We had no school on Monday so as a belated Valentine's gift to all his family, Kevin took us all to see The Lego Movie!  Yes, all ten of us in a movie theatre!  Good thing it was a matinee!  I had to take Ben out once to use the bathroom, but otherwise he did great.  I guess he really likes Legos . . . and Batman and pirates and things crashing and breaking apart.  Anyway, we all had a great time and we've been singing, "Everything is Awesome!" all week.

On Friday, Savannah had a Jane Austen tea party as part of her English class.  We found a neighbor who had a Regency-style dress, and I googled Regency hairstyles on the internet (oh! The things at your fingertips nowadays!). She came home at lunch and we dolled her up:

It was pretty fun.  Savannah had a good time too.  :). Actually she had fun once she got there, drinking hot chocolate in her tea cup, playing whist, and learning Regency dances.  The guys dressed up, too!  I just wish I could have been there!!  What fun.

Other than that, we had young women's, basketball, tennis, work, piano, fiddle, and homework, homework, homework.

Kevin and Mariah's club basketball team played in the semi-final game of their tournament and WON.  It was a great game Saturday night.  Afterward, they went to one of their teammate's houses to have pizza and ice cream and watch a movie.  They loved it.  Monday they will play in the championship game.  Exciting stuff!

Other than that, the weather has been warming up and we are loving being outside now and then.  Maybe winter really won't last forever . . .

This week we celebrated Savannah's 18th birthday.  Wow!  18!  I can hardly believe it!  She is beautiful and confident and strong and if she is "done" being a kid, I'd say she turned out well.  Really well.  What a treat it has been to be her mom . . . and will continue to be!  We love her to pieces.

For her birthday, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik's and had a lovely dinner, cake and ice cream, and opened presents.  It was great fun. 

 

Friday, of course, was Valentine's Day.  Kevin took me out to an early dinner since the restaurants were packed and then we came home to eat the chocolate-covered strawberries that I made him and to watch Sherlock.  Fun times!

 

The rest of the week was pretty much the same as other weeks, basketball games for Cali, Chey, and Mariah.  Tennis and working at basketball games for Sarah.  Work for Savannah.  Piano lessons for lots of kids and a fiddle lesson for Megan.  Lots and lots of homework.  Oh! And some Olympics watching in the evenings to spice things up.

 

On Saturday we had a surprise as our two "female" rabbits had baby bunnies!  Oops!  They only lived a few hours, though, which wasn't surprising since first litters rarely survive.  We decided to go ahead and put the rabbits back together and let them raise at least one litter of bunnies.  It will be fun for the kids.  After that, I am planning on taking them to the vet.  We will see how it goes!  Right now, it is raising lots of questions about how babies are made!  We will see how that goes, too!

 

On Saturday there was also another BYU Women's basketball game. The older girls were busy so we just brought Mariah on down.  Ben made it to half-time but then started wandering the empty rows. Kevin was watching him, but then lost sight of him.  We searched everywhere in that stadium and had all the security guards at the doors looking out for him.  We couldn't find him anywhere when suddenly he comes walking out of the Men's bathroom a few doors down -- with his pants down around his ankles.  Nothing like having a three-year-old take himself to the bathroom in a stadium built for 20,000!  Fortunately, it was mostly empty.  Still, it made the day pretty exciting.  Not that the game needed extra spice, it was a great win and we had fun!  We were glad to have all our children when we left at the end!

We watched the BYU Dunk Team at half-time.  Cool stuff!

The twins and Bethany danced the chicken dance.

We even made posters!

 

Monday was Meg's last basketball game!  She played great and they had a lot of fun.  They did lose, though, so that was their last game of tournament and for the year!  She has had such fun being on the team.  She has already bemoaned its loss repeatedly this week!  Happily, we did get together one last time for their team dinner/party on Wednesday night.  Meg got the "Best Shooter" award which Megan claimed should really say "The Best-Try Shooter Award."  We think she's great either way and are glad she had such a good time!

Savannah has still had some pretty "blah" health days but managed to go to school and work nonetheless.  We are hoping her strength will return soon!

Sarah worked some days this week.  Saturday she worked most of the day running the clock for the high-school boys games.  That's a pretty awesome job -- getting paid to watch cute boys play basketball!  She also played tennis and she and her friends met for movies on Friday and Saturday night.  She had fun!

Mariah played two games for Springville and one for Bantam.  Her Bantam game was on Saturday and Cheyenne and I went to watch.  It was a great game.  They were close, then down by twelve, and then in the last two minutes, tied up!  They lost but it was a fun game and they played well.  Kevin is a great coach.

Chey and Cali still love school.  When they get home, they like to invite friends over or go to their houses.  They are still taking great care of their rabbits.  They played basketball on Thursday and their defense was terrific!  They are still best of friends and work hard together and play great together.  I love those sweet girls!

Bethany had dance and kindergarten and played make-believe.  While I write this, she is by me drawing a picture.  Isn't she sweet?

Ben is growing and talking and playing with friends and trying not to destroy things.  He helped Beth and I clean his room on Saturday.  When I gave him an assignment, he would put his hand to his forehead and say, "Aye, aye, Captain!"  It was great.  Much better than earlier this week when I asked him what he wanted for lunch and after he told me, he said, "Now, get to work!"

Beth and Ben came to the dentist's office with me Tuesday when I took the twins in for their check-up.  Not only were there no-cavities, Beth and Ben had a great time in the play area!

Grandpa Skinner and Maria have been trying to get down here for a visit and to give us Christmas presents, but they haven't been able to.  So, this week they mailed down the presents, and we had great fun having another Christmas party.  Ben especially was excited as he was here when the package was delivered and had to wait all the way until everyone was home!  The package came on Thursday when Mariah and Kevin had a basketball game and then Chey, Cali, and I had a basketball game and also Sarah was at tennis until 7.  I had bookclub here at our house at 7:30, but Ben could not wait another minute!  So we opened at 7:15.  :)

Thanks Grandpa and Maria!!

Our new couch is being very much enjoyed!  I think this next picture makes it look especially comfy!

Or deadly!  He is still alive, I promise!

Well, the week has rushed by us again!  Savannah felt well again for about two days and then fell under the weather again.  Poor girl.  She has really not had a good month.  Still, she has plugged along catching up in the classes she has missed and finishing half of her online financial literacy class.  She is enjoying her app design class and her jogging class.  This week was also Chinese New Year, so as the TA in Chinese 1, she helped make water dumplings and other Chinese delectables and had a good time with that!  Funfinity opened again on Saturday so the employees worked many long days getting the shelves re-stocked and cataloged.  On Saturday, Savannah worked 11 hours.  She was really wiped out.  I am sure she is glad that is all over!

Sarah played tennis on Tuesday and Thursday.  She watched movies with friends on Friday and Saturday.  She is staying on top of her classes and they are hard ones!  She has another sewing class this semester.  She is crocheting a scarf.  How fun to take a break from hard stuff to sit and crochet with friends!  She also was off being employed several times this week, scorekeeping for games or directing crowds of people in the right direction for team pictures.

Megan had her last full week of basketball practice.  We can't believe it is over already!  She has had a great time!  She played games on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I got to watch her on Wednesday.  It is always such fun!  Some days it is hard for her to be at practice for two hours and then be doing homework still at 10 at night, but she never lets herself go to school without being ready for class.  That's a really good trait and I'm so glad she's such a hard worker.

Mariah had games Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  She's still playing great!  She also does well in school and works hard.  On Friday, though, she got to go to work with Dad and she was very excited about that!  It was job-shadow day and she had been looking forward to it for a long time.  I think she was even more tired coming home from a day in Dad's office than she is after a day at school!  But, she had fun and really enjoyed it!

Cheyenne and Calianne had TWO basketball games this week, one on Monday and one on Thursday.  It was lots of fun.  I love watching them play because they are getting better and really enjoy it!  Other than that, they played with friends everyday, did their homework, and even found time to watch some TV.

Bethany had dance and kindergarten.  She spent one whole morning playing the songs from the new Disney movie, Frozen, on our ipad and singing along. She's so cute!  I recorded her just for you!

 

Benjamin has been playing with Mason and toting around his favorite blanket and watching tv and playing on the ipad and begging to go with whoever is going anywhere.  He gives great hugs, too.