Sailing at Bear Lake

Mike spent the day sailing at Bear Lake. He went by himself. He knew Steve and Shannon would be there and thought this would be a good time to try his boat on Bear Lake. I stayed home and worked. Jorja had a date with someone named Dean to try lots of different burritos. Maysen stayed home and worked. Preston wasn't interested in going. Stockton is still at the cabin, but got 100% on his physics final today. Alyssa couldn't take hers because she forgot to bring her ID. They are going to meet her parents at Bear Lake on Friday and Alyssa will take her test there. It would be cool if Mike could meet up with Stockton and Alyssa while they are there. Mike sent me a lot of pictures. It sure is pretty!

Shannon sent me this picture ~ Mike on his boat

Mike sent me this picture the same time ~ Steve & Shan on their boat

I played Dominion with Mike

He played the 2nd game upstairs

What a beautiful world we live in!

Dominate

Jaye sent a picture of his St. George adventure. He is now staying at Scoop and Cori's for several days. Stockton sent some videos of the talent show at FSY. The one I thought was the funniest was the kid that got up and played a Phineas and Ferb song on the kazoo. After the first few bars, the audience joined in. I thought it was hilarious.

Jaye

101 Days of Summer Vacation on the kazoo

Apparently we got a lot of packages, mostly boat parts

I had a great game of Dominion against Mike. I got Dominate FOUR times during the game. I was pretty proud. Final score Stephanie 102 Mike 51. Now that I'm writing about this a few weeks later I can not figure out how I got 10 actions with that hand. I must have used Kings Court on Mountain Village, just weird that the cards disappeared. I did take this after the game, so maybe that is the reason. Anyway, I remember being pumped about this game. I rarely ever get Dominate and to get it four times in one game was awesome.

Belgium Waffle at Midnight

Jorja made scones this morning that were really good. I then took Jorja to Midvale to look at this backpack she wanted. We didn't end up getting it. She has decided on that one, but wants to think about the color. Hopefully she figures out that soon because I want her to take a backpack with her to school. One that will protect her new laptop. On the way home we stopped at Crave. They had a drive thru and we felt we needed to test their cookies. For science.

Jorja

Chocolate chip, Caramel, Frootie Pebble, Twix

I cut them into 6th so everyone could try one

I also had a scorecard where the kids could rank their favorites. Maysen didn't want to have any though. Mike was on a call while we were doing this. When the kids finished I decided to run to the bathroom before I made Mike his plate. Big mistake. While I was in the bathroom I heard some noice. I immediately knew Bear had gotten the cookies. Yep. This is what I found on the floor. Sorry Mike. I think Frootie Pebbles was Bear's favorite.

Mike has been wanting to take the kids to Belgium Waffle at midnight. He has lots of stories. Finding scabs in food. Wax paper still on the burger. Jorja was threatened there and almost beat up. (Both of those stories were with SBOs.) Anyway, Mike thought it would be fun. We went today after Jorja got off work. We got there just before midnight and there was this guy who was obviously on drugs mumbling about how he is trying to steal the bike. He was at a bike with bolt cutters. The cops ended up being called and he got frisked right by our window. About a foot away from where Preston was sitting. The kids were laughing so hard. Belgium Waffle lived up to its reputation.

Coolest thing that happened today though was I won Dominion FIVE times in a row! No one was just phoning it in either. They were great victories. Steve played with us for the last two. Two I came from behind and won by one point. One by trashing my dutchy at the end of the game where it was neck and neck. I got five coins by doing that and was able to buy the last province to win by one. It was great.

Preston's New Backpack

Brett and Rachel discovered yesterday that their left turn signal didn't work. Knowing that Rachel was going to be driving back across the country by herself, that was a big concern. Brett, Rachel and I drove to a NAPA auto parts store in Thayne. They were so nice. They ended up being able to order the entire thing Rachel needed. It will get here Friday morning. The store that is connected to it is a mechanic shop. They helped Brett and Rachel figure out what was wrong and said they would install it for them on Friday. Rachel said she had tried to get this fixed three times and every time they told her they couldn't get the parts. The blinker still worked though, it just went very fast. It wasn't until yesterday that it stopped working completely. Luckily we are staying here until Friday, so this will work for them.

My dad and Matt took a bunch of little kids on a 4 wheeler ride. They went to the beach and found the road that is usually covered in water. Brett and I were watching out the window and could see a huge dust storm. It started raining a bit. We could see the 4 wheelers coming back and crossing the big highway. Right as they got back it started pouring. I think most of the kids got inside, but I think it caught my dad and Matt. Talk about good timing! That would have been awful to be caught it. Especially with all the tiny kids!

We had Marie's cake after lunch. It was pretty funny. It is pure cotton candy. It was actually better than I thought it would be. Each layer was a different flavor. A small slice was more than enough. We only went through half of the cake at lunch.

Marie & Eve

Brett did a great job slicing. It's harder to do than it looks!

Preston, Mina, Greg

Amy, Greg

The girls loved playing with Preston. He came up from the basement and told me he got his new backpack from school. Hahaha - what an adorable backpack!

Eve & Preston

Eve, Preston, Anne

While we were having cabin fun, Stockton had the opportunity to go through the temple with Gavin. Gavin has been such a great friend to Stockton through the years. How cool that Stockton was invited and able to be there for this. Gavin invited Dani also. The session was small. It was Gavin, his parents, Stockton, Dani and Isaac. Isaac was randomly there. I remember him being friends with Gavin in high school, so that is funny. Gavin has a mission call to Japan. He got his call one week after Stockton got home from his mission. He doesn't leave for another month. About six months between his call and his departure. That's nuts!

Gavin & Stockton

Dani, Gavin, Shannon, Nate, Stockton

Mike brought Stockton back to the cabin. Maysen didn't feel well enough to come. She was quite disappointed when I talked to her on the phone. She wasn't looking forward to being alone. I told her Jorja was going to be there. She had no idea. That made her so happy. She wasn't looking forward to being alone again.

Mike brought the mugs up and I was so excited to give it to them. They were in individual boxes. I picked the first one up and it said Marie on the bottom. I handed it to Marie and she opened it. She said, "It's a cup that says Amy." Hahaha. Okay, the names didn't match what was written on the bottom. I was so happy with the cups. I love them. Sam told me that the cups I picked for her kids were perfect. She likes to joke that Anne's favorite game is Queen Anne. Anne's cup had a crown. I was worried Jeff wouldn't like his cup. It had a lego pattern. What if he didn't like legos? (I haven't been around Matt's kids for a year and a half because of corona, so I was worried I wouldn't be able to pick good ones.) Sam told me that Jeff loves legos and even saved up his money to buy a lego set that is about to be delivered. I wasn't worried about Greg's. He has always loved balls. Amy's just called to me. I didn't know why. It was ladybugs. Sam pointed out that her blanket she always sleeps with is ladybugs. Haha! I had forgotten! No wonder why that one seemed to fit her! Kaylee's is just simple, but I should have found a mountain goat one. That girl climbs on everything! I think Brett's kids worked out well too. I knew Marie loves Paris, so I got a cute one with an Eiffel Tower pattern. Mina had designed hers last year. She even told me on the phone about it a year ago. Luckily that pattern was saved on my account and I was able to use the same one. Grace loves dragons and Eve is such a dainty princess girl. I think they turned out perfect and I love seeing them hanging up at the cabin. I'll take a picture for tomorrow. I just love it.

Eve, Mina holding Amy, Rachel painting Amy's nails, Jeff watching

Attmepts at a cup family picture

Greg, Kaylee, Jeff, Amy, Anne

The little kids loved playing with Bear Dog. He is a favorite.

Eve & Bear

I played three games of Dominion today and won all three. I'm happy with that record. One game we played in the afternoon. We tried to get people together, but it didn't work out and we did all the cake things. We tried again. Brett wasn't able to play, so we just played with three. Right after we finished Mike texted and asked what we were doing. I told him we just finished playing Dominion. He asked if we played with cards or online. I told him online. He asked why we didn't ask him to play. Oh my gosh! That would have been perfect, why did I not think of that? That is the entire point of playing online. Mike had just been bored waiting for Stockton to finish at the temple. Whoops. I felt so bad. Other than that the rest of the day was great. I love being here with my family!

Marie's a Teenager!

Mike, Maysen, Stockton and Jorja are all home. Maysen sent me this picture and said "Bear waiting for Dad to come home." Hahahaha - he loves Mike so much.

Bear

I ran to the store to get things for dinner and couldn't resist getting this cake for Marie. We didn't end up eating it tonight though. We are planning on getting it out for lunch. In case you can't tell. It is a cotton candy cake. Not a cake that is cotton candy flavor. The entire cake is cotton candy.

Mike sent me this picture. He found a small air conditioner thing to put in the window at the cabin. It has been so hot up here!

I played a quick Dominion game with Mike, Stockton and Preston. This was the best game for me today. Overlord worked well with Tactitian and Legionary.

Mike and Stockton payed a visit to Jorja.

Jorja

Brett's family and Matt's family and my dad all arrived a bit after 6:00. I made taco haystacks for dinner. Marie was adorable as the birthday girl. I can't believe she is a teenager! We watched Olympics and just hung out together. It was fun!

Marie

I finished Rachel's stocking a bit ago. I gave it to her today. Although I took it back because I might add one more thing. I'll give it to her when she is at my house next week. I think her stocking turned out beautiful. I love it!

I FaceTimed Jorja today. We got her registered for the ambassador retreat. It's going to be at Bear Lake. Three days. She is going to have a blast. I can't wait for her to have this experience. I think she is going to love every second!

Fence Building

Stockton coached at Salt Lake again today. He will coach the next three days up there. Mike ran out of wood on his fence. He and Bear drove to Idaho Falls to get more. He finished the fence today and sent us pictures. Looks good!

Mike left the posts long because he is thinking about extending the roof.

The van is a tight fit. Mike doesn't recommend.

Mike, Stockton, Preston and I played Dominion. It was a good time. Mike sent this picture saying the WiFi at the cabin is great! He was playing Dominion and fetch with Bear at the same time. Talk about multi-tasking!

Stockton and I made pizza rolls today. Delicious. Jorja hung out with Jake. They went to WinCo. Random, but she said they had a great time.

Jorja & Jake

Sean's Mom

Mike got his stitches out this morning and is very happy about it. Yay! He's getting used to the gaping hole in the back of his mouth but the stitches were annoying him so bad. At least the pain has stopped. Poor guy had quite a week of pain!

I was on my way to the Riverton Deseret Book when Jack's mom called. She told me Sean Kenley was going to be going to Lagoon with Preston. There are four boys going. She asked if I knew him. I did not. She told me they were the boys Preston went to Lagoon with for 8th grade Lagoon day. She also said that Sean's mom was the lady murdered this weekend. WHAT? When she said Kenley I did not put that together. His mom went missing on Friday. There have been posters for her everywhere. Sunday night they found her body in a ditch by the Jordan River. She had been shot and stabbed in the neck. A 75 year old former co-worker was arrested for her murder. He had been stalking her. Her husband even talked to him telling him to leave her alone. I just can't imagine what this poor family is going through. Jack's mom wanted me to talk to Preston in case anything was mentioned he wouldn't be blindsided by it. I talked to him about it tonight. Preston was just stunned. It is so sad.

We played several rounds of Dominion tonight. Preston kept possessing me and it was super annoying. He bought two provinces while he was possessing me. It is definitely more fun to be on the other end of possession.

Bandit Fort

 I saw this quote and liked it

Mike and I played a game of Dominion. I destroyed him. He didn't realize we were playing with Bandit Fort until most of the way through the game when he wondered why he was negative. With Bandit Fort, for every gold and silver you buy you get -2 victory points. By the time he realized it I was way ahead.

Jorja spent the day in Seattle with her friends. She sent me a few pictures. She was hoping to meet one of her friends that lives in Seattle that day. Her name is Khush. I never saw any pictures so I'm guessing that didn't happen. That's too bad. Jorja would have loved it.

Jorja got the Oregon Trail sticker for Stockton

Jorja & Riley in The Seattle Great Wheel (Ferris wheel on the pier)

Riley & Jorja ~ I'm pretty sure this is on the Space Needle. That's what I remember it looking like anyway.

Jazz lost Game 3 to the Clippers. It was sad. Hopefully Conley can play next game. They really need him. Jazz are up 2-1 right now. They need 2 more wins. Hope they can do it!