This was the week of Christmas! Christmas Eve (Sunday night), we had a turkey dinner which Grandma shared with us. Afterward, we went to walk among the Christmas lights at city center. Ben stayed home because he was sick.

Monday was Christmas day!! In the past we have had at the MOST one child missing Christmas morning. So, it was very different to have only four kids with us! But we cherished and are grateful for each one! In a surprising twist, Calianne joined us for gift opening on Christmas morning (Christmas night for her) on a video call! It was a very different morning and we still had fun!

In this shot you can even see Kevin on Christmas morning!

Ben with tissues.

The only shot of Ben without tissues!

After opening Santa gifts, we had traditional French toast breakfast. Then we went back next to the tree to open dollar-tree gifts from each other. It was a tradition we decided to revive just with the kids at home. It was really fun! Sarah and McKay came over later in the day and Avery and Lila got to open presents from Grandma (me!). A man from our ward came over later in the day, too, and we all played games. It was a fun Christmas day.

On Wednesday night, Kevin started his new Change 2.0 online class. We all watched his opening program upstairs while he recorded downstairs. He's been working hard on it and it's going to be a great class. We are ready to make 2024 full of good things!

Savannah was encouraged to take the week off and use her sick days. What she hadn't been planning on was actually being sick! She got sick not long after Ben. Kevin is sick, as well. Mariah, Beth, and I are the only holdouts! I took Ben to the doctor on Wednesday because his eyes and ears became infected. He feels better on the antibiotic and you can't track his movements anymore by the mounds of tissues he leaves behind, but his coughs shake the house! Savannah went to the doctor Saturday and found out she doesn't have Covid, Strep, or Pneumonia which was comforting. She did lose her voice, though. Poor kid!

So, we didn't do many activities this week! We did make our annual trip to Barnes and Noble to make use of the gift card we love receiving from Grandma and Grandpa Elton. That was fortuitous because we had good books to read while we lounged about the house! We also had a couple of visits from Sarah and her girls and Avery always cheers us up!

Mariah has run everyday! She has met up with some friends and watched movies with us some of the evenings. On Thursday night we had a game night with our neighbors although we didn't end up playing any games! We ate yummy nachos and listened to their newly returned (cute!) missionary tell great stories. On Saturday afternoon she went to the BYU men's basketball game. She has managed to still have a good vacation! Yay!

Beth took a dive emotionally this week, but was feeling enough better Saturday (and Ben, too!) to have their neighborhood friends over. It was good to hear them all laughing in the house again. Beth went to the church dance that night and had great fun! She even danced with three boys!

We started the week with a Christmas gift exchange on Sunday afternoon. Megan and Ammon left for a tropical vacation on Monday with all of Ammon's family so we took the chance to do it early! It was super fun to see the excitement everybody had for their gifts both giving and receiving.

Tuesday night I babysat for Avery and Lyla. We're great at hanging out together.

Benjamin had a choir concert on Wednesday night and surprised us with the fact that he was part of a little group of three that were pulled out to sing on their own. So fun! He really has a nice voice. I love going to choir concerts, especially at Christmas time. I had to do some big talking to convince him to take choir but he has LOVED it. I think he's converted. If his feelings remain the same, I will have more choir concerts in my future. Yay!

Thursday was Kevin's birthday! The kids were still in school, so he and I went to the mall around lunch time. In the afternoon he went on a bike ride with Mariah while she ran. That night we had gluten-free fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gluten-free gravy, and gluten-free crescent rolls. Yum, yum! Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik came, too, and Sarah and McKay and girls, too. The extra-special bonus was that Chey and Cali both got to call him! Cali called in the morning and Chey in the evening. Here's me peeking in to the Chey call:

Friday was FINALLY the last day of school before Christmas break and the last day of the semester. For Beth and I, it took forever to get here and made this the longest week of our lives!! She needed to finish some assignments in order to get passing grades and also in order to be able to put it away at Christmas and to feel mentally like it was over. She told me often that she just couldn't do it and I would say, "Can you do this one little part and then we'll put it away?" I have felt often like the teamster sent to rescue the pioneers in Martin's Cove who when the little girl wanted a ride in his wagon, he took her hand and made her run next to the wagon. Do you remember this story? She thought he was the meanest man alive until he brought her up into the wagon and explained that he did it to get her blood pumping so she would survive. The good news, the miraculous news is that Friday did come. Christmas break has started. The semester is over and Beth has passing grades in four classes! I'm proud of her hard work and for all the things she pushed through to accomplish this. I'm so grateful, too for all the peace her relationship with God brought to her and the peace it brought to me, too. Bring on the new year! We have put some things to rest and we know better how to succeed with our new normal.

Savannah had to work a half hour earlier everyday (5:30am) and a half-hour later everyday so that she and her coworkers could have a half day on Friday. The poor girl has been exhausted! But, she gets paid leave for the whole next week. Won't that be great?

Mariah has been home this week and has been able to spend time with Beth and be her bed buddy which has been great! She's also had time with friends and been running everyday, of course. She is also wondering where her eternal companion has been hiding so if you see him, send him this way.

I had school assignments due through Wednesday, but now I have two weeks off. Yay!

On Saturday, we had candlelight dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik's house. We usually do it on Christmas Eve, but Sarah and Co. needed to be with the Hatch's on the 24th this year. Everything seems so different this year, what's one more thing? Right? We're flexible! Dinner was lovely, as always. We had a special musical number, "Up on the Housetop," Avery's favorite -- she can sing "Ho, ho, ho," and "Click, click, click." It's super cute and Savannah made a great Santa Claus. We played the chimes and had a recital. Beth played ukulele, Ben sang, and McKay performed a cowboy guitar version of "Silent Night." Grandma even played a video of Cali and Chey playing a piano duet so they could be part of our night. Then we opened presents. It was really nice.

Merry Christmas to all of you! We hope you all have celebrations that are full of gratitude for the great things in your lives. I, for one, am so very grateful for the child born in Bethlehem and all that it means for me and the entire world.

Ben got to go on a YM campout this weekend! It was actually in a cabin so no worries about trying to stay warm in a tent or snow caves or craziness such as that. Ha ha! There was snow at the cabin and the plan was to have the boys sled and snowboard, etc. Ben reported that our sled (much dented from the rocky mountain slopes near our house) would not go down a hill with the kind of snow they had so he didn't sled much. He did however very much enjoy the snow mobiles. He also reports doing some reading and he enjoyed playing UNO with the leaders. Fun times! He also had karate and tennis and guitar this week and he played lots of chess games.

Bethany had her follow-up MRI this week. Fun times! We will see her neurologist next week but preliminary analysis looks good. Beth also had a ukulele concert this week which was fun to watch. She also performed some numbers with the Newsie's cast during an assembly this week. That one she had a lot of fun doing. School went pretty well and she got some catch-up work done which was a bonus. She's still feeling tired always and sick often. Poor kid. Somehow she keeps pushing on.

Mariah came home this week for Christmas break! Yay!! She came home Thursday and we loved giving her lots of hugs. On Saturday, she needed to coach her last games as a volunteer coach for the little boys of Hurricane. She is a dedicated coach and she sure has loved it! Kevin drove with her down to St. George and back on Saturday. Fun times!

Savannah and Sarah have been hard at work planning a surprise birthday party for Megan. Meg will be gone on a trip with Ammon's family throughout the holidays so she won't be with us for her birthday. Something had to be done! The event Savannah and Sarah planned was so fun. Sarah, McKay, Megan, and Ammon went out to eat together first. When they were done, Savannah and Beth showed up and sent them on a scavenger hunt/escape room quest. Savannah's clues had them going all over Springville (Reams, Funfinity, the church) until they showed up back at our house. Megan's friends were waiting downstairs to yell surprise and help her with the final clue which unlocked the trunk wherein her presents were hid. Fun, right?? Afterwards they ate cheesecake (my contribution) and played games. Savannah and Sarah worked really hard on it. Mariah was able to help some too when she was home. Fun times!

I was able to work, do homework, and take care of Avery this week in addition to taking care of our house and Beth and Ben. Plus, I wrote a talk! So, it was a busy week but it is good to know that it is possible to do all those things. For my work hours, I see some clients and attend trainings and meetings. The rest of the hours I can fill with reading -- so those hours are pretty easy for me to fill! Don't worry. I don't report all the hours I read. Nobody can afford to pay me for that. Ha ha!

Kevin continues to work on his new Change 2.0 course for families. It will be launching soon and Megan has been doing all his graphics, so keep your eyes open for those cool things coming soon!

 It's been a very full week. Beth and I have been "Bed Buddies" this week to help her get to bed on time and to shut down the negative thoughts that seem to build up later and later at night. I think it's helped her to get some more sleep. She also seems to enjoy her therapist and maybe her fluoxetine is kicking in. We have had some happier days. There are still many assignments due for school but she is more optimistic about them and making plans to get them done. I love to see that. She went to a YW activity on Wednesday making clay ornaments and went with us to the ward party Friday night. Saturday she went to a study group where they did homework for the first hour and then played games. Still glad to see her out and with people. She loves that.

Ben also went with us to the ward party and to the study group on Saturday! He has been LOVING tennis group lessons. He says its the best part of his week. I'm so pleased! I had a hard time deciding to do it because he has been pretty luke-warm about tennis and it is a lot of driving to add into the week. Still, it's worth it if he loves it so much! He just really loves to have a full schedule. I will have to see what else I can pack into his life. Any ideas? Maybe indoor track will start in January.

Savannah was back to work this week after some sick days and a broken water pipe that closed the factory. She reports that she can now make a shirt in 6 minutes! She only needs to shave off 3 more minutes to meet production requirements!

Kevin was the keynote speaker at a suicide prevention conference this week. He expressed many times his feeling of inadequacy to speak at such a venue since his expertise is elsewhere, but by all accounts he did a good job. He chose to speak on the importance of social connection in the prevention of suicide. Such an approach is definitely in line with his expertise and in the end, he was happy to have been able to help.

I started new classes this week. One of which is my field experience hours! I'm excited to get started but also worried that I won't be a very helpful therapist until maybe (hopefully) later. I will keep plugging along and try to get much advice from the good therapists around me. This week will give me a better idea of how much time these new commitments will require. I'm optimistic that everything will fit together somehow.

Bethany had a really hard week. She is struggling to feel like she will ever be able to stop worrying about being behind in school, if she will ever be able to go to sleep at night without being kept awake and tormented by negative thoughts, and if she will ever be able to have the energy to do the things she loves again. It is a lot to grapple with. On the positive side, she was able to start with a mental health counselor this week and meet with her school counselor. Little Avery always has the ability to draw not just smiles but also laughs from Beth and we were able to enjoy a couple of lovely visits from her! Beth also had her friends from the play over on Saturday night and we got to hear her laugh quite a bit that night. She seemed to really have fun with them. I am impressed with Bethany's ability to pull herself out of bed each morning and give it another go. I know it is super hard on her. If we can just get through this time, things are going to be good again. I just know it. It is hard to get through though and I am tired and done and hate seeing her so miserable and I just want to weep all the time and can't it just be all over? I'm so scared for her and so scared of doing and saying the wrong things and I don't want it to be about me when she is struggling so much but can I keep being strong and positive? Can I keep being the voice of hope, the smile, the motivator? I don't know if I can. It's wearing on me too. But it is what she needs so I will put on my face of hope and make plans and speak encouragement and always keep praying. Another week. It could bring misery and setbacks but it could also bring breakthroughs. Tomorrow could be a great day. Today could be a great day. We just need to figure it out. And we will. So grateful for Bethany. She is so special to me and to each of us. Love her to pieces.

Ok. That was me being super real. Someday I know I will be glad to have a record of the hard time we went through but how we made it through.

Ben started indoor tennis this week in Spanish Fork. He doesn't know anybody there but he still claims to be enjoying it so that's pretty fun! He made a new business plan this week. It involved asking everyone he knows if they'd give him a dollar. I told him that was only a plan to be a professional beggar. I guess all entrepreneurs start somewhere! Fortunately, he only found one person who even had a dollar on him so it is back to the drawing board!

Savannah went to Taco Tuesday after work with her coworkers this week. (I was going to say "on Tuesday" but I guess that is a bit redundant). Now we know what a group of workers who don't drink do for a social moment after work -- get tacos! Savannah came home early from work on Thursday with a cold. She is hoping to go back to work tomorrow. Those darn viruses always hit her super hard.

On Wednesday we went to the Orem Temple Open House. It is just stunningly beautiful! The youth had extra tickets so we went with Beth and Ben and several people from our home ward. It was really fun. Cheyenne lived about a block away from the temple site while they were building it last year. So, going to tour the finished product reminded us a whole lot of her and how much she is going to love it.

On Saturday it was super fun to go to Springville's Holiday Festival to hear Mandy play Christmas music on her trombone in her all-female brass quintet! They are really good! We also enjoyed some hot chocolate from the food trucks. It was fun to see the lights and the line of young families waiting to see Santa.