It was another crazy week in the Skinner household!

Monday I watched Cali's basketball game at the junior high. She did fabulous and they won! I had to leave early to run Beth's basketball practice. Later that night, Kevin ran Ben's basketball practice.

Tuesday Beth and Ben had karate and then we watched Mariah's basketball game and then Cheyenne's basketball game. They both won and played great!

Wednesday, Ben had scouts, Beth had piano and a bantam basketball game with her dad. I ran her basketball practice without her. I saw Mariah though because she was the "in-charge" person at the gym. I helped her with some college application stuff before I left. By the time I got home, Cali and Chey were already gone to YW where they helped people wrap their Christmas gifts.

Thursday I watched Cali play basketball at the junior high while Kevin watched Chey play basketball at the high school. We came home for some dinner and then went to Cali, Chey, and Beth's piano recital! Afterwards, Kevin took Ben to his basketball practice and Cali, Chey, and I went back to the high school to watch Mariah play in her game.

Friday--more high school basketball games. Mariah played at 5:15 and they lost by 10. Cheyenne's team played at 7:00 and won by 20.

Saturday morning was the high school team's Breakfast with Santa fundraiser. Kevin, Chey, and Mariah were there at 6am to cook and get ready. I came with Beth, Ben, and Cali at 8am. We ate great food, canoodled with Grinch, pled with Santa, took funny pictures, and watched Mariah and Chey dance. It was really fun.

Saturday morning was also the day that Sarah took her Praxis exams. Those are the exams that teachers have to take to get their licenses. At UVU, Sarah has to have them passed before they can admit her to the education program. She's been studying every spare minute. We were so, so happy for her when she passed them all!

Mariah went to the Christmas dance with Kaden. They went indoor rock climbing in the afternoon and then played games and went to the dance in the evening. Mariah has been on dates with this boy and his group before and some of the dates have included swing dancing instruction. She says they did swing dancing almost the entire time and had a blast!

Our ward Christmas party was Saturday night. We were so impressed with how many more people we knew this year compared to last when we'd only been in the ward a month. We had dinner and watched the children do a nativity. It was lovely.

That night when Sarah got back from work, Savannah had us all watch Hulk. We had a great time!

We have such a pretty tree this year. I just had to take a picture of it alone. Sarah and her friends did such a good job picking it out.

We had a busy week! It was the beginning of a new month, so I had accounting work to do for my clients during the day while the kids were at school. When they got home, all was madness . . .

On Monday, Calianne had a home basketball game which they won! She and I got to wear our new sweatshirts, too. I love new sweatshirts! Cheyenne and Mariah had afternoon practice and Beth and I had practice, too. Ben and Dad had practice that night.

Tuesday, Chey and Mariah had basketball games at Spanish Fork (15min south). Cali had basketball practice. Sarah and I drove to Chey's basketball game, she did great! Then I had to get home to take Beth and Ben to karate. After dinner, we drove back to SF to watch Mariah play. They had their first loss. Boo! That's okay. We still had fun.

Wednesday, Bethany had piano lessons, Bantam basketball practice, and city basketball practice with me. Benjamin had pack meeting half way through city basketball practice, so, since I'm the new cubmaster, I had to leave the city practice in the capable hands of Sarah. Ben and I delivered bags for Saturday's food drive and had cookies and hot chocolate!

Thursday, Kevin left to train therapists in Colorado. He came back late Saturday night. Boy did we miss him!

Thursday, Chey and Mariah went to Emery (2 hours south) for basketball games. We didn't go to Emery to watch, but Cali had a game at home and I got to watch her make two left-handed lay-ups and do fantastic! I couldn't watch it all because I had to take Beth and Ben to karate and pick them up again. That night Ben had basketball practice. Chey and Mariah got home around 10:30pm.

Friday, Chey and Mariah and Cali all had afternoon practice. Ben and Beth both went to friends' houses afterschool and Sarah and Savannah both were at work. I found myself at home with no one that I had to drive anywhere. It was a pretty weird day.

Saturday I had scheduled for Beth and Ben's free ski lessons! This is a program I learned about this year for Utah schoolkids. We took the friend who told us about it and all three kids spent the days on the slopes in Park City learning to ski. They even paid for lunch! I drove them up and then just hung out in the lodge until they were done. They really liked it and seemed to be doing well by the end of the day. I was impressed! I am happy they got that opportunity. My older kids who never got the opportunity, were not quite so happy about it! :(

They were pretty exhausted by the end of the day.

Saturday night, Sarah, Savannah, and I watched Iron Man together! Savannah has decided we should watch all the Marvel movies again before the next one comes out in April. So . . . we have our next 20 Saturdays all planned!

Mariah turned 18 years-old this week! Um, how did that happen?? She took the day off work so we actually got to spend some time with that busy girl! We had ham and heavenly potatoes for dinner and opened presents and had cake. She did go play basketball after that, but its because she was helping Cheyenne work on her post moves. They ended the night with a Hallmark movie. Fun times! So proud of all she does and so happy she's part of our lives!

High School basketball games started this week! Mariah started in both varsity games Tuesday and Friday and they won by over 10 points in both games, too! It's been a great start! They look really good! 

We got to watch Cheyenne in her first sophomore games, too! She got some playing time and did good stuff while she was in. Her team won both of their games, too!

Calianne had a game this week, too, but it was in American Fork on Tuesday. We didn't get to see it, but they must have played really well again because they won, too! She joined us at the high school to watch the rest of the varsity game.

Beth and Ben both had practices for their basketball teams and had karate. Beth played in her first Bantam game. Dad says this will be a learning season for them! We had our first big snow today and Beth and Ben helped Dad shovel the driveway and then did some fort-building.

Sarah volunteered to help out at Funfinity during the Christmas season and before school starts for her. They seem thrilled because she has been there almost every day this week. She likes to keep busy so she has been enjoying it. When she's home, she's studying for the Praxis exams or working on our Christmas puzzle.

Savannah would like to spend even more time on the Christmas puzzle but those darn college classes keep getting in the way! She is plowing through and thinking the end of the semester is still too far away!

We all went to Calianne's basketball game on Monday afternoon. She started. They played man to man defense and a 1-3-1 offense to break their zone and they played it all so well that they won! Go Cali! It was tons of fun to watch her and she had a ton of fun playing! Cheyenne and friend, Sarah, ran the half-time games and they had a crowd of friends to support both events. Fun times at the junior high!

Tuesday night a much anticipated event took place. Sarah came home!! She finished her three months at Jacob Lake working 8 hours a day six days a week, making great friends and having adventures. We are so happy she's home to make great friends and have adventures back with us. Her friend, Mimi, from Jacob Lake spent Thanksgiving with us and she was a ton of fun and we were happy to have her, too!

That night Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik came over. They left the next day for a month in Arizona, so they wanted to give us our Christmas presents and say goodbye! They gave the kids each a jean jacket. They all looked super cute!

You can even see Kevin and I in the mirror!

On Wednesday we bought a new game called 7 Wonders. We played it a bunch and it is Benjamin's new favorite game! There was also some Wacky 6 and some basketball playing and a trip to the library and to Funfinity. Before dinner, Sarah, Mimi, and Bethany went to the art museum! Sometimes we forget about how fun that can be, too! That night we watched Paycheck.

Thursday was Thanksgiving! We made a lot of food and then we ate a lot of food! I made a Thanksgiving playlist and we listened to that. (Chey wouldn't let us listen to any Christmas songs insisting that Thanksgving get its due!) We played more 7 Wonders and also read some books and worked on our puzzle. That night we watched both versions of Overboard. They decided the old one was funnier but the new one, less breaking of moral codes, though there were still plenty broken. My kids have high standards! That's good!

We discovered that if Mariah gets to sit down for a minute, she falls asleep!

On Friday, Mimi had to go back to Jacob Lake. Boo! But first she and Sarah got us a big head start on the puzzle. The rest of the fam finished it that day! Sarah also brought us a fresh Christmas tree from Jacob Lake and we decorated it Friday. It looks really pretty. After decorating and lunch, we drove to BYU and went bowling. We had a lot of fun. Still . . . Cheyenne said to me, "You know Mom, sometimes I get busy and don't miss Megan as much and other days I miss her a whole lot. Today was one of those days." Oh, how I had been feeling the same thing!

Saturday Ben had guitar and Beth and Ben had friends over in the afternoon. Cali and Chey and Mariah played basketball at the Rec. Sarah went to the temple with the RS in her new/old ward. Savannah did homework. That night, Mariah and two of her guy friends came over and watched the BYUvs.U football game with Kevin. The rest of us watched a movie.

We are thankful for each other and thankful for the time we've had to spend together and thankful for this good, good life and all its opportunities--even the ones that take us away from each other for a season. Yes, we are very thankful!