Plowman Family Dinner/October 2026

For monthly family dinner, we gathered at Mike's and Jana J.'s home in Layton on Sunday, October 25. The menu consisted of a variety of soups, together with Sarah's salad, fruit, veggies, and (provided by JB) pumpkin brownies and chocolate chip cookies.

October comes with the highest number of family birthdays in the year: those of 18-year-old Kira, Jana J., Steve, nine-year-old Ike, Ben, and yours truly. They sang "Happy Birthday to You" to us, and the kids blew out the candles on their cookies and ice cream.

This day fell on Ike's actual birthday, so he opened a number of his gifts.

As it was the last Sunday before Halloween, many of the kids (the niblings) wore their Halloween costumes. We got to see McKenna as Michelangelo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Christian as some monster ... thing, Katy as the White Rabbit, Danny as a soccer player, Graham as Marty McFly, Tanner as Pikachu, Ike as a ninja, Sadie as Belle, and Sam as Batman:

Just for fun, Christian paused for a pic with little Paisely, in which he ate (consumed) Paisley.

I guess you had to be there! It seemed funny at the time.

Improvables: Seventeenth Annual Halloween Show

After trick-or-treating concluded on Halloween night, I took my TuPac-o costume over to Backstage Performing Arts for that evening's annual Improvables Halloween show. Because of course I was gonna be there after missing last year's performance.

Yes, I'm (or I was for one night) the whitest white guy rapper you know—even more so than the guys who recorded "Mormon Rap." Which is something I happily embraced on stage. I had a few chances to improvise rap songs, so in true white bread fashion, I included lyrics about growing up in the 'hood (Mr. Rogers's, that is), shooting people ... with Nerf guns, and being good, responsible citizens by calling your Congressman to voice your opinion on important social issues.

Anyhow, the rest of the show was a blast. Poor, exasperated Parker struggled in vain to describe the murder weapon in "Mumbling Movie Murder Mystery," which was something from the movie Hocus Pocus ... a movie I haven't seen in far too long.

In other words, I didn't guess that part correctly. But I did get the other two things correct.

We also played "Campfire Tale," "Nightmare," "Tombstone," and other Halloween favorites.

The cast was rounded out by new Improvable Chris as a UTA bus driver (which also happens to be his day job), Claire as a Middle Ages peasant who definitely did not have the plague, Ian as a character from the TV show "Peaky Blinders," Keenan as Dad Peter Parker from Across the Spider-Verse, and Parker as Noir Spider-Man from the same film.

Liz M., as Dipper from "Gravity Falls," was MC, while Kyra, who ran tech, portrayed ... someone whose name/description now eldue me. Incidentally, Kyra added to the decor by carving this phenomenal jack-o'-lantern featuring the troupe logo:

And so ended another unforgettable Improvables Halloween show. If you weren't there, then you were likely doing something else.

Halloween 2025

Halloween, objectively one of the best holidays of the year, rolled around in October, like it is always wont to do. We enjoyed ourselves a great deal.

Our first taste of the holiday came during Plowman family dinner on Sunday, October 26, for which we congregated up at Mike's and Queenie's home in Layton. As always, Queenie (aka Jana 1) had the house (and grounds) all decked out with myriad Harry Potter knickknacks and other pretty cool Halloween things.

Yes, I should have snapped more pics. Their house always blows me away each October with so many creative things that have been crafted and displayed.

Many of the niblings showed up with their costumes in tow. We had a smattering of the following (about half of which I cannot identify, as I am now officially Old, with a capital O):

Naturally, we can't get together during a month with so many family birthdays—including yours truly, Kyra, Queenie, Steve, Ike, and Ben—without playing "Pass the Parcel."

Three-year-old Lighting McQueen (Sam) was the winner!

We also had birthday cake, for which 17-year-old Kyra and eight-year-old Ike did the honor of blowing out the candles.

Well ... cupcakes, shmupcakes. Whatever.

Fast forward to Friday, October 31, for which we celebrated ... get ready for it ... Halloween night! As we did the previous year, JB and I set up a trick-or-treat station outside the front of our house to greet several dozen of our neighbor kids. My favorite costumes were the two kids who dressed up as Harry and Lloyd in the pale blue and bright orange tuxedos from Dumb and Dumber, accompanied by another kid portraying the Monopoly man, monocle included.

As for me, I dressed up as TuPac-O, a mashup of Paco and iconic rapper Tupac (... get it?). My fellow Improvables actor/musician Willis gave me that nickname years ago, so I finally ran with that idea and turned it into an actual costume this year:

JB accompanied me as her cute, Halloween-Muggle self and sat with the puppies as we greeted our trick-or-treaters.

To start with, we passed out bags of microwaveable popcorn. Once that supply had been exhausted, we went with a mix of sweet candy (licorice and Jolly Ranchers) and chocolate bars.

Once that was done, there was still more Halloween left to celebrate. Stay tuned to find out what TuPac-O, the whitest white rapper in history, and the Improvables did later that night.

Halloween 2024

This year's Halloween season came and went for us in a blink of an eye. JB has been working hard not only at her job but everything else she does lately, and I've been recovering from a lingering infection. My wife isn't a huge fan of Halloween festivities. However, when I can convince her to dress up or go to any kind of Halloween event with me, I consider it a huge win.

On Halloween night this year, we placed camp chairs on our driveway and passed out candy to the many neighbors and friends who stopped by. Among them were Summer and her kids (four of our niblings).

Four-year-old Sadie was dressed up as Spider-Man (Girl?), while two-year-old Sam wore a Dalmatian costume:

We might be a bit biased, but they were the four cutest Trick-or-Treaters we saw all night.

Mad props also go out to the three girls we saw, one of whom was dressed up like Lightning McQueen from Cars, while the other two were traffic cones. Easily the most creative costumes we saw.

Halloween 2023

Halloween! What a wonderful holiday, and one of my three favorite holidays of the year. (The other two are just around the corner now.)

JB and I ended up being a bit on the "Halloween Scrooge" side on the actual day of October 31 this year. We were out of toilet paper and eggs, so we couldn't vandalize our neighbors. We did, however, leave a bowl full of candy on the porch for trick-or-treaters—we're not maniacs, after all.

In the meantime, we stayed downstairs to watch a Halloween favorite, the 1985 cult comedy Clue (in case you were wondering). We ended up having a whopping total of four groups of trick-or-treaters come by. We were able to keep track of that number thanks to our new doorbell camera. Presumably, most of our neighbor kids got their trick-or-treating done at the Trunk-or-Treat the previous Friday.

We did dress up the kids, however, and chose a Star Wars theme. Because nerds. Leia became, well ... Princess Leia, while Wynnie (Eowyn) became Chewbacca:

It took a number of puppy treats to get even these few pics.

Improvables: Fifteenth Annual Halloween Show

On the heels of the Trunk-or-Treat (later that same night) was my troupe's annual Halloween show at Bountiful Davis Art Center. This always brings out the dedicated fans as well as all of the weirdos, but I can't tell those two groups apart. And that's exactly how we love it to be.

I remained dressed up as Thor and MC'd the show. I was joined on stage by Brady (Waldo), Erica (Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare before Christmas), JoJo (wolfman), Keenan (one of the Peter Parkers from the Spider-verse), Matt (the Bride from Kill Bill), Parker (some Nordic warrior video game character whose name I kept forgetting), Tanner (peanut butter sandwich), and Tyler (Moon Knight), with Willis (some kind of demon) on the piano.

We had a ball, but that's how improv always is. The night's game list included "Advice Panel," "Dueling Plays," "Film Noir," "Mumbling Movie Murder Mystery," "Predictive Text Song," "Replay at Bernie's," "Tombstone," and other favorites.

I think the headline "Improv Show Enjoyed by All" speaks for itself. Come and check out a show for yourself if you haven't done so before now!

Trunk-or-Treat 2023

We had a heckuva great Halloween this year. It began for us last week on Friday, October 27, with our ward's annual Trunk-or-Treat activity. I dressed up as Fat Thor, aka Thor as he appears in the fourth Avengers movie, Endgame. JB chipped in by decorating our car's trunk for the occasion.

First, dinner was served in the cultural hall. There were a number of delicious soups and chilis to choose from, as well as homemade root beer and water to drink. The Primary kids also put on a costume parade on the stage.

The actual trunk-or-treating part was a blast, with a number of neighborhood kids (members of our church along with non-members) stopping by to pick up candy.

Among the other costumes worn was our Bishop's "Fishers of Men" ensemble:

I love it when a ward goes all out for things like this, and ours is no exception.

Trunk-or-Treat 2022

On Saturday, our ward held its annual Trunk-or-Treat activity at our meetinghouse. This year, it was combined with a chili (and soup) cookoff, as well as a costume contest for the kids and pumpkin carving/painting contest for everyone.

The chilis were delectable; I faced a hard choice as one of those asked to judge the winners. That meant tasting every chili entry, a task which produced certain, umm ... odors. But that's just the dependable guy I am! The kids' costumes were, likewise, tough to pick winners from. But we made the best decisions we could.

The Trunk-or-Treat portion itself out in the parking lot was a big hit and was very well attended from ward members and neighbors. Once again, I dressed up as Dwight Schrute from the TV show "The Office." JB was good enough to decorate our car with Dunder Mifflin stuff to go along with it. We passed out Snickers, 100 Grand, Milky Way---strictly the good stuff.

Improvables: Fourteenth Annual Halloween Show

On Friday night, it was the Improvables' annual Halloween show. We've now had 13 of them altogether (14th annual because of no show in 2020 due to COVID-19).

I dressed up as Dwight Schrute from the TV show "The Office."

 

Tyler dressed up as this burly sailor man and stood outside of BDAC on Main Street, welcoming passersby to come inside to see the show.

Lorin, our MC for the evening, showed off his Mandalorian armor, which was quite impressive. He's been working on this ensemble for many months now.

Parker, as only Parker could do, outdid himself again, appearing as Fidel Castro:

The show itself was well attended once again and was a blast for all of us on stage. I got to play "Replay at Bernie's," "Pieces of Paper," "Changing Styles," and other favorites along with Heather, new dad Keenan, Megan, Parker, Richard, Ricky, and Tyler.

Believe you me, it was another memorable night with the good people (and fans of) the Improvables troupe.

Plowman Family Dinner/October 2021

October's Plowman family dinner was held on Sunday, October 31. It being Halloween, many of the niblings dressed up so that Grandma could see the costumes they wore for trick-or-treating and other holiday festivities.

Kylee was Batgirl:

Jake was Thor:

... and Jackson was an SCP scientist:

Spaghetti and garlic bread were on the menu for the evening. JB prepared cupcakes and cake, which were served up with ice cream. Everyone had a killer time! Family and Halloween together are always a great combination.

Trunk-or-Treat 2021

This year's ward trunk-or-treat for Halloween, our first one in two years, was held Saturday afternoon in the parking lot outside of our meetinghouse. The bishopric cooked up and served hamburgers and hot dogs for everyone while we passed out candy to the kids.

JB decorated our trunk to look like it was a mouth. I dressed up in my Blue Shirt Guy costume, inspired by the movie Free Guy. This was somehow appropriate, as we were in the parking spot next to the White Shirt Guys, aka our missionaries. It was an enjoyable afternoon spent with the good people of the Stone Creek Ward.

Improvables: Thirteenth Annual Halloween Show

On Friday night, we held our first Improvables Halloween show in two years! (Just consider the twelfth annual Halloween show to have been performed last year in spirit, I guess?)

It was great to have BDAC full again, both on and off stage, for one of our favorite nights of the year. Our players and audience members alike are both quite amazing human beings who once again brought their A-game with wonderfully creative costumes.

For example, Chance and Anne, pictured here, dressed up as Ben and Leslie from the TV show "Parks and Recreation":

Parker was Dr. Robotnik from Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tessa and Keenan did a Disney's Tarzan-inspired cosplay:

... and Tyler and Tristian were Nintendo Switch controllers:

Yours truly dressed up as Blue Shirt Guy from the summer blockbuster movie Free Guy.

After the show, all troupe members present posed for this picture:

There were laughs aplenty. There were myriad clever moments. There were brilliant songs created, with the help of Willis on keys, right on the spot. As with any improv show, you just had to be there. (If you haven't been yet, well ... why haven't you?)

Halloween 2020

We didn't have an improv show nor any other Halloween parties to attend this year (thanks, coronavirus), but I wouldn't let that stop me from dressing up for one of my favorite holidays. On Friday, I went to work dressed up as Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid:

Naturally, I had to dress up Leia in a costume, since she (cough cough) is a member of the family who will actually take part in Halloween along with me. I found this Chewbacca harness for her (which turned out to be a little bit big):

No regerts!