The Bonner Blog : December 2021

We took a road trip to San Diego to visit Sea World with Aunt Missy, Shaylee, and Carli, and Aunt Laura, Rylee, and Kenley. We had a very fun time! The weather was nice. We saw an orca show, a dolphin show, and a sea lion show. The kids went on the roller coasters over and over again. There was an insane one that Gemma was too short to go on, so while all the other kids rode the Electric Eel, Gemma rode the Manta with me, Todd, and Laura. It was a good thing we had three adults with us so we could take shifts, because the lines were short and Gemma rode it, yikes, probably seven or eight times in a row.

Sea World has a good combination of shows, rides, and animals in habitats you can observe, like a zoo. Everyone loved the Arctic Zone, where we saw beluga whales, penguins, and walruses.

For dinner, we bought the most enormous pizza I've ever seen in my life. It easily fed all ten of us, with leftovers as well.

We were able to touch bat rays and little fish that nibble on your hand (eating the dead skin). We saw otters, sharks, flamingos, and seals. Everyone loved the time with animals, thrill rides, and cousins.

We've been blessed with some rain this fall, so the hills are turning green far earlier than they have in past years. It's been so enjoyable to take walks and go for hikes and see the beauty this area has to offer. I have a harder time wanting to move to Utah this time of year! It's getting colder in Utah while it gets invitingly beautiful here, enticing me to spend the warmest parts of the day outdoors. California is lovely in the winter.

The kids had a LIVE piano recital - Gemma's first one ever. They all did a nice job practicing beforehand and performing well in front of an audience.

Todd and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary this month. We went out to dinner and performed vicarious sealings at the Oakland Temple. I am sad I didn't take any pictures of us!

We stayed home for Thanksgiving break, which was wonderful. It was nice to slow down, sleep in, relax and have time to play and be creative. The kids were asked to pet-sit dwarf rats for Hazel's friend Kaitlyn. It was a win-win because the kids went to Kaitlyn's house to take care of the rats, and I got an hour or more to myself every day while they were over there playing. Jack and Gemma were enthusiastic rat-sitters. One day, I had to come knock on the door and ask them to come home because they had left before eating lunch and stayed for two and a half hours. They were surprised so much time had passed, they'd been having so much fun. Hazel was out on a bike ride with some friends that day. When Hazel went with them, they didn't stay as long. Hazel wasn't quite as enamored with the little rodents as the other two were.

Watching the hills get greener and greener made me crave a hike at Del Valle. We started at the top of the hill and walked all the way down to the lake (and then all the way back to the van). It was a long adventure! And was also very satisfying. Everyone was exhausted but happy.

We filled our 2021 gratitude tree with such excellent offerings, including family, the ability to serve, creativity, bonsai, Heavenly Parents, pop-its, mountains, coats, and "peeanow" (piano). I love seeing what stands out in each family member's mind as we fill our tree up.

We had Chrissy and Gordon and their boys (Spencer, Daniel, and Josh) over for Thanksgiving dinner, as well as the missionaries. There were at least TEN turkeys in our culdesac when they arrived, ready to greet them. Of course that meant that the dads and the kids all chased the turkeys, trying to catch one, until they all flew onto the neighbor's roof.

We ate delicious food, enjoyed the good company, and after the missionaries left, washed all the dishes and played lots of games. I am so thankful that Chrissy feels comfortable getting our families together again. We went for a long spell without seeing each other during this stinky Covid experience. Now we're raring to spend New Year's Eve together and even to get together for Sunday dinners on a regular basis. It feels like we have family nearby again!

The day after Thanksgiving we went tree hunting, of course. Hazel wanted to try one of the lighter-colored ones, and after smelling the needles, I was sold. We found the perfect tree.

Everyone helped cut it down, and everyone helped carry it to the van.

We were sad to see that the awesome tree swing we played on last year was broken. All that was left was a rope, which was lots less fun to play on. But we did enjoy both hot chocolate and apple cider.

When we got home, we put up the lights on the house before decorating indoors. Everyone helped out. Hazel lit up the big tree in our front yard, I raked up leaves, and Jack and Gemma worked with Todd hanging the lights on the roofline. Gemma was proud to be big enough to stand on the ladder and actually participate.