It was Thanksgiving this week! We only had two days of school and then Grandma and Grandpa Elton came on Tuesday and the Rich's came on Wednesday! We had eight more people in the house and it was fantastic! 

The adults had a lot of fun visiting and the cousins had a great time playing games, until Thursday arrived! My dad came with one hundred homemade cookies and those added to our pre-Thanksgiving festivities. They were super good!

On Thanksgiving day, we cooked two turkeys and a double batch of stuffing and yummy green bean casserole and an unbelievable amount of mashed potatoes! Around 2 o'clock, Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik arrived with their famous sweet potatoes and jello salad and pie. Megan and Ammon also showed up with a triple batch of homemade rolls! We ate and ate and ate! It was delicious. After dinner, we tried to match "things we are thankful for" on slips of paper to the person who wrote them. We have a very blessed life and it was wonderful to think of them!

The cousins went to the park before dinner.

The cousins talking to Mariah on her Thanksgiving call!

That evening, Mariah called and we all got to talk to her cute face and hear about her day! That was super fun and we can't wait until she gets home!!! Afterwards, we watched a movie together. We were going to go to the theatre but when we found out we could stream it to our own screen, we knew that would be easier and cheaper! Good times!

On Friday, Amy and Paul took Mandy shopping for a new trombone, Mom and Dad and I went to Deseret Book, and the cousins went adventuring to the mall to see Christmas decorations and sneak a peek at Santa! The Rich's headed home in the early afternoon.

That evening Kevin and I took Grandma and Grandpa out for Indian food. Yum! And when Savannah got home from work we watched Shang Chi. Fun times!

Kevin snuck this picture of Mom and I relaxing on the couch!

On Saturday, Kevin and the twins put up Christmas lights! My dad went to SLC to visit his sister, Connie. Sarah, Megan, and Ammon came for the evening and we had pizza! Then we went to Sarah's and helped her put her nursery together! We put together the crib and the stroller and the swing and organized the clothes by size. It was such fun. We are so excited for Sarah's new little baby!

Grandma and Grandpa Elton left this morning. We are so glad they could come! It was such a fun time reconnecting and creating new memories together. Yay holidays!

We had a baby shower for Sarah yesterday! We had 25 ladies come, including Sarah's sisters and sister-in-laws, some of McKay's aunts, two cousins, and special childhood friends young and old! We decorated and had cake and played games and laughed and opened presents. What could be better? Best of all was all the love!

Friday was our second-busiest day of the week. Cali and Chey went up to SLC for the championship football game. Our school lost. By a lot. But, they still had a fun adventure with all their friends! 

This is them on the train up to SLC!

Kevin and I had tickets for our last play on our season-holder passes at the Hale theatre in SLC. We've seen Les Miserables, Daddy Long-legs, Guys and Dolls, Remember Patsy Cline, The Secret Garden, Mousetrap, and this last one was Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang. It's been so much fun that we're going to have season passes next year, too!

Chey came with us to SLC so she could visit Jens. Cali brought all the "fellas" home from the football game and they stayed until almost 11! Nik and Emily stayed the night and I think it was pretty noisy! But we were happy to have Emily come to the babyshower. Sister, Becca, came on Saturday and they were the two cousins at the shower! So fun!

On Friday night, Benjamin got to go to a birthday party of pizza and ice cream and laser tag at the library! How fun would that be? Dashing between book racks?? In addition to karate and guitar, he had activity days this week and they raked leaves at the church. His new favorite computer game is "Rise of Nations," and his new favorite YouTube topic are condensed histories of nations. He's learning a lot! I'm learning a lot just walking through the room!

Bethany still felt tired and achy this week but she trudged onward and made it to school everyday. We learned indexing on family search for our activity in YW this week and I think it exacerbated her headache instead of being fun. Poor kid! She has been having fun hanging out with her sisters and cousins this weekend. Maybe her energy will resurface in time for Thanksgiving next week!

I published books seven and eight this week! I'm hoping to have all ten published by the end of November and I am on track! I went to a really great bookclub meeting this week. Our book was about a group of friends being there for each other and we got to talking about how our church membership brings us together even though we are all so different and then we grow to mean so much to each other. I left feeling so grateful for that group of women and the experiences we've had and the crazy work the church asks of us--because of this connection to others that has resulted. It's truly a blessing on which I marvel. It's a huge part of what has made me feel that my life is so very good.

Saturday night was the senior ball and it was a masquerade! How fun is that? The seniors go to this ball without dates. Cali and Cheyenne invited their girlfriends over to get ready together which I thought was really fun, too! They ate and danced with just the girls all night long. Afterwards, they came back to our house and let the boys come, too. :)

In other, fun senior moments, their football team played in the semi-finals for football on Thursday. The twins rode the train to the University of Utah with their friends to watch the game. Our team was down by 12 with six minutes left. Somehow they managed to win with a touchdown pass in the last two seconds! Chey and Cal are now definitely football fans.

Chey and Cali also got some tennis in this weekend, playing with Kevin's doubles partner. They remembered how much they enjoy tennis even without the stakes present in high school tennis! Cali worked at Funfinity Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday. Chey learned about restarting hearts in the cath lab at the hospital. They both played a lot of piano and they were honored at the school board meeting for having 4.0s and being varsity athletes.

Bethany still can't kick this cold. She stayed home from school a couple more days this week. Hopefully, this week will be better! She invited Ben, Max, Claire, and Annaliese over Saturday night (when she was feeling better). They bought things for their clubhouse (in the Mila's backyard) and decorated but eventually found their way back here.

Benjamin had karate this week, of course, and guitar, but he also had a guitar recital! He performed and sang a song he wrote! McKay had helped him and he did great! He didn't seem nervous at all. He later said that he was, but he prayed and told himself he could do it. What a rockstar! It's a great song called, "The Kindness Song." You should ask him to play it for you!

Savannah went with Kirk to Mandy's band concert this week. Kirk's sister plays in the same section as Mandy! What a small world. Savannah and Kirk also made dinner for us on Thursday night. Dumplings. Yum! Savannah also went to a beekeeping meeting this week and learned how to add flavors to honey. Watch out world.

Kevin was the governor's wife's choice for the mental health expert at her conference for teachers on Saturday! He was the question-answer guy. He said he felt like it went well and hopes it helps. Teachers have to deal with so much!

I published books 4, 5, and 6 in my series this week. It is so fun to see them in paperback form and hold them in my hand.

 Beth and Ben had a karate tournament Saturday morning. Benjamin got a third place trophy for Kumite (fighting)! Bethany got a first place trophy for Kumite and a third place trophy in doubles creative forms! They both did a great job. I love to see the things they are learning in karate and how strong they are becoming.

Megan and Ammon came over Saturday night for hamburgers because they couldn't come over Sunday. Then we played Wacky Six with Chey's date (Jens) and Cali's date (Richmond). It was like a big group date! It was so fun to see Meg and Ammon!

Sarah and McKay came over for a random dinner this week, too, on Thursday. It's always fun when our married kids come by!

Now that tennis is over, Cali and Chey have been playing a lot more piano. It's so fun to hear their songs drift through the house. They're preparing for senior recitals in the spring. I'm excited!

Our high school is also in the finals for football, so the twins went to a playoff game at our high school Friday night with their friends. Fun school times!

Bethany has been sick with a cold all week. She stayed home for two days but decided she was bored enough to go back to school on Wednesday. She is sick of being sick! Poor kid. She still went to a friend's house on Friday night and competed in the tournament Saturday morning. She's fighting through.

Benjamin had guitar and activity days and karate this week. He and Max rode their bikes to activity days and back up the hill when they were done! He looked red and tired when he walked in the door! We moved Kevin's computer up to the main room upstairs and Ben is excited to be able to play his computer games upstairs where there is more light and a great view and people! Kevin and I decided he was too isolated downstairs.

Kevin has been planning our retirement. I think he said he's read (listened to) five books in the last three weeks. He is excited about investing! I am glad he's learning so much about it.

I have been working on publishing my books and now have THREE books live on Amazon. The weather has been fantastic and I love it when I can work outside! I'll show y'all my cute covers: