We've had a busy week! On Sunday, it was our official day to attend church, so Mariah gave her farewell talk again to the other half of the ward and I played my violin again. This time, all her brothers and sisters were there, including brothers-in-law and Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik. It was a beautiful meeting and Mariah did great!

Monday was Bethany's birthday! She is twelve years old! It's a good thing they started her in young women's in January so she got to get some of those youth lessons and activities in before it all closed down and she got to see what it will be like! She is a beautiful, sweet, young lady and we all love her! For her birthday, she wanted to go to Brick Oven for pizza! So we all went and they sang to her and we had yummy food! She spent the day with a friend. I took them to the craft store and they picked out shoes and Sharpies and came home and decorated them for their first day of junior high! Crazy that she is getting so grown up!

Tuesday was Mariah's last day being . . . a regular citizen, not-yet-set-apart as a missionary. So, we organized a family game of basketball! Because that is how Mariah likes to party! Afterwards, she umped her final game of softball and late that night, the stake president came over and we all told her what we feel are her strengths and gave her a piece of advice and then she was set apart!

Sometimes we take "fight for the ball" a little too literally.

Mariah started the online MTC on Wednesday. She has classes on Zoom everyday and also meets with her companion (who is in California) separately for companion study. When she has personal study, Savannah is there to be her non-virtual, real-life companion and she has taken her job very seriously. She gets Mariah up and helps her set a schedule. She's been really supportive and she may be loving it just as much as Mariah! Although, its hard to say because Mariah is really loving it. She's loved getting to know her district and doubling down on the language and the spiritual workshops, too! I'm thrilled we get to watch her experience it all!

Ran into these two on the trail bright and early Wednesday morning! It's our new normal.

In addition to the Browskis and karate, Ben worked three days for Sarah this week. I'm really proud of him for taking the time away from the other things he loves to work hard and earn money even at a young age!

Saturday was Fourth of July! In the morning, a lot of our crew participated in a doubles tennis tournament! There were no age restrictions and teams could be co-ed or not. So, Megan and Cali were a team and Sarah and Cheyenne were a team! Then because their husbands didn't want to be left out of the fun, Ammon and McKay were a team! It was a lot of fun. They all lost their first matches but Ammon and McKay went on to win two more. Our females were a bit disgruntled to lose their second matches but they found an empty court and played each other and had the most fun (and the best tennis) of the day!

That afternoon, I took Beth and Ben to the Spanish Fork pool for a few hours of swimming. I had to talk them into it! But once they got there, they had a terrific time.

That night, we had hamburgers and watermelon for dinner, the kids watched a movie, and then we walked a little ways out on our trail and watched fireworks explode all across the valley. It was really quite incredible. It went on and on and on. I watched and pretended it really did mean that all the fireworks represented people who loved and celebrated America. I think somewhere in their hearts they do. It was certainly a grand celebration from our view!

God Bless the USA.