Well, the big news of the week is that Mariah and Kevin’s team went three days in tournament (which is unheard of in previous Skinner experience) and placed fourth overall!  Holy Cow!  Such excitement!  They each got medals and they announced their names and sent them down a tunnel of clapping hands!  It was way fun.  Kevin missed a lot of work because of all those wins, but I know he wouldn’t have traded the victories for him or for the girls on the team.  It was HOT (it always is at tournament – the season starts too cold and ends too hot) and the games are played in the middle of the day, and poor Mariah had a cold.  She was so miserable, but she was a trooper.

On Saturday, the coach had a barbecue for the players and their families.  The girls each got a trophy for placing first in Springville!  They gave coaches signed softballs and some other nice thank you’s.  It was a good season – for all our players.

 

On Monday, before softball started, Kevin had the day off so we decided to go check out a place I had heard of called Burraston Ponds.  You drive and drive out to the middle of nowhere (or rather, Mona) and you find a couple of ponds.  They are quite pretty and the water is clear and they have some campground and picnic spots tucked in the trees.  We had a nice picnic.

We noticed several cars while when we arrived, but as we ate more and more kept arriving.  I’m not talking 5 or 6, I’m talking 30 or 40!  We finally went to go see what all the fuss was about – we had a hunch.

It was the rope swings!  People were lined up to climb up these platforms and swing out on the ropes into the middle of the pond!  It really is just a little unmarked place on the outskirts of a little in the middle of nowhere town and you would have thought we were at Seven Peaks commercial water park.  We think it was mostly college students there that day.  We wished we had known about it when we were at the Y.  As it was, we didn’t swim that day, but we’re thinking we’ll be back.  It was fun just to watch.

On Friday night we went to the ward party over at the church.  Megan, Mariah, Cheyenne, and Calianne were in a group of kids who practiced this week to do a cute dance to the song, “I Won’t Grow Up!”  It was so cute and it’s fun to see Megan be the oldest with her little sisters.  It was a fun party, too with lots of good food, songs, and ward olympics.

Bethany continues to follow her big sisters everywhere.  When they go outside, Bethany goes too – after she tells me “Bye, bye, Mommy!”  blows me a kiss and says cheerily, “Be back!”  I just blow her a kiss and wish her well.  She is not a wanderer like my other children were.  She always stays where the action of her big sisters is.

Benjamin remains the prince in our house. 

He holds on now when I hold him.  It is so precious.  I love him.  We all do!