Stockton called me this morning and asked if I wanted two tickets to the BYU football game today. Yes I did! I got my dad to go with me and it was so much fun. Alyssa's dad has legacy seats and they were amazing! Jorja texted me during the game and she sounds so much better. Crazy to be so close to her and unable to see her. I told her I was waving to her from the football stadium. BYU played Wyoming and it was a closer game than I would have liked, but they still won. Puka Nacua played and he was awesome! He made a great catch right in front of us! He has been injured since the first game this season, so I was excited when we saw him come out. The weather was perfect for today too. Glad Stockton thought of me and glad Alyssa's dad was happy to give us the tickets! It was a great night!
Dad and Stephanie
Stephanie and Dad
My BeReal today
Cosmo parachuted into the staduim
LaVell Edwards Stadium
Stockton and Alyssa went to Bridger Lake today to meet up with Mike and Preston. They stopped at Paffs and got carne asada fries, Stockton's favorite.
Stockton sent this picture to our family chat with the caption, "This is for you Mom." I told him I needed proof of him alive in his room after his flight adventure. Good to see him there! Glad he is having so many great experiences up at college though. Mike and I did get to play Dominion with Stockton this morning for the first time since he moved to Logan. He creamed us. Some things never change.
Stockton
The ducks go crazy when they see Mike.
Bear gets jealous and has to herd them away.
Duck eggs are delicious. One of the ducks must lay double yolk eggs, because we get these all the time. Is that a thing? Is that how that works? It's pretty cool though. Today we got two double yolks in one day.
Jorja and some dude playing tennis.
Jorja got invited to be a part of the Kappa Delta sorority. Because I am once again behind on my blog I know that Jorja is happy with this decision. She is happy she pledged and she is happy she put Kappa Delta as her number one choice. Glad she is having a great time.
Jorja and I'm pretty sure this girl is one of her roommates.
Jorja came home late after all of her festivities. She is going to Madison's mission farewell tomorrow. Bear dog was so happy to see her. Jorja sounded awful when she got home. She felt sick, she looked sick and she sounded sick. Her voice was gone. Poor girl.
Jorja & Bear
Mike and Stockton like to make fun of Jorja's shirt. It reminds them of the Bugs Bunny cartoon where he turns up in a bull fighting ring with a map asking about the Coachella Valley and the big carrot festival, therein. This is right after Bugs Bunny says he knew he should have taken a left turn at Albuquerque.
Jorja
I enjoyed watching BYU play Arizona State in football. BYU is ranked 23 and Arizona State is ranked 17th. BYU won and it was awesome. The best play was when the BYU quarterback Jaren Hall threw an interception and it looked like it was going to be a pick-6. Tyler Allgeier made an amazing play where he caught up to the guy, jumped on his back, punched out the football and BYU recovered the fumble. Yes, BYU lost about 60 yards on the play, but it was awesome! Bubs sent this recording after that made me laugh! I tried to screen record it because I wasn't sure how I could share it. Hopefully it works!
I spent forever deep cleaning my bathroom. I'm talking washing walls and everything. It took forever. I only worked on the sink area. The thing that took the longest was cleaning every little slat in our closet doors. Ugh. Stockton also spent the morning doing a service project. He sent us this picture of him with a deer skull. Gross! Glad he is working hard, playing hard and having fun! Love that kid!
Stockton
Today is a great day to be a BYU fan! BYU was admitted to the Big 12 yesterday. Today BYU defeated Utah in football, which ended a 9 game losing streak. It was awesome because BYU dominated the game. It wasn't because BYU got lucky, it was because BYU was the better team. It was such a great game. Although I was nervous throughout the entire thing. We have seen so many games where Utah comes back in the 4th quarter. Glad it didn't happen this time! The fans stormed the field. It looked like a mad house. Reminded me of the BYU/Miami game. So much fun! What a great day!
Mike, Maysen and I took my dad out to breakfast. We went to Dali Crepes. A delicious crepe place Jorja told us about. I decided to get a breakfast crepe. It was good, but I liked the raspberry and chicken crepes I got last time better. My dad got the raspberry one. I yummy choice!
Birthday Dad
Maysen loves how pretty the food is. Look at this hot chocolate!
My cousin Terry sent me this picture. Apparently the cabin next to ours is up for sale. It is super expensive though! How cool would it be if someone from our family would buy it! Hahahaha
I spent a long time cleaning out my closet. I got rid of a bunch of stuff, but I still have a lot! Especially since I started adding some of Javita's clothes. It took a long time.
Maysen and I went to a fireside with Elder Renlund and Vai Sikahema and their wives. It was really good. After we went to Sonic. We sent this picture to Mike and Preston after they sent these pictures to us.
While we were at our fireside, Mike took Preston to the Brazilian restaurant. He has been wanting to go here for a long time and was sad we went without him for our anniversary a few days ago. Mike said he was so cute. He loved it.
Preston
After Maysen and I had our sandwiches at Sonic, we decided to get ice cream at Handles. I was waiting to pay and the cashier went to help the people behind me instead for some reason. They pointed at us and then said, "It's okay, Stephanie will pay for us." What? I turned around to see who was there. It was Jaime Miller! Holy cow! I haven't seen her forever! She was there with her husband Michael Jordan. Hahaha. They live really close to us and their kids go to Alta. Jorja knew her husband's boy. Kind of cool.
Other cool things that happened today. BYU was officially invited to the Big 12! Woohoo! My brothers were all texting about it when we were at breakfast with my dad. We are all excited about this! Jorja also gave her first tour at Utah State today. She said it went well. Maysen was also contacted by a company called Diib that asked if they could interview her for a job. What a great day!
I was so excited today when the BYU/Costal Carolina game was announced. BYU is playing in South Carolina on Saturday. Wow! Spoiler alert... it doesn't end well. The hype up to this game was so fun. Wish BYU would have played better and gotten one extra yard.
Preston got a haircut today! FINALLY! He had a haircut at the beginning of August, but it wasn't as short as I was hoping, and was soon in his eyes all the time again. I missed seeing his face! Not a problem anymore!
Dylan and Preston
Preston
Jorja had a spirit night at Village Baker. We stuffed ourselves. Jorja ate with us then headed off with her friends. They went to see the Draper Christmas lights I think. It was supposed to be all their friends, but it ended up being just Jorja and Riley. Oh well, at least they tried. This picture isn't from Village Baker, but it is the only other picture I have. Pretty sure she's in student government.
Ella, Jorja, Vivian
On a side note, Stockton didn't call today. I walked around with my phone by me the entire day, but he didn't call. I wondered if he was too busy. Turns out that he is no longer allowed to call home on Thursdays anymore. Too bad they didn't tell the missionaries earlier so they could let their families know on Monday. Haha. Oh well, it was a great run. He still gets to call home on Monday though! Crazy to think when he left we thought we would only be able to talk to him four times in two years! So glad that changed, so no complaints here!
I still felt super sick today. Jorja texted me this morning and asked if there was two World War 1 packets on the game table. There was. The packets were Jorja's and her friends, and they were due today. So, I forced myself to get somewhat presentable before I stumbled to Alta. Kanani saw me as I was walking in. She knew I had been sick and asked what I was doing out of the house. I explained. As I walked away from her I almost fell down. Not feeling well at all. Jorja met me in the hall and I was able to get the packets passed off to her. Jorja also met with the ASL club for her video after school. Look how cute her poster turned out!
Jorja
I sent this picture to my brothers. I thought it was so funny. It was obvious to me that this is the BYU volleyball team. The caption says #1 TEAM IN THE COUNTRY. The funny thing was the comments of so many people thinking this was the basketball team and trying to set BYU straight. Made me laugh anyway.
The coronavirus has also hit Utah a few days ago. There is one person in the hospital right now for it. He happened to be at the BYU/Gonzaga game a week or so ago. That's not good. Hopefully he didn't infect a ton of people there.
Jorja worked most of the morning/afternoon. Ivan picked her up after work and they were together for SEVEN hours! I'm guessing they got a little bored. This was actually the first time they met. Ivan goes to a different highschool. Hutch gave Ivan Jorja's number and asked him to call her. Jorja has always wanted to be set up on a blind date. I know they played arcade games and made rings. Luckily Jorja got home before her curfew.
Mike took Preston to see Dr. Doolittle. They wanted me to come, but I REALLY wanted to watch the BYU/Gonzaga game. Mike let me stay home to watch it. It was AMAZING!!! BYU is ranked 23rd and Gonzaga is ranked 2nd. BYU ended up winning by 13. It was such a fun game to watch! The crowd stormed the court. My brothers and I texted throughout the game. Made it much more fun. That would have been a fun one to watch with them. What a night!
We had a relaxing day today. Jorja accidentally asked for this day off thinking we were going to the cabin. Nope, that is in October. She spent the day cleaning her room, doing chores, then hanging out with Brynlee.
Brynlee
They were able to see Brynlee's twin Chloee off to homecoming. Jorja loved doing that. They picked up a few more people and then came over here to play Jackbox.
Brynlee & Jorja
Brynlee, Madison, Ben, Jorja, Spencer
Jack rode his bike down to our house and played with Preston for a few hours. Preston was so happy! They did the magic scavenger hunt and were running around and laughing like crazy. When Jorja's friends came over they played Jackbox with them.
I LOVED the BYU/USC game today. Overtime win for BYU. It was great! I love texting with my brothers during the games. It is so much fun, especially since no one else cares about sports at my house. It's nice I can be connected to my brothers and enjoy the games with them. At least we enjoyed this one, some of them are not as fun.
I was pretty sick yesterday and a bit sick today. That made me very lazy. I did get a lot of work on Mina's stocking done though. Jorja left this morning to meet some EFY friends for breakfast up in Lehi. I was super nervous for her to drive there. Driving North doesn't bother me, but driving South is a different story. There is always a ton of construction and the lanes move and are narrow. She navigated it just fine, and didn't die. So that was good.
Madison, EFY friend, Jorja, EFY friend
Last night Preston bought a new Jackbox game (after pounding us in Masterpiece) ~ anyway, when Jorja got back we played with her. Our favorite game is this bomb game. Well, at least it's my favorite. Stockton will love it. Jorja had to close at work today. One of her friends, Spencer, was having a birthday party. Jorja gets major anxiety going to parties, but she really wanted to go to this one. It helped that she knew Madison would be there. She didn't get off work until 11:00 and we made her be home by midnight, so she didn't get much time there. It was good for her to be brave though.
Preston HAD A FRIEND OVER! He loved it too! Jack came over. They played with the wands, went swimming, had pizza and played Minecraft. They had a great time, even though they look like robots in the picture.
Preston & Jack
I LOVED watching the BYU/Tennessee game. Brett, Mike and John were all there. What a great game to be at! Tennessee had a 99.6% chance of winning the game with 30 seconds left. BYU ended up winning in double overtime. I was cheering so loud, then would realize I was still sick and my body would revolt. Still, it was a fantastic game.
I came back from my exercise class this morning and everyone was still asleep. I went outside to look at the ducks. I let them out of their pen. Mike has been leaving the swimming pool open and we let the ducks just roam the yard and float in the pool. It was fun watching them fly to the pool. They did it twice, although they weren't much higher than my waist when they flew. I stayed outside and watched them for at least twenty minutes. They were waddling around by the slide when I went inside. Preston was up now and I said hi to him. I woke Mike up and talked to him. He was getting ready to go outside to work on the duck pond when the ducks started quacking like crazy. I had only been inside ten minutes top by this time. We hurried outside to see what was wrong. We have no idea what happened, but now there are only two ducks. Princess Peep is gone. Our best guess as to what happened is that a bird swept and got her from the sky. Mike said later on in the day there were birds of prey just circling. I felt so bad. This is only the second time I have let them out of their pen. The ducks looked so sad the rest of the day. We hoped beyond hope that she flew away and would come back. This is not a likely scenario. First, the ducks never flew high. Second, they hate being separated. Third, the ducks were super upset when Princess Peep was captured. I have named birds of prey Bowser. I don't like them. (I'm writing this five days later and we still have no sign of Princess Peep. I think she is gone for good.) Anyway, it was/is super sad.
BYU/Wisconsin played today in football. Wisconsin is ranked 6th in the nation. BYU won! It was such an amazing, fun game! My brothers and I have a group chat and we talk a lot during games. I didn't hear one peep out of them after halftime. It was so weird. So, I watched this most amazing game by myself. A few days later I was walking out of diving with Preston when my phone just went crazy. 107 messages from my brothers came in. They were talking the entire game and I just didn't receive them until days later. I felt sad. It would have been fun to share that game with them. I don't know why my phone didn't work. I wish anyone in my family would like my hobbies. I have to force people to watch games with me. It doesn't bother me too much because my brothers are there. I did not like missing experiencing this game with them.
Jorja went to the Corner Canyon 'Out of this World' dance with some of the other Alta girl officers. She had a great time. She said it was a bit weird because no one was dancing except them. She is going to Homecoming at Corner Canyon and this made her a little nervous. She loves dancing and being crazy. After the dance they went on the Alta football field and danced themselves. She seemed to love it. Jorja and Aysha talked for a long time in our driveway. Jorja came in and woke us up. Aysha's car wouldn't start, so Mike had to jump it.
These are the pictures Mike sent me today. I can't get over how beautiful it us up there and how lucky we are to be able to visit. It snowed a lot. Mike, Maysen and Preston played a lot of games. Maysen had a video interview for an EFY counselor position. She worked really hard on that. I hope she gets it! Maysen and Preston went night sledding. It sounded like they had a great time at the cabin.
Parrydise
Maysen and Preston
The missionaries contacted me today. Their dinner appointment fell through and they were wondering if I knew of anyone who would be willing to feed them. I told them to plan on me. They also stopped by yesterday and gave us cake! Stockton spent the day with Gavin. They went sledding, took TRAX to Salt Lake for some reason, then went night sledding. I'm not sure what else. They had some other diving buddies with them. Noelle, Danielle and even Gage. Stockton hasn't seen Gage in years!
Jorja's softball buddies Paige came and hung out with Jorja. She hasn't seen her since her birthday dinner in October. They seemed to have a great time. Isaac's dad picked them up and took them to a movie. They saw Black Panther. They went to the mall and came over here afterwords. I took them home just before 11:00. A huge snowstorm had come in. We got Isaac back just fine, but Paige lives a long ways away. Probably 45 minutes I'm guessing. The roads were horrible, especially on the way back. I was sure glad to see my bed!
Jorja and Paige
Paige and Jorja
Jorja and Paige
While the kids were out with their friends, I was busy with the missionaries. Sister Kalliainen and Sister Gregerson. I decided to pick up Cafe Rio salads. Too bad the line was so long and they were slow. I texted the missionaries and they were waiting on my front porch when I got home. We had a great time. Stockton and Jorja had cleaned the kitchen and it looked so great! The missionaries and I talked and talked. They were so fun!
Also, Stockton was accepted to BYU. Shannon texted me last night and said they would find out after 5:00. They never did. I would ask Stockton to check and see every once in awhile. This afternoon Shannon asked me if Stockton had heard. Brandon got in. I went down to ask him. He S-L-O-W-L-Y looked it up. He's in! I told Jorja when she came in the room. She looked at Stockton weird. Come to find out, Stockton checked this morning and new he was in. He told Jorja. He even told Maysen, so everyone at the cabin knew. He just didn't tell me because he thought it was funny! Grrrrrr.
