Cheyenne and Calianne have really been loving their Thursday craft club!  This week they made these adorable bunny bags!  They even got to fill them with candy.  They have been having a great time.  They're also still loving tennis.  On Monday, I brought my bike and enjoyed the beautiful back-roads of Spanish Fork while I waited to drive them home!

Megan and Mariah started track this week!  I was going to take a picture of their cute, exhausted selves when they get home . . . but I forgot.  At the end of the first practice, Megan was sure that she was hopelessly out of shape and should just quit.  By the end of the week, she was back at the front of all the races -- with Mariah!  Kevin even stopped on his way back from work to watch them at a practice.  He is so proud (and excited for the upcoming races)!

For the last couple of months, Sarah has been serving on the Stake Youth Conference Planning Board as the YW representative from our ward.  She helped with a few last minute things this week, and then the big event was this Friday and Saturday.  Their theme was "Come to the Temple." They had dancing, service projects, classes, and food, food, food!  It was great fun.  I'm so glad that three of my daughters could participate and create those good memories!

Do they look sleepy? 8:30 on a Saturday morning is toooo early!

The very best part of the weekend, though, was that TWO of my sisters came to visit me!!  What a lucky girl am I, huh?  My sister, Amy, got tickets through her bishop (also her husband) to attend Women's Conference in the Conference center.  It turned out that she had enough for us all to go!  All our daughters eight and up, too!  What great memories we made and what a special night to be together!

Me, Amy, Maggie!

Our daughters who could come:  Mariah, Megan, Sarah, Cali, Mandy, Kayla, Liz, Cheyenne.

Conference Center!

In our seats!

The littlest ones stayed home with Kevin.  Bethany was in heaven all day because she so loves her cousin, Emma!  (She cried for 20 minutes when she left the next day!). Beth also had a ballet recital Saturday afternoon.  How I love to watch her dance!

Beth and her dear Emma!

What a great week!

We started the week with St. Patrick's Day!  Everybody wore green and we had green-lime frappe after dinner.  It was pretty fun but uneventful.

Sarah, Cali, Chey, and myself all had tennis this week.  Beth had ballet. Megan had fiddle lessons.  Sarah, Mariah, Cali, and Cheye, had piano lessons. Cali and Chey made books at craft club.

Thursday night was the Republican caucus in Springville.  Savannah went to her very first caucus!  She and I got to be the ballot counters.  Megan and her friend got to help direct people in the hall.  We all felt very politically savvy!

There was no school on Friday as it was the end of third term on Thursday.  So, Friday morning, I took Megan over to the DMV to see if we could get her learner's permit.  We did!  She took the test twice and managed to pass it. She is pretty excited!

After we got back, I drove Sarah and her friend, Allyson, out to Payson for a day of tennis.  Craig, who runs all the tennis groups, put together a tournament for his students.  She got to play two pro matches -- each match took an hour and a half to play.  She had great fun.  She won her first match, but lost her second in a tie-breaker.  She is playing really well and really having fun with it!

After I dropped off Sarah, I came home and scooped up the rest of the kids (with the exception of Savannah who had already left to see the movie, Divergent, with her friends).  I dropped Megan and her friend, Hannah, off at the mall, and took Mariah, Cheye, Cali, Bethany, and Ben to Classic Skating in Orem.  Ben had a great time riding his scooter around the rink.  Beth used skates with a toddler walker.  Cheye and Cali brought roller blades from home, and Mariah used roller skates.  They had a great time!  They were also having a deal where the kids got to play in the bounce houses and indoor playground, as well.  It was great fun.

We lost track of Ben at one point and this is where we found him!

 

 

That night, Kevin and I drove up to Salt Lake City where the organizers for the UCAP (Utah Coalition Against Pornography) Conference had invited all the presenters for a dinner at Little America.  Since Kevin was a presenter this year, we enjoyed a lovely meal and met some very passionate people in the field.

 

The next day, Kevin woke early to be in Salt Lake City for the Conference.  He spoke to over a thousand people and felt like it went really well and that his presentation was well received.

 

Back on the home front, we had the last games in the regional church basketball tournament.  We won our first game at 10 and went back and played another game at 1.  The girls all played really great in both games, but we did lose our second game.  That's okay because we had a great time!  Megan couldn't play because she had played school ball, but it was fun to see Savannah, Sarah, and Mariah play together!

That night was the Brookside 70th Birthday Celebration.  This party was the brainchild of our own dear Kevin Skinner and he put many hours into it interviewing old-time residents and putting together a video with interview clips and old pictures.  I went to bed many nights without him as he worked late putting that video together.  He had lots of help from his committee, as well, and I'm so grateful for the help they gave him.  It turned out to be a great night.  Our church gym was full of people laughing and visiting and enjoying the potluck and later the video.  He really did a good thing.  What a great guy!  No wonder we all love him so much!

 

March means flying kites!!  We had a super windy day yesterday and it was Calianne who asked me if we had any kites.  Why, yes.  We do!  Cali, Cheyenne, and I went to the field behind our house to fly this one made of sail canvas and no sticks.  It just stuffs into a bag and is ready when you are.  I love it!  It's pretty, too.  Cali and Chey and I had fun flying it and being out in the wind!  Thanks to Calianne!  Why didn't I think of that?

Savannah got offered a job this week!  There is a man in our stake who runs BYU's computer systems.  He hires BYU students to work for him.  Lucky for Savannah, my visiting teaching partner is his daughter and Scott's brother, Eric, has been working for him.  They both asked him to look at Savannah as a possible hire.  He seemed glad to!  So, this summer, Savannah will be able to work full-time and in the field in which she would like to major!  Won't that be great?  We are all pretty excited for her.

Sarah played tennis and had study groups.  She went to the church dance last night and came in the door exclaiming, "Best dance, EVER!"  She told us all about it.  When Sarah is happy (which is often!) she gets us all happy with her stories and laughter.  She is great fun and she shares it all with us!

Megan has been stressing over her math and biology grades.  This past week she turned in some extra credit for biology and brought her A- up to a 100%.  Wow.  She is feeling better now!  This next week will be the last week of the term so she still gets to stress about math.  :)  We're glad that she wants to do so well.  On Saturday, she sewed a new dress for herself, too.  It was all her design and it was easy and cute.  I love it when she takes charge of her own fashion like that!

Mariah had a bantam game Monday night.  They lost!  It was the first time they'd lost in a while but they did lose to a really good team.  She got to play in another game this week, though, as our ward was asked to represent the stake in the regional YW tournament.  So, Sarah and Mariah played with four other girls in our ward.  (Megan couldn't play since she was on a school team this year.)  It was fun to watch them play together.  We won by one point and will play again next week!

Chey and Cali had tennis and craft club and this week for Activity Days, they got to walk to the art museum and stop for ice cream at Reams on their way home.  They were in heaven!  They thought it was such fun!

With the weather warmer, Beth has been out with friends just about every day after school this week.  She gets home, tells me whose house she's going to, and is out the door.  She even met a new friend in the neighborhood and is really taken with her.  It's great to see her so active!

Benjamin's friend did move away.  :(  So, Ben has watched a lot more TV this week.  We have some promising new friendships brewing so hope is not lost.  Cali and Chey do try to include him, too.  This morning I heard them trying to get him to play "orphanage." (That's where they bring all the dolls and stuffed animals to one room and take care of them.)  Ben said, "No.  I don't like those kind of games. I like games with trucks and ships!  Let's play that kind of game!"  So much for socialization theories on the difference between boys and girls!  We cut Ben's hair last night.  Here's a picture of it:

 

Oh alright, here is the redo:

 

 

Kevin has really not felt well this week.  In addition, he has been working non-stop on the DVD of interviews he is making into a show for the Brookside Celebration next week.  At work, he has been working non-stop with clients and new workshops and he will present at the UCAP conference next week.  He is miserable and busy and the rest of us, in addition to feeling bad for him, feel bad for ourselves because we miss him!  Still, there is light at the end of the tunnel.  We will burst back into the sunshine soon!

We started the week with a visit from my mom!  It was so fun to see her and visit and visit.  She arrived while we were at church so she came during the last hour and after church we were all surprised and thrilled to see her earlier than expected.  She stayed until Wednesday and we loved having her!

While Grandma was here, Dr. Seuss had another birthday!  Isn't Beth a happy kindergarten celebrator?  She loves all things kindergarten and she is learning so much!  I love it . . . and her!

On Tuesday night for Young Women's, Sarah taught everyone how to make sock monkeys.  She is making sock monkeys to donate for her Honor Bee project.  The other young women were really excited to learn how to make them and had varying degrees of success.  It was a fun night and Sarah did great being in charge!

Megan had a busy week with biology tests and math assignments.  They caused her a lot of grief but she did  well on them and got them done.  We're glad she cares  about doing well and that she is such a hard worker!  She finally found some time to read this weekend and to play a little tennis with her friend, Alyssa.

Mariah had an assignment this week for Utah Studies where she was supposed to make a model of an Indian home.  It was just about the coolest assignment ever for her, I think.  She went out in the dirt hills and made one out of grass.  She had a great time.  It's so great that the weather is warmer and they can be outside again!  I'm so glad they have a bit of wilderness where they can create like that.  She also had two games this week on Monday and Saturday.  They won both!

Cheyenne and Calianne started a craft club at school this week.  They made bookmarks  this  week with ribbons and plastic grids.  They really had fun.  They also started tennis again this week.  Craig moved them up to the older class and they came back on Monday thoroughly distressed.  "We're so bad!" they told me.  I convinced them to go back on Wednesday and when I asked them how it went they said matter-of-factly, "It was good.  We're better now."  That was some quick improvement!

The weather has been warmer and so Ben has been able to be outside more, too.  He has been with his friend, Mason, almost constantly all week.  They've rode bikes, dug in the dirt, collected worms, and peed from the top of our stump throne.  (I missed that last one, but according to my neighbor, it was the cause of great hilarity!)  By the end of next week, Mason will have  moved away permanently.  It is going to be a hard  adjustment for Ben!

Savannah started this week deep in her convalescence from her wisdom teeth surgery.  We wondered if she'd ever be well again!  Grandma assured us that she would turn the corner soon, and she did!  By Saturday, she was  ready to dazzle her Preference date and make some really fun memories with her friends.  My favorite part (well, one of them) was that she drove our van so that all four dates in her group could be together and she and  Sarah cleaned it thoroughly before they went!  Awesome!  She borrowed the dress from some friends in our church ward and they even came over and did her hair and make-up, too!  So nice! She had a great time and looked gorgeous.

The big news of the week is that Savannah received notice that she has been accepted to BYU!  There was much screaming in the house Wednesday morning when she got the email.  It was pretty exciting!  We are all proud of  her and of all her  hard  work that qualified her to get in!  Go Savannah!

Mariah and Kevin had their last Bantam game of the regular season on Monday night.  It was the championship game and they won by a lot!  They played great.

Their coach was even chillin' out for awhile and just enjoying his front row seat!  It was pretty fun for everybody.  They got trophies!  They won't have to put their skills on the shelf for long as their next season starts on Monday. . .

 Tuesday night Kevin and Mariah finished their Springville Recreation season.  They finished that season undefeated.  No one could even touch them!  They had a good time there, too, and they got championship t-shirts!

Afterwards, Mariah lined up all her awards in the past year for championships seasons: Last year Mapleton, Springville, this year soccer, Mapleton, Bantam, and Springville.  That girl has a lot of wins under her belt!

In Mapleton, you win socks.  It's very practical.

On Thursday, Cali and Cheyenne and I had our last Springville Rec game!  It was tons of fun, too, with Cali and Cheyenne both scoring baskets!  Afterwards, I made the traditional giant cookie and the girls all got participation medals.  We had a lot of fun together.

On Friday, Savannah had all four of  her wisdom teeth removed.  The procedure was actually very quick and according to the dentist was super easy.  However, recovery is a bear.  She's taking pain meds every three hours.  She has to be on a liquid diet for 5 - 7 days!  Poor girl.  I don't know when she'll feel well enough to go back to school!  She is still swollen and hasn't moved far from the couch.

Saturday, Sarah and Mariah competed in the Fun Shot.  Kevin took them up to Pleasant Grove.  The event is great for developing their shooting skills, but is not well participated in.  There were only three in Mariah's age group and  none in Sarah's.  They both won!  They got a Gatorade.  :)