This week, Mariah had her baby! Evelyn Brook Carter was born at 3:47am on Saturday, March 29, 2025. She weighed 5 lbs 14 oz and is 18 inches long. Mother and baby are both healthy and doing well! She is tiny and beautiful and perfect and we are all in love with her. Way to go, Mariah, for bringing this person into the world!

In other news, Beth and Ben finished their volleyball season. They had so much fun and have improved so much. They now love the game and have great memories! Yay!

Cheyenne has been able to reconnect with a lot of friends and has had a fun week playing tennis and frisbee, going running, going to the temple, meeting people for lunch, playing with her sisters' babies, and also applying for jobs and organizing her life. We are so glad she is home and she is getting used to it again!

Calianne continues to meet up with friends. She has loved having Cheyenne home and they have done so much together! She has applied for some jobs and was ecstatic to find out that she got the job she applied for in the fall where she will be a student mentor. Go Cali!

I spent all of Saturday afternoon and evening doing taxes and I got it done!! Yay!!

Kevin taught in the second hour of church this week in the YSA ward and he had his wife and five of his children there to hear him. He spoke on the importance of relationships and he did great!

 Last week, CHEYENNE CAME HOME!!!! She flew into the Salt Lake airport on Thursday, March 20 at 3:57pm. My mom was there, Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik, Savannah, Sarah, Avery, Lyla, Megan, Ammon, Micah, Mariah, Kolby, Calianne, Bethany, Benjamin, Kevin, and I. We screamed when we saw her and ran to meet her and throw our arms around her! It was so great!! Man we missed that girl!!!

Look! It's all my kids in one spot!!

We put our family in the van to drive home and we had all of our kids inside! We even did a count off like we used to! That was so sweet for me!! At home we had roast and mashed potatoes and rolls--traditional Skinner fare. We had pumpkin cookies for dessert! After dinner, President Mortensen came over and released her as a full-time missionary but first she bore her testimony for the last time "behind the badge." It was amazing. The feeling in the room of love and purpose was so strong! Then she cried and we all cried and hugged her so tight! What an amazing experience. She's so glad to be home but also so sad that it is over.

On Friday, Chey, Cali, Kevin, and I went to the temple together and that was super special. That night my dad arrived and we also got to visit with Kayla and Merrick and Mandy. On Saturday, we had a baby shower for Mariah (so Chey could be there and so family could see the twins and do the baby shower!) and we were joined by my sister, Maggie, Becca, and Liz. It was so fun! The baby shower was basketball-themed. Mariah got lots of great presents and after we put the tables away, the family had a basketball game!

They also played tennis with their dad!!

On Sunday, Cali and Chey both spoke in church to give their homecoming talks. They did so well! They both learned so much on their missions. Their understanding of God and the way He supports us has grown in incredible ways. I'm so impressed with both of them. After the meeting, we had an open house to welcome them home. Kevin made waffles and he thinks he served 75 people! There were a lot of people showing their love and excitement that the twins were home!

This is a group of missionaries from Cheyenne's mission!

This is Beth and I hanging out with Micah.

This is Micah hanging out with his second cousin, Hudson.

It was such a great week! It was a week we have been waiting for for 19 months! Our family is together again. CALI AND CHEY ARE HOME!!!!!

 It was a good week! And so fun to have Calianne home! My sister, Diane, came to visit with her four kids for a couple of days this week, too! She wanted to see Cali and all the family up here and she had some time off for spring break! She is sad to not be able to see Chey but thought she should take advantage of the opportunity. We're glad she did! It was so fun to talk with her and her kids. We even managed to go to the nickel arcade on Wednesday night for pizza and games. It was tons of fun!

Calianne spent time with us and with her friends. It's so great to see her every day!!! She applied for a couple of jobs and has been back to the temple. She's been to the optometrist and the dermatologist and to Deseret Book for new scriptures. She's watched basketball games, gone on a hike, been dancing, and out to eat. I don't think she has had a chance to get bored ever but I think she has also wondered where the days go? It's so great to have her back!

Bethany sang a solo in her choir class on Monday for an assignment and had Calianne accompany her singing "'Tis Eventide." My mom and I came to watch and she did super (so did Cali!)! What a sweet, clear voice she has! She and Ben played in back to back volleyball matches on Monday night. She had a ton of fun but felt very sick afterwards which was not fun. She spent time with friends on Friday and Saturday nights and I loved that she enjoyed that.

Benjamin sang for festival in his choir on Tuesday and a bunch of us went to hear him sing. His choir sounds really good! He also ran every day for Track except Thursday, when he was at a track meet all day. Just as it was his turn to run, it started to rain and hail, so they cancelled the rest of the meet! Poor guy! He hung out with friends on Friday and Saturday, as well, and really enjoyed having his cousins here in the middle of the week.

Kevin had a big week. Several months ago, he got the idea to have a conference with speakers dedicated to the topic of recovery after betrayal. This weekend he made it happen! Actually he has been working on making it happen for months! It's impressive all the work he put in. They had 99 participants and over 20 presenters. It was all online for two days and he hired Megan to help him with tech support, marketing, and communication. They were rockstars! I think it was more stressful than Kevin anticipated and because of that he is feeling great relief at it being done. I am very impressed with his ingenuity and hard work. What a great guy!

I had hours at work this week and also school work. I also really enjoyed seeing Diane! I watched some shows with my mom and when available Cali and Bethany. It's been a busy and full-of-good week!

CALI CAME HOME THIS WEEK!!!!! She was scheduled to fly in at 1:08pm on Monday and by a series of miracles she DID! We were all at the greeting section of the airport with our signs and balloons and we squealed and ran when we saw her! Then there were hugs and more squeals and more hugs and lots of tears. Man we love that girl!! How can it have been so long since we got to hug her?? It is so so good to be with her again! I just feel filled up with joy and a profound gratitude for the ways that she has grown and the experiences she has had and the experiences we have had through her. What a beautiful, beautiful thing in our lives.

Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik and Grandma Elton were at the airport as well as Savannah, Sarah, McKay, Avery, Lyla, Megan, Ammon, Micah, Mariah, Kolby, Bethany, Benjamin, Kevin, and I. Oh, the love! We drove home in the van together and ate snickerdoodles because Cali had let me know that she couldn't wait to eat them again. Back at home, we played a game of Cahoot that Megan had made about Cali's mission and got to hear more stories from Cali. We ate a dinner of ham and funeral potatoes with pumpkin pie for desert again at Cali's request. Afterward, President Griffin came over to officially release Cali from her missionary service. First, he had her give "one last lesson behind the tag" to her family. She taught us about God and his eternal plan for all of us. It was beautiful and I loved it. Our party broke up after that but Cali and I went to see Julie Sandberg, her YW president and big fan. Then we came home and got a quick visit from cousin Mandy and Parker. It was a big day! And so so long for Cali! We figured with the time change, Monday was almost a 40 hour day for her!! So, so glad to get her home!

So! Cali has been adjusting to being home. She's been getting up early every morning just like on the mission (even when she wasn't able to sleep because it's daytime in Taiwan during our night!) She's been running with Megan three times. She's been out with friends, attended a BYU basketball game, and even played Ultimate Frisbee. We watched Crazy Rich Asians as her first movie back. She's found her old clothes and is organizing her room. I get to see her everyday and I love it!! We even went to the temple and it was so fun!

That's pretty much everybody's biggest news of the week and we've had Sarah and Megan and Mariah over lots and lots as well as the grandkids and my mom is with us so it's been wonderful to have so many people that we love around so often. I have been busy with it all but have still managed to get the bare minimum done on work and school so that is good.

Beth and Ben played two more nights of volleyball and they are getting better at it! Beth didn't make it to much of school this week but she's had some good times with her sisters and been able to be crazy with Avery. She is so good with her! Beth claims her as her best friend and plays with her and gets her laughing.

Ben had track this week and would have had an intersquad track meet on Friday but we got a foot of snow! Crazy, right? He had a couple friends over on Saturday night, as did Beth, and they all had fun together.

Savannah made it to only a little bit of work. Monday was a good day. Yay! But her health and anxiety continues to plague her. She has decided to let this job go and find something that works better for her but she still have one more week. We're praying that she will find something that makes her excited about her life and her future!

Kevin got really sick the last few days of the week. He had clients who had flown from out of town to see him so he felt that he needed to still work but oh, it was hard for him! He still loves talking to Cali and sometimes I walk in and they are talking in Chinese which is something they both love!

We had a great week! CALI IS HOME!! God is aware of us and loves us! Life is so so good.