Savannah started out the week with some long days at Funfinity as she helped them move the store to a new location in just a few days! They opened for sales again on Wednesday and Savannah left Thursday for a trip she had planned to visit her Grandma and Grandpa Elton! Grandma taught her how to make a t-shirt quilt, Grandpa made her gourmet meals, and she got to visit with her cousin, Samantha, as well as her Aunt Amy's family. I hear she's had a great time. We're looking forward to seeing her again today!

Cali and Cheyenne went back to school this week! Even though they had missed it, they were a bit anxious about going back. Their lives can be crazy busy. We've talked about cutting some things out of their schedules, but they want it all! So, they jumped back into the swing of things and discovered they were just fine. They had school, piano, tennis, scoring for city rec, and their city rec basketball team. Cali also worked a shift at Funfinity. With all of that, they still had time to have their friends over Friday night and go on a date Saturday night ice skating. Whew!

Bethany stayed after school twice for play rehearsal and also had karate twice this week. She likes to paint and draw in her free time if she doesn't have friends over--which she did--Mila's on Friday night and Macey and Siena on Saturday.

Benjamin had karate and also played with Max. They build homes and cities online while the weather is bad!

Kevin would have been travelling for IITAP this weekend to teach. Instead, he taught on Zoom. This meant he was home, but he did need to work all weekend. Poor guy! We were happy to see him in the evenings and appreciate all the work he does to provide for us and help others.

I got three chapters done on my book and got passports requested for the twins. We are hoping they will be able to take some humanitarian trips this summer thru HEFY and strengthen their faith, as well!

 Monday was a school holiday, but we were all technically still in quarantine so we didn't do much! Cali and Chey were the most productive as they took the opportunity to paint their rooms! They turned out super cute.

Tuesday was back to school for Beth and Ben! I think they were both happy to be back, although Beth was a little hesitant about her classes, she was excited for after school since they had their first rehearsal for the school play. She had three rehearsals this week and she is having a ton of fun learning the songs and being with friends.

Beth and Ben also went back to karate on Tuesday. Someone in that class tested positive for COVID, so by Thursday, they were back to online classes.

Online work kept Cali and Cheyenne pretty busy for the rest of the week. Quarantine gave them much more time to practice piano and their pieces are sounding incredible! They did feel restless, of course, and often went for runs or walks. They even attempted tennis in the cold a couple of times! By Friday evening, we all officially decided that they were clear of any chance of corona virus. So, they went "out" with Richmond and Kimball to Richmond's house where they made doughnuts and watched a movie.

Saturday saw them back on the basketball court. Three of their seven-member team were quarantined last Saturday so that game had to be forfeited. They were all back in rare form this week and beat the league's undefeated team by two points in the final minute of the game. Yay!

They also made it back to work for the city on Saturday, doing the scoring for three games before their own. That night they met up with a group of their friends for some swing-dancing instruction and then a movie. Their busy lives are back!

Savannah went back to work for Funfinity this week. The owners have been trying to fix the roof for three weeks, but have encountered problem after problem. The final result being that Friday night, with half the roof exposed, the rain that soaked the valley also soaked the toy store! Savannah worked with the owner's family late into the night. The store had to be closed indefinitely. They found another store-front on Main Street to lease for a few months and Savannah was back on Saturday helping move product from the sodden store to the temporary home. She also drafted her sisters to help and her friends from college. She proved, yet again, that she is the person you want to have around in an emergency!

Kevin had some couples fly in from out-of-state for intensive therapy this week. That always tires him out, but he still had time to work on some investments and retirement planning, and that always excites him.

I worked on my writing and finished book five in my series! I also did some tax stuff and read some books. We had a zoom bookclub meeting this week and chose new books for the year. That's always fun, too.

 All of us were quarantined all week! So, Kevin stayed home and Savannah didn't work and none of the kids went to school. It was a four-day school week because of end-of-term, so that was a little easier. It was sunny, so everyone escaped for a walk now and then--or a run--or some tennis. But, there was a lot of school work, too!

I had Chey, Cali, and Bethany tested for COVID on Monday. Bethany tested positive, but the twins tested negative. We didn't find out results until Wednesday which was also when I got calls from school nurses. They told me that Beth and Ben could go back to school on the 19th, but since Cali and Chey hadn't been isolated from their younger siblings who tested positive, we'd have to keep waiting for symptoms and they'd have to quarantine until the 23rd. Erg! That was possibly the hardest information for the week. 

The twins find this whole thing incredibly unfair since its Beth and Ben who got the virus and they don't even wish they were at school and they get to go back before them! It's hard for the twins to miss school since their classes are harder, they miss their friends, they can't work their after-school jobs, or participate in tennis. Sigh. We did talk about some fun projects they could perhaps take on and they are working on printing photos for their rooms and painting some of the walls in their bedrooms! They perk up when they talk about those things. They are also sounding much-improved on the piano!

Benjamin's fever didn't come back after Friday night. He reported being a little dizzy and headachy through Monday but he seems to be back to full health. Ben enjoys school, but he enjoyed being home, too! His room is thoroughly cleaned and organized (this is something he enjoys doing--I didn't tell him to do it!). He's been playing Minecraft and Roblox, but also listening to Harry Potter, and also playing with Max. Max already had COVID so didn't have to quarantine from us!

Bethany never had a fever. She did have some symptoms the week before last, but seems to be well now. I did ask her to clean her room and it is looking better! Tryouts for the junior high play were last week, so I emailed the play director and asked if Bethany could tryout from home. I recorded Beth and sent it in. We found out Saturday that she gets to be in the play! The school is doing Seussical and she will be a jungle citizen. Practice starts Tuesday. She is excited!

Savannah has been the sickest of all of us and for the longest time. Poor kid! She has tested negative for COVID three times now and is planning on going back to work next week. Hopefully she will feel strong enough for it. She has been working on cleaning her room and has found things from years and years ago! We're working on her "just throw it away" skills. Ha ha! She also finished the metal model kit she got for Christmas!

Kevin had to cancel some big intensives in order to quarantine, but he has been working instead on creating content for his company's websites. He also continues to work on investments for us personally and gets really excited about those things. So that's been fun for him and good for us!

I'm home all the time whether I'm quarantined or not! But, it is different for me since I get less time to write when I'm helping people with things. I still got three chapters done this week, so I'm calling it a win. Plus, I got to spend more time with people I love!

Megan planned a "Virtual Skinner Camping Trip" for us on Saturday night! It was so fun! We all joined a Zoom meeting and Megan had us change our backgrounds to places where we wished we were camping. She made a Kahoot quiz about everyone in the family -- including questions about Mariah (Do you know what she named her favorite pen in highschool?) We laughed and got to know each other better! (How is that even possible?! We already know each other really well!) Then we watched Monsters, Inc together and Megan made a Spotify playlist of our favorite songs so we could listen to them "on our drive home." She's awesome! We had a really great time together in spite of frustrating quarantine times! Yay family! Love will always prevail. I'm glad our family loves each other.

The kids went back to school this week! High school for the twins went back to everyday with full attendance. They were excited to be with their friends again but when they came home they said, "We forgot that our friends don't even talk to us so we don't know why we wanted it back to the old way so much." They also had tests in four of their classes including Math, Physics, and English so their stress level was pretty high! They did return to their old activities and jobs so they were very busy, too! They had tennis Monday thru Wednesday and basketball practice and a game on Friday and Saturday. Cheyenne started officiating at city rec basketball games Monday thru Thursday and Calianne worked at Funfinity Thursday and Friday. They would have gotten some social time with their friends Friday and Saturday except . . .

Friday night Ben got super sick! We had planned a play date with his friend, Kyler, and Ben was really looking forward to it. So, when he started to feel sick during school, he didn't say anything. By the time he couldn't hide it anymore (that evening) he had a temperature of 103! Poor Ben! We were so worried about him. We called Kyler's mom pronto and sent him home. Ben went to bed and Cali and Chey cancelled their plans for the evening.

Saturday, I took Ben to Nephi (the closest rapid-testing site) and had him tested for COVID. Savannah came too. She had been tested earlier in the week and was negative but she was still sick, so she decided to test again. We got the results on the way home: Savannah was still negative but Ben was positive.

I think Ben got it from his friend, Max, who he played with for a few hours last week, a day before his sister tested positive. Beth played with them, too, and she looks sick to me, too. Although she doesn't have a fever. Since we all have to quarantine, it would be nice to all test positive so we won't have more quarantines in our future! We will see.

Savannah has been sick all week. I think she only felt well enough to work once--and now she's quarantined so she won't work for at least another week! Poor kid. She's actually just tired of feeling miserable! Hopefully she will feel better today and have a break before she gets COVID. Blah!

Kevin had two intensives scheduled this coming week with people flying in from other states in order to meet with him personally. They all had to be rescheduled. He was also supposed to be on TV Monday morning! It was a crazy week for him to be quarantined.

I mostly stay home all the time anyway, so my life will be affected in that my "office hours" will now be full of my cute family instead of quiet, (sometimes!) productive time. Hopefully, I can still work on my book, but if not, I will get to it later. My projects may need to go on the backburner while we get through this.

No pictures this week! Just us plugging through and doing the same old things. Maybe next week I will have pictures of us sitting around in our pajamas! Ha! Won't that be fun?

 Wow! I skipped a week! I haven't done that in a long time, so buckle in for a long post!

Two weeks ago was Christmas!! And also Kevin's birthday and Megan's birthday!

Kevin's birthday was on the 21st. I was going to make a nice dinner but Savannah and Chey had to work and Cali was at tennis. Megan was working, as well. So, we decided to go out to eat instead and take Naoma and Jim with us for a nice visit. Beth was already visiting Sarah, so we dropped Ben off. They had a great time and we had a great time, too. Indian food! Yum! Everyone came over afterward to play on Kevin's new toy (a foosball table!) and eat cheesecake.

Megan's birthday was on the 22nd (22 on the 22nd!) and she wanted to go laser tagging! We met at the Nicklecade in Orem around 2pm and had a great time shooting at each other! Afterwards, we played some arcade games, too! We split up around dinner time (Beth and Ben had a secret santa exchange at karate) and met up again at the mall to watch McKay sing at the mall. Afterwards we went to the house for games and presents and more cheesecake!

On Christmas Eve, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik's house, as per tradition, for candlelight dinner! It was delicious, as usual, then the kids went to prepare a show for us, which is also tradition. This year they sang, "Christmas Everyday," with McKay on guitar and Ammon and Savannah each taking a verse. The other kids acted out the lyrics. It was amazing and boy did I miss Mariah! She loves that song! Then we played the bells and read the Christmas story. Then went upstairs for our recital: Cali and Chey on piano, Beth on baritone, and Grandma on piano, too! We opened presents from Grandma and Grandpa last thing. It was a long night but tons of fun! We were so glad we could still do it this year.

Christmas morning!! Sarah and McKay and Megan and Ammon slept over at our house. We opened presents and ate French toast and opened more presents. Later that afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik came over and we had a nice turkey dinner. We finished the day playing some of our new games together.

Saturday was spent packing for our trip, but Kevin wanted to take everyone to Barnes and Noble so we made time for that, too!

Sunday we drove ALL DAY. But we did take a break in Las Vegas to see Grandma and Grandpa Elton! It was great to see them. They fed us lunch AND we had the sacrament in their home. It was very special. We love those people!

We arrived in Oceanside on Sunday night. We had eaten taco salad in Doritos bags for dinner in the car already so once we unloaded the car, we went for a night walk along the beach. Beautiful!

The next morning it was raining, but after breakfast, though it was overcast, the rain had stopped, so we took a walk to the pier. By the time we got back, the sun was starting to peek out from the clouds and the tide had receded enough to give us a bit of a beach. Kevin, Ammon, Sarah, and McKay started a game of Rail Baron, Savannah took a rest, but the remainder of us donned our wetsuits, grabbed some boogie boards, and tried out the waves! It was SO FUN!! Sarah and Ammon joined us in the water later. It started to rain again in the late afternoon, but by then we were exhausted and ready to be back in the apartment warming up, playing games, and eating some food.

The next day was sunny all day! Kevin and Megan went for a run in the morning. Cheyenne, Savannah, and I walked to the pier again. Sarah and McKay went for a walk, too! Sarah convinced McKay to try the wetsuit and give the boogie boarding a try and they all had a great time! I enjoyed watching this time. Savannah collected seashells. The kids made a sandcastle. Kevin and I walked along the sand. Ben and I went inside for a movie and to get warm at one point, but we all came back to watch the sun set. What a lovely, lovely day!

Wednesday morning we needed to leave. We packed up, went for one more walk, and were on the road again. Why does getting home seem to take so much longer than getting there?? Ha ha! Anyway, I was glad that Kevin had suggested we make reservations in St. George to split the trip up a little bit. We still got there after dark, but it was good to have some movement before bed. We played some miniature golf and some pickleball and some of us even braved the pool! The next morning we played a little bit of tennis before it was time to leave.

Four more hours to home! It was New Year's Eve. Somehow we managed to make it to midnight to welcome in the new year, but it was harder than usual! Traveling wears you out! Also, COVID made it so our friends, the Grosland's couldn't come. Sarah and McKay stayed home to get some rest. Savannah was struggling with a bad cold. The twins went to hang out with their friends for a little bit and Beth and Ben were playing a game with Max, so, for a little while, it was just Ammon, Megan, Kevin and I. We had fun, though! We played games and soon the twins came home and made things more lively getting Beth and Ben to do Just Dance. We toasted the excitement of a new year and new possibilities and fell exhausted into our beds. Ha ha!

The next day was my birthday! Everyone kept asking what I wanted to do and I said, "I just want to go out alone with Kevin." So we did! We went out to eat for lunch, did some shopping, and even saw a movie in the theatre. That night everyone came over for treats and presents and to sing me Happy Birthday. It was a fun day!

What a family-event-filled two weeks! What a treasure to get to spend so much time together with our married kids, too! We missed Mariah more than words can say. We even missed all our extended family and wished we could all be together all the time. We are so grateful that we have so many people that we love and such a beautiful world in which to live.