Giselle and Officer Ballard

Lunch: Jorja, Giselle, Sophie, Ella

Jorja went to Swig with Giselle after school. Dessa asked Jorja if she would want to go to Swig after school, but she already made plans with Giselle. Jorja invited her along, instead Dessa wanted to go tomorrow. That ended up being a super good thing for Jorja. Late, late, late today Dessa found out she was exposed to someone who had corona. Dessa was in Lake Powell last week and someone on that trip tested positive. Dessa skipped school on Tuesday and was tested. Wednesday she found out she was positive. Thankful Jorja wasn't closer than six feet to her for more than fifteen minutes or she would have to be quarantined now. Anyway, Jorja went to Swig with Giselle after school. They had stayed late helping Packer. Seniors in student government have their own parking spot in the faculty parking lot. Giselle is a senator, so she parks back there. When Jorja and Giselle were leaving she accidentally backed into one of the school counselor's car. The school officer was there and saw the entire thing. Neither car had a mark, but Giselle was freaked out. Although they got some fun pictures out of it.

Giselle 

Giselle & Officer Ballard

Ellie and Grace had a combined birthday party today. They rented out Classic skating. Jorja went with Bode and Ella, but I don't have pictures of that. I only have a picture with her and Riley. Grrrrrr. I do not like that she is hanging around with him again. Riley is nice, but I do not like him with Jorja. I don't want her to get attached to him again. I am not a fan.

Riley & Jorja

Dessa was at this party. It was before she found out she had been exposed to corona. Jorja spent most of the time skating. Dessa spent most of the time talking with people on the benches. That worked out well for Jorja. We are so lucky she was in a move around mood that night.

In other news.... Preston made crepes tonight and they were delicious. We were able to talk to Stockton. We talked for three hours. I loved it. I am so thankful I can hear his voice often during his mission. I did not expect that when he left. It has made the biggest difference.

Back to Church

We were able to go to church today for the first time since March. It was weird with social distancing and masks. Sacrament bread in little cups with the boys holding two trays so we could throw away the cups in a completely different tray. It was so nice to be back though. Church was only sacrament meeting and it was only 45 minutes, still it was wonderful. Mike, Preston and I went early so we could help sanitize the building. We also helped sanitize it after. There were two different meetings with our ward. We went to the first one. Mike and I were planning on coming back to sanitize the building after the last one as well, but were told we didn't need to come. We get to go to church once in the month of September and October as well. At least it is something!

Bishop Waddoups asked how Stockton was doing. Mike told him about the plates of Elder Smith. He sent him two screen shots as an example. Bishop Waddoups loved it. He says he can tell Stockton has immersed himself in the scriptures, he has the cadence down perfectly. Haha

Jorja is planning on doing a collage for every week of her senior year. Her friend, Seurette did this last year and Jorja loved the idea. Here is her first collage of her senior year.

Giselle painted this on Jorja's car

Brenton and Jake are in our ward and they are both in student government with Jorja. In the student government group chat Jake asked Jorja to come to the church. Brenton was there too. She brought Bear and they hung out for a long time. Too long for my liking. We don't get to see Jorja much, so I was a bit annoyed she left for so long on our family day. I didn't mind for a bit, but look how bright the sky is in the first pictures and how dark it is on the last. I am glad she has such good friends in our ward. Jorja has been the only girl her grade that comes to church for the last few years. I'm glad she is such good friends with the boys.

Jake & Jorja

Bear & Brenton

Brenton & Bear

Jake & Jorja

Found the Hawk

We spent a long time cleaning today. The kids were great helpers. No complaining at all, and they helped a lot. I was on my knees vacuuming the bottom stair when I saw a weird needle looking thing sticking up. I pulled at it and it was Jorja's hawk earring that she lost a few days ago. Hopefully we can fix them, the pin is now sideways. I can't believe I saw it. It was buried in the carpet.

Jorja had a double date today. She asked a kid named Alex. She knew him in elementary school. He was in the Chinese program with her. He goes to a different school now. Sadler asked Hailey. They went miniature golfing and ate at Pizza Limone. Jorja loved the guy playing music on the patio. They spent a long time talking to him. She thought it was great.

Alex, Jorja, Hailey, Sadler

Jorja & Alex

Music guy, Hailey, Jorja, Alex, Sadler

The date ended about 9:00. Jorja then went to Ellie's birthday party. She played ping pong, foosball, and pool. She lost at all of them. Hahaha. She had a great time.

Corona Football

The second part of the hello video was shown today. Jorja was in it a lot. I love her. She looks quite comfortable in front of the camera.

Hello Video Day Two

Jorja was pretty excited. She texted me that they are allowing students to go to the home game tonight. They are only letting 100 students in. She asked if I could get her a ticket when they go on sale at 3:00. I didn't have to do that though because Packer got Jorja a ticket. That was nice! Jorja had plans to go to Chuck-E-Cheese with Aiden. They changed that plan when they found out about the football game. Jorja said it was pretty weird with everyone spaced out. Definitely not the same. What a crazy year this is!

Jorja & Aiden with the doom stick

Jorja, Aiden, girl I don't recognize with mask on

Aiden & Jorja

Preston made pizza rolls for dinner. They were delicious. He did such a great job. Wish I would have taken a picture of him. He was adorable.

Broccoli Cookie

The school showed part one of the hello video today. This is where the student body officers were introduced. It wasn't at the assembly as it usually is, but in the individual classes. Dawson wasn't happy with how it turned out. Like it is hard to hear in some spots. In his defense, he wasn't given much time to throw this together. Jorja texted me the link so I could watch it when she was watching it. She knew I would have been at the assembly if they had one.

Hello Assembly Part One

Dallen, Layla, Sadler, Jorja, Joe (I don't get the bottom text thing)

Jorja hung out with Alyx and Giselle. They came over and made cookies. Jorja put a broccoli in one and gave a plate of cookies to Bode. They gave a plate to Ella too. I never found out if Bode noticed the broccoli.

Mike and Cream

Clam Chowder

Today was... interesting. Some good, some bad. The good: Jack came over to hang out with Preston. I have talked to Jack's mom and we are going to try and get the boys together every Wednesday. I'm so thankful she is willing to do this. With Preston doing virtual learning we thought this would give him some social interaction. Preston and Jack get along so well! They played board games and went swimming. Jack brought Pandemic. We have played Legacy Pandemic and love that game. Jack brought over the regular Pandemic game which was fun to see how it differed from Legacy.

Another good: Maysen made clam chowder today. It was delicious. She followed a copy-cat Ivar's recipe. It was easier than I expected. We ate outside by the pool. Jack and Preston were able to come out and eat with us and then jump back in the pool. Perfect.

The bad... I got frustrated with Jorja today. She told me that she was going to get matching volleyball clothes with her class after school and then try to find a math book for her 1040 class and she would be home in time for dinner. Okay, no big deal. Then she told me that she couldn't find the book but she was working on math homework. Awesome. I asked her where she was and who she was with. She was with Riley. She said Jake and Aiden had to go to work. She was doing homework at Riley's house but was in the main room with his family. I was super annoyed. I had assumed she had gone shopping with girls. It did not cross my mind that she would be trying to get matching volleyball clothes with boys. Although I'm glad she was not alone with Riley, I was annoyed she was hanging out with him. I don't like him. I don't like her with him. He is starting to earn Jorja's trust back, but that scares me. So, I was annoyed about that. Then... Jorja didn't come home in time for dinner. I was livid. I texted her and asked if she had lost track of time. She said she thought I was going to text her to tell her when dinner was. Grrrrrr. I spent forever on Sunday making sure everyone was clear on the time of dinner. I said that if a conflict arose we could change the time, but I wanted a set time so everyone would know. I asked Maysen if I was clear. She said I was very clear. Jorja said she didn't remember that at all, which means she tuned me out... again. Plus, if she didn't know what time dinner was, why did she say she would be home in time for dinner and not ask what time dinner was? I was super annoyed. We waited for Jorja to get home before we ate. Dinner was nice and the weather was perfect. After dinner I asked Jorja when she wanted to talk about today. She decided she wanted to talk now and get it over with. So... we talked. Mike was there, which was awesome because he is super calm and level headed. It helped me be calm. We were able to tell Jorja why we were worried and what we were worried about. She says we are punishing her by not allowing her to hang out with Riley. We told her she was allowed to hang out with him, just not alone. She told us we were controlling. I reminded her how we let her go away for a weekend and have sleepovers with a ton of boys. Mike told her that our job was to protect her. He talked to her a long time and I can't remember everything about that now. I know that we didn't end the conversation angry with each other. Jorja turns 18 exactly two months from today... that is a scary thought. Jorja asked if she could go drive around and clear her head. She ended up picking up Brenton and Bode. I love those two boys. They watch out for Jorja. I am so thankful for them.

Jorja & Sami

Jorja, Sami, Luke, and Ryan I think

Jorja, Bode, Brenton

Sweaters!

Jorja got her sweater today! Too bad it wasn't one day earlier, but second day of school is a lot better than we thought it would be this year. The student government class took pictures in front of the new ALTA letters, in front of the new fine arts center.

Marshall, Brenton, Dawson, Joe, Layla, Jorja, Sadler, Bode, Cai, Autumn, Justice, ???, ???, Ryan, Jordy, Carson, Luke, Grace, Ethan, Giselle, Riley, Jake, Nate

JJ, ???, Dallen, ???, Dash, Alex, Vivian, Paige, Ella, Janelle, Taylor

Marshall, Dallen, Bode, Dawson, Sadler, Joe, Brenton

Layla, Jorja

Jorja & Layla

Bode, Marshall, Jorja

When these guys were all elected I made the promise me to get a picture like this.

Jorja & Brenton

Jorja took a freshman girl, Brikelle,  in our ward out to Swig after school to see how she was doing. I am so proud of her for reaching out to others. She is definitely one of a kind. On the way to Swig, Jorja got her picture taken in front of the flower sign. Jorja said yesterday Packer thanked the class for the birthday gifts they left him. He started crying when he talked about them putting his name on the flower sign. Jorja almost chickened out doing it because a few people told her that was lame. She went with her gut and did it anyway. Glad she did! (Ethan thought it was a great idea and encouraged her to follow through as well.)

Jorja

Jorja watched the tennis meet, ran home and cooked steaks for dinner, then hurried to the soccer game in Lehi. She is loving not having a job. I did not enjoy these pictures below. They are super close, Riley is next to Jorja, but what bothered me the most is JAKE SEARE IS WEARING MY MASK!!! Gross! Nothing against Jake, but I don't want him wearing my mask!

Luke, Aiden, Sammi, Giselle, Riley

Jake (wearing my mask!), Ellie, Jorja

Jorja left the game early so she could meet up with Ella. I am glad those two have become good friends. I have always been impressed with Ella. Also, you better believe my mask was washed thoroughly as soon as Jorja got home.

Jorja's Last First Day

Jorja had to be at school early to hold open doors. Usually they have their sweaters when they do this on the first day, but they haven't gotten their sweaters yet. They all had to wear the shirts Packer gave them at 'camp. Shirts from 2016. Hahaha. I hope they will get real shirts this year. School also was a B day, which is kind of bizarre to start with 5th period. School was supposed to start last week and they didn't want to mess with the schedule. Fine with me. Jorja started with math 1040. Stockton's favorite teacher, VanOrden. She had PLT, seminary and then her 9th grade geography class. Jorja was excited to be back, but said it is really weird. The masks, the social distancing.... Lunch has got to be surreal. Everyone sitting six feet apart. They have three lunches now. Jorja went out to lunch and then straight to seminary. Her parking spot is right by the seminary doors, so that works out perfect for her. As weird as everything is, I know she is glad to be back. She would have been able to have a couple of free periods in her schedule, but she wanted to soak up the last of her highschool experience after last week being cut short. She is so happy to not have to do school online like her friends in Washington and California. Let's hope they are able to stay in school!

Jorja

Jorja & Layla

Jorja, Luke, Sammi

Jorja, Bode, Giselle, and someone without his shirt on! Why does he not have a shirt?????

Preston had a great day of online school. It's crazy how different the personalities of my kids are. Today was pretty boring with disclosures, but it is what it is. I got to talk with Stockton today. This week is a transfer week, but Stockton won't be going anywhere. He will serve another transfer with Elder Crawford and Elder Hickey. He is also still the district leader. Hope he loves it! He has been doing amazing!

Home and Blessings

Jorja made it home! She had a great time this weekend. It was super nice for Scoop and Cori to let her come and invade like this. Cori took this picture before the kids left. More kids stayed than this. Hailey, Emily and Alison had left the day before. Anyway, so glad the kids all made it home safely. No one got corona and they had a great time! (Yep, I am super late posting this again....)

Riley, Joe

Lucas, Janelle, Jake, Jorja, Sami's sister, Grace, Grace's brother, Tommy

Giselle, Ella, Bode, Ryan, Sammi, Luke

Aiden

I watched game 4 of the Jazz/Denver series. Jazz won by two, but it wasn't as close as the score showed. Mitchell again got over 50. So did Murray on a last second pointless three pointer. Still cool. They were so fun to watch! It was a great game! Scoop and Cori came over right after it ended. Jorja had left her wallet at their house, so they brought it to her. At first I thought that was the only reason they drove all the way up from St. George, but Cori has a dentist appointment tomorrow. 

We had church late. Mike also gave the kids father's blessings. School starts tomorrow. It was great. I hope our kids will always remember moments like these. There are also silly moments too, like Mike getting Bear to jump super high and Jorja filming it in slow motion.....

The Plates of Elder Smith

I can't remember if I wrote about this before, I think I did, but it is hilarious. Stockton is abridging his journal into 'The Plates of Elder Smith'. He is typing the entire thing on his phone. It goes into a shared google doc with Preston, which is awesome because then we are able to see it. These are the first few pages. Hahahahahaha - I love him!

Meanwhile in Jorja land.....

Desert Hills

Look how good Mike's duck pond is looking! The blue blankets are keeping the cement wet.

I dropped Jorja off at Alta this morning. She dropped off Packer's birthday gifts then drove to St. George with a bunch of girls. Scoop and Cori were nice enough to let 21 people stay at their house. Jorja had a great time. We had Jorja's car in the shop while she was gone. They couldn't figure out what was wrong with it exactly except to say the brake light is no big deal. Brakes are fine, but the light needs to be turned off by a VW dealer. We replaced a battery. One of her fans is not doing well, but it was going to cost us $700 to replace that, so we are hoping that the battery will help Jorja's car. It only has trouble when it is super hot. Like over 100. We are almost to the fall, so we are hoping the problem just goes away. Haha. Jorja called right before they went to the game. She left her new white mask home. Dang it! Alta won and Jazz won. Good night for sports! Jazz won by 37 points. It was incredible.

Jorja & Ella

Sami & Jorja

Sami, Giselle, Aiden, Riley, Joe

Doom stick, Jorja & Bode

Jorja and doom stick

Aiden and Jorja

Jorja

Bode & Jorja

Aiden, Jorja, Riley

Jorja & Ella

Jorja, Giselle, Ella

Jorja & Luke

Alta crowd

Jorja, Grace, White hat guy, Ella, Sadler

Jorja, Grace, Ella

Alta crowd with doom stick

Jorja, Grace, Ella

Alta crowd

At least they got to go to one football game this year