On Monday night we had a neighborhood barbecue. It was great to meet more of the people who live in the houses around us! Beth and Ben ran with the kids. Kevin manned the grill. Sarah and McKay and Savannah all came. Cali and Chey even managed to fit it into their busy schedule. It was Homecoming week at the high school so the twins did something every night. Monday night was the paint fight. They came to the barbecue looking very colorful!

Tuesday was football practice and karate and tennis practice.

Wednesday was SARAH'S BIRTHDAY! And piano lessons and cub scouts and tennis practice and Ben's football game and combined YM/YW activity. So . . . McKay took Sarah out for dinner and a movie and after everything, Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik came over and we opened presents and had rootbeer floats and sang Happy Birthday. McKay sang one of our favorite songs for Sarah since it was so apropos! For real fun, just watch the way Sarah looks at McKay the whole time. It is the sweetest!

Thursday was JV Regional Finals for tennis! Cali at third singles and Chey at first doubles both made it to their championship games! They both played three games on Thursday and they both played great tennis all day. The only game they lost was that last championship game but it put them both at second place and they both got medals. It was a really fun day. We can't believe the season is over already! They have improved so much from last year.

Thursday Kevin left for a business trip to Sacramento. Friday Sarah and McKay went to St. George for a conference where McKay got to perform. During the day, I went hiking with Robin. That night Cali and Chey went to the high school football game, Ben went on a camping trip with his friend Nico, and Savannah stayed late to finish a test at school. So, it was just Beth and I at home! And you know that Beth had Annaliese over, so you probably also know that I enjoyed a book.

Saturday morning was also quiet. Savannah went to a study group and Cheyenne worked the cub soccer games. In the afternoon, I took Cali and eight of her closest friends to the temple for baptisms. Chey met them at another friend's house for dinner. I saw Cali again at 8:00 when I took her to do some babysitting. Cheyenne had the rest of the friends over for night games after that! Crazy kids. Sarah got home safely and went to a wedding reception with me before going to Stake Conference. Savannah went out with a friend from work and somewhere in there DAD came home! Yay!

Friday was Mariah's first airplane flight EVER! Her team drove to Las Vegas and then flew to Sacramento for a Saturday meet that included forty teams and where they ran a 6K. If you are paying careful attention, you will realize that Kevin was there! He got to give her a hug pre-race and cheer her on! She did great. Go Mariah!

I took zero pictures this week. Can you believe it? Maybe I will put in some pictures of Cali and Cheyenne playing tennis last week! That’s what they did this week too. They had matches on Tuesday and Thursday both matches were at home in the lower courts with the shade and the view of the horse pasture. My favorite place! The tennis was really good so I didn’t get to spend much time gazing at horses. Calianne won on Tuesday and lost on Thursday. Cheyenne lost on Tuesday and one on Thursday! It is super fun to watch them!

Look! Their friend on the yearbook staff took some pictures of them that actually happened this week! Lucky us!

This week, they also volunteered to help at a school carnival Friday night. Afterwards they had friends over to our house for games. On Saturday night they went to another friend’s house for games. They have a lot of friends and a lot of social opportunities but they are really not liking their academic classrooms right now. I think it’s too bad. But I’m proud of them for working hard still.

Cheyenne had a fun opportunity on Saturday. Uncle Mike offered two tickets to the BYU football game! So Kevin took Cheyenne. They got to visit with those cool Gazdiks and enjoy the atmosphere of a big college game! They made some great memories.

Sarah continues to go to the elementary school for her college classes. She gets to spend a lot of free time with McKay and she loves that! He’s been at our house more and we all love that!

Savannah had work and college classes this week but got pretty sick on Wednesday and had to come home early. It was a tough week for her! We’re hoping next week will be better.

Bethany had karate this week on two days and piano on one. She was not quite so resistant to piano as she has been the last two weeks. Maybe she has resigned herself to the fact that she’s got to do it at least one more year! On the other days, Bethany has played with the girls across the street. They’ve become quite close knit!

Benjamin had karate two days this week as well as a day of football practice. Their game got canceled because they didn’t have enough players. Sad! Ben wasn’t too sad though because his friend Nico was over and then he didn’t have to stop playing! 

On Saturday, Eden came over with the express purpose of helping Beth and Ben on their treehouse. She brought wood and her own set of tools. She and her family are my new heroes! Bethany helped on and off as well as the girls across the street but Benjamin was in heaven! Ben played with the girls all day and they had a great time. They weren’t on the computer even once. It just proves that it is possible for kids to have fun without one! Maybe I should throw them all out the window. What do you think? They could work on stuff at the library for their homework. Hmmm. Tempting.

Kevin worked all week, of course, and helped lots of people. He's also gearing up to write a new book.

What did I do this week? I don’t really know. I worked on my new book. Scrapped my old idea and started working on a new one and then went back to the old idea. I went walking with a friend. I went walking with Kevin. I went shopping and did laundry. I think I vacuumed. I did lots of dishes. I kept the house looking nice at least until about 7 PM and then I usually gave up and straightened up the next day. I should plant a tree. I worked on Sarah‘s wedding, mostly thinking. Oh! I did do some accounting the beginning of the week. I drove children to lots of places. I brought things that they had forgotten. I finished a couple of audiobooks that I have been working on and even a hard copy of a book. I guess I did a lot of stuff and yet nothing really. I was there when my kids needed to talk. That’s something I feel good about. :)

This weekend, my dad came to town! He came up on Friday and that night we had a ward party up the canyon. There was lots of good food and good friends. There were horseback rides on the bishop's horse and even a candy cannon! I realized as I watched Ben run with the boys and Beth talk with the girls and as the YW came and sat next to Cali and Chey and the rest of us, that I do really feel part of this ward now. It's a lovely feeling. So grateful for these opportunities for connection. It was really fun to have my dad there, too!

On Saturday morning, Mariah ran in her first college cross country race and it just so happened to be in Provo! That was the reason for my dad's visit (besides seeing me, of course)! The meet is a BYU Invitational and has races for all the Utah high schools as well as the Utah colleges. Mariah saw a ton of her cross country friends from high school and we got to meet some of her new friends from college. We even got to see Ammon who came dressed as a gorilla (with a stuffed banana to represent Megan) because Mariah asked him to! The best part was seeing Mariah run again. You go girl!

When we got home, we had some lunch and then watched some of the BYU football game. After halftime, we left the football watching to Dad and Grandpa, and us girls went to watch Sarah try on wedding dresses! Sarah's friend, Allyson, was up from SUU so she came and me and the twins and Mariah. We all thought she looked so beautiful and we made her put on veils and wear some 4inch heels. It was great fun. She found a dress she really liked, too, but we aren't ready to make final decisions yet!

I got to sit and talk with my dad Saturday night. He left Sunday morning and we all had a great visit. Come again, soon, Dad!

Mariah stayed after her cross country meet on Saturday and we get to have her until this evening! It's always fun to have her around again! It's been fun to see her so often even though she's in school four hours away! I guess that's like nothing!

Cali and Chey played in two tennis matches this week. Tuesdays match was VERY windy and made it hard to play. Thursday was nice, though. Chey is not winning but having a good time, anyway! Calianne is winning and doing well on really, really long rallies. She may have set a record on Thursday for the longest pro set (playing to 8) ever at one hour and 45 minutes. By darn, there was no way she was giving up no matter how long it took!

Beth and Ben had karate this week. Beth also had piano and Ben also had flag football. Ben is really enjoying a computer game from school called Prodigy. I am really enjoying the fact that maybe he is learning something while he plays a computer game. :)

Bethany sang a solo in our primary program this Sunday! It was an original piece written by a friend of the primary's 1st counselor for her sister who died. Beth had some great coaching from the MDT grad who is the primary chorister and she did beautifully! I don't think there was a dry eye in the place. I know I felt God's love for me while she sang and promised such beautiful things. I have a recording of her singing it a few weeks ago that I will post here, but just know, she did even better today! Go Beth! Go church primary programs and choristers! Go people who write songs that share their deepest feeling. Jesus lives and loves all of us. He really does.

This weekend we went to St. George to watch Cali and Chey play in the Stephen Wade Tennis Tournament! Cali and Chey went up with the team on Thursday night and Kevin and I took Beth, Ben, Sarah, and McKay. Savannah opted not to come as it was her first week of classes. We picked up Mariah while we were there and we got to hang out with her, too! My dad even came on Friday and watched two of their matches in the 100 degree heat. It was a party! Cali and Chey got to play as doubles partners (which is always fun for us) and they did great winning twice and losing to some great competition twice.

On Friday after the matches we hung out at the mall while Mariah attended her Biology class, and then we hung out with her playing games in her apartment until we met Kevin's brother, Jake and his family for dinner at Chili's! It was super fun to visit with him and his wife, Sarah. They really love St. George and have made a great life there.

On Saturday after matches, we went to St. George's town square and played in the splash pad and tried out the electric scooters while we waited for Dad to get done being assistant coach. When he was done and the team was back on the road, we dropped Mariah back off at her apartment and gave her lots of hugs before doing what we needed to do to get back on the road. It was a fun trip and we all had a great time!

Mariah's decorated room.

Connect 4 Tournament while waiting.

We discovered that Ben can raise one eyebrow.

Beth made a rose with playdough!

Before the trip, Cali and Chey had two matches--one on Tuesday and one on Thursday before they left. Someone quit the team and everyone shifted up. Because of that, Cali has been playing 3rd JV singles and Chey has been playing 1st JV doubles. They are both really liking their positions and Cali surprised us by liking the singles play. Fun times! They are also still in the thick of adjusting to high school homework and the expectations of high school teachers. Stress ran high this week! Will it be this high every week? Possible. Very, very possible.

Bethany had piano this week and karate. She really enjoyed her three-week break from piano (unfortunate) and now would really like to quit because she says she hates it. She'll start liking it soon, though, right? Right?

Ben had karate and football this week. He got some pulls out there on the field and it is fun to watch him concentrate and then sprint for the cut-off. He is pretty fast! However, we might need to work on getting him to not sprint through his homework. Ha ha!

Savannah started classes at BYU for fall semester this week! She is worried about Finance and Chinese. We will see how it goes. She is feeling pretty optimistic so far, though! On Saturday while we were gone, she got to meet with her old mission companion, Sister Moody. They went out for sushi together. Fun times!

Cali and Cheyenne turned 15 this week! They are so old! And beautiful and accomplished and kind and good. Still can't stop being amazed at the blessing they are in my life! They had a busy day so (after early-morning basketball practice) we made them a birthday breakfast. Then they had school and directly after went to a YW activity at their leader's pool and had homemade ice cream. Then it was off to tennis practice and then to team night (where there was also a pool). We finally got them home again around 8pm so with Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik over, we opened presents, sang Happy Birthday, and had cake. Happy Birthday my lovely girls.

We had the four Francom girls stay at our house this week while their mom and dad went on a cruise. Fun times! They have daughters the same age as our twins, Bethany, and Benjamin. Their fourth daughter is younger and started kindergarten this week. As a result, the only other pictures I have this week are of Cara on her first day of school!

My thought was, how did kindergarteners get this little? Anyway, we had a fun week with lots of friend time!

Cali and Chey had another tennis match this week. They ended up on different places on the ladder but since Cali's partner couldn't make it, Chey played as Cali's partner. Fun! They lost. Not so fun, but still a good day. They've been playing ultimate frisbee every day at lunch but also met up with friends to play some more Friday night and again Saturday. Then, of course, I get the inevitable question Saturday afternoon, "Mom, why are we so tired?" Um . . .

Bethany had karate and activity days this week, but little else to take her away from playing with Siena and Mia and Cara. She negotiated with me on Saturday in exchange for having them clean the house, would I take them on a picnic and to the dollar store? We made a deal and I got a clean house and they got cheap toys! She is an organizer of activities and a parental negotiator that Beth.

Benjamin had karate and football this week. He did not get injured this week AND he pulled flags twice! He is a speedy kid. He really enjoys playing with Mia, and his friend, Nico, came and joined them often. He also went to a birthday party on Saturday. He also spent entirely too much time watching YuGiOh and playing computer games.

Savannah enjoyed her last full-time work week before BYU classes start next week. She got together with some of her old friends to have a nostalgia trip to Mona for star-gazing on Saturday night. They had a great time.

Sarah has decided to get married tomorrow instead of wait until Jan 2. Oh wait. The temple is closed on Monday. Tuesday then. :) She and McKay will make it through somehow but they are definitely not fans of this "waiting period." And hello, why does she need a wedding dress anyway? *Sigh* Silly girl. All those childhood plans tossed aside when she has to decide between making plans or being with McKay.