My mom and dad came on Tuesday of this week!  They came early for Thanksgiving.  We were thrilled to have them.  It was a busy day with piano lessons for Cali and Cheyenne, dance lessons for Bethany, first SHS basketball games for Mariah and Dad, and YW for Sarah and Megan.  Benjamin and I skipped wrestling to visit with Grandma and Grandpa!  (Mariah did not actually get to play in the first basketball games that happened on Tuesday because of her twisted ankle, but she and Kevin had a great time watching and cheering!)

Grandma and Grandpa went to the AT&T store on Wednesday and got Grandma a new iPhone!  It happened to be just the same as mine, so I showed her everything I knew.  Cali, Chey, Beth, and Ben spent some time in the backyard making teepees!

Sarah and Meg both worked on Wednesday.  We were going make pies but Meg was too exhausted when she got back from work.  So we all watched Support Your Local Sheriff instead!
It was tons of fun.  Cali and Chey also made us some pilgrim place markers that were adorable!

Thursday was Thanksgiving!  Meg and I made pies in the morning, Cali and Chey formed rolls in crescent shapes like they learned in activity days, and Mariah made us a cheese ball in the shape of a turkey!

Then it was time to head over to Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik’s house for turkey dinner!  They made delicious turkey and potatoes and stuffing and yams and jello salad.  What a feast! 

 

Afterwards we played a rousing game of reverse charades and when our stomachs were ready, celebrated Mariah’s birthday by putting candles in the pumpkin pie!  We stayed for a Hallmark movie, too.  We all had a really good time.  Back at our house we watched another movie all together that we had been hoping to see for awhile:  Tomorrowland!

 

On Friday we decorated for Christmas!  We pulled out the boxes and put together the tree and got out the camera for the fifteen minutes it takes to decorate the tree!  Kevin even went out and put up the lights.  That afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik, Grandma Elton, Kevin, and I went to the temple for a “White Friday” ushering in of the Christmas season!  G&G ordered us pizza for dinner and we watched What’s Up Doc? For our third movie night in a row!  So fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday G&G didn’t need to leave until one, so Grandma, Sarah, and I went to take advantage of the great sale at JoAnn’s and Grandpa, Megan, and Mariah went to browse our city art museum.  We had such a great visit!  I’m so thankful for my great parents and all our grandparents and all my terrific kids and that we got to spend so much time together this week!  And even though Savannah wasn’t with us, I’m so thankful for her commitment to go on a mission!  Life is so good.

This cute little store is making an impact in our lives yet again as Megan started work there this week!  We are so excited!  (Some of us more so than others!)  Meg is ready for this new excitement in her life as her tennis is over and her schoolwork is under control.  She worked two days this week.  Last night she and Sarah both worked to get the store stocked for the holidays.  They didn't make it home until 11:30 that night!  Sarah had been there since 11am, so I know she was grateful to have Megan there with her from 5:00 on.  Work time and sister time.  What a deal!

Too busy to look up and smile at their mom!
(Actually, too mortified that their mom is taking pictures!  Ha!)

Mariah has been nursing her sprained ankle all week.  She is still required to be at basketball practices although I think she would be there whether she was required to be or not!  They had her go to their sports trainer every day where they had her on a regimen of icing and walking and elctro-therapy and whatnot.  It was Mariah's own particular kind of torture to watch basketball and not be able to play!  Fortunately, she was able to play a little bit Friday and a little more on Saturday.  Their first games are on Tuesday!  Hopefully, by then, she will have a nice, reliable ankle again.

Cheyenne and Calianne had to wear Santa hats for some mysterious pictures their teacher took this week.  They looked so adorable, that I took pictures, too!  They played in two basketball games this week and had basketball practice twice.  They are really loving basketball and all the time with their dad!  They also pleased us with a piano recital this week.  They are both doing a great job!

Bethany wanted some alone time with mom and dad this week, so we took her to Arby's on Saturday.  We had arranged to meet Grandma and Grandpa Skinner in the parking lot on their way down to California for Thanksgiving.  They stocked us up on Idaho potatoes!  Then we got Beth some ice cream!  She is a sweet girl who told us that her biggest problem in life is when her friends can't play because they are doing chores!  I didn't get a picture of her or Mariah this week so I had them pose so you wouldn't forget what they looked like.  They decided to do a silly pic!

Benjamin learned about Indians this week.  On Friday they had Indian Day.  They made feathered hats, got their faces painted, and even got to shoot poster animals with their little bows and arrows.  Ben was really good at it!

Now this boy knows how to smile for a picture!

Benjamin watched Shark Boy and Lava Girl four times this week.  He can quote some of the lines and has asked me for a blank notebook that he can use for a dream journal.  It has really captured his imagination!  Savannah was the first of my children to be captured by that show, so it reminds me of her!  Especially when Ben watches on the iPad and sits in Savannah's favorite spot by the front-room heater with Bethany.

Bethany continues to sing and dance her way through our home.  She's doing well at school and dance and has friends over every day after school to play imagination games.  On Saturday, her friend Josie and she used their own money to buy a plush animal craft from Funfinity.  Then they spent all afternoon making their twin raccoons!

Cali and Cheyenne had a busy week.  Their dad has agreed to coach a Bantam basketball team for them and they started practices this week on Tuesday and Friday.  They also had games for their Mapleton league on Tuesday and Wednesday (lost one, won one!).  On Wednesday they also had robotics and piano lessons!  They are rocking their busy lives.  It's a good thing they had a birthday party Saturday afternoon because while Cali sat at the table with a book, Cheyenne wandered the house feeling bored!  This was even after she helped Dad rake up a whole trailer-full of leaves.  I guess busyness is happiness.

Mariah tried out for the high school basketball team this week!  Not only did she make the sophomore team as a freshman, she made the JV team, too!  It's pretty exciting!  Because ninth graders are still at the junior high and the JV team practices during an advanced conditioning class during school hours, Mariah will need to change her schedule and attend the high school for part of the day.  That has been a little stressful, but should start next week and work out fine.  Unfortunately, Mariah jumped out of a tree yesterday while raking leaves and twisted her ankle!  Hopefully, she will recover quickly and be back on the courts soon!

Wasn't Megan sweet to make Mariah a good-luck poster before try-outs?  She is pretty cool.  She's been busy with her pre-calculus and physics classes, oh and let's not forget AP World History and AP Language and Composition, and oh yeah, Chinese 3.  Hello?  That girl is an academic rock star.  She also recently filled our chalkboard with a new inspirational quote.  She is really great!

Megan also came to the mall with Sarah and me on Saturday while Sarah and I got our eyebrows threaded.  Megan declined the invitation to go through such pain again but came for Sarah's moral support (and to get Sarah to buy her something at the pretzel shop)!  Sarah was getting dolled up for the Senior Ball!  This is a stag dance the school offers just for seniors and included a catered dinner.  Sarah and her friends had a blast and she looked gorgeous!

Also this week, Sarah had her first chance to be the teacher in her preschool class.  This is a child development class offered at the high school which offers the students the chance to make their own lesson plans and teach an actual preschool held in their classroom twice a week.  Sarah made a matching game as part of her lesson plans and did other fun stuff.  She LOVED it!  And so did the kids!  She can't wait to do it again.

Saturday marked sixteen years since we moved into this house on Brookside Drive!  Savannah was three when we moved in and the house seemed enormous for our little family of five.  We have definitely filled the house with people and memories.  To celebrate, Kevin spent the day fixing the bathroom sink which needed to be completely replaced because of outdated parts.  Ha, ha!  We love you little house, even when you give us fits!  (Well I do.  Kevin might love you again someday.  Give him time.) ;)

We started this week by going to see James and the Giant Peach performed live with one of my beehives starring as James!  They did a super job.  Megan, Mariah, Cheyenne, Calianne, Beth, and I really enjoyed ourselves!  Sarah had to work and Dad and Ben stayed home together.

Mr. Grasshopper wasn't sure we wanted him in the picture!

On Tuesday, Beth had dance class.  They brought the dance classes together and let the kids watch each other dance.  Beth sat with her friend and got to do her jazz dance (because they're better at that one than their tap dance).  She loved it!

On Wednesday, Cali and Cheyenne had their first Mapleton basketball game with their dad coaching! There was one super-good player on the other team that made the game a hard one, but Cali and Chey gave it their all and the team did pretty well.  Dad was pleased with them!

Wednesday was also Ben's first wrestling meet!  He made it through two opponents before deciding that was enough for the night.  I think he had no idea what to expect and was surprised by the ferocity that awaited him!  He wants to go back next week, though, so maybe he will stick with it!

Thursday was the end-of-season tennis banquet for Megan and Sarah!  The coaches had us over to their house where we had a lovely ham dinner and Coach Templeman handed out awards.  It's been fun for them to play tennis and so fun for us to watch!

All the girls and the coaches.

Sarah and Allyson -- seniors saying goodbye to their coaches!

Friday I substitute taught again!  This time I had a fifth-grade class at Mapleton Elementary.  I actually had tons of fun.  I could never get them completely quiet even for their spelling test or walking in the halls, but we got done everything the teacher wanted them to and they're all still alive.  So is it alright we just had a fun day?  I hope so because that seems to be they way I want to roll!

Saturday after Megan's tennis lesson, Megan and Mariah played church volleyball for the rest of the day.  They lost every match but had tons of fun!  Sarah worked.  Cali, Cheyenne, and Benjamin helped Dad rake up leaves.  I took four of the kids shopping for pants before lunch so they wouldn't need to wear shorts to school anymore and took some of those same kids to the library afterward.  I spent the rest of the day reading a book.  That is also how I roll.

I need to also mention that Calianne came home with the Tiger of the Month award!  We are pretty proud of her!  She is a one cool girl.