We started October with a trip up to Apple Hill and a visit to the Wilmoths in El Dorado Hills. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery, picked some apples, bought a scrumptious pie, and then had the most wonderful afternoon hanging out with April, Jonah, James, Hudson, and baby Ellie at their new house. We played games, talked a ton, and checked out their downtown area for dinner. Good friends don't let location changes end the fun!
April and I decided we will talk on the phone every Wednesday morning, "Friendsday," so we stay connected. It's been something I've looked forward to each week.
The girls had a good volleyball season. Gemma enjoyed trying it out for the first time. She is awesome at serving and loves to see how many times she can bump the ball without it hitting the ground. Hazel was able to play with the oldest group, so she had the advantage of playing with and learning from some high schoolers.
We loved General Conference weekend. I remember spending the whole week before conference preparing activities to keep my kids engaged; candy and coloring pages, Bingo cards and puzzles ... It was well worth it, as now they all love to gather and listen and I don't have to do anything to compel them to be there.
Hazel reached an exciting milestone and had her first period. She handled it so well. She did make me laugh when, three or four days in, she asked how long it was going to last. She had somehow been thinking the first one would only be a day or two. Poor thing! It was an entire week long, just like mine. I bought her a bouquet of flowers and presented her with a compilation of letters from aunts, grandmas, and dear friends, welcoming her into womanhood and celebrating with her the special pieces of femininity they each love.
To celebrate turning 40, Chrissy and I flew out to Denver to see Suzanne and her new house and her baby Zel. We spent a couple of days in Estes Park and exploring Rocky Mountain National Park. It was the greatest weekend! Fall colors, mountains, best friends, cinnamon rolls ... so many of my favorite things.
I couldn't get enough of the fall foliage. It filled my heart with singing and gladness, satisfaction and bliss. We hiked up to waterfalls and around lakes and drove past the most gorgeous scenery. I couldn't get enough.
Chrissy had to stay back and be careful not to set off her vertigo, but Suzanne, Zel and I drove Trail Ridge Road and entered the tundra. We hiked this super short, but very steep, trail (Alpine Ridge) to this scenic point that was 12,000 feet above sea level. We were above the mountains. It was a strange feeling. Suzanne and I couldn't help but sing, "I'm on top of the world, hey!"
But mostly we just wanted to come back down and drive around looking at all the pretty trees.
Suzanne made us matching t-shirts that were so ridiculous, with this absurd picture of me from our Berkeley trip a few years ago in a thrift store jumpsuit we all tried on.
I brought Chrissy and Suzanne Dashing Diva nail stickers so they could experience the fun at-home manicures I've recently discovered.
We all read Barbara Morgan Gardner's book, "The Priesthood Power of Women," before the trip, and had the most beautiful discussion about all we are learning about how we come away from the temple endowed with priesthood power, how even promptings from the Holy Ghost are pieces of priesthood power and we can experience that from childhood, and about how we are each looking for ways to learn about Heavenly Mother and recognize her in our experiences.
I can't do anything better to remember this wonderful trip than to post lots and lots of pictures. It was so beautiful. I am so grateful for this friendship between Chrissy, Suzanne, and me that has lasted over a decade. We couldn't believe it when we added it all up and realized we were only in the same ward all together for two years. There is something really special that draws the three of us together in spite of distance. We are hand-picked sisters. I can talk with these ladies about absolutely anything.
While I was gone, Todd officiated at the wedding of his army friend, Scotty. He had to be at the rehearsal in Sacramento Friday afternoon and then the wedding on Saturday. So ... that's what my family did while I was gone!
Gemma has been obsessed with Parcheesi lately. She wants to play it multiple times a day. If no one will play with her, she plays with herself. She loves rolling the dice! She is super strategic and it is really fun to play with her; it's like playing with another adult. She's just so savvy, and she's lucky, too. She just always seems to roll the right numbers! Sometimes she'll even call it: "six and a three!" and then she gets it - and smashes her opponent.
She is still Ginger's #1 buddy. She loves that cat so much. Gemma is seriously an animal whisperer; she just loves them all, and they all seem to adore her. It is one of her gifts.
Hazel got to go to her first school dance. We carpooled with her friends Aarna, Zena, and Noor, and I'm so glad we did. Hazel had this big group of buddies she hung out with all evening and had a blast. I learned later that another girl we knew showed up on her own, sat in the parking lot with her mom for 20 minutes before daring to go in, and texted her mom partway through asking her if she could bring her a drawing pad. It was just such a juxtaposition of experiences. I'm super grateful Hazel is friendly and brave and always ready to have a good time. She is making great memories because of her skill set.
While Hazel was at the dance, we let Jack be the OAB (oldest available Bonner) and he did such an incredible job with Gemma. They ate dinner, watched a documentary, played games, cleaned the kitchen and living room until they were spotless, brushed teeth, and got to bed on time. Todd and I drove to the mini golf all the way in Milpitas because Chrissy told me they serve Iceburg shakes - the kind we got in Provo, that are so thick you can turn your cup upside down and they stay put. I swear, Todd and I have to go out for shakes every time we go to Utah because we love them so much, and every shake here in California seems to be thin enough to drink through a straw. It's just not the same at all! Anyway, between the mini golf and the shakes, we felt like we were in college again, which lent a fun mood for date night.
It's so good to have the Oakland Temple open again! It was closed for about a year because of the Covid pandemic, and it's a comfort to be able to worship inside once again.
A new store opened up that we pass on the way to volleyball ... Reptilemania! Jack was intrigued and begged to go. Now he wants a ball python. He is still knitting a lot, but his new obsession is bonsai. He saw somewhere that Alden Lane Nursery has a bonsai club that meets once a month, and he and Todd went for a date. Lo and behold, they came back with a juniper bonsai that Jack has been meticulously caring for. He checked out every book our library has on bonsai, and he spends hours poring over information and pictures. He loves the juniper that he has, but dreams of getting a Japanese maple next.
The girls and I shared a Dashing Diva pack and put on black nails for Halloween. It has been fun to be matching. At night when we kneel in a circle for family prayers and hold hands, we make sure that only black nails are showing (the boys put their hands on top so their nails don't show). Just little fun things like that seem to make good memories with the family.
Usually I am disappointed by California's lackluster fall show, but ever since Colorado, I've just been gushing over any sign of it. It all reminds me of how happy I was on my trip, and so I take it wherever I get it.
We carved pumpkins. Gemma wanted a cat face, and to frame it all so that the pumpkin top would look like a hat. Hazel took our Napoleon Dynamite costume theme a step further and carved Tina the llama on hers, with a quote from the movie. Jack found a complex King Tut design online, hunted down a pumpkin that was tall enough and wide enough to fit it, and then he and Todd spent by far the most time working on it. Everyone was happy with the final results.
I was excited that the elementary school let parents come on campus to watch the Halloween parade. Baby steps to four o'clock! The fourth graders traditionally learn a line dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller and perform it at the end of the parade. At first, Jack was disappointed to learn that they were including the fifth graders also (since they missed their opportunity with virtual/home school last year). But it turned out that Jack had a great time and really enjoyed himself, which made me really proud of him. He is learning to let down his guard and be a little more silly in front of people other than family, and I think he's happier for it. Speaking of being happier .... he seemed like my kid that did the best with homeschool last year. He enjoyed working at his own pace and consistently having a challenge to work on, and he was very self-driven. He is also fairly reserved. So it has been a pleasant surprise to hear him burst through the garage door every afternoon, singing or shouting or giggling. He comes home pumped up every day from school! He has been markedly more happy. It is so good to see him that way, and that makes me so grateful that he has been able to have a (thus far) uninterrupted school year on campus.
Our family costumes came from the Napoleon Dynamite movie. We had such a fun time with it. Jack was Napoleon, Gemma was his brother Kip, Hazel was Deb, I was Summer, and Todd was Rex Kwon Do. We rewatched the movie the week before Halloween to remind ourselves of our character's mannerisms and had a blast throwing out all the silly quotes all week long. Gemma nailed it as Kip. The whiney lisp, the rolled shoulders, the soft braces-laden grin, the lovestruck eyebrow raise ...
Halloween fell on a Sunday, and we all determined that was enough of a reason not to worry about trick or treating this year. We went to Croce's trunk or treat on Friday and the wards' on Saturday (which I had to plan - boy was I happy when it was over!) and that was plenty of candy and costumes for us. Now on to Thanksgiving!
