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!