Susie's Leaning Tower of Chocolate for 2019 October

The Saturday of general conference, John and I went to see our first play of the season, Miss Saigon, with two other couples, and then out to dinner. We read about and discussed the changes announced at conference.

On Sunday, we sat down with the kids and some treats to watch the first session. Sienna only made it halfway through before the girl next door came over and invited her out to play. She came in for lunch but otherwise played outside for eight hours.

John and I went for a walk on a nearby open space trail and saw a tarantula.

I made pumpkin spice muffins for breakfast and John made a fall skillet meal for lunch, with apple, onion, squash, chicken, bacon and Brussels sprouts.

For my birthday, John planned a overnight getaway to Catalina. We flew over in a helicopter, ate dinner at a fancy restaurant, lay around on the beach, went on a glass bottom boat tour, walked around Avalon, visited the spa, and lay around some more. Oh, and hunted for sea glass (found tons). It was very relaxing and just what we needed.

Sienna has finally lost her first two teeth. She's had shark teeth on the bottom front for several months, and she worked up the courage to let Uncle Franco pull them out. We were, ironically, at the pool, having a fun family night swim, where Maggie lost a tooth at a swim meet this summer.

Sienna is now following up on every bribe I ever offered her to get those teeth out. Also, I told her she couldn't have candy until her teeth came out and she countered with no ipad. And then went without her ipad for a month.

I stopped shaving my legs in July, maybe as a social experiment, or laziness. I hate doing things because I'm "supposed to." So far I had one person say they were proud of me and one person say she was glad I didn't shave my legs like her (though she said she had just shaved so she didn't embarrass her grown children when she visited them) and one husband of a friend look at me weird.

Maggie seems to be enjoying Middle School. She has gotten used to biking every day (it's quite a bit farther than the elementary school) and she has a good group of friends to bike with. Some days they stop at Yogurtland or Del Taco on the way home, which has made her interested in earning more money babysitting.

She loves her elective this trimester - Writer's Workshop - and all her other classes, except PE. Though she is trying hard in PE. She takes her school work seriously and is very conscientious about getting her homework done. Other than a few minor dramas with the friends, she is happy and enjoying everything.