side note, just before we sat down to dinner last night, the dad from next door commented to Will that he had dressed in a costume for our Halloween meal. Will looked down in confusion at his camo shirt and pants and commented-"These are just my clothes. I wear them everyday." He's right. Will is still the same. If you came to see us in the PI, you would find him wearing some type of army get up in the yard every afternoon.