Guess what happened last Sunday?? We got to talk to Megan! We got to see Megan! On Skype! We are so excited that the church changed its policy and we now get to talk to her every week. It's going to be so awesome! She couldn't talk long last week, but we had a prayer together, and how cool is that??

This week was the last week of Mariah's basketball season. They played in the state tournament on Tuesday and lost to Corner Canyon who went on to the championship game, so they were legitimately a hard team to beat! Still, they played well and it was fun to watch them, as usual! Mariah cried for a full 24 hours in farewell to her high-school basketball days. It is hard to say goodbye to something that has meant so much to you. But, as one last hurrah, they were honored as the team in the state with the highest cumulative GPA, so they went to the championship game on Saturday together and got their award. Very cool accomplishment! Otherwise, Mariah has been resting up before track starts next week and took care of her robot baby for her Human Development class. She pretty much totally loved that. She even took it on her date Friday night and she and Kolby got lots of funny comments!

Last huddle!

Sure, we will try to smile while our hearts are breaking (after the game)!

Poor Sarah was sick all week and then had oral surgery on Friday morning, before she was even better! Still, we feel hopeful that the surgery will end all our concerns with her front tooth (the one that was knocked out when she was ten) and that it will grow strong now. She is keeping up with her school work and still having lots of fun with McKay. I will try to put in the video of the game he taught the kids last week!

Savannah is also keeping up with her classes and with work! She had to go to campus to take a test on Isaiah on Saturday, but when she came back we watched the next Marvel movie together, so we are still on schedule!

Benjamin had karate and scouts this week. For scouts, he made a bridge with toothpicks and marshmallows! He ate it as soon as we got the picture taken.

Bethany had karate and piano and drama and two basketball games! She played great in both and has really improved over the season.

Calianne went to Pizza Pie Cafe for lunch with her basketball team this week. They even got to leave school for it! Otherwise, she is playing piano and reading and looking forward to the start of track. She and Cheyenne had a big Valentine's party at our house on Friday night. They had eleven girls over and played games and watched a movie and decorated cupcakes and planned and executed all of it themselves. They are pro at this party thing!

Cheyenne went with the team to the state tournament and is also sad that the season is over. She is still working for the city and doing piano and taking care of the dog, Jack, and bugging her dad and I about getting her some calves.

Our home teacher from Brookside, Brother Wilden, died this past week. He went painlessly and he has been a widow these past ten years, so we are sure he is happy to be reunited with his sweetheart. We all went to the funeral Saturday and Kevin spoke. We all have a tender spot for him and are glad he was part of our lives!

We celebrated Savannah's birthday this week! Happy Birthday, Savannah! Her birthday was Wednesday and we were pretty busy that day, so we had her birthday dinner with Grandma and Grandpa on Sunday. Meat and potatoes for dinner and poke-and-pour cake for desert! It was great fun. On Wednesday, Kevin and I took her out to lunch at a Chinese buffet. It reminded her of her mission. We love that Savannah girl!

Cheyenne had her last basketball game this week. She had great fun playing on the sophomore team all year and spending more time with Mariah. They drove to and from their 5:30am practices together and did other team stuff. Chey's last game was against Maple Mountain and they lost but they put up a good fight. We're proud of that Cheyenne girl.

You'd think Chey would be ready to start sleeping in again but not so! She has been getting up early to run on the treadmill and do pull-ups and sit-ups. She wants a six-pack. I guess she really likes working out in the mornings! She fills her afternoons with her dog job and her refereeing job.

Benjamin had his last basketball game on Wednesday. He scored two baskets! Yay! His coach was really happy to see the progress his team had made and to be watching the final game. Ha ha! Ben also had scouts and karate this week. At karate, he fell and hit his eyebrow on a fire extinguisher. He has a pretty good shiner because of it! Otherwise, he is doing well.

Calianne is still a little lost in the afternoons since her basketball practices used to fill up all that time! No worries, though. She is practicing piano, working on personal progress, and reading lots of books. She and Cheyenne have started watching all the old Saved By the Bell episodes. On Wednesday night they had New Beginnings and both were awarded ribbons for Personal Progress. Way to go girls!

Mariah had her last regular season basketball game on Monday night against Maple Mountain. They won! It was exciting! Now they will go to the state tournament. It's a good thing there was a little break because Mariah got super sick this week. She even stayed home from school all Friday, although her dad and I combined could not get her to stay home from basketball practice the same day! That girl! She is starting to feel better for which we are grateful. In the meantime, for your viewing pleasure, I will include some of the pictures she got back from the two most recent dances she attended!

Bethany struggled with a cold this week, too, and even stayed home from school on Friday. Poor girl! She felt well enough the other days to do her regular stuff and play with friends so that's nice. She had piano and karate and drama. We also played two basketball games this week. Beth is playing great!

Sarah has had a bad cold all week and is still feeling kinda yucky. She still went to (most) of her classes and logged volunteer hours at the elementary school and got herself a boyfriend. Haha! She is dating a boy named McKay and he is very sweet. We like him so far. ;)

I was very lucky this week because my husband and all my kids helped out so that I could go to a writing conference Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in Provo. I saw and listened to lots of published authors, my new favorite and the one you should be the most jealous that I got to see was Kelly Barnhill who wrote The Girl Who Drank the Moon and won the Newberry Medal last year--the first time in twenty years that it has been won by a high-fantasy novel! It was just really fun to be there and learn and dream.

Well, it was a big week for Mariah! She had her last home game as a Springville Red Devil girl's basketball player. They honored all the seniors and their parents before the game on Friday night and the seniors were gifted with leis and embroidered blankets and thunderous applause. Then all the seniors got to start in the game and Mariah played great! They even pulled out a one-point win in the last minute of the game. Exciting times! We love that Mariah girl!

She actually had a pretty rough week leading up to senior night. She didn't want a senior night. She wants to keep playing high school basketball forever! I'm glad she's had such a great experience. Saturday was good for her, too! She went to the Sweetheart's Dance with a boy named, Mark. She looked lovely and had a great time!

Calianne also had a big basketball week as she and her team won on Monday and then went to the Nebo championship game on Tuesday! They read their names and had an announcer just like Varsity games at the high school. It was really fun! They did not actually win and there might have been a lot of tears shed, especially by our fiery little player, but even second place is pretty dang awesome! They had a great season and we loved watching them play!

Cheyenne played Friday night after Mariah's game. It wasn't her senior night, of course, but it was still her team's last home game, too. So, we were happy for their OVERTIME win! And took pictures there, too! Go Cheyenne!

Savannah has been battling really hard this week, too, as she had two papers due for English and she really did not want to write either one of them! Still, she fought on, bit by bit, and the last paper got turned in last night at midnight. Go Savannah! You got this.

Sarah has been having great success with her social life this week which is great because she loves to be with people and it has been hard for her to start over at a new school, so we are all happy to see her happy with new friends and new things in her life. She went to FHE to play Assassin, went to ward temple night, went to a game night, and went to her stake's Saturday conference session. She had great fun at all those places!

Bethany played two city rec basketball games this week and one bantam game. In her second city rec game she scored 12 points! Wow, Beth, go! She also scored 4 points in her bantam game! She is getting the hang of this! She also went to parties on Friday and Saturday nights and had piano lessons, karate, and drama. She is rarely bored.

Maybe the bantam's team last game!

Benjamin also played in two basketball games and has stopped complaining about them and we are calling that progress! He had his scout Blue and Gold banquet on Wednesday and got to touch a giant iguana and get awards and eat spaghetti. Good times! He also had karate and guitar. He, however, is frequently bored, ha ha, since his mom won't let him be on the computer until after dinner and what else could there possibly be to do?