We all went to Calianne's basketball game on Monday afternoon. She started. They played man to man defense and a 1-3-1 offense to break their zone and they played it all so well that they won! Go Cali! It was tons of fun to watch her and she had a ton of fun playing! Cheyenne and friend, Sarah, ran the half-time games and they had a crowd of friends to support both events. Fun times at the junior high!

Tuesday night a much anticipated event took place. Sarah came home!! She finished her three months at Jacob Lake working 8 hours a day six days a week, making great friends and having adventures. We are so happy she's home to make great friends and have adventures back with us. Her friend, Mimi, from Jacob Lake spent Thanksgiving with us and she was a ton of fun and we were happy to have her, too!

That night Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik came over. They left the next day for a month in Arizona, so they wanted to give us our Christmas presents and say goodbye! They gave the kids each a jean jacket. They all looked super cute!

You can even see Kevin and I in the mirror!

On Wednesday we bought a new game called 7 Wonders. We played it a bunch and it is Benjamin's new favorite game! There was also some Wacky 6 and some basketball playing and a trip to the library and to Funfinity. Before dinner, Sarah, Mimi, and Bethany went to the art museum! Sometimes we forget about how fun that can be, too! That night we watched Paycheck.

Thursday was Thanksgiving! We made a lot of food and then we ate a lot of food! I made a Thanksgiving playlist and we listened to that. (Chey wouldn't let us listen to any Christmas songs insisting that Thanksgving get its due!) We played more 7 Wonders and also read some books and worked on our puzzle. That night we watched both versions of Overboard. They decided the old one was funnier but the new one, less breaking of moral codes, though there were still plenty broken. My kids have high standards! That's good!

We discovered that if Mariah gets to sit down for a minute, she falls asleep!

On Friday, Mimi had to go back to Jacob Lake. Boo! But first she and Sarah got us a big head start on the puzzle. The rest of the fam finished it that day! Sarah also brought us a fresh Christmas tree from Jacob Lake and we decorated it Friday. It looks really pretty. After decorating and lunch, we drove to BYU and went bowling. We had a lot of fun. Still . . . Cheyenne said to me, "You know Mom, sometimes I get busy and don't miss Megan as much and other days I miss her a whole lot. Today was one of those days." Oh, how I had been feeling the same thing!

Saturday Ben had guitar and Beth and Ben had friends over in the afternoon. Cali and Chey and Mariah played basketball at the Rec. Sarah went to the temple with the RS in her new/old ward. Savannah did homework. That night, Mariah and two of her guy friends came over and watched the BYUvs.U football game with Kevin. The rest of us watched a movie.

We are thankful for each other and thankful for the time we've had to spend together and thankful for this good, good life and all its opportunities--even the ones that take us away from each other for a season. Yes, we are very thankful!