This week, Bethany, Cali, Cheyenne, and I had young women's camp! We camped in Goblin Valley, hiked Little Wildhorse Canyon and Goblin's Lair, swam at Swaezey's Beach, tried to make fires with a stick and bow, had a "who can make the most boondoggles and bracelets" contest, played kick-the-can in the Valley of the Goblins as the sun was setting, had many devotionals, yoga, songs, meals, treats, and, of course, testimony meeting.

Let's just pause and appreciate how I summed up camp in one sentence. :)

We came home exhausted and dirty, but happy, with many good memories.

The rest of our clan seemed to fend for themselves pretty well. Kevin took Ben to get new shoes for tennis. Ben got 12 hours of reading done by Thursday! Way to go kid!

Kevin and Mariah ran in a 5K on Saturday morning and Mariah won first place for women and 6th place overall. She's pretty much a rockstar.

Afterwards, Kevin and McKay played in a tennis tournament against local friends for a couple of hours. They won. They're pretty much rockstars, too.

Savannah has finished her meat-and-lettuce diet and none too soon. The sight of either was starting to make her gag and she was getting so weak she could barely walk from room to room. Crimeny!! She had a bowl of Cheerios tonight though and we are all happy for her that she is done!

Before I left for YW camp, I got to babysit my granddaughter, Avery. She is so cute!! We love that little gal!

This week I attended Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers. Affectionately nicknamed WIFYR (wiffer). I went in 2019, and I like it because it's a workshop that evaluates your own writing. There were ten in our class and we read most of each other's manuscripts before the week began, then spent the week giving feedback one by one. I really enjoyed talking about writing all week with other people who love talking about writing. I only went in the mornings and was home by 2:00 each day. Still, really great.

I also managed to get Kevin's father's day present worked out. I wanted to reorganize/decorate his office so that he could have a good backdrop for Zoom meetings and recorded presentations. I brainstormed with Megan and she went shopping with me for a picture and plant. Everyone in the family helped me move the desk on Saturday because the top is made of granite and weighs 2 tons. I'm super happy with how it turned out!

Doesn't he look pro??

Here's the wide view.

Here's Kevin's view.

On Monday, Savannah started a two-week detox prescribed by her holistic doctor. She takes 21 pills a day (that was not hyperbole) and can only eat meat and leafy vegetables (or thereabouts. She's supposed to keep her carbohydrate count as close to zero as possible). Her energy level had started to increase once she cut out gluten a few weeks ago, but with the new dietary restrictions, her energy is at about the same level as her carb count. She has still managed to go to work and do some driving for me, but she is really looking forward to next Monday when she'll be done!

Mariah continues to work for Provo rec and Springville rec and at the temple. She's still running everyday, too. Yesterday she went trail running with a friend from high school who is also a runner. They went ten miles. She's sore! And exhausted. Everytime I see her I offer her more food.

Cheyenne worked for the Springville rec tennis camps in the mornings this week as well as five days at the assisted living center this week. She is a super hard worker and I think the center is lucky to have her. Plus, she has the most lively conversations with the residents! She also found time to play racquetball with Megan this week, visit with Grandma Gazdik, go to Wendy's with Sarah and McKay, and go to the reservoir with her girl friends. All the boys from their friend group went to Hawaii without them, so there is some definite anger from being left behind going on among the Amigas.

Calianne worked for Funfinity this week as well as for Springville rec as an umpire and in their tennis camps in the morning. She is a super hard worker, too! She also found time to play racquetball with Megan this week, visit with Grandma Gazdik, go to Wendy's with Sarah and McKay, finish a couple of books, and go to Splash Summit with Beth and Ben! 

Beth and Ben spent the week NOT reading even though I told them that if they didn't get their ten hours in this week, there would be no screens next week. We will see if they get more reading in when they can't get on screens, won't we? They did go to karate this week and Beth had play rehearsals three days this week. Ben went to early-morning HS running practice three times. (After that, Ben usually goes to his friend Boston's house and I think they play on computers all day. At least he's with a buddy.) They had a great time going to the water park with Calianne on Friday!

On Saturday evening, the Skinners returned to the softball fields! Everyone came for an epic all-family softball game. Avery sat in the dugout with Savannah. It only rained on us a little and we all hit the ball. Some much farther than others. Haha! My kids are pretty awesome at softball. Before the game, we met at our house and had hamburgers from the grill. It was so fun to have everyone together. I always love it!

 

This week was Art City Days! And this year, I had a booth at the craft fair!

I showed off my books and even sold a few! Savannah joined me and sold some jewelry. She also advertised her t-shirt quilts to see if she could get some commissions. The fair opened Wednesday evening and ran through Saturday evening. So, I spent a lot of days in the heart of the festivities this week! It was really fun even though I didn't sell a lot. I saw a lot of friends and got to visit with them. I also met new friends! Also, the weather was warm, but beautiful and it was kind of fun to spend the days outside. I learned a lot, too, and am glad I did it.

Savannah had an exciting/emotional week. On Wednesday, just before the fair started, she accidently went out the door with her bird, Sunflower, on her shoulder. You can guess what Sunflower did when she saw all that blue sky. She disappeared within seconds. Poor Savannah was devastated. We thought she was gone for good. Savannah posted on a couple of lost pet sites, but what were the chances that would work? We all prayed and hugged Savannah a lot.

The next day, after work, and a very sad day, Savannah checked the websites and beyond all expectations, someone had found her bird and had her at his mother-in-law's house! What?? Apparently, Sunflower landed on his shoulder as he was leaving work Thursday afternoon. He didn't freak out because his mother-in-law has several cockatiels. He put Sunflower in a box and took her to his MIL's house. Savannah and the bird were reunited that evening. Such rejoicing in the Skinner house! What a blessing for our dear girl.

For the rest of the week, she helped me at the booth when she wasn't at work in Funfinity. She hit it off with the gal from Peru in the booth next to us and she set up Savannah with a friend of hers for a date on Monday! That's pretty fun. I'd call that a great week!

Everybody came to visit me at my booth!

Springville Rec was in charge of trash pick-up at the fair and carnival. Mariah, Cali, Chey, and even Beth worked some shifts doing that. It was fun for me to see them! But, it made a crazy week for Mariah! Counting work at Provo Rec, umpiring for grumpy coaches in Springville, and trash pick-up, she was on the clock for 45 hours this week. When you factor in that she worked a full shift at the temple, too, and ran over 30 miles, you'll understand why it was a hard week for that dear girl of ours!

Savannah and Cali had to work at Funfinity Saturday morning, but the rest of us went to the parade! Even Sarah and Avery!

That night we went to the fireworks. Poor Mariah didn't get off work in Provo until 10pm and Sarah needed to get Avery in bed, but Megan and Ammon were able to join us for that. We figured out that with COVID two years ago and being in Colorado last year, Megan hasn't seen fireworks since before her mission! Mandy was even with us because she's going to be working at BYU music camp next week. Fun times! We love Art City Days!

We finished up our trip to New York last week! On Monday we went to Battery Park to get a view of the Statue of Liberty. From there we went up to the 9/11 Memorial. After some PB&J, we went to Times Square and visited some shops, then took the subway to the Manhattan temple and marvelled at the Walter Rane paintings (who was a bishop in the YSA ward while Mariah was on her mission, FYI) and then spent several hours in Central Park. We went to the big Angel Fountain and rambled through The Ramble and saw the castle and Bow Bridge. Megan and Ammon rented bikes. McKay sang with a busker. It was all pretty fun! On the way back, we stopped at Grand Central Station (it was Grand!) and the Harry Potter store. What a day!!

On Tuesday, Kevin picked up our 15-seater van and got a parking spot right outside our apartment. We loaded up and drove out of the city. Guess what? When you are out of the city, you are out. of. the city. Trees stretch as far as you can see in every direction. Crazy. We made it 5.5 hours to Palmyra that day and stopped first at the Sacred Grove with the Smith home. Amazing. Beautiful. Spirit-filling. We also made it to Hill Cumorah before the visitor center closed and hiked up to the monument.

On Wednesday, we drove back into Palmyra from our hotel nearby, and took the tour of the Grandin Printing offices where the Book of Mormon was first published. That Joseph! He knew the bigness of this endeavor before anyone else. Then we drove out to the Whitmer Farm. This was one of our favorite stops. There was a great video showing a reenactment of the six people who started the church and spanning through the ages to conferences now. So powerful! There's no other explanation for growth like that except that God is behind it all.

We drove to Niagra after that and it was raining! We went to see it anyway and got very wet. Still beautiful even in the rain! We drove a couple more hours toward Kirtland and stopped for the night at an Airbnb on Findley Lake. It was so pretty! And there were kayaks and a paddleboat we could use even. We all wanted to stay longer!

The next morning saw us on our way to Kirtland. Kevin had to leave us to do a video seminar for a couple hours, but the rest of us really enjoyed the tour of several buildings in Kirtland. The best was probably the Whitney Store where Joseph and Emma stayed part of the time and where the school of the prophets was held (tiny room, big happenings!) So many revelations and visions in this little town. It was amazing to be in the actual places. Kevin joined us for a tour of the Kirtland Temple which is now owned by a different church. Still pretty amazing.

We stayed in a hotel close to the airport that night and got on airplanes very early in the morning. What an amazing experience! We saw so many different things and felt amazing things and got to share it all with each other! It was a big undertaking and I wondered if we had bitten off more than we could chew, but wow, it sure turned out great! I just feel so grateful for all of it. <3