So Sarah started her first week of classes at BYU-I.  She has Calculus and Geography and Genetics and History and Religion and I think I'm forgetting something else!  Anyway, she started off strong and said on Friday that her brain felt like noodles from all the information she's been stuffing into it!  She's loving her roommates and classes and devotionals and we love her!

Megan decided on Tuesday to give in to her friend's pleadings and join her group for prom!  You'd think we'd have to scramble to get ready, but her friend also lent her a dress, so all was well!  She misses the boy she cared about, but managed to make the best of it.  Especially during the day date where they made sand castles and cheated in the three-legged race.  Ha ha!

Mariah also went to prom! She got asked last week, but we also didn't need to scramble because she looks lovely in her sister's dress from last year!  She is really not totally on board with this dating thing as she would really rather be running or playing basketball, but she does her best to be accommodating and managed to have fun, too.  She ran in two track meets this week and continues to keep her mileage high every week.  She played in two basketball games this week, too!  She continues to be very tired!

Cheyenne and Calianne are really enjoying track and their friends there.  They had another meet on Friday.  Cheyenne ran 100 hurdles, 800meter, mile, and 4x400 ("and got a 1:16 and heled her team beat the B team!" Cheyenne reports.)  Calianne ran the 400, 800, mile, and 4x400 (same team as Chey!). They both ran great!  Afterwards, some of their team got together for a party and had pizza and watched a movie together.  Fun times!  Junior high might not be so bad!

Bethany had karate this week and kept very busy with all her friends!  She worked extra hard on her spelling words this week so she could earn the fancy lollipop I received from the stake RS presidency and then the test got postponed from Friday to Monday!  Ack!

We had Benjamin's friend birthday party this week!  Yay!  We had  six little boys and one little girl for the party, and MAN did it get LOUD!  But, I think a fun time was had by all.  We had a Lego theme and ate pizza, played tag, had a Lego building contest, hit a Lego piñata, opened presents, and made Lego brownies.  Cheyenne and Calianne helped me a LOT!  They were great.

On Saturday, Kevin put sod down in our backyard.  Yes!  We have done that before!  This time we hired five young men to help him and it took an hour and a half as opposed to six hours!  So awesome!  Anyway, Kevin did continue to work on it the rest of the day, finishing up and getting sprinklers working.  We hope it will be nice for at least a little while.  At the very least it will be nice for when Savannah comes home!

SAVANNAH COMES HOME NEXT WEEK!  NEXT WEEK I'LL HAVE PICTURES OF US HUGGING HER IN THE AIRPORT!!  I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!  IS IT REALLY FINALLY HERE???

Benjamin turned seven years old last Sunday!!  How did he get so old?  I don't know the answer to that but I do know that we sure love him and get more crazy about him every day!  We love you Benjamin boy!

Monday was Grandma Gazdik's birthday!  She came to our house for some cheese cake and we took a picture with her boy!  We're glad she's in our life, too!

We had a pretty normal week after that, Sarah worked her last hours with her cute babies and was so relieved when the mom told her to stay in touch and come see the babies whenever she wants! She was sick the first couple of days this week, but then threw herself into getting ready to go back to BYU-Idaho.  That included spending a night at Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik's house to say goodbye!

Megan worked at Funfinity and went to school and worked her internship at the library and took Sarah out to lunch Friday just the two of them! 

Mariah ran 27 miles, played in two basketball games, and had two basketball practices!  Three of the five school days this week were track meets for Mariah.  She hasn't PRed again but is still running within seconds of her best times.  She is also wondering why she is so tired.  Maybe ya'll could help her answer that question.

Cali and Chey had their first track meet on Friday!  Cali was super nervous, but after running her first event, all the nervousness slipped away and she had a fantastic time running the 400, 800, 1600, and the 4x400.  Chey was calm from the start and ran the 100 hurdles, the 400, and the mile (1600).  They were both pretty tired by the end but really enjoyed it.

Beth and Ben had Karate this week and played outside.  On Friday they had Crazy Hair Day at school!

Since Friday was Sarah's last day at home, we stayed up late playing Code Names and drinking Root Beer Floats.  The next morning we all piled into the van to visit Grandpa Skinner for Easter and drop Sarah off at school!  We drove to her new apartment first where her roommates squealed and hugged her and we dropped off most of her stuff.  Then Sarah took us for a walking tour of campus while she picked up her textbooks.  Back at the ranch, I mean at Grandpa's house, we took another walk and posed by Grandpa's road grader.  Grandpa and Maria barbecued a terrific dinner and Matt and Lynsey came with their boys, too.  We had a great time together!

Did I mention there were 4-wheelers involved?

Sunday morning, Grandpa and Maria made us a fabulous breakfast and then we went to a lovely Easter meeting at church.  We visited for the rest of the morning and after lunch it was time to say goodbye to Grandpa and Maria and to our dear Sarah.  We cried.  Why doesn't it get easier?  We didn't want to go home, but home we went and here we are.  Sarah is in a great place with great friends and is going to learn great things and have a great semester!  We love you, Sarah! Thanks for a great week!

We had so much fun in Las Vegas!!  After hanging out with cousins on Saturday and Sunday, on Monday we took Grandma and Grandpa and went to the ghost town of Rhyolite which is about a two hour drive through the desert.  There's some beautiful desert through there!  We all loved having a picnic at the community park in Beatty, seeing the ruins in Rhyolite, visiting the museum, and visiting Nevada's Largest Candy Store.  Who knew that it was in Beatty?

On Tuesday, Kevin had to visit his office in Las Vegas, so Diane came over with her cute preschoolers and we hung out and visited for awhile until they had to go home for naps and Kevin came back.  Then we took Grandma and Grandpa again and we went to hike the Historic Train Tunnels trail down by Lake Mead.  So fun!  It was very pretty and tunnels are very cool and history is even cooler!  Then we walked across the new pedestrian bridge above Hoover Dam and then we met Diane in a park in Boulder City and looked at the lake and had dinner.

On Wednesday, we had to come home!  :(  Sad!  But we are so happy for the fun days we got to spend in sunny Nevada! 

We all did work on Thursday.  Well, Sarah and Megan and Mom and Dad had to do some work the rest of the week.  Cali and Chey and Beth and Ben got to play with friends and they always enjoy time doing that!  Megan did take a chance to relive her childhood and made a fort with childhood friend, Rebekah!

Friday, we took the time to drive up to Tremonton to go to the reception of Sarah's second-cousin, Justin, who helped her so much at school last semester!  Kevin got to see some of his cousins who he hasn't seen for possibly two decades and we met Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik and went out to eat at Maddox afterward.  Yum!  It was a fun night!

On Saturday, it rained most of the morning, was sunny most of the afternoon, and was blustery and SNOWED at night.  Ugh.  But we were thankful for the sunny afternoon where Chey and Megan decorated our walkway with sidewalk chalk . . . before the snow washed it all away!  Cali stayed inside and read her book(s) with a tutu on her head.  And before Dad beat Sarah, Cali, and Chey at Acquire, Sarah, Cali, and Chey went on a walk with me!