We had such a busy week!  Monday was Bethany's dance recital!  She looked adorable!  She's been taking jazz once a week and it was fun to watch the dance they've been working on.  While we watched the other classes, I asked her if she would like to take ballet instead.  She said, "Can I take both?  I want all the pretty costumes!"  Now we see the big draw!  Anyway, she was adorable and it was super fun.

On Tuesday night lots of things happened.   Sarah had to work, Mariah went caroling with the church youth, Calianne and Cheyenne had their last Mapleton basketball game, and Megan had her orchestra concert.  I was yelling MERCY!  Miraculously, it all worked out. Oh, and did I mention that Kevin and Mariah had a late-night basketball practice, too?  So, I went to Cali and Chey's basketball game and coached.  They had a great time playing in this league and I'm glad I could do it with them.  It was a lot of fun!

We went directly from the game to Meg's orchestra concert.  I missed the first two orchestras but only missed one of Megan's orchestra's songs.  Yay!  I traded places with Kevin who had brought Beth and Ben to the concert.  Kevin took Ben and the twins home and I got to enjoy the delightful strains of Megan's music!  Grandma and Grandpa were there, too.  Megan sat second chair in the second violins.  She is doing really well in orchestra and I love to listen to her play!

The rest of the week was not quite so crazy.  At least for everyone else.  I was working on a project that I needed to get done before they got out for Christmas break on Friday, so I was busy every second!  I did get done though.  Hurrah!

Friday Kevin and I went out for his birthday and Christmas.  We went to the temple with his mom and Jim and then out to eat.  It was really peaceful and nice.

Thursday was Megan's last class day of driver's ed!  Kevin and I were really glad to not have to get up early anymore!  Megan's real stress relief came Saturday, though.  She took her final driving test (the one that counts for your license) and she passed!!  Yay, Meg!  What great rejoicings were heard!

You see Savannah in this picture.  She showed up Saturday, too!  She had finals all week and got her last one done on Friday.  She and her friends from her hall had a last movie night Friday night before they all went home for the holidays.  We are happy to have her back for a while!

Saturday we also had a visit from Kevin's dad and Maria!  (And I forgot to take a picture!  Nuts!)  They brought Christmas gifts and the kids loved opening them and we all loved visiting together!  They couldn't stay long as they were on their way to California to be with Maria's family but we were so glad they stopped by!

We were also busy Saturday because Kevin and I had to prepare talks.  We spoke in church on Sunday!  Both of us were assigned ten minute talks to speak in between the choir's Christmas numbers.  I sang in the choir, too.  I also taught the lesson for Beehives in the third hour.  It was also Kevin's birthday.  MERCY!  It all worked out, though, once again.  I think I am getting a lot of Mercy from on High to help me in my life.  I definitely am! 

Kevin's mom did most of the work for his birthday celebration!  Kevin also did a two-hour training for bishops Sunday morning.  So, it was nice to stop after all the service and have a nice meal and family time.  We celebrated Meg's birthday, too, since her SIXTEENTH birthday was the next day.  It was a very nice night.  Afterwards, we all went back to our house, got in our pajamas, and watched the Forgotten Carols, which we love to do every year.

Mariah made Kevin an apron in her sewing class!

They let me be part of the celebration, too, since we'll be gone on my birthday.

We got to see Savannah on Friday of this week.  She came home to do laundry since she knew she wouldn't have time to hang around on Sunday after dinner.  Finals start on Monday!  Sarah and I got to see her on Saturday, too, as she met us at the Cougareat for lunch after Sarah's ACT.  She seems super happy in spite of her looming tests.  She was going to spend the rest of the day at the math lab for reviews.  No wonder she was happy to take some time off to be with her family!

Sarah did take her first official ACT on Saturday at BYU.  She doesn't think she did super well but she has a better feel for it now and she knows what else to do before she takes it again in March!  I think she is great for getting ready for college!  She also had tennis this week and worked at Funfinity and turned in a research paper on Ida Tarbell.  She's a busy kid!  She came home from work last night and went straight to bed at 9:30.

Megan survived her second week of driver's ed!  Which, in addition to all the 6am classes, included her first driving-on-the-roads-with-the-instructor session and the car maintenance and parking lot observance assignments.  She also had a couple of tests this week in other classes and turned in a research paper on Annie Oakley.  She also is a very busy kid!  She did get to go to a white elephant party Friday night, though.

Mariah finished games in her Mapleton league this Thursday night with a 1-point win!  Yay!  They've had a fun time.  She also had a Bantam game Monday night where they won in overtime thanks to an assist from Mariah to the big man under the basket on a fast break.  It was pretty exciting I am told.  In addition, she had at least three 6am practices.  Crazy, right?  She is super good at coming home from school and working on her homework right away.  This is a good thing, because then if she has extra time she can keep reading Harry Potter.

Cali and Chey and I had two Mapleton basketball games this week and we won both of them!  How fun for us!  They also had at least one early morning basketball practice.  They also had piano lessons and Up With Kids (which is the theatre group they are in).  They got to be angels in our ward's nativity scene on Saturday and they went to a couple of practices for that, too.  Since the ward Christmas party last night, they have been busy making snowflakes with which to decorate our house!  It's pretty fun!

Bethany had dance class and piano with me and she sang at the ward Christmas party.  She likes to play with all our nativities and with her friends.

Benjamin had his last week of Joy School this year and ended with a Christmas program!  He got to be a shepherd and sing us some Christmas songs.  He also made me a treat, which I ate all of and it made him very angry because he wanted it!  Oops.  Still, he is pretty adorable--especially when he is singing songs!

Saturday night was our ward Christmas party.  The YW dressed as Shepherds and followed our drummer and sang "The Little Drummer Boy."  The primary did a nativity and sang us some songs and we all joined in on some.  It was all pretty fun!  Not to mention lots of food and lots of people!  I can't believe I've been to 15 Christmas parties in this ward now -- except for what Kevin claims to be the best one which I missed because it was just a week after Mariah was born!  Still, these people in my neighborhood, who I go to church with, really do feel a lot like family.  It's a really cool thing.

Merry Christmas!

Mariah earned her Young Women Medallion last Sunday!!  Isn't she cool?  She had a goal to finish by her 14th birthday and that she did.  We are so proud of her consistent work and her desire to do this good thing!

We also decorated the Christmas tree last Sunday.  I managed to talk my family into an artificial tree this year!  Some kids were very sad but I think it looks nice.  They might get won over yet!  Savannah was home for Sunday dinner so she was there, too!

Ben had Joy School this week.  He even sang songs for some people in the care center and made some ornaments.  He had a great day with Grandma and Grandpa on Friday walking all around the mall and looking at toys and waving to Santa!

Bethany enjoyed going back to school and seeing her friends and even reading with me, but she was not so thrilled about homework!  She's doing well on the piano learning Jingle Bells and loves her dance class.  She and Ben helped Kevin put up the lights on Saturday.

Cali and Chey had three basketball practices this week and two games.  As their coach, I think they are playing great!  They are getting to be strong dribblers.  They just need to shoot more!  They are really enjoying it and that is the important part.  They talked me into going to the dollar store on Saturday so everyone could buy Christmas presents for each other.  Everyone is so excited for Christmas!

Mariah had lots of basketball this week, too, going to three practices and three games.  She and Kevin had their first Bantam game on Saturday and I went to watch.  They didn't win but they fought hard! Mariah had six steals and ain't nobody can get that ball from her!  She also finished the jacket she's been working on for her sewing class.  It turned out super cute!

Megan started driver's ed this week!  Hurrah!  The dread is over and we're getting it done!  She has to be at school by 6am and she stayed after school until 6pm Wed-Fri to drive on the driving course. Add to that the extra reading, worksheets, and studying and she hasn't had a minute to spare all week long!  She was happy when Saturday came!  She has three tests and an essay to write next week.  On the bright side, she is driving well and we know she will conquer this skill.

Sarah had tennis and work at Funfinity.  I went in Saturday night to the toy store where she works to buy some things (ho, ho, ho) and saw her cheerful interaction with the customers.  She's so cute! She's also busy studying for the ACT and getting her homework done and cheering us all up with her stories and games here at home.

Savannah's been busy as her semester will draw to a close next week!  She called us on Tuesday because she and the other girls on her hall were decorating for Christmas and she wanted to know the closest place to buy wrapping paper!  Ah, college days!