My mom came to visit us this week!  . . . and I don't even have a picture.  How's that for taking my mother for granted?!?  It's awful especially since now I don't have her around to smile at me anymore!  We just basked in her love the whole time she was here.  It was lovely!  She arrived late Monday night and stayed until Friday morning.  It was great fun!  We even got to get away by ourselves Thursday morning and go see the new Star Trek movie together!  What a treat for both of us.  We loved it!

Savannah got inducted into the National Honor Society on Monday evening!  We got to see her walk through the line and get her certificate and sign her name in the book.  It was pretty cool.  She is accomplishing cool things.

Savannah also performed one last time with her choir at the Spring Showcase on Thursday night.  They were incredible, as usual.  Grandma got to see that, too!

Savannah had her last AP test this week:  US History.  She felt like she did really well on 2.5 of the 3 essays.  We'll see how that pans out!  She has done a lot of hard work for that class.  We're really proud of her and know that she's learned a lot!  She worked this week, as always, but also got to go on a date Friday night with a bunch of college kids.  She had a ton of fun.  After work Saturday night she also got a chance to run see the new Star Trek movie with her girlfriend.  (She loved it, too!)

Sarah played tennis twice this week and also started her new job as a scorekeeper for the city rec softball games that are played over by our church.  She is really enjoying it.  She likes being a part of the softball scene with none of the pressure and all the fun!  (and getting paid, too!)  She did that Tuesday and Thursday nights.  On Wednesday night she had her final choir concert.  She did great!  The final number was a Disney medley including dancing and hand jives.  It was tons of fun!  Grandma even got to be there, too!

Kevin and I got invited to a banquet in Sarah's honor on Friday night at the junior high for having a 4.0 all three years at SJHS.  It was super cool!  What a cool kid she is!  We are so proud of her and her accomplishment.

Megan started her job as an umpire for girls city rec softball.  She is on a different field than Sarah and under a whole lot more pressure!  It kind of scares her to death.  She worked three nights this week and kept showing up to fulfill her commitment.  I think it's getting better!  She's starting to feel a bit more comfortable and less like she's going in front of a firing squad.  I'm proud of her for giving it a chance.  She's a cool girl!  She also finished a history project, made a catapult, and finished her book report.  She had a big week!

Yes, that is Megan as umpire!

Mariah played in two softball games this week.  It turns out that she's her team's best pitcher!  In fact, it may be that she is the league's best pitcher.  She is fun to watch.  The best part, though, is that she is really happy out there and having a fun time.  She did another cool thing this week.  She organized her own bookclub!  She and her friends decided on a book and they met this Saturday at our house to discuss it.  She cleaned up the house and had the meeting in her own room and they all decided on a new book for next month.  She gave out reminder notes, too.  She also made notebooks for everybody to take notes in.  She knows how to make things happen!  What a great ability.

Cheyenne finished a late book report and turned it in all on her own this week.  I didn't even know about it until her teacher called to tell me to let Cheyenne know that she had found it on her doorstep and not to worry.  Wow!  How's that for taking responsibility?

The elementary school had the author's party on Friday so Mariah, Cali, and Cheyenne all read to me the stories and essays they'd written this year and showed me some of their best work saved from other subjects.  They've done a lot of cool things this year and I'm proud of the care they take with all their assignments!

Bethany had two days of preschool and also a rehearsal for her ballet performance.  The ballet performance was Saturday afternoon.  Both sets of grandparents had already left town and Kevin had to be in SLC, but Sarah, Megan, Calianne, Ben, and I all really enjoyed it.  They had the recital at the church so that the kids could perform on stage!  Bethany loved that!  She looked adorable and did a great job.  She couldn't find her spot on the last dance, so they did the whole thing a second time.  I love neighborhood dance classes.  :)

Benjamin talks and talks and feels a pretty strong right to be a part of things.  He's always a part of Bethany's play no matter who is with her.  We watched a little boy for several days this week, and Ben loved having him around!  He stubbed his big toe probably three times this week because he runs so fast and won't wear his shoes.  He also is pretty filthy at the close of just about every day.  We love that crazy kid.

We also love our new tree throne.  If you're going to cut down a tree and have a stump in your yard . . . you might as well make the most of it!  Didn't it turn out great????

We should also mention before we quit, that Kevin had a crazy, crazy week and lived to tell the tale!  He was one of the lecturers at the Utah Association of Mariage and Family Therapy that was held Thursday thru Saturday this week.  He taught a three hour class to over 60 therapists on how to help couples trying to deal with a pornography addiction.  That was Thursday.  Wednesday night he stayed late after work to give part 3 of the class he's been teaching for women who are dealing with the trauma of having discovered a husband's sexual addiction.  Friday he attended the conference again all day.  Saturday he couldn't attend the  conference because he needed to be at the Utah Coalition Against Pornography annual conference where he had a table set up to sell books and CDs and answer questions.  He talked to more people than ever before.  It was a successful week!  He is really glad it's over, though!