Cactus Mug

Preston stayed home from school again. He was feeling a little better towards the end of the day, and was starting to get stir crazy, so we went to Walmart. We were looking for a new game. We didn't find anything wonderful, but he did find this cactus mug. We are all cactus all the time. Boy do we miss Stockton!

Preston

I have been after Jorja for awhile to write an essay for a contest. She always had homework she needed to catch up on, so she kept putting it off. The essay was due today at midnight. She was able to get it done about ten minutes early. Not her best work, but it is done. Hailey also submitted one. This is for Mormon Heritage. They have a teen essay contest every year. This is for a trip to Nauvoo with my dad as the tour guide. Hailey wasn't able to go to EFY this year. Hailey and Jorja were hoping to room together. Wouldn't it be awesome if they could do this instead? Still a long shot, lots of things would have to go just right; but I'm glad they tried for it.

Sick Family

Jorja and Preston both stayed home from school. They both slept until almost noon. Have I mentioned that I hate mono? Mike is sick too. He went to the doctor today. They tested him for mono and the flu. He was negative on both. His texts were funny. One said, "I was going to have them test cholesterol but inhale tomcats for ten hours for that test apparently." By 'inhale tomcats' he meant 'I have to fast.' Haha!

I finished parent teacher conference today. It was nice to talk with all of Jorja's teachers. Especially since she has been so sick. Hopefully she will get her grades up before the quarter ends next month. This year has been rough on Jorja. Last year it was emotionally tough, this time it is her health that has been the challenge. I can't wait until this mono is behind her for good.

Preston One Upped Jorja

So, Preston was sick again this morning. His temperature was down to 101, but I called the doctor's office anyway. I have been wondering for a long time if Preston had mono like Jorja. I told them he had a temperature for three days and they said to bring him in. I asked if we could have a mono test done while we were there. They said no problem. I was not a fan of the nurse that helped us. When she took Preston's temperature she said it was 97 degrees. No way that was right. I'm not an idiot. Even kissing his forehead you can tell he is burning up. I told her that he was 101 at home and she condescendingly said that some thermometers aren't accurate. Still, that is a big difference. She asked if she could give Preston a flu test. I said sure. I asked if he could have a mono test too, she said we would have to talk to the doctor about that. They had to stick a swab up Preston's nose for the flu test. The doctor came back later and told us that Preston tested positive for the flu. That surprised me. I didn't expect that. Then she came over and felt him. She said, "Oh, he's burning up. You can just feel the heat coming out of his ears." I told her that he was only 97 on her thermometer. She said that some thermometers aren't accurate, but instead of insinuating that I was wrong, she made it sound like theirs was wrong. Which it was. I asked the doctor if we could have a mono test too. She said that we would have to wait fifteen minutes while they ran it. Fine by me. The doctor came back fifteen minutes later with a look of shock in her eyes. Preston has mono too. Double whammy. I asked if he could have gotten it a long time ago and it is still in his system. She said it was active mono, so he has it now. Poor sick little boy.

Preston

Preston's mono is nothing like Jorja's mono though. Jorja was slammed hard, still is, while Preston feels a bit under the weather . . . and that is probably because he has the flu!

Mike met Preston and I for lunch. We just went to Roxberrys and got smoothies since Preston didn't feel like eating anything. Jorja went to Arbys after school with Madison, Spencer and Isaac. They went to Madison's house after. I finally had to call and tell her I was coming to get her. I needed her home. I didn't want to leave Preston when I went to parent/teacher conference. It was nice that I was able to talk to Preston's teachers and let them know he wouldn't be in the rest of the week. Didn't need to make a special trip for that. Mike felt awful by the end of the day. Once he came home from work he and Preston had a sick party. Glad I wasn't invited.

Savannah was discharged from the hospital today. I couldn't believe it! Less than 24 hours after major surgery. I was in the hospital for FIVE days! Although I did have a hysterectomy at the same time. And I got a temperature. Still. Crazy to be sent home this fast. She had to drive all the way to Idaho Falls too! She said she slept most of the way, that's lucky.

Talking with Stockton

I got to talk to Stockton today! It was the greatest! This new policy is THE BEST!!! I talked to Stockton for about an hour. He called while he was at the gym. Other missionaries were playing basketball. Jorja left to run an errand about two minutes before Stockton called. I was able to get ahold of her and she came home to talk to him. Stockton is in a town called Safford. His companion's name is Elder Heiner. His companion doesn't talk much to him, so it's kind of frustrating. He seems to like Stockton fine, he's just not much of a talker. Stockton said that when they go and knock on a door he has no idea if it is a scheduled appointment or if they are knocking on a total stranger's door. Yikes! I hope it gets better for him. Talking to Stockton was so awesome! I loved every second of it.

Jorja texting me that she was walking home from the bus stop ~ that was a surprise!

Preston stayed home from school today. When I woke him up he felt very hot. He didn't have any blankets on. I looked to see if the heated mattress pad was on, it was not. He had a 102 temperature. Yep, not going to school like that. He ended up sleeping most of the day.

There have been a lot of deer in our backyard lately. We have seen them jump over our fence numerous times. Well, now they have an easier way in. They have broken our fence and squeeze through the hole they made. Boo!

Savannah had her surgery today. Everything went really well! They finished earlier than they anticipated too, so that's great! She was even able to text us a message tonight. I don't remember if I would have been lucid to do that after my surgery. Although when I had my surgery done, texting wasn't a common thing. Haha!

Cousin Bonding

Preston woke up feeling sick today. He went to church, but we didn't have him pass the sacrament. He rested a lot when he got home.

Some of my cousins came over today. Savannah is having a mastectomy tomorrow. She wanted to have a chance to talk with Heather and I before her surgery since both of us have had one. It was so much fun being with them. Savannah told us that the doctor said to her, "It sounds like you have been preparing all your life for this." Yep. Just part of being in our family. Heather has been retested for the gene mutations. They also found an ATM gene that causes breast cancer in her. I don't know if that is from our side of the family or from her dad's side. It wouldn't surprise me if it was our side. We got hit hard. I am so mad that I was so behind on the blog, because I can't remember much about this night. I just know I loved every second with these girls.

Heather, Larkin, Savannah, Jordyn, Debie, Stephanie

Porge, Boys and Ducks

Jorja had a long day today. She worked in the morning, went to the school play at night, then after the play had a Chick-Fil-A meeting that started at 10:30. Long day. Work went okay, play was fun, meeting was boring. Jorja is on the red team for student government. They were assigned to go to the play today. Cade was saving Jorja a seat, so that worked out well for her. She said at one point Cade had his arm around her, so she put her head on his shoulder. She also had her hand across Cade and was holding Luke's hand who was sitting on the other side of Cade. Oh Jorja. You sure do love boys.

Jorja is so busy with student government, school and work. People will ask her to do something, but she can't for whatever reason. When she does have time she ends up staying home because no one asked her out at the exact right moment. She has decided to make a list and be proactive to hang out with other people. This list isn't just boys, she has also made an effort to hang out with her girl friends more often. So far it has gone great. I hope she keeps doing this because it has made her really happy.

 Jorja feeding Quacky Chan & Kiki

 Jorja & Kiki

Missionary Support Group

Today was weird. I was pretty stressed about dinner tonight. I invited all of the parents in our ward that has a missionary out right now. I was excited for it, but I am not a good host. It scares me. It made me anxious, which made me easily annoyed. Jorja went out to Chick-Fil-A after school with Madison and Spencer. She was not clear in her communication. She took forever to get home. I did not like that. I snapped at her when she got home asking what took so long. I didn't mean to be so on edge, but I was so annoyed that she went to Chick-Fil-A. Especially because I knew Mitchell was working. I felt like she was sneaking to see him. I was also furious because I read one of her happiness notes. I love reading those. Except this one. Her good thing today was that she had a bad day and called Mitchell and he cheered her up. I started wondering when she could have called him. Was that the reason why she was late getting home? I looked at her phone, but there was no record of her calling him. This made me furious. I knew she deleted the record from her phone. The number one rule of her cell phone is she is not allowed to delete anything. I don't know why she was hiding this from me. It is something stupid to hide from me; but if she is trying to gain my trust back doing things like this is definitely not going to help. I ended up talking to her about this, but I can't remember the exact day. Hopefully things like this won't happen again. Anyway, I made her sad without meaning to and that made me frustrated. She had a date tonight with Carter. They had been talking about going to the aquarium together since the summer. I felt so bad that I made her sad before this date. I want her to have a good time, especially since the date is not with Mitchell. I also really like Carter. He has been so nice to Jorja and was such a good friend to her last year. Luckily Jorja was able to have a good time despite me getting her in a bad mood.

Jorja & Joe

 Jorja & Spencer

 Carter & Jorja

 Jorja

Jorja ended up getting home a few minutes before people started coming over for the missionary dinner. That surprised me. Usually she is gone forever! She was excited to make it home in time for lasagna though. Mike does make the best lasagna.

The missionary dinner ended up being a hit. There are a lot of families with missionaries out right now. Only two couldn't make it. The Bartons (Jake) and the Mogensens (Daniel). The families that came were: The Maxfields (Landon), Clarks (Kelsee), Becky Johnson (Isaac), Batemans (Severine), Hayes (Bowie), Covingtons (Jordan), Heaton's (Jaxson & Dylan) and of course Stockton. It was so nice to talk with people who are experiencing all the emotions we are experiencing. Plus it is funny to hear their stories. For example, in Kelsee's mission they are now requiring them to wear orange vests when they ride their bikes or walk at all times. It is hilarious. Something bad must have happened to prompt that change. Ron and Jennifer Covington had to leave early to pick up a ring at the jewelers for their newly returned son Andrew. Looks like he will be getting engaged really soon. He is Maysen's age and that seems crazy. Anyway, tonight was such a fun night. People stayed for about three hours. I wish I had written this blog earlier so I could remember more. I just remember that I loved it and I hope this is a tradition that continues.

Rand Bateman, Jennifer & Ron Covington, Kanani & Monson Hayes, Nellie Bateman, Becky Johnson, Camee & Al Clark, Stephanie Smith

 Becky Johnson, Camee & Al Clark, Mike & Tiffany Mayfield, Stephanie Smith, Rand Bateman

Checks

Maysen ordered checks months ago. Before Christmas. We have wondered where they were. She had them sent to our house, but we never received them. Or so we thought. Today I found an envelope that looked like junk mail in my junk mail pile I was going through. It dawned on me that they were probably the checks we were waiting for. I texted Maysen a picture and asked if she wanted me to open it and see if her checks were there. She texted back: check for my checks and then check back with me. Haha.

The ducks were getting along pretty well today. They were all swimming on the swimming pool cover and having a blast. I haven't seen that before! You can't really see it here, and I didn't want to go outside to take a picture, but I texted this to Mike and Jorja.

Jorja didn't have a good day today. Some people can be mean. She was talking with a group of people that she has wanted to become friends with for a long time, but never feels like she fits in. She was telling the story about how she almost got hit yesterday when one of the boys told her that everyone says she is a terrible driver. Which is absolutely not true. She drives a stick for crying out loud. Not many 16 year olds can do that. Plus, she is an excellent driver. I am not nervous when she drives me, and I'm a huge scaredy-cat. Anyway, Jorja told the boy he was hurting her feelings and she was going to leave. He said, "Go ahead and leave. We won't miss you because no one here cares about you." Really? What a jerk! This same kid has been quite rude to her in the last few weeks. I don't know what's going on there, but I want to strangle him. He also works with Jorja at Chick-Fil-A and was working today. Jorja was put on dining room for her entire 6 hour shift. She hates dining room. It is so boring. There is only so long you can walk around handing out mints without going crazy. Today was not a good day for her.

Jorja & Emily

Code Blue

Jorja didn't have school today. The juniors are taking the ACT. The 10th graders used to take the PSAT the same day, but for some reason they have cancelled that. I don't know why. They also used to have super short classes to finish the day; but this year they just had the teachers come and you could talk to them if you needed to. Jorja and I spent the morning looking at prom dresses. I told Camee what Jorja was looking for and she texted me about six different dresses. One of the dresses she texted Jorja was the exact dress she was looking for. She saw it a few months ago and became obsessed with the color 'sea foam green'. She only saw the top of the dress, but loved it. We looked and looked and could never find it. Then Camee sends it to us! We ordered it for Jorja. Hopefully it fits when it gets here. It won't come for two weeks. The place we ordered from has free shipping and free returns. Fingers crossed this will be the one.

Jorja and I then went and picked up bagels and then got her car washed. Whenever we take her car to Idaho it gets thrashed. Now it is sparkling. Jorja dropped me off and then went to pick up her friend Luke. They went to ice-cream, I think, and to Office Depot. Jorja came back with a giant cork board. She wants to make a quote board. When Jorja was leaving Draper Peaks, she almost got hit by a car that ran a red light. She was still shaken by it when she got home. Here Luke and Jorja are telling the story. This was filmed on Snapchat, so everything is backwards. When Jorja is showing things with her hands and says she was turning left, it looks like she is turning right. Also, it freaked me out that she is talking to the camera while driving. I'm glad she finally pulled over.

Maysen texted me today and it was freaky! This was our conversation:

Maysen: Apparently someone with a gun is on campus...Luckily I'm at work.

Me: Ahhhhh!!!!!! What the heck?????

Maysen: Code Blue: Armed aggressor reported on the USU Logan campus. Run, hide, or fight. Police responding. More information to come.

Maysen: Fight?????

Me: Ahhhhh!!! Are you with the coyotes?

Maysen: Yes They'll never find me here

Me: Yay! Yay! Yay!

Maysen: I am surrounded by 100 coyotes. They will protect me.

Me: Haha! You are the best!

Maysen: All Clear: During testing of the Code Blue system, an alert was accidentally sent. Disregard previous message. Resume normal activities.

Maysen: Whoopsie

So, I was freaked out for a little while. Maysen cracks me up. She is so dang funny! I'm sure glad this was not real!

Stockton called me today! I answered the phone and the first thing he said was he had permission from his mission president to call me. He was at Walmart and needed to buy a bike. He couldn't remember the PIN number on his card. He was wondering if I knew it. I had no idea. I tried to text Mike, but he wasn't responding. I didn't have high hopes of him responding at that time because he didn't respond to the Code Blue message I forwarded to him a few minutes before. Anyway, after about twenty minutes I was able to find his PIN number. Yay! Stockton seemed a little stressed. Hopefully things get better for him. We had no idea he needed a bike. We thought he would be in a car only mission from the way things were worded in his call and from what we had heard of other missionaries serving there. This was a surprise. Not a welcomed one for Stockton I'm sure. He hasn't ridden a bike in a long time. I hope all goes well there. It was nice to hear his voice. I sure do love him.

Gila Valley

Hallie & Jorja outside the Draper Temple

I don't know why Jorja likes to take pictures of half of her face. Jorja had a date today with Ben. They went and saw a movie and went had Mexican food. Jorja had a great time. I really like Ben. He goes to Jordan, but took drivers ed with Jorja at Corner Canyon. They have known each other a long time, but I'm not really sure how they met. They are both goofballs.

Ben & Jorja

Ben & Jorja singing their song 'Hunk of Tin'

After dinner Ben dropped off Jorja at Chuck-a-Rama where we were waiting for her. Scoop and Cori took everyone to dinner. Jorja was late, but better late than never I guess. It was fun to be together with everyone that could make it. We haven't gone out to dinner together in a long time. Years and years. I don't think we've done that since Mike and I moved back to Utah.

We got an email from Stockton! It actually came yesterday, but I didn't see it until this morning. He was letting us know he made it and his first area will be Gila Valley. He doesn't know who his new companion will be yet though. He said he really likes his mission president, so that's great. I was sad we didn't get an email with a picture from them. Most of my friends received one from their kids. While we were at dinner Mike got an email from Bishop Waddoups. They sent the picture to him! He forwarded it to us. Yay! I love seeing him. He looks so happy. I hope he has a great first area.

Sister Browning, Elder Stockton Smith, President Browning

Officially in Tucson

Okay, all of the pictures will show you that we are most definitely NOT in Tucson, but Stockton now is! Stockton had to check out of the MTC at 5:00 in the morning, so it was an early day for him. He called me when he was at the airport. I got to talk to him for exactly 9 minutes. Still! It was wonderful to hear his voice. He sure did love the MTC. He's a little nervous about being an official missionary out in the real world, but I know he will be fantastic.

We had our last day at the cabin today. Steve left really early. The rest of us played for a bit. It was cold, but so much fun. We sled out front for a bit and one last trip to the Springs.

 So beautiful!

 Mike & Preston ~ penguin style

 Preston

 Stephanie

 Penguin race! Mike & Preston, Stephanie & Jorja

We had agreed not to try and crash each other on the race. Of course Preston does not follow the rules. Despite him trying to jump on us towards the bottom, Jorja and I still pulled out the victory!

The Springs was so fun even though we broke our last two of my favorite sled. I went off a jump and broke the very last one. Dang it! We had one too few sled for the last run. Alex wanted to just ride the 4 wheeler down. I talked her into trying penguin style with me. She was nervous, but I talked her into it. I told her we could just go until we meet the 4 wheeler path, which really isn't very far. She agreed. We went so fast! It was fun . . . but we crashed. I was having a harder time steering then I usually do and Alex isn't used to going that fast. Anyway, I re-injured myself. It feels exactly the same as when I hurt myself on the rowing machine. It's always the last run. I was still able to finish, on my belly too. I have never done penguin sledding from the Springs. I have actually never gone on my belly from the Springs. It was super fun. I wish I could go down again.

Snowman by Lisa and Nova

I took Maysen and Jorja home. Preston is saying good-bye to Maysen. He loves her so much. I regret not going through Idaho Falls on my way home. The roads looked great and I thought we would be fine. But soon they were an icy mess. We were already too far on the way when we passed a 'chains only' sign. We drove on ice for hours. It was not fun. It took us forever too. We even went a different way to Logan then the way we came, but the roads were still terrible. I guess in the winter it is always better to backtrack to the freeway. I was so glad when we finally dropped Maysen off.

Preston & Maysen

 Jorja & Alex

We helped Maysen bring stuff up to her apartment, then we went to eat with her. Last semester a hamburger restaurant opened in Maysen's building. Stockton was a fan. Maysen not so much. It was nice to be able to have somewhere to eat without needing to drive. We filled our bellies and said goodbye to Maysen.

Maysen & Jorja

We dropped Alex off around 9:30. I think. I was so glad to get home. We only made it home a few minutes before Mike and Preston, and they left waaaayyyy after us. Although they didn't drive to Logan and didn't drive on thick icy roads for several hours. Still. Anyway, this weekend was a lot of fun. I love the cabin. I love that Mike and our kids love it as much as I do. Happy memories.

Sunday at the Cabin

Today was a lazy, perfect Sunday. We went to church and played games. Pretty much all we did all day. We played an Exit game that was really fun. Lots of Jackbox games. Cards. Pirates. Just games, games, games. It was so much fun. Jorja, Michael, Derek and I stayed up late playing this weird game that I won. Jorja thought the scoring points looked like meat cubes. She was so excited when she earned her first one. She kept posting about them on Snapchat. Oh boy. She thought it was so funny. It was just weird, but we love her anyway. Jorja did play A LOT with Nova and Leo. They sure adored her this trip!

Jorja

Alex & Jorja

 It is so beautiful here!

 Michael & Jorja

I wish I wasn't so behind on the blog right now. I'm about two weeks behind. I just don't have that great of a memory anymore. I know we had such a great time with Mike's family. I wish I still remembered specifics I could document. I do know that this day was just a fun, enjoyable day.

So Much Snow

It is crazy how much snow is here! So beautiful! I love it! We had the morning to ourselves today. We went sledding around the cabin and then up to the Springs. Mike bought tubes because he has always wanted to try them out here. I have always been super against it. I don't feel that you can steer tubes, and that makes me nervous. There used to be barbed wire at the bottom of the hill. Now it is just a wire fence and the barbs are gone. I guess that is better. I shouldn't have worried though. The tubes didn't move at all. Super slow. The kids had fun being pulled behind the 4-wheeler with them though. Preston had a bit of success with the tube, only if he had a sled underneath. It was weird, but he enjoyed himself. We went up the the Springs this afternoon. It was FAST! Crazy fast. So much fun! I don't remember it ever being this fast during the day. I loved it!

 Maysen

 Alex

 Jorja

 Preston

 Preston, Jorja, Maysen ~ before the trip up to the Springs

 Preston, Jorja, Maysen ~ Almost to the Springs...these kids got pounded with snow!

 Maysen & Jorja

 Maysen, Jorja, Alex

 Jorja & Alex

 Alex, Preston, Jorja

 Preston with random dog

 Jorja & Preston with random dog ~ Jorja went crazy when she saw the dog and flew off her sled

 Jorja, dog, Preston

If I knew having a dog would keep Jorja from being boy crazy, I would for sure get a dog.

Jorja & Alex

 Alex

Steve arrived a few minutes after we got back from the Springs. That surprised us. We did not know he was coming. He got a phone call right as he got here with the news that Weston made Varsity for lacrosse. That's cool! That is also why Weston couldn't come this trip. The Hodson's were a few minutes behind Steve. Lisa came all the way from California! She brought Michael, Melissa & Derek, Nova and Leo. This is going to be fun!

Jorja & Nova

For some reason Jorja and Michael were fighting like dinosaurs

This is going to be so much fun!