June 2022

I took my game night group up to the cabin for a girls' weekend and it was a blast. We ate the most delicious food (turns out everyone puts out the stops for their friends when they're only responsible for one meal each), we played about a million games, and we hiked all the way around Lake Alpine, which was a beautiful adventure. We also ~barely~ hit a deer on the drive up, but miraculously, no one was hurt and it only added excited conversation to our weekend, instead of a trip to the hospital or the car repair shop. 

We finished up the school year with a field day I got to help out at, fifth grade promotion for Jack, cute notes from Todd hanging from the ceiling, and a summer kickoff hangout with friends at our house. 

Jack and Rex won the 5th grade robotics drag race, which was very exciting, since robotics was something Jack sincerely enjoyed in school all year long. 

Hazel, Jack, and Gemma had their summer kickoff sleepover on the trampoline. We plastered everyone in bug spray and long sleevers, since Gemma got a funky mosquito bite puffy eye last time they slept in the backyard. Everybody slept well, although not long enough, but the cutest part is that Ginger spent the night cuddled up with them! 

Todd and I left the kids with Aunt Erika for the weekend - she took them on a beach hike and everyone had an awesome time - while he and I flew to Boise to celebrate Amy and Jon Naseath's 20th anniversary party and a bit of a Dinner Group reunion, with Mandy and Tom Carmack, Jill and Mitch Dabo, and Courtni and Brian Muir. It was lots of fun to reunite with friends from our newlywed days and catch up on everyone's families. And it was a nice, albeit quick, getaway for me and Todd to have some good, uninterrupted conversation when we weren't worn out at the end of the day. 

We flew home Sunday morning and got back in time to attend a later ward to receive the Sacrament, and to attend our meetings. I headed almost straight to ward council, and Todd hopped onto a Zoom stake leadership meeting - the kids loved that he had his comfy shorts on! Ha. 

Katie invited us over to use her slip and slide. It was a total blast! Hazel missed it because she had a babysitting job, but I think Gemma made up for it and had enough fun for two people. 

Gemma got her braces off! A year and a half of orthodontia - thumb guard, expander, braces, head gear! Gemma has been a serious trooper: quitting her thumb sucking, flossing daily with a water flosser, almost never complaining (despite Hazel's and Jack's regular reminders that this was all self-induced), and going 17 months without Todd's amazing stovetop popcorn. Her smile is radiant! She's wearing a retainer now, and has really impressed me with how responsibly she has kept track of it so far. 

Once the braces were off, we headed straight back to the cabin, where Grammie, Poppa, and Luna met us for a visit. We showed off the Fifth Floor, went on several short hikes, oggled at the wildflowers that were everywhere to be seen, and played with the slime and beads that Grammie brought. 

We had a hair-braiding session to reward ourselves after setting up the kids' beds. 

The Kid Cave turned out so awesome! We are totally happy with it. 

Back at the house, we celebrated Father's Day with a nice day at church (Jack played the piano for the primary while they sang in Sacrament Meeting!), a visit from Erika, a delicious stroganoff dinner, games, and a wild puppet show from the girls. 

We left Todd at home for a few days and took a mid-week trip to Crestin, CA to visit the Turris at their ranch they moved to last summer. We were greeted with a friendly banner upon arrival. The next 48 hours were a non-stop party. There were a million animals: three horses, a turkey, several goats - including a baby - three bunnies, five ducklings, and five or six barn cats. Almost nonstop someone was on a horse, except for our fun trip to the pool our second afternoon. All the kids slept in their pop-up trailer. I could not get enough of Kalyn's garden. We even made a salad for lunch 100% from the garden: four different types of letttuce, carrots, mint, squash. It was so cool! 

Gemma was in heaven. The Turri's property is basically Gemma's future dream. 

Jack and Carson cornered Samson the Turkey and Jack picked him up, giving everyone the opportunity to touch a turkey. It was exciting! 

The Turri's only picked up their five ducklings a few days before we arrived, so they named them after us! "The Bonners" - they could identify which duck was Hazel, Angie, whoever. It felt like such an honor! 

Hazel spent a week at FSY - For the Strength of Youth camp - up at Sonoma State. It was the first time she's ever been away from the whole family for that long. We all missed her energy and her peacemaking skills. She enjoyed the classes and took lots of notes, recognized she felt the Spirit, had a blast at the dances, had an FSY crush, and made some new friends. 

Our stake had a two day Primary Day Camp while Hazel was gone. It was lots of fun. I helped out the first day and then booked myself a massage the second day! Gemma and Jack enjoyed the lessons and activities based on Old Testament heroes. They both loved making Elijah cakes the most. 

We invited the Haupts to come along with us to the Gardens at Lake Merritt. Jack wanted to go because they have bonsai, but we explored all the gardens and had a very enjoyable day. I found flowers with a scent that reminded me of my Grandma Bingham, and Jack, Stacie, and I could not stop petting the Mule's Ear and other soft leaves in the sensory garden. Gemma and Clara liked the water areas best, spending tons of time throwing leaves in the water and watching them go under a bridge. 

May 2022

Well, our family spent the entire first week of May at home with Covid. There was a wide range of energy levels. I lived on the couch and napped a lot. Hazel reorganized the pantry.  By the middle of the week, we realized that Todd was not asymptomatic like we had assumed, but rather lagging behind the rest of us by a few days. He got a fever and fatigue, but had the mental Jedi power to never give in to the cough. Amazing. Anyway, since everything was cancelled and we still couldn't go to church, either, we headed back up to the cabin for the weekend again. This time, I did a lot of organizing and Todd did a lot of resting. We also drove up the highway to Lake Alpine to check it out: lovely. Mother's Day was incredibly low-key. 

Everyone was excited when our quarantine lifted and life could resume its normal pace. Jack has been enjoying his tennis class. I am terrible at taking decent pictures. I should have stuck my camera up into the fence, but I am lazy and stayed on my bench. 

Gemma has been doing USYVL volleyball on Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings. Todd is her coach. She says it's her favorite sport, and she's got a solid serve. She works a lot on setting with Hazel, who also joins when her busy schedule allows. 

There was more snuggling and earlier bedtimes than usual. Gemma still is getting stomachaches and has a persistent cough, more than a month later. 

Jack started playing piano once a month for our Primary. He rocks. Our chorister said he was just as good as any adult she has ever worked with. 

I chaperoned Jack's class on a field trip to Del Valle. We explored the Visitor's Center, hiked, and studied some of the animals common to the area: bald eagles, mountain lions, and gopher snakes. Jack's favorite part of the trip was touching a live snake. He has always had an affinity for reptiles. 

Gemma has started helping more in the kitchen. She wants to learn how to do everything and use all the tools. She even willingly chopped onion for the opportunity to try to roll the knife back and forth across the cutting board. 

We had three of Hazel's guy friends from school and volleyball over on a Saturday, Armaan, Kieran, and Dinari. They played volleyball in the backyard, we ordered pizza, and we took them with us to pick cherries in Brentwood. They were a delight to have, but were loud, busy, and energetic, and I never took a breath to snap a picture, except this one of Gemma trying to lure a ground squirrel out of his hole to nibble on a cherry. 

Jack is still going strong with his geography cooking boxes. This month, he has made us several Ethiopian meals; they are some of the most unfamiliar meals we've tried so far. Everything has been family friendly and some have been really delicious. 

I went with Gemma's class on a walking tour of Livermore history. It was a hot day, which was too bad, because our tour guide was informative and darling with the kids. We learned about the old train station, the original library buildings, the post office, some wineries, and more. 

The next day, I went on a tour of the middle school with Jack's class. He is so excited to move on and up. 

Hazel's orchestra class had their spring concert. They sounded pretty good! 

Hazel joined the track team halfway through their season, the week after volleyball ended. She hasn't enjoyed it as much as volleyball, although she does like hanging out with her friends who are on the team. She ran the mile in the championship meet and got second place. She is thinking of joining cross country in the fall and thinks she will like running long distances off the track better. 

I came out early one morning to this darling sight: Jack and Hazel are working on a duet to play in church. They were all cuddled up together in the chilly house and collaborating together with whispers and giggles. 

We took our friends the George's up to the cabin with us for Memorial Day weekend. Todd's truck and Katie's van were both packed to the max. We brought up the kayaks, three trifold mattresses for extra beds, lots of food to stock the pantry, blankets galore, ladders and wood so Todd and Ryan could build a loft within the loft (which we have now dubbed The Fifth Floor). 

The kids just had a massive blast, hanging out in the hammocks, shooting the BB gun, playing board games and Mafia. We adults relaxed and worked some and played a few games, but not nearly enough! 

Katie and I took the kids on a hike around Bear Lake on Saturday. It was so beautiful, but just a little muddy because it had been raining that morning. It was fun to see all the houses that have lots right along the water, to smell the pine trees and listen to the quaking aspen. 

We discovered this stunning beauty, as well: a snow plant! Jack was especially excited to see it, because he had already seen it in a flower identification book my Grandma Holley gave him and fallen in love with it, without ever seeing one in real life. 

Todd and Ryan got this extra loft built on Saturday, just barely cleaning up as the sun went down, in time for all the kids to spread out the tri-folds and hang up the hammocks since they all wanted to sleep together. It took a good hour and a little Melatonin to get all the kiddos settled down that first night. 

Hazel braided everyone's hair. Jack and Lucas were good sports about wearing their dreadlocks all day Sunday and competing for poofiest hair on Monday (Lucas won!). 

I taught a lesson on Joshua and keys to help us be courageous as we travel through life to our own promised land. (Sounds pretty clever, I know, but it all came straight from a talk by Ann M. Dibbs.) 

Sunday afternoon was sunny enough that, even though it was only about 60 degrees, the kids wanted to take the kayaks on the lake. Katie and I both thought they'd come back in freezing within fifteen minutes, but we were dead wrong: the kids played hard for two hours! 

Gemma and Paige did try swimming and learned the hard way that it was still too cold for that, but they dried off, warmed up in the sand, and didn't let that stop them from having a great adventure. 

The older three (Hazel, Lucas, and Jack) spent the tail end sunning on the dock and apparently baring their souls to each other. I heard Hazel and Lucas reminding each other later, "What we talked about on the dock, stays on the dock." Hazel admitted they talked about some good stuff, but I didn't pry. 

Monday we packed all the kids in the back of the truck and crossed to the other side of the highway to explore the rock climbing area. Everyone but me bouldered (I tried, but it stressed me out way too much.) I did catch this sweet view before heading back down, though. 

We had a happy, relaxing long weekend. Everyone was sad for it to end. The good news is we can do it again! We are seriously LOVING owning a cabin of our own.