Monday was Labor Day and the kids had NO SCHOOL and dad had NO WORK!  Fun, right?  First, the twins had asked for a horseback ride for their birthday and when I found out that Sarah's friend, Tate, from EFY had horses, I asked Sarah to ask him if he'd take her sisters for a ride.  Labor Day was the day!  What a nice guy!  They all had so. much. fun!

Sarah got to ride, too!

Tate and Sarah

While they went horseback riding, Mariah and I went to go see the Avengers movie!  That night we all went over to Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik's for a backyard picnic, visiting, and games.  It was great fun!

Late, late Tuesday night Kevin and I left Savannah in charge and caught a plane for Orlando!  Kevin went to Orlando to attend the Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation Conference.  I got to go with him!  He didn't have any conference-related activities until Thursday, so Wednesday as soon as we landed, we drove out to Cocoa Beach, walked along the beach, collected shells, and even went swimming in the ocean!  So fun!  Afterward, we ate at the Lobster Shanty along the bay and were visited by a pair of playful dolphins.  Amazing!

This is where we saw the dolphins!

After checking in at our hotel and resting for a bit, we went out to eat at a local Indian Restaurant and watched our favorite show later in our room.

Thursday morning Kevin did an interview with a local Baptist church.  In the afternoon, we went to Downtown Disney and saw Inside Out and walked around the shops.  We had tons of fun.  That night Kevin needed to register for the conference and set up his booth, but afterward, we went to the hotel pool which was NICE!

We thought we could get this for Savannah to wear on her mission!

On Friday, Kevin attended his conference all day.  I didn't mind at all as I got a whole day to work on my novel!  Wow!  What progress I made!  That night, I had dinner at Kevin's conference with him.  He presented Saturday morning and I watched him.  He did fantastic, of course, talking about how the partners of pornography addicts develop PTSD symptoms and need help to heal as well as the addict himself..  Great message!  We left the hotel that afternoon and after some delays in the airport made it back to Salt Lake City around midnight.  We had a fantastic time!

Kevin's booth.

The lobby of our hotel.

Our kids did a great job taking care of each other while we were gone.  Sarah and Megan had a tennis tournament in St. George and were gone themselves Friday and Saturday!  Megan played singles in the JV tournament and won 3 of her 4 matches.  Go Megan!  Sarah and Allyson played first varsity doubles as the two girls above them couldn't make it to the tournament.  Even in that challenging spot, they won three of their five matches and helped their team take 2nd overall in the tourney!  They got a big trophy to bring home and display in the tennis cabinet at school.  Go Sarah!

Meg with the JV players.

The varsity team.

Mariah ran in a big meet Friday while we were gone.  She did fabulous running a 20:38 on a tough course with HILLS!  Go Mariah!

Savannah took care of everybody while we were gone, making sure they all got where they needed to go, shooing kids off the top of the van, cutting Ben off of the tire swing when he got tangled, keeping the house in order, and making dinners.  She was a rock star!  Go Savannah!  The house was spotless when we got home and I know they all worked together on that.  What a great group of kids we have!  They're the best and in the end, Brookside Drive is my favorite place to be!