Ron

There were duck swimming in the pool this morning. How fun! We woke up when we felt like it and packed up the room. We took everything to the motorhome so we wouldn't have to worry about time. We had breakfast and lunch in the motorhome, which was so nice. First thing today, swimming! I don't have any pictures, but we had a great time. It's weird not spending any time in the kid area. Mike and Preston ventured in there for a moment and Mike got pummeled with a high power water gun. Haha. There was a wave pool, a small lazy river that came out from two tube slides. There were two more family slides where five/six people could ride together. There was one drop slide where the bottom comes out from under you and you fall. Everyone went on all the slides. Jorja was very scared about the drop one, but she did it no problem.

Jorja & Maysen

Preston

The rest of the day was spent doing Magiquest, the ropes course, rock climbing, bowling and going through a mirror maze. We had a lot of fun today!

The only picture we have of Preston with his staff wand

Entrance to Great Wolf Lodge

Jorja on the ropes course. She was VERY scared. She is not a fan of heights.

I finished first with Stockton right behind me. (There is no opportunity to pass. I finished first because I started first. Once I finished I grabbed my phone and asked Stockton to take a few pictures for me. Stockton went the entire course without holding on once, so he could have done this without the harness. It would have been terrifying though. I thought of that towards the end and finished up like that, but didn't do it the entire way through like he did.

Stockton & Jorja

Next up, while we were still in our harnesses, was rock climbing. There were three courses. Stockton is on the hard one, Maysen the normal one and Preston the easy one.

Stockton, Maysen, Preston

Stockton ringing the bell, his is the only one that had one. Maysen almost to the top.

Maysen & Jorja

Jorja

Mike and Stephanie just starting

Stephanie & Jorja

Mike & Stephanie

Random kid, Stephanie, Maysen

Preston, Jorja, Mike

Random kid, Stephanie, Maysen

Stephanie at the top!

Bowling took a little time. You have to reserve a spot, then they assigned us a lane. We entered in all of our information, but when we started to bowl, there was only nine pins. We wondered if it would be possible to get a strike with only nine pins. We tested it. Nope. Not a chance to get a strike. The computer would not register the missing pin as being knocked over. I went and asked the counter about it, because that would be a lame way to play bowling. They sent someone to fix it. We got ice-cream and patiently waited. Another family came and played and finished their entire game while we were still waiting for our lane to start working. I went and asked and they moved us to the lane the family finished at. Towards the end of our game, the worker came and asked if there was anything we could do for our trouble. Anything we wanted to play. I asked if we could go through the mirror maze? That wasn't included in our 'all-in-one' pass and would have cost us a lot to go through. Maysen loved the mirror maze in Dollywood, so I was hoping to at least let her go. Anyway, they let us go in for free! We were happy with that. It was fun, but definitely not worth $20/person or whatever insane amount it was. Haha.

Bowling was fun. Weird to bowl with these ski ball things. I could never get it right. Stockton ended up winning. Preston got a turkey, which was cool. The tv monitor didn't celebrate or acknowledge it though. Still pretty dang cool.

Maysen, Preston, Mike, Jorja, Stockton

Preston

Preston's turkey

Maysen

Jorja

Mike

Stockton

Stockton, Maysen, Jorja, Stephanie in the mirror maze

Stockton

Preston

Mike, Preston, Stephanie, Jorja, Stockton, Maysen

Maysen wanted an update of Bear. My dad sent these pictures and said, "His favorite spot is the kitchen. He went to the dog park today and had a blast. At night he sleeps on the floor of our closet, and during the day sits at my feet under my desk. He misses his family and his dog door. Bear and Milo wrestle and chase each other when they are not sleepy dogs."

We left Great Wolf Lodge around 6:00 and headed toward Safford. That was Stockton's first area on his mission. It was about three hours away from where we were. Things went pretty smoothly if you don't count the giant fire that was about fifteen minutes from where we were heading.

Mike driving by the fire

Driving by the Gila Valley Temple

Stockton really wanted to see Ron. He baptized him at the beginning of his mission and hadn't seen him for almost two years. Ron doesn't have a phone. Stockton said when they were missionaries there, the best way to get ahold of him was to just stop by. So, that is what we decided to do tonight. Mike talked to Stockton about how when he went back to see people on his mission about a year later, some of them had become inactive. He just wanted to prepare Stockton, just in case. Stockton wasn't sure what to expect, so we had everyone stay in the motorhome and I was the only one who came in with him. Ron lives in a retirement community. Stockton was absolutely thrilled when we saw this outside of Ron's door. Amazing. 

Stockton knocked on the door and for some reason I stepped to the side, out of sight. Good thing I did. Ron was just wearing boxers. Stockton motioned for me to stay there as Ron invited him inside. I stood outside for about two minutes and I heard Ron ask Stockton if he was a member of the church. Stockton said yes. Ron said that it was the greatest place to be, other than the celestial kingdom. Haha. At this point I noticed a couch in the hallway and sat on that and played a number game on my phone while I waited for Stockton. It took Ron awhile to remember who Stockton was. When he did remember he was so excited. Stockton came out after about twenty or thirty minutes and asked if I would take a picture. He said Ron was just getting a shirt on. Well, Ron comes out with a dress shirt, jacket and tie. He wanted to hold his Melchizedek Priesthood certificate in the picture.

Ron & Stockton

He then wanted Stockton to say hi to his friend down the hall. He was the member that brought Ron to the missionaries. He wasn't dressed either, but he said hi to them from behind his door. It was 9:00 at night at a retirement home in Arizona, so this was to be expected. Anyway, Ron gave Stockton a nice hug before we headed out. Stockton was so happy to see Ron still invested in the gospel. It is obvious that he is losing his memory, but he never forgot about the gospel. He told Stockton that he and his friend study the scriptures for one to two hours every day. Wow. I told Ron he sounded like a good friend. He said that he is his rock, other than the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Anyway, it was a good good day.

Mike had the motorhome parked across the street and it looked like it was kind of out of the way, so we decided to sleep there for the night. Right across from the retirement home. It's nice to be able to just sleep wherever.