Jorja's First Freeway

Today is the start of our trip! Yay! Jorja had drivers ed early this morning. Mike and I spent the day packing. Yes, we did start just today. I was laughing because we were in the middle of packing and Mike was gone for a bit. He was out playing with ducks with Preston. That is one thing that is nice about driving instead of taking a plane. We drove to Boise today and made it about 11:00. We stopped in Ogden for ice-cream. I was able to collect six new helmets for my collection. Mike picked the Pittsburg Pirates, I picked Detroit Tigers, Maysen picked the Atlanta Braves, Stockton picked Toronto Blue Jays, Jorja picked Oakland A's, and Preston picked the Seattle Mariners. Luckily mine was made last and I was able to see how much ice-cream was packed into those helmets. I ordered half the size and it was more than plenty.

Random guy, Maysen, Stockton, Mike, Jorja, Preston

 Maysen, Preston, Jorja, Stockton

 Stephanie

Jorja had her first experience driving on the freeway. She was terrified, but she did great. Mike had her practice merging and changing lanes. It was a bit hard because we have some suitcases blocking the back window, but she managed.

I was happy we made it to Boise tonight. Mike grabbed a hotel on Hotwire about 45 minutes before we arrived. We had to drive about a block and a half past a ton of hotels to find ours. We were a bit worried that it would be gross. It was cheep. We were ale to get two rooms for the price of one. Boy were we wrong! We might have been the first people ever to stay in our rooms. The hotel was brand new. It had a new smell to it. Although Maysen didn't like the water, she said it tasted like new pipes. Ha! The place was so dang clean and our beds were so comfy, it made me wish we had left a bit earlier so we could have enjoyed it more. We were very happy that we chose to stop here. One leg done on our trip. Lots of driving tomorrow, but then I will get to see Cheri again!!!!

Parents room

 Kids room

Mike, Stockton, Preston, Maysen 

I think the kids stayed up late watching a cooking show. Maysen and Stockton slept through that. Jorja also FaceTimed me from her room. I think she is a night owl.

Prepping

Today was spent mostly doing laundry. I was trying to get every scrap of clothes cleaned so we can pack for our upcoming trip. Jorja had work. After work we hurried to the mall before it closed and tried to find Mike cufflinks. I bought him a new shirt on Saturday and was shocked to find out it needed cufflinks for it! There should have been a warning for that!

Eric Byrnes

Jorja wanted to go to a mission farewell for one of her friends. She wanted Stockton to go with her. It was the same time as our church. Stockton was presented to the ward to get the Melchizedek Priesthood. He also blessed the sacrament today. I tried to pay special attention to him because I didn't know if this would be the last time I would ever hear him do that. As soon as the sacrament was over he took Jorja to Noah's farewell. It happened to be in Gavin's ward, so that was a bonus.

Noah & Jorja

I wanted to go see Eric at the Bees game on Monday, but I started too worry they wouldn't let my broken bat through security. Peggy texted me to let me know Eric would be in town. I thought that was nice! We found out he would be at Lumpy's tonight. Lumpy's is a bar in Sugarhouse. I decided I would go meet him at the bar. He was supposed to be there at 6:00, so we got there right at the beginning. He was running behind schedule because, well, he was on a BIKE! I guess they ended up getting eight flat tires today. Long story short, we were able to get the bat signed! I also met Morgan Mullin. She is also related to Eric. She drew out the family tree and wanted me to draw out my side. Hers is much more detailed than mine. Eric and I are second cousins. Morgan and I are second cousins once removed. Anyway, she was super nice and I enjoyed getting to know her.

Stephanie in front of Eric's van

 Eric & bat

 Eric & Stephanie

It was funny, Eric's wife Tara saw us with the broken bat. She gasped and said, "Did Eric do that?" We happily replied yes. She said, "I can get you another one, I'm sure I have one somewhere." Haha. No, he broke it a LONG time ago.

Arizona

The ducks love to be together. This one couldn't figure out how to get out of the duck fence.

No worries! His friends came back for him!

Jorja worked 8 1/2 hours today. She still managed to find time to go to the store with Hailey before work. I'm glad she enjoys her job. I bought Maysen a temple dress today. It is really beautiful. I was worried we wouldn't be able to find one to fit her tiny body, but we did. It was even her favorite one. We got her an extra, extra small petite. It is still a little long, but if she wears shoes with higher soles it is just right. The cashier asked if this was her first temple dress. When I said yes, she said that there is a discount for buying things for the first time. A 50% discount! Her temple dress ended up costing around $30. Yay! Later today Maysen went swimming with Melissa Yauney. I think they had fun floating around the pool. This is our only picture.

Melissa & Maysen

I wasn't there when Melissa was over because I went to the airport to pick up Stockton! Yay! Yay! Yay! I am so glad he is home! Nate had a cousin who lives in Arizona, so his cousin took them around today. They visited Nate's aunt and tried out her giant sewing machine. So glad Stockton is home. I'm glad they found things to do today so they weren't bored out of their minds. I'm glad he had this adventure with Gavin. He has had a busy summer!

Stockton

 Arizona

 Almost home!

After we dropped Nate and Gavin off we went to Chick-Fil-A and waited about ten minutes until Jorja was off work. She was so happy to see him! It is nice to have my family back together again. I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts!

Not a Date

So . . . Jorja had a 'practice date' today. Aysha wanted to go to Lagoon with a group of people. Jorja thought that would be fun. She had made plans to hang out with Drew and Jaren, but Jaren wasn't able to get off work. Drew also has a Lagoon pass, so she asked Aysha if he could come too. Aysha said yes, but she didn't have room in their car. They were planning on taking tracks and meeting the others up there, but Drew's mom wanted to drive them. They went right after Drew came home from the orthodontist. He just got his braces off. Anyway, Jorja texted Aysha as soon as they arrived, but she never replied. She tried calling her, nothing. Jorja didn't hear from her for a few days when she contacted Jorja and said she was so sorry but her phone broke. Jorja ended up hanging out with Drew at Lagoon, just the two of them. I'm actually glad he was there. It would have been awful if Jorja got to Lagoon by herself and then was stuck there.

Jorja & Drew

I was stressing out on the way to pick up Jorja from Lagoon because the freeway entrance was closed. That threw me off! I had to hurry and get her and then go to the airport to pick up Stockton. I was almost there when Jorja called and asked if I could pick her up at Krispy Kreme. What? I didn't even know where that was. In Layton. WHAT? No I can't do that! And why did you leave Lagoon? Well, she met a kid last year and texted him saying she was there. He met them but didn't have a pass, so they decided to go to Krispy Kreme. I don't even know who this kid is! Luckily Drew was with her. I was not happy about this at all. Drew convinced me he was a normal character . . . still. They didn't end up going to Krispy Kreme because I didn't have time and I was really upset about it. Anyway, turns out I didn't need to hurry. Stockton got stuck in Arizona. His flight was delayed. They finally boarded, went out to the tarmac and just sat there. Then they came back in and were told the flight was cancelled. The pilot said he had reached his maximum hours. So, now they are stuck until tomorrow night. I am so thankful Nate is with them. They ended up getting a hotel room that the airlines paid for. Stockton said it was really nice. Nate and Gavin were in one room, Stockton in another. At least he is safe. I was disappointed he was not able to come home today though.

Stockton

Ducks Like Grapes

Evidence by Preston

Preston

Jorja had her last range drive today. Her last five hours straight of drivers ed. When I picked her up yesterday I was a little early, so I stopped where I could watch the cars driving around and I tried to guess which one she was in. I saw her pull up and her teacher was there for her to get out of the car. He said something to her and Jorja jumped. I thought, "I wonder if he found a spider in her car?" No, it was worse. It was a hornet's nest! Jorja said there were bees flying around her while she was driving, for TWO HOURS! Now that creeps me out. Ugh! Mike picked up Jorja from work today. She was at the drive thru when he got there. She loves the drive thru.

Jorja

 Ducks

 Stockton sent me this picture today.

That is a lot of people! He competed three meter today and was happy with his dives. This might have been his last competition ever. That is sad. I'm glad he was able to go to Texas. He had a lot of fun. I'm excited for him to come home though!

Stockton

 Nate, Gavin, Noelle, Dani, Wren, Wren's husband, Stockton

Remember the Alamo

Stockton had a fun day in Texas. At least it looks like it from the pictures Nate sent me. Neither Stockton or Gavin competed today, so they had fun exploring Texas with Dani. Noelle had one of her events today.

Gavin & Stockton

 Stockton

 Stockton, Gavin, Dani at the River Walk

Stockton got kicked out of the Alamo today and told to never come back. I was wondering what he did? Did he try to do flips off of somewhere? Nope. According to Stockton he walked on dirt. He cut across one stone path to another and the lady flipped out and had security escort him out, or something like that. He said it was okay because he went across the street and got a milkshake. Hmmm, what would Stockton rather do? Tourist stuff or milkshake? He was just fine.

Stockton at the Alamo

Stockton's AP scores still weren't posted at Utah State. I finally called. They said they would have them up in about thirty minutes. So, in a matter of minutes I watched his status go from 'Freshman' to 'Junior'. That was pretty cool. What wasn't pretty cool is I found the Utah State diving club website. Dive is in the name, but I didn't find any information about it. At all. Great.

Jorja had a crazy busy day. She had drivers ed from 6:00-9:00, range driving from 9:00-11:00, and work from 11:30-4:00. She came home and took a nap, then had to be at Alta at 7:40. Usually Alta does a welcome video by the student body officers. The class officers are announced separately. This year they wanted to do a shorter video and announce all the officers, to make the assembly go faster. The hardest part was for Jorja to find a time that the other five people could make it. Luckily today worked out! They were only supposed to film for thirty minutes, so I just wanted to wait. Jorja DID NOT like that idea. She begged me to go somewhere I wouldn't be seen. I feel so loved. Haha. Anyway, I went to see my dad because he lives closer than I do. I wanted to see if he would go with me when Eric is in town. Eric Byrnes is doing a triathlon across America to raise money for his Let Them Play foundation. He swam seven miles, now he is biking to Chicago and then he will run to New York. He started at the Giants stadium and will finish at the Yankees stadium. Eric is my dad's cousin Judy's son. My dad can't go because he will be on a tour. He did go and get a bat for me to have him sign. Eric got his first hit in the majors with this bat. His name says Eric Baynes on it. Ha! He gave this bat to my brothers after he broke it when he was playing the Bees in Salt Lake. (He had been called up for a few weeks, then down for a bit, then back up.) Anyways, pretty cool!

I picked up Jorja and the other boys at Alta and took them back to our house for ice-cream and Mario Kart. Jorja said the video will be pretty cringy. All I know is they got out of a car and had to dance and freeze for their name. I know Jorja was on Joe's shoulders for a bit and when they froze on her she did thumbs up. She had a lot of fun hanging out with these guys though. They stayed pretty late. Jorja and Carson are both taking drivers ed, so they will have a pretty early morning.

Marshall ~ historian, Bode ~ public relations, Shafer ~ senator

Jorja ~ president, Joe ~ secretary, Carson ~ vice president

 Marshall, Carson, Bode, Joe, Jorja, Shafer

 I don't know why Jorja likes pictures like these so much, but she does.

Jorja (going clockwise) Marshall, Bode, Shafer, Carson, Joe

Chinese Ordering

Jorja didn't have to get up because there was no drivers ed today. Although, she did have to get up early because it is the 24th of July and we are assigned to do flags. She was tired. I was proud of our flags, none of them fell down. Most of the flags fell down on our street the last time they were up. We took down our street and then we took down the flags for the Liu's. They were going on vacation and couldn't get anyone to switch. It took a long time to take them all down! 

Brandon left to the Mexico MTC today. Weird! Crazy that he is old enough to be on a mission!

Mike had work today, so our day was pretty normal. Mike did get his taco train working, so he was happy about that!

 Maysen & Preston

 Mike

Jorja had work today. She was taking orders when someone came up who didn't speak English very well. He got frustrated and started using Google translate. He turned the app around and Jorja saw Mandarin at the top. Jorja spoke to him in Chinese and said, "Do you speak Chinese?" His head jerked up and he answered her in Chinese. Jorja then took his entire order in Chinese. Apparently the entire staff by the drive thru window stopped and watched Jorja. How cool is that? I bet that guy loved it. No one said anything to Jorja after that happened, she just went on like it was a normal every day thing. Chick-Fil-A closed early today, so Jorja was able to help with that. (Because she isn't 16 she is not allowed to stay after 9:00.) Anyway, while they were cleaning up one of the girls said, "Wait, can we just take a moment and talk about how Jorja took someone's order entirely in CHINESE?"

Meanwhile, down in Texas, Stockton had his one meter competition today. He texted me during it and said, "Did an awesome 303c!" That's a reverse 1 1/2. How fun! He said he was happy with all of his dives, but the judges failed him on his twister. Everything was fine except his FEET over twisted so they gave him a zero. He said he doesn't understand how you can over rotate and get scored, but if you over twist a tiny bit they will fail you. Everyone on Stockton's team failed at least one dive today. Stockton was still happy though. If he had failed a non-twister dive I think that would be a different story.

Stockton's room setup looks nice. Nate texted me a picture. The kids are playing Tiki Topple. This is the room Stockton sleeps in. Nate and Gavin have an adjoining room. Perfect setup. The kids can play, but they are somewhat supervised, and Stockton isn't all alone.

Dani, Stockton, Gavin

No Piercings

Today was crazy! Jorja had drivers ed at 6:00 - 9:00 this morning. She had to drive on the range from 9:00 - 11:00. We picked up Hailey on our way home. Stockton and I then hurried down to Gavin's house. We picked up him and his dad. I dropped them all off at the airport. Stockton is going to Texas without me! I'm going to cry! I miss him so much already. Nate (Gavin's dad) sent this picture. Glad they arrived safely in Texas! They had to run to at least one gate I know, but they made it!

Nate, Stockton, Gavin

I took Maysen and Jorja downtown to get their ears pierced. Jorja really wants them pierced and is terrified. I read a lot of reviews and decided on a placed called Koi. They do piercings everywhere! It is in Salt Lake. They don't take appointments and it was so crowded when we got there. The wait was an hour. As I walked up to the receptionist I realized I forgot Jorja's birth certificate. I was kicking myself! Maysen also didn't realize she needed her drivers license. Jorja's eyes filled with tears when we entered. She frantically whispered to me, "I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it." Maysen wasn't nervous at all. Too bad Maysen didn't have her drivers license because I think it would have helped Jorja calm down and not be so scared if she saw Maysen go first. Anyway, we left and found an ice-cream place that Jorja wanted to go to. It was called d-Bar. We shared one. It was really cute, although you can't tell with all the marshmallows on it!

We then went to Red Robin for dinner. It was yummy. We drove home and picked up Shay on the way. It's been a long time since Jorja has hung out with her softball friends! Jorja and Shay swam with ducks and then started watching a movie. They didn't get very far before Raina came over. Yay! More softball friends. Jorja was so happy!

Jorja & Shay

 Shay's head and Jorja

 Jorja

Still in the middle of our backyard tree project, but this is the movie screen set up this way. The nice thing about this way is we can put the stakes into the grass. It is hard to anchor the screen on concrete!

Mike and the movie screen

 Jorja

Not as easy to pick up the ducks as it used to be!

Raina loved the ducks.

Knibble

Jorja & Raina

 Raina

What a fun, fun, busy day! Shay's mom came and got her shortly after Raina arrived. It was fun to talk with her mom for a bit. She is super nice. Raina stayed until close to midnight when I took her home. I love it when Jorja and Raina hang out together. Too bad they didn't have any classes together last year. I don't think they have any together this year either. Hopefully they have lunch or their lockers are semi close to each other.....