Monday was Labor Day and also Lyla's birthday! She turned two years old! She is such a cutie and we love her to pieces! Sarah combined Lyla's birthday celebration with the Hatch's Labor Day party in Brent's backyard. The Skinners were all invited and we had a great time! We ate burgers, visited, and watched Avery and Lyla run with the Hatch cousins and play in the sprinklers. Then we watched Lyla open presents and blow out the candles on her Megan-made cake! It was a happy, happy day.

For lunch on Labor Day, we went up the canyon for a picnic with Grandma Gazdik. The boys played some Bocce ball but the most fun we had was trying to take engagement pictures for Cali and Richmond. They ended up getting "real" pictures taken later this week but we did get some that I thought turned out pretty good!

Ben had a full week of school although he did miss Friday because of a cross country meet. He has spent some time at home working on homework so that is a good sign that he is getting his work done and that it is important to him. Cross country is going well! He ran a 19:09 on Friday and was super pleased with it. He gets invited to get-togethers on Fridays and Saturdays and seems to be making a good group of friends. There's a lot of good things happening in his life!

Bethany and I went back to Primary Children's Hospital on Thursday to meet with Dr. Chan who is a specialist in HO (Hypothalamic Obesity). We are lucky to get to meet with her. After meeting with her, we met with her on-staff dietician, behavioral therapist, and medication nurse. We have a plan for moving forward. I feel hopeful. Beth is trying to feel hopeful. She did have a big moment of joy this week when she got asked to go to Homecoming next weekend. She is so excited to be able to go!

Chey had school all week and worked all night at the hospital one of the days. She also worked three days for her tennis-coaching job and worked her 4:30am temple shift one morning. Oh, and don't forget the marathon training. They ran 18 miles Saturday morning and that took four hours. She is a busy girl! She still manages to keep up with her social life which this week included four dates--three were first dates and one was a second date. I am so happy when I get to see her and am so glad she is living at home!

Cali is also busy! She started school this week on Wednesday! So she is back to classes and homework. In addition, the hours for her peer mentoring job have ramped up and she is now in full-swing with those responsibilities. She attends two "Univ" classes which help Freshmen get a good start on their college career in addtion to her own classes. Oh, and don't forget the marathon training! Yep, 18 miles on Saturday--not to mention all the runs throughout the week. They have really taken on a big project with that! Cali and I also managed to do some wedding planning on Saturday. She is such a hard worker and accomplishing so much. I am also so glad that she is living at home and I get to see her!

Savannah worked this week. She also did babysitting for each of her sisters who are mothers. She is always willing to help and they are so grateful for her!

Cali and Cheyenne turned 21 this week! We were so happy to have them home for their birthday! All the fam came to celebrate and Grandma G, too! We decided to do Chinese food for their dinner and when asked their favorite foods in Taiwan, they got super excited to do Poke bowls. The rest of us have never had this but we dived in! It turns out that you start with a lettuce and rice base and add all sorts of things on top. Sarah, Megan, Mariah, and I all provided five toppings. It turned out so yummy and was a ton of fun! We had brownies and ice cream for dessert, sang Happy Birthday, and opened presents. We love those girls. They are so amazing and I am so filled with gratitude to have them in my life.

Also, on Saturday, Kevin and I took the 4 wheeler up Camel's Back. It was beautiful!