Our calendar is filling up again with lots of weekday activities. Hazel made the school basketball team, has a community volleyball class, and is taking bi-weekly piano and violin lessons, as well as teaching piano lessons Monday mornings and attending youth activities for church each Tuesday night. Jack joined the coding and math clubs at school, which each have weekly meetings, has piano lessons and tennis class on Wednesdays, and sometimes attends young mens' and sometimes primary activities, depending on what they are working on. Gemma has piano lessons on Mondays, primary activities every other Tuesday, and tennis class on Wednesdays. I am working hard to make dinners that fit our schedule and are still healthy and provide leftovers for Todd's lunches.
Gemma had her first piano recital with Sister Pickett. She was confident and played Fur Elise and The Dragon Hunt beautifully.
Gemma's class went on a field trip to the Museum of the San Ramon Valley, where they learned about the Native Americans who first lived in our area. I was able to chaperone. It is good to be involved in my kids' school days again! I love walking into the classroom and hearing kids say, "It's Gemma's mom!"
My Relief Society activities committee planned an amazing triple-baby shower for the three pregnant women in our ward. We held it at my house, and it was so much fun. I think we had 24 women there? Tons of yummy food, fun games, and decorations, and I didn't have to really be in charge of it, just be warm and welcoming and loving to all the ladies who came. There was a great energy there, and it carried over into church the next day. I walked into the chapel before Sacrament Meeting and three or four ladies beamed and waved at me that I hadn't had a connection with before. It was a very satisfying experience for me, and I hope relationships were strengthened between other women in the ward as well.
We went to Chrissy's for Sunday dinner, and we had an epic arm wrestling match. Todd got destroyed by Spencer. He had a rug burn on his elbow for two weeks afterward! Chrissy had previously shared with us a song Spencer created with his school friends about getting "Spencified" - so silly and so 13 year old boy-ish - so that's how Todd hilariously continued to refer to his oozing elbow - he "got Spencified."
We've been going to Hazel's volleyball games Monday and Wednesday evenings. It's fun to see how much she loves to play. She's definitely getting better! She's serving consistently and learning to set and tip.
Hazel pulled Jack to school on the wiggle cart one day. They used to do that semi-regularly when Hazel was in 5th grade. Jack was a little embarrassed to show up to school like that, so I don't know what sort of bargain they struck to get him to do it, but it was funny to see.
Seven girls tried out for the CMS basketball team, so all seven girls made the team. They are fun to watch, but I don't think they've won any games yet. Todd coaches loudly from the stands, and still connects with his entourage of middle school boy fans. He's got skillz with the teenagers, which I'm super grateful for, because I definitely feel less and less cool the older my kids get.
We went up to the cabin over Veteran's Day weekend. We were planning to do some serious yard work, but there was a big storm a couple days before we got there, and everything was covered in a couple feet of snow. Winter came early!
We shoveled off the deck and made a giant pile for the kids to jump onto. We imagine we can turn it into somewhat of a hill over time.
The roads were cleared, thank goodness, but we had to shovel a path from the road to the door and completely uncover both decks. This smaller front deck is where we planned to put our firewood, so we had to clear it off simply for functionality.
And finally, we got to put our snowshoes (last years' Christmas gift) to good use for the first time. We drove up to where Highway 4 closes off for the winter and hiked the rest of the way to Lake Alpine. It was beautiful!
Jack was the pianist for our Primary program. He rocked it, no sweat. I am amazed by how comfortable he is behind a piano. He has been taking turns with some other volunteers in our Primary to play the piano each Sunday - Jack plays on the third Sunday of each month. We don't have a regular pianist because our ward keeps shrinking and shrinking. Which led to some very exciting news later that day: our ward was dissolved and the boundaries in Livermore were adjusted. Starting the week after the program, we joined a much larger and stronger congregation with a lot more children, youth, and active adults. I have been praying for something like this to happen for a good couple of years now, and in the meantime, advocating in ward council for us to behave more like a branch due to our numbers. One exciting consequence of the boundary changes was that I was released as Relief Society President. It took a couple weeks to transition information and closet contents around to the other wards, and then I finally felt the sweet relief of emotional and mental burdens being taken away from me.
That one picture of Jack playing for the program is lame, but you can thank my mom I have it. She asked for pictures and video since she couldn't be there, and I brought my phone out for a minute, but felt very self-conscious holding it up in the chapel, so unfortunately, that's all we've got.
Gemma was asked to write a few sentences about an Old Testament scripture hero, and I couldn't have been more proud that she chose to talk about Eve. My feminist heart swelled. I'm so grateful for all we understand about Eve! She said:
"I learned from Eve this year that you can be brave. God will be with you and help you. Eve used her agency and ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. That brave choice allowed all of us to come to the earth, be a part of a family, and use OUR agency to make choices between good and evil. I can be brave like Eve and choose good things that will help me become more like God. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."
Jack had one last recipe from his Eat2Explore boxes and happened to be in charge of making Korean BBQ the same day he had his friend Juno, who has a Korean mom, over after school. Turns out Juno had some kitchen tricks up her sleeve, and we had a very delicious and authentic dinner that night.
I got to help in Gemma's class the day they were painting their California relief maps. It was fun!
Fall stayed strong all through November. I kept soaking in the colors everywhere I went. I like spending time outside, feeling the wind, smelling the plants, enjoying the colors, admiring the sky.
Erika watched the kids while Todd and I took a couple days off to celebrate our 18th anniversary. We went to Point Reyes on Friday and to Sonoma on Saturday. We made a nice blend of hiking and checking out cheese factories, and finished up with a cheese-making class. Our Friday hike took us down to the beach, and our Saturday hike gave us views of downtown Sonoma. Both were enjoyable.
We stayed at this really cute place on the marsh called Motel Inverness. The views were delicious!
I'm thankful to be married to someone who respects and listens to me, who encourages me to grow and try hard things, who earnestly tries to be the best dad he can be, and who still makes me laugh, tingle, and feel utterly comfortable.
In our class, we made a basic ricotta and then added flavors to it. We took home Pomegranate Ginger, Lemon Zest, Jalapeno, Pepperonchi and Pepper, Yellow Indian Curry, and Honey. Yum!
This year, we drove to Utah for Thanksgiving. We spent two days with the Binghams and two days with the Bonners (and two days on the road). We had every single Bingham at the dinner, including Grandpa Bingham and Grandma Holley. It was awesome!
My family got the assignment to make twelve pies. Twelve! There were six left at the end of the night, so definitely we will edit the amounts if given the pie task again in the future. Hazel was incredible, and Jack worked super hard as well. Everything was delicious, but I think the chocolate silk pie took the blue ribbon. We also had key lime, blackberry, apple, and pumpkin.
Everyone's favorite part of the Bingham visit was the Turkey Bowl. It was Isaac's idea. He called everyone the week before to invite us to participate, so it was pretty hard to say no. I'm so glad I didn't! We went down to the high school field as the sun was setting and had a total blast. There was no pressure to be athletic. It was just awesome.
Missy hosted the Bonner clan at her new house. Grammie brought supplies for gingerbread houses, which the kids loved working on.
The biggest hit at the Bonner visit was using Missy's sports court. We played pickle ball, basketball, and dodgeball. It was tons of fun!
Hazel's cousin group wanted a picture to show they're each an inch apart in height, although I'd have to say Aybree looks a couple inches taller than Hazel here.
The kids took a Polar Bear Plunge as well. They're insane! It was, like, negative four hundred degrees outside! Thankfully, they had a hot tub to seek refuge in before and after, but still, that's cray-cray.
We drove to Cedar City on Saturday to see the Festival of Trees that Laura orchestrated. It's in its fourth or fifth year. She does an awesome job raising money for community charities and reveling in her love for Christmas decorating at the same time. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures! I think I was too cold to take my hands out of my pockets! No, I remember now, I forgot my phone in the car. Lame. That's why there's no visual documentation. Sorry.
