As I thought about coming home to Utah, I spent some time wondering what things I wanted to do or be involved in, what traditions were important, and what things I wanted to change. A move is a time to rethink things and decide what to leave behind and what to continue.
The Hall Halloween tradition of chili and scones was one of those things. This has been going on for over 50 years--give or take some years. Gary's grandparents would come to the Halls' home and the cousins who lived near by would come over for chili and scones to show off their Halloween costumes to Grandma Brown. It started before we were married but not sure exactly when. As the next generation began having kids, our children came to show their costumes and have chili and scones as well (when we lived nearby that is.) and especially in the 26 years we have been back to Utah. After many years at Gary's parents house, it moved to Valerie and Allan's, and then when it became too much for Valerie, it moved to our house (along with her treasured chili recipe.) I think we have done it here since 2011 or 2012. Of course, we haven't done it since 2019--due to Covid and then our missions.
Since one half of our grandkids live out of state and because our house was basically empty, I thought we would skip it for sure this year and maybe stop it all together. Of course, we could still go trick-n-treating with Jessica's kids, but maybe not make it a big deal with the gathering at our house for the chili and scones. Then when Jessica said they want to come to Syracuse for trick-n-treating, I started thinking we should have something to eat afterwards--so I texted Jessica and asked her if her kids would like scones. She responded that she didn't know about her kids, but she LOVED scones. Then I knew we had to have scones--and later, added canned chili that Jessica and Elessia brought.
It is a funny thing about traditions--as we sat in the kitchen with chili and scones even with our small group--it seemed right somehow. Jessica and Elessia had a friend there with her son, so we talked about this tradition and she loved it--to have something that your kids could remember from childhood and to build memories around. I could see how meaningful it seemed to Jessica as well to share a piece of this with her kids even without the other cousins there.
The best moment was later when everyone was gone except for us (Gary, Ben, Jena, and I.) Ben came up to me and said, "Thanks, Mom. I liked it." as he also felt the connections to Halloweens past by simply eating chili and scones together on this holiday.
So, chili and scones on Halloween will remain on the calendar for as long as I can make chili and scones--and next year, we will make a big pot of Aunt Valerie's chili. It is the right thing to do!
Next up--do we do our "Halls Adult Almost Annual Christmas Party"? Except for the last four years and one or two years when we had sicknesses, we started this tradition in 1991. Do we resume it or not? I do have the famous lizard!