Sunday

Not a whole lot to say about today. We went to church. No one was sick. We found out the clue to the Battleship puzzle game from Jordyn's book. That one was pretty fun. We were hoping Steve and Shannon would come over for games. Weston ended up being sick, so I guess my third sentence was wrong. We watched a Goldberg and Middle. That's about it. All of us are excited it is Spring Break next week. We aren't going anywhere, so it will be nice to catch up on all the things.

Triple Date

Jorja had been planning a triple date with Hailey and Emily all week long. Jorja set up Hailey with Ben and Emily with Tyler. I'm not sure if Hailey has ever met Ben before, he goes to a different school, but Emily is friends with Tyler. The plan was as soon as Jorja got off work she would pick up everyone. They were going to go on a hike and to Pizza Limone for dinner. Jorja texted Tyler a little before she got off work and asked him if he could send his address to her. He replied, "Can't come got shiz to do" Wow. Jorja was not happy. They then had to scramble to find Emily a date. She met someone yesterday and texted him to see if he could come. He could, but couldn't make it until 6:00. She was really excited about that. Except, he didn't get home as early as he thought and was still in Evanston, Wyoming. So, the girls went and picked up the other two boys still trying to figure out what to do. Ben called one of his friends and he said that he would love to come. Emily now had a date! They picked up the friend and he had another friend with him, so Emily ended up with two dates. Jorja said she had a great time and the triple date ended up being so fun.

Mitchell & Jorja

 Spencer and new Tyler, or new Tyler and Spencer....not sure...

 Hailey & Ben

 Jorja & Mitch

After the hike and pizza the kids came over here and played Jackbox games for the rest of the night. We heard lots of laughing, so sounds like they had a great time. Jorja said Emily walked both of her dates up to the door at the same time. Ben walked Hailey up to her door, but then Hailey ended up going through her garage so she walked back with him until she got there. Jorja and Mitchell walked Ben up to his door. Then Jorja walked Mitchell to his door. She thought that was hilarious. I'm glad that after all the stress of putting the date together it ended up being a good experience. At least she didn't throw up four times on this one.

Closing

There was hardly anyone at school today. Especially in student government. I guess it is tradition for the current Student Body Officers to take out the new Student Body Officers and the Current Senior Class Officers to take out the people who didn't win tonight. They stay out all night long. As a result they skip school the next day. The only ones that were there in class today were the sophomore class officers and Autumn, who is the freshman class president. (The rest of the freshman officers don't have the first period class, they only have advisory.) Mr. Packer hangs out with the SBOs too, so he wasn't there either. Jorja asked the sub if they could go to breakfast. He told her not to ask that, but to ask if they could go make posters and not come back. So, she asked if they could make posters and they went and got pancakes at McDonalds. Jorja said there was hardly anyone at school in the other classes too. She had a math test, so I'm glad she was there. Hopefully she did well on that. She has three retakes left, so she can use them if she doesn't. Her teacher gave them five retakes at the beginning of the year, but Jorja was too scared to use them. Pretty sure she would have gotten an A in the 1st and 3rd quarters if she had used them. Now she has three left.

Jorja was trained how to close today. She has wanted to do that for a long time now. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'm glad she is learning how to do new things, but it takes forever! She was supposed to get off at 10:30, the store closes at 10:00. She texted me at 11:40 saying she was on her way home. She has had a hard enough time with her fatigue, hopefully it's not always this late.

Inauguration

Jorja was hoping to stay after school to get extra help with math, but Chad wasn't there. They have a test tomorrow. Hopefully she does well on that. She went after school with Hailey and Emily for awhile.

Jorja & Hailey

Jorja went to the SBO inauguration today. She cried there last year. She cried again. It makes her so sad. Mostly the realization that her senior friends will be leaving soon. Last year she really wanted a picture with the freshman officers, but was only able to get a picture with Marshall. Luckily she was able to get a picture with the sophomore officers this year. She has loved student government. She works hard and does a great job.

Jorja, Bode, Joe, Carson, Marshall, Shafer

 Jorja & Kylie

Jorja went with the sophomore and freshman officers to Chick-Fil-A. Some other sophomores came with them too. They had a big group and got there ten minutes before closing. Jorja felt bad about that. They stayed for a long time and then talked for a long time outside after. She had a great night. She is a little bit nervous though. Ella called her over and told her that Joe is planning on running against her as president next year. That's a little scary. Joe told her last year that he wanted to be student body president, but only because he wants the title. Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens. Jorja has done a great job, but you never know.

Negative

I took Jorja to the doctor today. Her strep and flu test both came back negative. They said that her immune system was so compromised because of the havoc the mono has done to her that she is just getting super sick now with things that would just be a blip to her before. Jorja and I watched a lot of Chuck today and she slept a lot too. She did not want to eat. At all. Not even a little bit.

Jorja wanted to go to her math class, but we were at the doctor. I ended up taking her to fourth period and not checking her in. Instead of going to theater, she went to math. Hailey is in that class. She was able to listen to the review and get the review packet before their test on Friday. She took lots of weird pictures on her phone. I only grabbed a few. She sure doesn't look sick. She can hide it well because that girl was miserable all day long.

Jorja & Marshall

 Jorja & Chad (math teacher)

Jorja called in sick to work today. She was disappointed because she was suppose to close for the first time. It would not have been a good idea for her to go to work today. Preston had a scout merit badge class tonight. While he was there Mike and I took advantage of the extra time we had with Jorja. Mike made Jorja a test for her to take. She had to rank what was most important to her in life. He had situations where she had to explain what she should do. There were true and false questions. Lots of stuff. Then we went through the test with her. We talked to her about boys and what is okay and not okay. Mike was very blunt. Jorja kept covering her face with the clipboard. She would not give that up. Still, it was a conversation that needed to be had... again... Jorja is very different than my other children.

Jorja's streaks today made me laugh

Will This Ever End

Jorja still feels really sick. It was late start and she ended up sleeping through Chinese. I was hoping she would at least make it to the end of that class, but she got there during History. I walked inside with her. The attendance people said were surprised I came in this time. I told them I needed to see my best friends. I seriously talk to them all the time. Jorja was wearing a sweater as we were driving down, she also had her student government sweater with her. She needed to wear that later in the day. She started getting upset and said she was freezing cold when she put the sweater on, but now she was really hot. I went to the office and bought her an Alta shirt. Luckily they had a small and it just happened to be the shirt that Jorja wanted. She had tried to buy it several times, but they usually only had a medium. I got this picture from Jorja shortly after I dropped her off. She sat down in her history class and immediately started crying. Packer was about to give her a hard time when he noticed how upset she was. He sent her into the hall. He came out and talked to her. She cried and cried. She told him how overwhelmed she was and how she was so tired of being sick. She is really nervous about being sick the first week in the new quarter. She thought she was finally better. Now she is going to have another quarter where she has to dig herself out of a hole. Packer told her to stay outside and listen to his lecture from the hall.

Sad sick Jorja

Jorja worked the election table during lunch and after school again. She came home and took a nap and felt a bit better by the time her dinner rolled around. Jorja had a celebration dinner with Chick-Fil-A for hitting her year mark. Technically she hasn't hit it yet, but everyone that had a year mark in the first quarter was taken out to dinner. Jorja had a great time, but couldn't eat much. She ordered off the kids menu and was only able to eat half of it.

It seems like there is always something keeping Jorja from going to Young Women's. Today it was this dinner. Too bad because it was a combined activity. Preston was able to go. They had a dinner with the older people in the ward. There were three courses. They sat with a group of people for the appetizers, then switched tables for the spaghetti and again for the dessert. Jorja would have loved it. She stopped by on her way back from her work dinner, but people were pretty much cleaning up then. She was super happy when she got home. That didn't last long though. She got ready for bed and started feeling sick again. I held her hair while she threw up. We were on the guest bed and luckily Jorja had a throw up bowl nearby. Jorja threw up a lot. She could barely talk and she gasped out, "That is nothing compared to Saturday." When will my little girl get better?

Taiwan and Nauvoo

I got to talk to Stockton for three and a half hours today. It was awesome! He called earlier than he usually does and was able to talk for a long time. He is always surprised how people can play so much basketball. That is when he usually calls me. During p-day while the others are playing basketball. Then we talk for a long time and I absolutely love it. Best rule change ever. Stockton says his companion has only called home once. Most of the missionaries that have been out for a long time don't want to call home. Luckily the change came when Stockton was still in the MTC so this will be his normal. Stockton asked me to send him some pictures of him with his sideburns. I sent him some digital files, then took pictures of the two 8 X 10s I have of him. I love both of these pictures.

Stockton's sterling scholar picture

 Stockton's graduation picture

Jorja didn't make it to first period today, but she got there before math. She missed student government. She still feels sick, but not bad enough to stay home the entire day. Student body elections are going on right now. She worked the election table during lunch and after school. I picked her up while I was talking to Stockton on the phone. She was able to talk to him while we were driving home.

Kylie & Jorja

 I changed Jorja's sign in her room. Wonder when she'll notice.

Jorja had work for four hours today. She did not feel well by the time she came home. Poor girl. She did have two super exciting things happen today. This morning I checked her email and saw that there was one from the Chinese place. I brought her phone to her when I woke her up. She did it! She was picked to go on the service trip to Taiwan this summer! I'm so excited for her. Another senior boy from Alta is going. There were two other girls from Alta that had interviews, but they didn't make it. That's too bad. Anyway, super excited for Jorja. I think this is going to be such a great opportunity. After I dropped Jorja off at school I picked up the mail. There was a letter from Mormon Heritage. She won the essay contest! She will be able to go on a church history trip this summer. It is supposed to be the end of July. Let's hope it stays that way. They might move it to the beginning of July if not enough people sign up for the other tour. If that is the case she won't be able to go. She comes home from Taiwan on July 8th, but the tour would leave July 6th. Also, we have our fingers crossed that Jorja can win her student government elections this year. If that is the case we hope that Packer chose the first week of student government camp. If he picked the second week Jorja won't be able to go. Guess we'll wait and see on that one. Still, what an amazing opportunity she is going to have! I'm so excited for her!

Sick Again

Jorja was sick all day. She had a temperature, sore throat, upset stomach and she slept all day. Towards the end of the day she crawled out of the guest room bed onto the couch and asked to watch Chuck with me. We watched many many episodes of Chuck when she first had mono. Here we are again three and a half months later.

Jorja

 Drinking a milkshake out of a cactus cup

Four Times

Jorja was crazy busy today. She had plans to hang out with Gavin and Connor. Gavin wanted to go to a trampoline place. Jorja hinted that she didn't want to go there, but didn't tell him no because she thought it would be rude. I told her to just tell him and he would understand. When Stockton was here he would always try and get Jorja to hang out with him and his diving friends. She would always tell him she would feel stupid because they would be doing flips and stuff and she wouldn't be able to do anything. She knew the same thing would happen here but didn't feel she could tell him she didn't want to go. Anyway, Jorja looked super cute when she was heading out the door. She didn't look like she was going to a trampoline place. I saw her put shorts into her bag so I just figured she was changing there. Nope. That was for her date tonight. She texted me and said, "Apparently I was supposed to bring clothes to change into???" She thought you wore normal clothes there. She texted me on and off while she was there. She did not have fun. The boys, who are both divers and both have taken trampoline classes, had fun showing off their flips for Jorja. They didn't realize that she was not enjoying watching them, she just felt completely embarrassed. One thing that Jorja is super good at is she is hyper aware of making the other person feel comfortable. Whenever she is planning an activity she is always talking to me about who she should ask and what she should do based on the comfort of the other person. Take Sweethearts for example. For a year and a half she had talked to me about wanting to take Evan to Sweethearts. When she was at student government camp she texted me that Sweethearts would be on Evan's birthday. I asked her if she was still planning on taking him. She texted back 'Absolutely'. Then when it came down to asking the boys she changed her mind. She was going with the student government girls. She said Evan wouldn't know anyone and he would feel uncomfortable. She talked to me about the personalities of the people going and Evan's personality. She didn't ask him. Not because she didn't want to go with him, because she knew in this situation he wouldn't feel comfortable. I love how she does that. Most people don't. Gavin certainly didn't think about if Jorja would be comfortable in this activity. But he is learning. He felt bad that Jorja didn't have fun. Later Stockton told her that he always avoided going to the trampoline places with Gavin and Connor because he knew he would feel stupid around them. If there isn't water, he doesn't feel comfortable with the flipping. If Stockton feels that way imagine how Jorja felt.

Jorja

They were only able to be at the tramp place for a little under two hours. It was up in Provo and Jorja had to be to work by 4:00. She was a little stressed she would be late. She hates not being in control. I understand that feeling. They did have time to stop by Panda Express. I thought Jorja's fortune was awesome and accurate. Your sense of humor is a joy to all.

Gavin & Jorja's fortune

Jorja texted me about her grades while she was there. She found out she got a B+ in Packer's class, which is a lot better than the D+ she had awhile ago. It stinks because if she hadn't had mono she would have had an easy A in this class. Not as bad as the B- she got in chemistry, which also would have been an easy A for her. When will mono end? Jorja changed into her work clothes in the car in Gavin's driveway. She told me not to worry, Gavin wasn't there. Haha. Jorja asked if I would pick up some bright pink leggings for her at Zurchers for her date tonight. I decided to do that because I saw the pink shorts she put in her bags. I would really want her to wear leggings under those shorts. I did that and stopped by Chick-Fil-A. Jorja was driving the pilot because she was going straight to her date where she would need more seats than her bug has. I drove the jeep, but forgot to bring the pilot keys. I ended up putting her bag on the windshield. I then went through the drive thru and ordered a frozen key lime drink and chicken soup. Jorja was on headset when I ordered my food. I told her where I put her stuff. She didn't like that. She told me she would give me keys when I was at the window. Haha.

Anyway, Jorja coordinated a disco skating night with her friends. She has wanted to have a date with Drew for a long time. He is awesome and so funny! She got Emily and Madison to come. Madison asked a boy named Isaac. Emily had Jorja find her a date. When Jorja was at Madison's birthday party she asked a boy named Cinco if he wanted to go on a triple date with her. He had never met Emily before but said it sounded like fun. He is a football player and yesterday was the first day that Jorja had ever talked to him. That girl is fearless. (Jorja told me she really wanted Madison to go on this date so Cinco would feel comfortable. Also, she knew Cinco was extremely good at roller skating, so he would be a great person to ask.... Another example of her always being aware of how others will feel. I love her!) Unlike the activity this morning, Jorja was super excited about this. I was excited for her too. I knew she would have the best time. Jorja changed into her bright pink clothes and then picked up Drew, then Emily and Cinco. Next was Madison who had to work a bit longer than Jorja. Madison's date couldn't come until 10:00 so they went to Iceberg first.

Isaac who wasn't there yet, Drew, Cinco

Cinco, Drew, Madison, Jorja

A little before 11:00 Jorja send me a message that she threw up. She told me that they had just arrived at Classic and gotten their skates. She was putting on her skates when she felt sick. She hurried to the bathroom and threw up. She said she felt so sick. A few minutes later she told me she was in the bathroom again. "It just happened again. Like a lot. I can see my Panda Express. I feel so bad for everyone." Then about thirty minutes later, "I thew up again. Is it okay if Cinco drives home? I'm not sure I can. He's a junior. He'll be very safe." So, the date Jorja coordinated and was super excited about ended up being a bust. Lame! I hope the other people had fun. Jorja was out of it when she got home. She was posting videos and sounded just like she did when she had mono. I sure hope the mono isn't returning. Jorja ended up throwing up four times at the roller skating rink. I had the guest room ready for her when she got home. She likes to sleep close to me when she is sick. She crawled into bed as soon as she walked in the door. She asked if I would take off her makeup for her. So, I sat on her bed and took off her makeup while she talked to me. I felt so bad for her. Definitely not waking her up for church tomorrow morning. Jorja has rarely been sick her entire life. She had pneumonia once, but that didn't last long. When she was a baby she had to be taken in an ambulance with a high fever, but still that was over after a few days. A couple of times we had to do the nebulizer for her breathing, but not as much as Stockton. The mono has been absolutely awful! It feels like it is never going to end. Jorja hasn't been healthy in a long, long time. We are almost at the four month mark of her being diagnosed. I have heard it lasts 6-8 months. This is ridiculous. Crazy how Jorja has been effected so much more than Preston. Huge difference in getting mono at 12 instead of 16.

Thetinychefshow

I volunteered at Preston's school for a bit today. It was cute to see Preston in the wood shop. I wanted to take a picture of him working on all these machines, but I was worried I would embarrass him. It probably wouldn't have turned out anyway because I was in the class room and he was in the shop. It would have been far away and through glass. Still, he was super cute.

Jorja was gone all night. She had a date with Spencer. She doesn't call it a date, they were just hanging out. But, he picked her up. The went to City Creek. Went to dinner. Were together for 3 1/2 hours. I don't think she knows the definition of a date. She went to Madison's birthday party later and was there the rest of the night.

Mike made 3 bears hamburgers. Papa bear, Mama bear and baby bear. Hard to tell from this picture, but it made me laugh.

Mike, Preston and I played a game of Dominion. Mike thought he had won, but I ended up beating him by one point. Hahaha! I ended up with 6 estates. I usually get rid of those as fast as I can. I even trashed a few during the game. I bought some more because I had the goons card and it seemed like the best plan at the time. Who knew it would end up winning me the game?

Jorja came and got in my bed after she was home. We talked and laughed for a long time. It totally annoys Mike when we do this. I took her phone and added an Instagram account for her to follow. It's called thetinychefshow and it is so funny! (Mike does not find the humor in that account.) We were watching the videos and I was laughing so hard. I was trying to be quiet though. Mike grumbled, "Stop shaking!" It took me a bit to figure out I was shaking when I was laughing. Couldn't be helped. We all ended up falling asleep. Jorja woke up about 1:30 in the morning and was saying weird stuff. I can't remember what it was but it didn't make any sense. She crawled out of our bed and went down to her own room. I wonder if she will remember any of that.

There Again

Mike said the temple was so crowded today. They got them out fast though. He had some funny stories that I probably shouldn't put on here. He sure does enjoy his temple buddies.

Jorja worked on homework for a long time tonight. She finished her hour of extra credit membeams. That should get her English grade up to an A. She went to a choir concert at Alta while I listened to the Jazz lose to the Heat. Grrrr. Jorja thought the concert was $1.50 and she brought exactly that much cash. Turns out it was $2.00. Whoops. Taylor ended up paying for her ticket. After the concert, student government went to Chick-Fil-A. So, both of Jorja's days off this week she has still gone to Chick-Fil-A. She got a ride there with Isaiah. When they were leaving they saw Tally skipping around in circles. He had just found out he was accepted into BYU-Hawaii. He also has his mission call and is opening that on Sunday. Weird that Jorja's friends will be scattered everywhere in a few months.

Jorja

Seize the Day

Today was crazy busy. I laughed when I looked at the calendar. There were so many things crammed into the space. Tomorrow is completely blank. Haha. Oh well. I started the day early at the gym. On Wednesdays Mike gets the kids up for me. I came home and Mike was super happy. It was weird to see him with that much energy in the morning. He isn't usually a morning person. Things were going great. Until I walked into the computer room and saw Preston on his computer still in his jammies. I asked if he had eaten yet. Nope. We went into speed mode at that time. Preston and I had to chase the bus down, but he made it at the second stop. It was funny.

I checked Jorja out of school today. She was frustrated when I picked her up. She had talked to her Chemistry teacher on Monday after school about her grades. She was told she could do some test corrections to get her grade up to a B. Today her teacher told her she never said that. She also asked why Jorja didn't turn in a project that was 10% on her grade. Jorja had no idea the project even existed. It was assigned when she was gone and she was never told about it. It wasn't even listed on Skyward. It was listed on Canvas, but Jorja usually doesn't check that unless she has something assigned. She just didn't realize she had anything. She is so sad. It looks like she will get a C+ in her class that has been so easy for her. Have I mentioned how much I hate mono? Jorja thinks she is getting better. She is still tired, but not as much and she doesn't get as sick as often. Let's hope this never comes back! Jorja's plan is to retake this chemistry quarter. That should be easy for her. Jorja has been picking up science super quick. I'm crossing my fingers that Packer is just freaking Jorja out with her D- in his class. I can't believe my straight A student has grades like this. Hopefully once her health is under control everything else will fall into place.

I checked Jorja out of school so we could go watch Preston perform a Newsies number. Preston has loved his musical theater class, which has shocked everybody. He was so dang adorable. I recorded the show, but it was too long to put on here, and not done very well. (My recording, not Preston!) Anyway, it was so stinking cute! I'm so glad we were able to see him and I'm glad Jorja was able to come with me.

Preston

 Preston

Preston and I went and got smoothies after the show. He looks grumpy in the picture above, but he wasn't at all. I love him! Jorja didn't come with us because she met one of her friends that still goes to Indian Hills. Her name is Sophie. They were in the same orchestra class when Jorja was an 8th grader and she was a 6th grader. She was the first person Jorja told that she wanted to run for student government. Anyway, they met in the commons and then went to get food. Jorja asked her where she would like to go and she picked Chick-Fil-A. Hahahaha! Jorja just can't get away from that place! The went to the dollar store afterwords and Jorja sent me a picture of a cactus cup. Awe!!! Stockton! I love him!

Sophie

I met Mike at Mimi's Cafe down in Midvale. Chris and Jane were in town. Gayle and her kids were also there. Gayle had called me last week to ask if I could come. I was in the car, but remembered the details when I got home. Jane asked if I had contacted my brothers and asked them to come because Gayle didn't have their numbers. Whoops. I had no idea I was supposed to do that. Sorry Bubs and Matt! My dad is in Israel right now, so he couldn't come. It was so fun to see Chris and Jane! I adore them. Mike and I had to hurry so we asked if our food could come out early. We were eating while everyone else was ordering. We left early so we could see Weston play lacrosse. He was playing against Alta at Alta. This had been on my calendar for a long time and I made sure Jorja got it off of work so she could go. Alta won by a long way, but it was fun to see Weston play. He starts as a sophomore, which is pretty impressive. One of Jorja's friends nailed him at the end of the game though. Knocked him down flat. Pretty sure a penalty should have been called on that one because Weston didn't have the ball. Mike and I sat next to Steve. He brought blankets and a heater so we were quite cozy. Jorja sat next to us instead of the student section. Wow! She was with Emily and then Traven found her at half time and watched the rest of the game with us.

Weston & Jorja

Jorja went with Emily, Hailey and Madison to answer Gavin to prom. Then they went and picked up stuff for Madison to answer her date. She came back later than she planned. She was hoping to get to bed early enough to be able to go to the temple tomorrow. That didn't happen. It was quite the busy day.

Jorja & Gavin

Cousin Baseball

Heather is dating someone. His name is Josh. He is the head coach for the Davis High School baseball team. Jordyn and I had been wanting to check him out for awhile. We thought today would be the perfect opportunity. So, Heather, Jordyn, Markell and I all went to the baseball game. Markell even brought her boyfriend Ezra, so we got to meet him too. The weather was great and the game was so much fun! I drove up to Layton with Jordyn, so it was an enjoyable ride. Heather gave us strict instructions that we were not allowed to be embarrassing. Haha! We were well behaved. The game went extra innings. Markell and Ezra had an appointment, so they had to leave. Jordyn and I left after the 9th inning. Jordyn had a pickle ball game scheduled. The game went 10 innings. Davis scores five runs in the tenth and Layton scored 3. Too bad we missed the grand finale! Still, we had a great time.

Jordyn, Heather, Markell, Ezra, Stephanie

Preston had Young Mens at the Henderson's house. They did family search stuff. Jorja had work. She worked from 3:30-9:00. I told Mike I was going to be so mad if they kept her late again. Well...you guessed it. Shortly after 9:00 Jorja called and said they accidentally wrote that she was working until 10:00 on the board, so the manager sent someone else home. What? That's ridiculous. I was so annoyed. When I'm annoyed I don't hide it very well. If Jorja stays until 10:00, she might end up staying until 11:00 like she did last night. Her grades are awful. Two days in a row with all of her free time at work? That's not good. Jorja ended up getting home right at 10:00. I asked her why she didn't stay until 10? She said she started crying when she got off the phone with me, so her manager let her come home early. Whoops. I was really mad though and I'm glad Jorja got home. She stayed up late working on homework. That poor girl.

Jorja

Adopted Sisters

Jorja had a hard day today. She texted me from school saying, "I can't do this mom. I have a D+ in history" She had been working on her history papers over the weekend. Her teacher told her she just needed to have them in at the end of the quarter. He doesn't remember that. He said the highest she can get on anything is a B-, which leaves her grade in the toilet. We texted back and forth for awhile trying to figure out a solution. Later that day she texted, "I can't do ap classes I'm sorry. I literally can't do them." That is not true. She can. She has just missed so much school and been so sick. We texted for awhile longer then she said, "I'm actually crying in class right now I can't do this." It was a hard day. The quarter ends on Friday, so everything is intense right now. Jorja stayed after and talked to her Chemistry teacher. Usually that class has been an easy A for Jorja. She texted me and said the highest grade she could get was a B. That surprised me. Still, I just want Jorja to get out of this quarter with decent grades. It has been so rough. Jorja stayed after school to find out who made it to finals for the student body office elections. I brought her work clothes when I picked her up and she changed in the car. She had to work from 3:30-10:00. Except she didn't get off until 11. She works way too much for how tired she has been. I have been trying to convince her to say she can't work past 9. She doesn't want to do that. I never let Maysen or Stockton have a job because I was worried it would interfere with their grades. I wanted them to get scholarships and thought it would pay more in the long run to have a scholarship then a part time job. Both Maysen and Stockton got excellent scholarships. Fingers crossed Jorja will be able to figure something out as well.

I got to talk to Stockton today! This calling every p-day is amazing! I love talking to him. He was sick though. He has been sick since Saturday. He said that everyday he hopes he either wakes up better or super sick. If he was super sick he could stay home and recover. He has felt awful, but not enough to stay in bed all day. Riding a bike when he had the chills wasn't super fun though. He also had problems with his bike tires again. I talked to Stockton for two hours. While they were at the gym for basketball, while he was doing laundry and while he was fixing his bike tire. He was super embarrassed about dropping two phones at the same time into the toilet. So, Stockton has had better weeks than this one.

I met my cousins Heather, Jordyn and Markell for dinner. It was awesome! We laughed and laughed and laughed. We were so loud. Whoops. We stayed until we realized the restaurant had closed. I hope we get together like this more often, because I loved every second of this. At one point one of the girls said something about her divorce and the others gave her fist bumps. I said, "Wow. I don't fit in here." Or something like that. I was the only one not divorced at the table, and it was weird. Heather looked at me right away and said, "Who here has a mom?" Hahaha! I laughed so hard! I know I have written this down before, but when I was in Idaho there was a ton of people in my grandparents' kitchen. A phone rang and Mike picked it up. The caller was listed as MOM. Mike held up the phone and said, "Who here has a mom?" Everyone started saying, "Not me, not me, not me" There was not one person in the room that had a mom. Heather was there when it happened. We all started laughing hysterically and pointing at each other saying, "You don't have a mom!" We were crying from laughing so hard. Jordyn's mom came in right after it happened and said, "This is the saddest thing I have ever heard!" Which made us laugh even harder. The second Heather said that to me I started laughing so hard. Anyway, Markell is the only one of us that has a sister. I will have to adopt Heather and Jordyn as my sisters from now on. Haha.

Markell and I had our food served in a pineapple

 Markell & Jordyn

 Stephanie, Heather, Markell, Jordyn

Stake Conference

Today was Stake Conference. Usually we go early to get the front row on the stage in the back. It's funny we go so early to sit far away. I didn't like our seats today. My eyes are getting worse and I think that made a big difference. It was hard for me to concentrate when the screen was so far away. It was just blurry.

Mike made spaghetti, Maysen and I looked at her schedule for next year, and we played an Exit game. Pharoah's Tomb. It was pretty fun. We are getting good at these, we understand how things are asked much better. There was only one puzzle in the box that we kind of rolled our eyes and groaned about. It was fun.

Maysen went home today. It was nice to have her here. She said she had an easy drive home. I'm glad. This was her first time coming down and back without Stockton I think. I'm glad she was able to do it without a struggle. Now we are back to a two kid house. It seems so empty. I loved our house in Georgia, but having two kids in a house that big would be weird. I miss it when we want to invite people over though.

Not the Right Duck

Maysen and I went out to eat at Zupas and did a little shopping. We went to Deseret Book and Harmons. I heard someone call 'Momma Smith' while I was there. Jorja's friend, Traven, was giving out samples. Tiny pancakes with syrup.

Traven

I was upstairs folding laundry while Mike and Preston were playing a game downstairs. I looked out the window and saw Waddiluigi! I couldn't believe it! I started calling to the boys to come and see. Quacky Chan was freaking out at Quackletta for some reason and chasing her all over the yard. I had never seen him act like that. Waddiluigi was just watching, which was weird. Weird for him to be timid with Quacky Chan and weird for him to not protect Quackletta. Mike went out there and picked up Quacky Chan. When he did the other two ducks got scared and flew away. We thought we just lost Quackletta. Nope. She was in her duck house sitting on her nest. They were two different ducks and Quacky Chan was being a guard duck. Makes since why Waddiluigi wasn't acting like himself, because it wasn't him. Oh well. Hope he is happy where ever he is. Sorry for the false accusation Quacky Chan!

Mike, Maysen, Preston and I played a game of Trek to Zion. Mike won and was quite proud. We were cleaning up when he hurried and took a picture of his victory. That's okay. Mike rarely wins games like this. He creamed all of us on this game too. Probably because he got the coveted top route.

Jorja had a date with Mitchell today. They played miniature golf and went to Zupas. We gave them a 10:30 curfew and Jorja was back a few minutes early. That made me happy.

Mitchell

We just hung out as a family the rest of the night. Weird to not have Stockton around. Sure miss that boy and hope he is doing well in Arizona.

Salt Lake Temple

I can't believe it! The only picture I got of today was a lame picture of my library card. I sent that to Jorja so she could check out a book. Too bad because today was great. I took Maysen to the dermatologist, that was boring. That's okay because the rest of the day was fun. Mike, Maysen and I went to the Salt Lake Temple. We did a session together. It was so fun to be there with Maysen. I hadn't done a session there since Taylor went through the temple. He's been home from his mission for several years now, so that was a long time ago. It was fun to walk around the celestial room with them. Maysen was surprised with how big it is. It's a really cool temple. I wonder how long it will be closed for when they do the renovation. We were almost to the temple when I realized I left Flat Stanley home! I was disappointed. I wanted to send Blake a picture of Flat Stanley in front of the temple. Oh well. After the temple we stopped home and picked up Preston. We went to Waffle Love and it was delicious. We came home and figured out a puzzle from Jordyn's book. This puzzle was super cool. Jorja would have loved this one. Too bad she was at work. She was there forever too. They kept her longer and she wasn't able to leave until around 11:30. I hate it when that happens. At least it was a Friday and she doesn't have school tomorrow.

Flat Stanley and the Jazz

Happy pi day! I picked up a banana cream pie for Preston's after school snack. He LOVES his after school snack. I started this years ago. I would have snacks for the kids and they could eat it while they told me about their day. Turns out that all the kids hated it except Preston. The other kids would groan and roll their eyes when I said I had a snack for them. Preston, still, comes in the house and says, "What's the treat?" Haha! He has also hinted strongly that he wants banana cream pie today. So, there was one waiting for him. It wasn't completely thawed out by the time he got home, but it was there.

Mike and I took Flat Stanley to the Jazz game today. I even curled my hair. I couldn't find my shoes, so I threw on Jorja's. She then rolled up my pant legs so you could see my Utah State socks. Then she rolled up my shirt. I know the shirt is huge. We got it from the playoff game last year. Extra large. But, it was my only Jazz shirt. I told her I looked like a teenager. Jorja laughed and said, "You look like me!" Anyway, Mike and I got to the Jazz game early so we could see a bit of their warmup. We took the opportunity to get some Flat Stanley pictures for Blake.

Flat Stanley and Stephanie

 Flat Stanley

 Flat Stanley & Stephanie

Rudy's three!

Mike got free Jazz tickets from work. Some company is trying to get Overstock to buy their product. The sales guy wanted Mike to come and listen to their presentation and offered him one Jazz ticket. Mike told them there was no way he could come without his wife, she would kill him if he went without her. Hahaha. Well, one of us listens to every Jazz game on their app while the other one is completely uninterested in basketball. (I wish we could watch the games on tv, but I don't want to pay for the channel when I would be the only one that wanted it. The radio/app thing works good enough for me. Most games.) Anyways, it took us a bit to find the room where the presentation was. They had free Jazz shirts and tacos waiting for us. We listened to the presentation and I had no idea what was going on. That was okay, because the seats were excellent! They said they usually get a suite for things like this, but they didn't this game. I loved sitting this close even more.

Flat Stanley ~ I like Donovan Mitchell in this picture

Gail Miller addressed the crowd before the game. She talked for a long time about racism and having civility while cheering for the Jazz. There was an incident a few days ago where a fan was saying awful things to Russell Westbrook. Westbrook got upset, the video went viral and the fan was banned for life. Anyway, Gail Miller did an excellent job. You could tell she was nervous and her voice shared a bit, but she was awesome. The game was super fun. Jazz won and I loved it. I'm glad Mike sat through a presentation he had no desire to attend so I could come to the game today. I told Mike if we were billionaires, I would love to have season tickets to the Jazz, especially this close. He thinks that is weird.

 Flat Stanley decided he was done taking pictures and just wanted to watch now.

 Stephanie & Mike ~ taking selfies is hard

Jorja was home when we got back. She had a date earlier with Moses. They were going to go to the sophomore soccer game because the sophomore officers were required to attend and bring a huge banner, except Jorja was the only one who could go. Moses doesn't even go to Alta, but he was a good sport and agreed to go too. Jorja found out the game was cancelled when she got to Moses' house. They went and got burritos instead. They videoed themselves eating the burrito. Moses went home and edited the video and sent it to Jorja. We were all cracking up watching it. It was the dumbest thing, but at the same time super funny.

Maysen and Preston were gone when we got home. Preston was laughing so hard when he got back. They had tried to go to Pizza Pie Cafe, but kept getting lost. Preston is a hilarious story teller. There is no chance I can recreate his description. At one point in their adventure Maysen turned into the Chick-Fil-A drive thru lane on accident. They were surrounded by cars, but didn't want anything, so they just drove through instead of talking to anyone and ordering. They were gone for over an hour but never ended up getting pizza. They did go to Walmart and get a car charger and lemon cake. Actually they went to two different Walmarts. Mike and I actually were following them home from the Jazz game, but they turned down a different street and we were almost out of gas so we didn't follow them. Oh, did I mention Maysen came home from Logan today? She is on Spring Break this week. She was planning on coming yesterday but I asked her to wait another day. The roads were awful. She got home while Mike and I were at the Jazz game. It is nice to have her with us!