Skinner Update

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Sometimes the girls all get interested in something all at once. And then they're so cute! I have to take their picture! This was a new game Mariah discovered on her Kindle Fire. She's been saving her money for probably 6 months and finally had enough to buy her own! Pretty nice of her to share it, right? Also, here is my proof that technology is not always isolating! It brings kids together quite often here at our house.

On Monday this week, the girls had no school because of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. To celebrate, the younger kids went to Grandma's house (yay Grandma and Grandpa!) and I put the older kids to work repainting the TV room. Am I a cool mom or what? That's just what every teen wants to do on their day off! Actually, they had a pretty great time for the first 2 hours or so. They were good sports and it would have taken me FOREVER without them. We painted, then stuck wrinkled-up tissue paper on the wet paint and then painted on top. The effect is rather beautiful. It does take a little while, though. Our TV room is no longer bright blue! It is now quite an elegant grey.

I have a whole master plan to remake that room and I will post pictures when it is all done!

Lucky Savannah! When we were done painting the TV room, work called and asked her to come in and . . . quess what? . . . help with the repainting of the shop! Things got a little more crazy at work than they did at home! This picture was taken after she had already washed up a bit!

The rest of the week was pretty normal. Meg had basketball games on Wednesday and Thursday. I got to watch her on Wednesday and she played great! Mariah had games on Tuesday and Thursday and Saturday. I didn't get to watch any of her games but Kevin tells me (and I have no doubt!) that she played great! They won all three games. Saturday was a big win for them since this team had beat them before and were high in the rankings. They felt really good about that game! Cheyenne and Calianne had a game Thursday and Chey made her first in-game basket! Cali didn't make any that game but has before! It was great fun.

Sarah had tennis twice this week. We even played basketball for our YW/YM activity Tuesday night. Sarah (and Sidney and Daniel, also in the car) didn't want to play basketball so they drove around the neighborhood for awhile on their way back from tennis before they showed up at the activity! Sarah now claims to hate basketball. She likes to watch her sisters, though!

On Saturday, I found a great deal on a leather couch with recliners (part of the master plan!) and dragged Kevin and Sarah and Megan (and Ben and Beth though they were willing participators) up to West Jordan to evaluate, load, and transport the sectional back to our house. We made it back barely in time to grab Mariah and the twins and go to the BYU Women's basketball game that we had promised we would go to! Our first this season! We got them situated at the game and then Kevin, Sarah, Savannah, and I walked over to the dorms, which was just a stone's throw away, to watch our nieces open their mission call. That was a treat!

Anna and Erin Gazdik are twins in their freshman year at BYU. Their mom grew up in Japan and their mom and dad both served missions in Japan. They both decided independently that they wanted to put in their papers and serve the Lord on a mission once their freshman year was done. They both really wanted to go to Japan. They got their envelopes with their call in them this week but they waited until Saturday when their mom and dad and family could drive up from California to be there for the big event! Anna got called to the Fukuoka, Japan mission and Erin to the Tokyo South, Japan mission. There were many tears. I'm getting choked up just typing about it. We're all so happy for them and for their desires to do good!