There was no school on Monday because of President's Day so we gathered all the family we could and had a basketball game at the church! Ben, Beth, Cali, Chey, Mariah, Megan, Sarah, McKay, Kevin, and I had a great time! We came back to the house for lunch and talked and the kids watched some more Castle.

Savannah visited Las Vegas last weekend and came home on Tuesday. We missed her! She worked on a t-shirt quilt with Grandma and visited cousins and talked with Grandpa. She really enjoyed her visit and we're told all the family she saw really enjoyed it, too!

Mariah started her new job at the Provo Rec Center and really loved signing families up for soccer teams and doing whatever else they do in rec center offices! She is still working for Springville Rec, too, and this week was the last week of basketball season so she worked every evening for them either refereeing or score keeping. She has been very busy! On Saturday she worked from 9am to 10pm with only an hour off somewhere in the middle when she drove from the Springville job to the Provo one!

Cheyenne and Calianne also worked every day for Springville Rec. Cali also worked at Funfinity and Chey worked at Heritage. On Saturday they played in their first tournament game for the last week of basketball and they won! They will finish up Monday night. They have been very, very busy, too! They managed to fit in one night of fun. They had a "galentine" party at our house Saturday night.  Cali sure knows how to throw a party!

Bethany planned a party this week, too! She wanted all the neighborhood kids to go together to Provo Beach (which is not a beach--they played laser tag and video games). I drove them. Afterwards, they went to Max's house and had even more fun. Ben was there, too, of course and had a great time, as well!

We celebrated Savannah's birthday on Sunday! We had fried chicken for dinner and confetti cake and opened presents. She wanted to go on a walk by the river near Brookside--just like the walks we used to take when we lived down there. What a great idea! We sure love that girl and the fun and inspiration she brings into our lives!

Other than that, Savannah worked at Funfinity and another day as a substitute this week. On Friday she left for Las Vegas to spend the weekend with her Grandma and Grandpa Elton!

Mariah bought herself a car this week! She also got another job that starts next week, this time working at the Provo Rec Center. She worked a couple of days at Earth Harbor this week as well as reffing in the evenings. She went to the BYU women's basketball game on Saturday and had a great time!

Cheyenne worked at Heritage as well as for city rec. She's been practicing piano and going to track practices for hurdling. She went to the Sweetheart's dance on Saturday with some other girl friends.

Calianne worked for Funfinity as well as for city rec this week. She practiced piano and read books when she had a minute to herself. She went to the movies with Richmond on Friday night. On Saturday, after work, she had friends over to our house to play Catan. Cheyenne and her friends joined them when they were done with the dance.

Bethany had some play practices this week and also had karate. On Saturday morning she had a belt exam. Guess what? She's now a brown belt! That's three away from black, but she is now a Sensei. Pretty cool, right? Just call her Sensei Skinner.

Benjamin was scheduled to be at that belt test, too, but he was sick ALL WEEK! He came down with a fever on Saturday and his first day without a fever was Thursday. He has a lingering cough and runny nose but otherwise is on the mend. He missed school all week long. Poor kid. He was so sick of being sick. We're all glad that he'll be able to go back to school next week.

Kevin went to Mississippi to teach a group of therapists this week. He left Thursday morning and came back Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, he came down with Ben's fever Thursday while traveling and spent a miserable night in the hotel. With the help of WalMart meds and the answer of prayers, he was able to teach Friday. He's home now but still pretty miserable. Poor guy.

I've been working on a new book and taxes and my social work class. Thursday I went to bookclub and saw my old friends and Friday I went hiking with my friend Robin for the first time in a long while and that was great!

Also, we heard back from BYU and Calianne and Cheyenne were both accepted! Yay! Now they've heard back from all colleges and they will work on deciding where they'll go next fall. I sure will miss them!!

On Monday night, Cali and Chey helped with a three-school Chinese new year celebration. They helped run two of the games. There was food, games, decorations for year of the tiger, and entertainment! Beth, Ben, Kevin, and I went and had a lot of fun!

Benjamin had guitar this week (you should hear him play "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain,"), karate, and young men's. On Sunday of last week, he asked if we could invite his friends to go swimming at the rec center on Saturday. Talk about planning ahead, right? So, I had contacted the moms and all the boys were excited about it, and guess who got sick with a fever just hours before we were to pick everyone up? Poor Ben! He's so sick. But not with COVID. Still. Poor guy.

Bethany had karate this week and a couple of play practices. She did "heart attacks" for young women's. She hung out with Mariah on Friday and Saturday nights watching some shows. On Saturday, a friend of hers from karate came to hang out with her for awhile and there was much laughter in the house.

Calianne worked at Funfinity this week as well as scorekeeping basketball games.

Cheyenne worked at Heritage this week as well as refereeing basketball games.

They both had piano lessons and did practicing and went to school and did homework. On Friday night they had an epic adventure planned with their friends. Sixteen of them drove in a big van all the way to the salt flats--ostensibly to go stargazing. Although it ended up not being the best night for that, they did play games and ate food and had a great adventure together. Cali and Chey made homemade pizzas Friday after school to take with them. They have lucky friends! Sarah and I helped with the pizzas a little bit--we even helped them burn one pizza TWICE.  Good times in the kitchen!

This week Mariah applied for a job working at Provo Rec, went running everyday, looked at a car to buy, reconnected with some friends, and attended a good friend's wedding prep, wedding, and reception! That was for Katey Acero all day Saturday. Plus, she hung out with Bethany on Friday and Saturday nights!

Savannah's birthday is today! She went out to eat with Sarah and McKay on Saturday at Magleby's. Yummy chocolate cake! On Friday she had her first day as a substitute! She subbed for language arts at the high school. I think her biggest surprise was how little she had to do. Subbing will be a nice addition to her income.

Ben's youth group on Wednesday went to an indoor archery range. Ben mostly played foosball, but he had a good time! He went on a run with Mariah this week even though he wanted to cancel because it was snowing. He still went and they ran two miles. On Friday night, Max invited the neighborhood kids over to decorate cupcakes for a Groundhog day party. Bethany went too! On Saturday, Beth, Ben, Max, and Eden did some hiking so Eden could show them her fort. Fun times!

Bethany's youth group played games at the church. She acquired a penny which she named Liam because it was the most popular name in the year of the penny. She only had play practice once this week so she joined Mariah and Cali for a run on Monday. She and Ben also had karate this week.

Cali and Chey made cookies and watched Castle on Friday with Megan and Mariah. Ammon came and took Megan away, but Chey, Cali, and Mariah watched Castle well into the night! On Saturday night, the twins went to the high school to watch the "Mr. Springville Pageant" and then brought their friends to our house. They had a great time!

Mariah has been meeting with friends and keeping contact with people from her mission, as well. She also attended a friend's MTC group this week to help out as an investigator. She is looking into a humanitarian trip to Vietnam this summer with a couple of her MTC companions. It looks like she'll be going in July! Meanwhile, she continues to officiate for city rec each evening.

Savannah worked at Funfinity and completed her training to be a substitute teacher. She might be able to start this week. She finished a very exciting Star Wars game this week and got good cuddles from her bird.

Kevin and I went to SLC on Friday to see another play. This time we saw "Treasure Island," which was fantastic! The stage was surrounded by water which they used to roll "dead bodies" into and where our fearless hero, Jim, swung on a rope, let go, and landed in the water at the end of Act 1. "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!" We had a fun time!

Mariah is still home!! It's been so fun to have her around again. Imagine this--we get to see her everyday!! She told me, "Mom, you look so good in that sweater!" and I said, "Mariah, you look so good in my kitchen!" She has kept busy visiting friends this week. She has a goal to get her mileage back up in running but with all the friends she visited this week, she had a hard time finding time even for that! She did, though. It is a tough transition, but she is doing well!

Savannah is helping Mariah get the room organized. She also worked at Funfinity this week and continued to work on her substitute training. She's watching a high school chemistry class on DVD for fun! She's actually really enjoying it!

Sarah brought Avery over on Thursday night and I got to hold her. I love holding that tiny baby.

Megan had Mariah over to make Rolo cookies this week. They were yummy!

Cheyenne, Calianne, and Mariah worked city rec games every night of the week! Well, just Monday through Thursday but that's close enough.

One of those days Cheyenne was working at the care center instead. She also is still practicing with the indoor track team. This week they had a workout where they did lunges around the entire 400 of the track! She was pretty sore. She and Mariah and a friend went to the school play Friday night and had a fun time!

Calianne worked at Funfinity twice this week in addition to city rec. She went to the school play Thursday night with Richmond and had a gazillion people over on Saturday night for games and a movie.

Bethany is still enjoying rehearsing for her upcoming school play. She also had karate this week and on Friday rode electric scooters with friends again!

Benjamin had karate this week. He's also been trying to run everyday and read everyday. His friend, Kyler, came over on Saturday and brought his Occulus VR. Guess what Ben now wants for his birthday??

On Saturday, Mariah, Cheyenne, Calianne, Beth, Ben, Kevin, and I went to a BYU women's basketball game! They scored almost 100 points in the game! The game was super, but the band? TOP NOTCH!!!  Mandy plays trombone in the band and it was super fun to see her doing her thing! We really had a fun time!

Look! It's us with Cosmo's back!

Go Mandy and the ROC band!!

 MARIAH IS HOME!!!!

Grandma and Grandpa Elton came on Tuesday. They got settled and met Avery.

Four generations!

First thing Wednesday morning, none of the kids went to school, we got in the van instead, and drove with much excitement to the airport! Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik met us there and Megan and Ammon, too! When we saw her, we screamed and ran and hugged her in a big mass hug!! And then we screamed and hugged her some more!! We are so glad she is home!

We came to our house for lunch. Sarah and McKay and Avery met us here and Sarah got her Mariah hug! After Mariah was released, she got a chance to hold little Avery. Megan made a Kahoot game that had questions about Mariah's mission and Mariah told us a story with each question. It was super fun!

That evening we had a turkey dinner. Mandy came, too! There were seventeen of us! Mariah had been up since 2:30am our time, but she was willing to party with us all day long! She was tired, but happy. And we are all so happy, too!!!

On Thursday, Mariah started working for Springville rec again! Her boss was so excited to see her! She is the "commissioner" for the women's volleyball games on Thursday nights. She has also finished off her week by reuniting with friends and going on some runs with her sisters or dad. She's had great conversations with her mom, too! :)

On Saturday, we got to go to the temple! Mariah, Savannah, Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik, Grandma and Grandpa Elton, and Kevin and I went to an afternoon session. It was super special!

When we got home, we had more family waiting for us! Grandma and Grandpa Skinner were here from Idaho! And my sister, Maggie, had arrived with Emily and Liz. We made lots and lots of hamburgers and had almost twenty for dinner, again!

All the grandparents in a row!

The next morning was Sunday and Mariah gave her homecoming talk in our 9am sacrament meeting! Boy was it wonderful! She took the whole meeting except for the youth speaker which was . . . Ben's first talk! (He did great and insisted on writing it all himself! Mariah loved having him speak with her!) Mariah had us all say, "Amen!" to all her important points and told us stories of miracles on her mission. It was fabulous. Afterward, we had everyone who wanted to talk to Mariah come to our house for some food and visiting! We had a lot of people in our house and it was wonderful!

After all the friends left, Sarah and McKay came over with Avery and we visited with my family a little longer. After a couple hours, they needed to head back to Cedar City and Grandma and Grandpa headed down with them. It was so great to have them!

During the open house, when everything was crazy at our house, Grandma and Grandpa Skinner slipped away to visit with Avery before they drove home.

Also, on Saturday night, Cali and Chey went to MORP (which is prom backward). So, the girls ask the boys and they don't dress fancy. This year the theme was "dynamic duos." Chey and her date, Ryan, dressed as salt and pepper. Cali and her date, Richmond, dressed as Lucy and Charlie Brown.

Sarah's baby was born this week!! Avery Kim Hatch was born at 4:30am on Friday, January 14. 7lbs 11oz and 20 inches long. I am a grandma. I am overpowered with feelings of love and gratitude and joy at the goodness of life! Just look at this miracle:

AND my daughter, Sarah, is a mom! She already looks so natural. She is going to rock this "mama thing." I'm so proud of her for wanting to take this all on!

Sarah's water broke on Thursday around 1:30pm. She and McKay went into the hospital around 7pm. They worked hard and got Avery out into the world at 4:30am! They called us around noon on Friday. The kids didn't have school on Friday because it was the end of the term so we were all at home and ready for the announcement! No visitors were allowed in the hospital (due to COVID) and they stayed another night. But on Saturday, we all went to their house and held that sweet baby!

So, let's see...what else did we do this week?

On Friday night, Kevin and I went to the Hale Theatre and saw One for the Pot which was really funny! We had some good laughs! I'm glad we're scheduled to go see all their plays again this year.

Ben was sick at the beginning of the week but was back to school after only missing a day. He doesn't like missing school. He's got responsibilities, you know. He made it back to karate on Thursday and had a great time playing WII sports with his friend, Ryen, on Friday. On Saturday, he and Kevin took the drone flying for a bit.

Bethany continued rehearsals for the play, learning more songs and dances everyday after school! She also made it to karate on Thursday. On Friday, she took her scooter down to her friend's house and rode it home again, too!

Calianne worked at Funfinity and clocking basketball games, sometimes both in the same day. She found time to be with her friends too, though, and they have MORP all planned for next week!

Cheyenne worked refereeing basketball games and one day at the care center. The end of the term marks the end of her "internship" at the Payson hospital. She learned about all the different kinds of jobs that are found in the hospital and really enjoyed it. I don't know if she and her friend, Logan, will miss driving to Payson in the early mornings though!

Savannah worked at Funfinity this week. She made us fish balls and sweet rice for dinner Monday. That was yummy! She is working on becoming a substitute in the school district so she can work on her days off from Funfinity.

We're all just really counting the minutes until we can hold baby Avery again...