Mariah found out the gender of her baby this week and Megan threw her a gender-reveal party at our house! Fun times! Megan made a BINGO game that was rigged so the first cards that won were the color representing the gender of the baby. The pink cards won! It's a girl! Mariah and Kolby have names picked out already so we know that the little girl inside her is Evelyn Brook Carter. We are so excited!

Hi Evie!

I helped by holding Micah!

I shared with Savannah.

Bethany's play had performances on Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this week. She made it to all of them! She loved doing it so much and cried when it was over. On Friday night, Sarah and McKay went to the play and took this cute picture. Beth also went with the cast for a late-night Denny's dinner on Friday night and had great fun with her friends. Kevin and I went to closing night and loved watching Beth smiling, acting, and singing. It's been a great experience for her!

Benjamin went to NXR this weekend! That's a cross country regional meet in Arizona. They left on Thursday morning, drove for a day and a half on a fancy bus, raced Saturday, rewarded themselves with half a day at an amusement park and are driving home today. I sure miss him! We will look forward to talking to him tonight. He ran a 19:35 5K and his team placed 5th. Go Springville!

When Sarah and McKay went to Beth's play, I watched Avery and Lyla! We made Froot Loop necklaces, we read books, and I told Avery the story of the Three Bears to which she responded, "That's a scary story!" Which, I guess it kind of is. So then I told her the story of the Three Little Pigs and her eyes got bigger and bigger! So when she asked for another story I considered Little Red Riding Hood? Hansel and Gretel? Her mom and dad came home then and saved her from more fairytales. Ha ha!

Look at that cute face! Trying to figure things out.

They also tried to figure out what Ben likes so much over in this corner. They couldn't figure it out, though, so they moved on.

Kevin made mashed potatoes for the YSA ward's Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. He had a great turnout and the food was fabulous! McKay came and sang a few songs including leading a sing-a-long of "Gobble Gobble." It was really fun! Also for the YSA, Kevin got to attend a training led by Elder Renlund of the Twelve Apostles on Sunday. He said it was amazing. He loved it.

Bethany started her play performances this week! She had evening dress rehearsals Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and the play opened Thursday night! They performed Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I got to see it Friday night as did Kevin, Savannah, Ben, Mariah, and Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik. We loved it! Anastasia is a beautiful play and their cast did a beautiful job. Bethany even had some solo lines she got to sing in the play as "Woman Number 1!" Beth does a fantastic job being animated on stage and we love seeing her smiling and singing.

All that work is draining, of course! Beth has been able to do all the rehearsals and plays and we are so glad! She has not been able to make it to school, but she has been able to do some homework during the day and that is something. She thinks she is feeling a little better on the growth hormone so that is something, too.

Ben had guitar this week and some cross country. He went to a game night with his friends on Saturday night and had a good time. I asked him to spend some time off of screens on Saturday. Do you know what he did? Organized the AP World History flash cards that we found in the closet. He had a great time.

He also helped Beth with her hair. This is how.

Savannah had a good week but a hard weekend as she is trying new medication for her anxiety. Still, she watched Micah on Saturday night while Megan and Ammon went to Beth's play. She really liked that!

Benjamin had a good week. He went to cross country practice a couple of times and ran a little on his own. He had a guitar lesson on Monday and is doing better with practicing. He's also been making progress on his Chinese reading homework! He was convinced he couldn't do it without cheating so he stopped doing it completely in order to be honest. However, he sat down with his dad to challenge his belief and we all found out to our complete surprise (especially Ben's) that he can! Ben can read a book written in Chinese characters. That's pretty dang cool. Ben also went to a Nerf gun party at his friend's house this week and had to DTR with a girl that's been texting him. He never likes that, but he has Beth to help him say the right thing. Lucky boy! Oh! And we got him to hold Micah for the first time.

The first part of the week was hard for Beth but the second half has been better! Beth was feeling sick Monday and Tuesday but really wanted to get to rehearsal on Wednesday since the play starts next week. However, she left practice early and had me bring her straight to the hospital because she was in so much pain! I'm glad she was brave enough to do that because we got some answers! The doc said that the pain was related to acid reflux from one of her medications. We got the meds he recommended on the way home and the rest of the week went much better! She made it to all of rehearsal Thursday and Friday. Saturday was an all-day rehearsal and she was able to do the whole thing. What happiness we all felt! This coming week we will try to add in some more school. Things are looking hopeful. Hope is a very good thing.

Savannah had a sleep study done this week. They hooked her up to lots of wires! She won't find out the results for a couple of weeks but she is making progress.

On Thursday and Friday, we got to see my dad! He came to Utah for the funeral of the man who was his Young Men's president when he was a teen in California. I loved hearing his stories as he reminisced about growing up and this man who had been a great influence in his life! He was also lucky enough to be able to meet Micah and hold him, too!

This week was Halloween! On Tuesday, we carved pumpkins! Sarah and her little girls came to help Beth, Ben, Savannah, and I carry on our family tradition. It was fun. I love seeing the jack-o-lanterns with the candles inside! Avery loved it, too.

On Wednesday, we had our ward's trunk or treat. I made chili and wore a warm coat. Beth wore a witch's hat and convinced Ben to put on a cape. We are not much dresser-uppers but we had a fun time talking with our friends in the ward, handing out candy, and eating hot chili!

On Halloween, Sarah and her cute family were our only trick or treaters! Ben and Kyler got together at our house but they played games and didn't want to watch a scary movie with Beth, Annaliese, and I. Still, we had fun!

Kevin dressed up for the YSA trunk or treat. Look at all that hair!

Benjamin ran in the state JV race on Saturday! It was in the Spanish Fork Sports Park and although it was chilly, it was beautiful with all the fall leaves! It as also full of excitement with hundreds of runners and parents rushing from place to place to cheer on their athletes. Benjamin had a great run finishing the 5K in 20:13. It's fun to see him pushing himself so hard and enjoying the challenge of the sport.

On Friday and Saturday, Bethany went to Sadie Hawkins! On Friday, her group went ice skating. On Saturday, she and her date dressed up as Dora the Explorer and Diego and went to the jungle-themed dance! I feel like this was a bit of a dream come true for Beth because as a kid she must have watched all 178 episodes. Friday Beth came home overexerted but Saturday she seemed to do ok and had a fun time! Her group met up the canyon on Saturday for pictures, went to Costa Vida for dinner, went to the dance, and ended up at her friend's house talking and playing games. It's safe to say that a fun time was had by all!

Savannah, after much prayer and deliberation, decided to go forward with taking a sick leave from work. She wants to take the next month and a half to get healthier and to reevaluate her life and goals and see if she is going in the direction she wants to be going. I'm excited for her. I think it will be good. Prayers could be sent up for her to help her find answers and clarity!

Speaking of answers to prayer . . . Beth's growth hormone came in! I'm hoping and praying this is the answer we have been looking for. She started Friday night and it will take a little while to start feeling effects. She did have another hard week. No throwing up but lots of nausea and body aches and not much school. She really needs her body to do better because the next three weeks will require a lot of her in the performances for the school play. We are hopeful.

I got to see Micah more this week! Sarah and Megan came over together a couple of times and all my grandchildren were together! Mariah and Kolby came over Saturday night as well. Kevin invited everyone over for hamburgers as he loves to do. McKay is gone for the weekend so Sarah needed some family support! Ammon came over, too, and they even played some games. I played with the grandchildren...