Our biggest announcement of October was Jack's trip to Japan. He was so thrilled to go! I was afraid he wouldn't want to come back home to us, but thankfully, he did. His host mom did an awesome job of emailing me nearly every day with an update and pictures, so that helped ease my anxiety tremendously and gave me a sense of connection with Jack while he was on the other side of the world and unable to communicate with me himself. It was a small preview of what life might feel like when I send kids on missions. Jack journaled his trip and I will include it as a separate post.
While Jack was away, things remained fairly ordinary for the rest of us. Hazel had volleyball, Gemma had cross country, we watched General Conference, and it started to feel like fall. Gemma painted pumpkins at activity days and at Clara's house.
Hazel's chamber orchestra was invited to play at an event at McGrail winery. They were paid for their services, which went into the fundraising bucket for the music program.
It was funny to listen to them egg each other on, and kinda hilarious to watch eyes water, noses run, and faces turn red. Hazel made a huge production out of her experience. We feel like we went too easy on the kids, though. Todd sliced the ghost peppers into super tiny pieces, and nobody threw up or anything too crazy. It was a little too easy of a challenge. Next year, my friends, next year everyone's getting a whole pepper they can bite into!
Gemma got fourth place at the cross country meet on home turf - CMS. She's in a tight bundle of girls at the front who are all vying to outrun each other. Their times are seconds apart.
Since the race was on home campus, Gemma invited friends to come cheer her on. Her good buddies Lia and Lydia came and supported her; it was so sweet!
I got bongo drums for my birthday. I can't even tell you how much my inner self loves them! It unleashes something powerful in me. Apparently Gemma feels the same way. We were jamming out, taking turns drumming while the other one free danced. I had my eyes closed and was just really getting into it, when - BAM! - the drum skin tore. I guess I was slapping it with too much intensity. I probably needed to keep closer to the edges instead of the center. Gemma came up to me, eyes huge, and said, "That. Was. AWESOME!" I definitely need these things in my life. Buying a replacement for sure!
Gemma went to her first middle school dance. I was so proud of her - she made plans with a group of girls to meet up before the dance and go in together so they could hang out. She danced her heart out and said she didn't care what anyone thought of her; she wasn't concerned with looking cool but with enjoying herself fully. She's the best.
We went bowling with Vlad, Luna, and Erika for Vlad's birthday. Luna cracked me up with the way she'd grab the ball, walk determinedly forward, then drop the ball and let it roll wherever it would go.
Hazel had Homecoming. Her girlfriends Delaney, May, and Katie came to our house to get dressed up together, and then the boys joined over here for dinner. They went downtown to take pictures before the dance and then walked to the school from there. The air conditioning was broken at the school gym, so Hazel described entering it was like walking through a wall of humidity and body odor. She tried to rescue someone from a mosh pit and their hand just slid right out of hers, too sweaty to hold on. It sounded kinda disgusting. But she looked beautiful and she enjoyed herself!
At their final cross-country meet, Gemma was determined to bump up to third place. Todd coached her on strategies for passing and riding other runners' wind and what spot on the course to kick it up into highest gear. She ran her heart out and she did, in fact, come in third. She almost made second place, but was passed in the final stretch. She was awesome!
Hazel rushed over from the high school to support Gemma and Jack. She arrived after Gemma finished, but in time to hear the play by play in person and then to cheer Jack on. I loved that.
Jack had friends over for the middle school version of the Pepper Party. Having learned a few lessons from the high school run, we knew to gather the kids around the table and go through the peppers together. The peer pressure was high. Everyone tried every single pepper. Even me! Gemma caved and came over for the finale because she wanted ice cream and a ghost keychain.
The kids were doing pushups to blow through their adrenaline. It was hilarious! There was lots of crying and sweating and pumping each other up.
We brought a cheering crew to Hazel's Livermore vs Granada game. Todd bought a bulk order of clapping hands from Amazon and all the pom poms we had left from the last big game. Hazel played the winning spike on the set we won, which was a huge thrill for all of us. (We don't need to talk about how Granada still won overall.)
Fall is just starting to pop out here. I look for evidence everywhere I can. My heart warms up when I see leaves changing colors, and I could not resist the gorgeous fall bouquet I saw at Trader Joe's.
Jack and Hazel each carved pumpkins with friends at other houses, so this is the one and only picture I have to show for their creativity. That's okay. I did not miss the mess at my house!
We went to the ward trunk or treat. I brought taco soup, which Todd spiked with ghost peppers. Hazel tricked a couple of the missionaries into biting into fresh ghost peppers without knowing what they were getting themselves into. Our family is going to get a reputation...
The kids all went trick or treating. Gemma, Todd and I joined Clara and her family while our teens went out without us.
And speaking of scary, Todd got a new calling, which I will wait to talk about in the November edition, because it was top secret at our house until it was announced to the ward on November 3rd.
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