Benjamin went fishing with his dad again this week!  This time he caught a fish and brought it home.  He helped clean it and Kevin cooked it for breakfast the next morning.  Ben is very proud.  Sarah and I went for a walk up the canyon on Saturday and brought Ben and his friend and their bikes.  They found a bone and had their futures decided as hunters and collectors by the time the bike ride was through.

Bethany had her first piano festival this weekend.  Cali and Chey participated, too, but while they were feeling nervous, Beth professed only excitement.  I was going to take everyone's picture at the piano, but after I took this one of Bethany, the judges said politely, "Just a reminder that no photography is allowed during festival."  Oh.  Sorry!

All three girls got a superior and I took them for free baby cones at Arctic Circle afterward.  I'm so generous huh?  Cali and Chey also had another tennis match this week.  I got to watch them and it was really fun.  It was even before the weather turned bad so it was delightful!  They are really enjoying tennis.

Mariah went to Idaho for a giant cross country meet this weekend.  She left Friday morning and got back late, late Saturday night.  There were 18 teams and SHS girls varsity placed 9th!  Mariah ran the 5K in less than 20minutes again.  She's fast.  She said she had a fun time with her team.  We're glad she's making those friendships and making good memories.

Megan played in a tennis match against Maple Mountain this week.  Kevin, Grandma, and I all watched and she and Alyssa played great.  What a girl!  Coming back after appendicitis!  She'll play in the final JV tournament next week.  She's also keeping me busy proofing her writing assignments for her college-level English class as well as creative writing.

Sarah came home to see us this weekend!  Her birthday is today and she had no classes on Friday nor will she have any on Monday so it was good timing.  We all hugged her and screamed when we saw her.  It was great!  It's been super to have her around again and she has loved being with us again, but . . . now she misses her friends in Rexburg, too!  Already!  Maybe college is worth going back to.  Today we had birthday dinner at Grandma's house, opened presents, had cake, and went on a gorgeous fall walk up the canyon.  Happy 19th birthday sweet, sweet Sarah!

 

Benjamin went fishing with his dad this week.  Saturday evening, Kevin took him over to the new Springville Resevoir and helped him reel in a few stocked fish.  It was fun for both of them.  Ben said he tried to cast but kept catching his shirt!  He is doing well in school and playing with friends whenever he can and playing on the ipad when he is not!

Bethany loved getting fancy for picture day this week.  She also went to her first day of ballet class and continues in piano lessons.  Her friends come over everyday and she loves it!  She is currently singing softly to herself while she plays with dolls.

Cali and Chey had their first tennis matches this week!  One on Monday and one on Thursday.  They lost both, but had a great time doing it.  Junior high competition is always so friendly.  I love it.  Calianne made us all snickerdoodles yesterday and Cheyenne organized the drawers in the bathroom.  They are delightful girls.

Mariah ran in an invitational on Friday and placed 19th in a field of 112 runners!  She also went to open gym for basketball twice.  She's keeping up in her classes and today went to get her patriarchal blessing.  She's doing great things!

After the school paint fight . . .

. . . in front of their varsity banners.

Megan played in two tennis matches this week including her last senior home match!  The season is over way too quickly!  Megan went to a lot of Homecoming activities this week including the color fight on Monday and the football game on Friday where there were skydivers and fireworks!  Holy Cow!  Then on Saturday, she went to the Homecoming dance with Matt, who she knows from the cross country team.  She looked like a princess!

Sarah started classes this week at BYU-I and they are hard!  She also got pretty homesick missing her awesome family.  But she has made friends and de-iced her roommates and even got set-up on a date on Saturday thanks to her second-cousin, Justin, who's been keeping her and her roommates company.  We're excited that she's coming home next week for her birthday!

I went on a hike this week.

Monday was Labor Day and everyone had the day off!  So we talked to Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik and we drove up to Payson Lake for an evening picnic and walk around the lake!  It was beautiful and even starting to get a bit chilly.  We had a fun time being together and reminiscing about past trips to that spot.

It was good to have that family outing on Monday, because we took Sarah up to Rexburg this week for school at BYU-Idaho!  We left Thursday evening and stayed at Grandma and Grandpa Skinner's on Thursday night and on Friday morning drove Sarah to her apartment.  Just Megan, Kevin, and I went and we were good helpers!  We helped her tote things up to her (very nice!) dorm room and unpacked boxes.  Then we went and got her parking sticker and turned in a check and got her ID card and bought her first BYUI sweatshirt!  Afterwards, we went grocery shopping and got her stocked up on some food.  Unfortunately, then it was time to leave her!  She's been in touch with us, though, and she went to all of the orientation stuff and met all her roommates and went to church today and she starts classes tomorrow!  We all believe it's going to be great!  Rah, rah Sarah!  But we miss her to pieces!

Sarah made all her sisters a friendship bracelet to say goodbye!

The view from her window!

Megan got to play in two tennis matches this week with her friend, Alyssa.  They won their first and lost their second.  Meg started to run again but hasn't tried to race, yet!  She is writing pieces for her Creative Writing class.  Her first assignment was to narrate an account from when her parents first met!  A piece she continues to apologize to us for!  Silly girl!  I am attracted to Kevin's "goofy grin!"  Anyway, it is fun to see her personality come through in all things she creates and it was super fun to have her with us on our trip to Idaho!

Mariah ran in the Murray Invitational Friday afternoon and did super!  She's also keeping up in her Chemistry and AP World History classes in spite of the homework load.  This Saturday, she and Kevin went up to Ogden so she could be awarded her T-shirt for shooting 10,000 free-throws!  Did I tell you that in her last 100, she shot 85 in a row?  EIGHTY-FIVE!  That's crazy!  We're super proud of her commitment and hard work.  Her sisters did help, though, and they think that they should get t-shirts that say, "I rebounded 10,000 free-throws!"  I think Dad did the majority of those, though!

Cali and Chey started tennis practice this week.  I accidentally missed their piano lesson.  :(  Oops!  On Saturday they decided to use Cali's new frosting tools and make frosting-stuffed cupcakes.  They are really good!  I took them to Barnes and Noble on Monday to use birthday gift-cards from Grandma and Grandpa Elton.  The store was preparing for a Harry Potter party later in the day, so we took advantage of some of their props.  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for a fun day!

Bethany wanted to start dance this week, but we had a bit too much going on Thursday, so she'll have to start next week!  She has to read to me for 20minutes every night, so we are working our way through a book of fairy tales.  That way, we are both having fun!  She's doing well!

Ben is enjoying first grade most of the time.  He did tell me that he liked the shorter days of kindergarten better!  His newest craze on the ipad is to play Block Craft which I guess is a knock-off of Minecraft.  He builds and builds on there!