February 2017

 We took an awesome vacation the first few days of February. My best girlfriends, Suzanne and Chrissy, and I planned a snow trip to Bear Valley. We rented this incredible-looking cabin, rounded up sleds and snow pants for everyone, planned meals and packed games, and were able to enjoy the excitement of anticipating the event for several weeks.

Sadly, one of Chrissy's little ones got hit hard by the stomach flu the day before our trip was supposed to start, so her family stayed behind. We were all so bummed to miss the Dix's. It still turned out to be a super get-away, though, and we will all just have to do it again next winter with the whole crew.

We showed up at our glamorous cabin in the late afternoon. The area is closed off to cars in the winter, so we parked at the rental office and were given snowmobile rides up to the place. There were massive amounts of snow everywhere! Apparently, there had been a snowstorm the week before that brought in 15 feet of new snow. Crazy. It was a winter wonderland.

This is the snow pile that fell off the roof. 

We unpacked, made dinner, and were in the middle of putting kids to bed when we heard a loud crash. Dan went to investigate, and discovered the outer windowpane to mine and Todd's bedroom had cracked. There was a huge, heavy overhang of snow and ice coming off the roof just outside that window, and thick, 6 foot icicles. When we turned on the heater, it started to melt it, and it was slowly sliding down the roof of the cabin. The pressure from it all broke the outer window pane, and there were cracks in the walls where it looked like it was going to cave in. We wouldn't let the kids in the room, and Todd was throwing all our clothes and things out into the hall when the ice slid down more, and there was this enormous noise as the inner windowpane shattered and glass flew everywhere! It was freaky. The kids were screaming, the moms were scared, and Gemma and Ezra were sleeping through it all. We moved the kids downstairs to sing hymns with them and try to calm them down, while we waited for the property managers to assess the damage and decide whether or not it was safe for us to stay in the cabin overnight. Meanwhile, Todd cranked up the heat and was pounding on the roof of the cabin, trying to clear all the ice off before the wall caved in. Well, down it all came, creating this giant force that partially blew in the exterior door in the downstairs room where we were with the kids - after having told them this was the safest place in the cabin, they all watched the door half blow in, right in front of their very eyes. There was mass panic! We packed everything up, woke up the babies, and took a 10:00 snowmobile ride in the dark to another cabin. Best quote of the night was Jack, saying, "I feel like we're being kidnapped," as we rode blindly to our new destination.

Our replacement cabin was less fancy, for sure, and took a long time to heat up. That first night was pretty cold. But it turned out to be good, as it had a massive sledding hill right outside that we took full advantage of, and the property managers footed the bill for an extra day with our snowmobile rentals, so we had them to play with essentially the entire remainder of the trip. It was quite a dramatic beginning to our fun weekend in the snow! Happily, everything else was delightful and drama-less.

We played lots of games, made crazy candy creations, made slime, read books, watched a movie, and ate good food. And that's just inside! We spent plenty of time outdoors as well, mostly sledding, but also snowman-building, snowmobile riding, snowball throwing, and snow-fort building. Time seemed to pass in slow motion; every time we'd check the time, it would feel weird, like it should have been hours later than it was. We were just in this magical bubble of fun. Everyone got along with each other. Nova and Hazel furiously journaled all the details of the trip while commiserating about the angst of being the oldest child. Gemma and Griffon played cats and dogs and made each other laugh constantly. Jack bonded with baby Ezra and loved catering to him. Dan and Suzanne and Todd and I played games late into the night, and laughed so hard we cried. It was so, so beautiful in Bear Valley. We are going to have to come back again!

Jack was the best at sledding. He could make it farther down the hill than anyone else. The only time I saw him biff it early was the trip he took when I was videotaping him, of course.

It's so bittersweet looking at this picture. Chrissy's supposed to be in that space on the right!

These guys are our "California cousins." I feel like they are family. Griffon sent me a Valentine in the mail a few days after we got home, with a note saying he likes my happy laugh. Melt my heart!

Nova and Hazel went out in the snow together a lot without any adults. They were just playing in the area right outside the cabin. One of those times, they both fell into a hole at the base of a tree. They were in over their heads. They prayed to know what to do, and Hazel gave Nova a boost to help her climb out. Nova wasn't strong enough to pull Hazel out, so she went back to the cabin to get her mom to help. These little ladies are so smart and so spiritual and I'm so impressed with the people they are growing into.

Anyway, it was sad when it was time to go home. The whole thing was awesome, even the crazy adventure that first night. We might have to make an annual tradition out of Bear Valley. . . 

In other news, I'm getting better at homemade pizza. Todd brought a pizza stone into our marriage, and we are just now learning some new tricks with it, like to let it preheat with the oven up to 500, then transfer the pizza onto it with parchment paper. It's making our crust so deliciosso. 

Our stake changed the ward boundaries this month, merging our five wards into four. It gave us a few more kids and teens, and a lot more faithful empty-nesters. Our ward has been small and hard to staff since before we moved in 2.5 years ago, so these seem like they will be really helpful changes. We had a primary social to help everyone get to know each other. My kids are excited that their buddies Alyse and Grace Woodland are back in our ward. (They moved out of the old boundaries last summer, but have been pulled back in.) 

Todd and I had an awesome date night this month. I made an incredible discovery - that we can get extreme-o discount tickets to fine art performances at the Bankhead Theater here, using Todd's military ID. Our first taste of this was a delightful concert by the Chieftains, an hour and a half of brilliant music, with ditties by bagpipes and Irish dancers to boot. It was a blast! 

Hazel decided that she wasn't ready to commit to pierced ears yet, but that she'd like to give clip-on earrings a go. As a reward for a goal chart she'd completed, she and I went on a date to Claire's and picked out her first few pairs. She laid her outfit out the night before. Yes, folks, this look is premeditated and is reflective of Hazel's excitement for a special occasion.

We got the exciting news that our old friends Jill and Mitch Dabo would be in the Bay Area over the long weekend visiting Mitch's family, and they wanted to get together with us and Jon and Amy Naseath. These are good, dear friends who date back to mine and Todd's earliest times in California. We were not only in the same ward, but also the same apartment complex, and all hung out together a lot, along with a good handful of other young couples in the ward. We made some deep friendships with this group - now referred to as the Heritage Oaks Dinner Group - and it was such a fun, fun reunion to have the Dabos and Naseaths and our combined 12 kids all together for an evening. We had dinner and talked and made plans to see each other again soon.

We have had a ton of rain this winter. I think the drought is over! Instead, now we have worried a little bit about flooding. Our culdesac filled up one evening, but for the most part, we have been quite safe and comfortable here at home.

Book club has been fizzling a little bit lately, and I had this brilliant idea to recreate my ladies nights. I found a perfect cohort in my friend Katie George, and together we have instigated Game Club. How fun is that?! We gathered up a select group who all came over to my house last week to play games all evening long. We had snacks and laughed a ton and were so loud we kept my kids up (and boy, were they cranky the next day!). Here's how you know it was truly a hit: we ended the night with a Bonner Family Classic - the Hunter and the Deer. Here's how you play. Two people are blindfolded, and must stay in contact with the table (or a couch has worked in the past). The hunter is trying to catch the deer. The deer is trying to not get caught. It's funny to watch, and exciting to he the hunter, and freaky to be the deer. It's so much fun!

And here's how you know Katie was the perfect person to start Game Club with: she texted me a week later, saying she couldn't stand to wait three more weeks to play more games, and we rounded up a few more friends and had another game night at her house the next night! I'm loving it.

Hazel and I went to KB and Hope's baby shower in Santa Cruz last weekend. She's due March 13th, so our newest cousin could make her appearance very soon! We're excited to meet little Luna Louise.