Kaylee's Handprints

So....Jorja was sick again. She missed the entire day of school. She probably would have tried to get the last classes, but she was supposed to go on a field trip for PLT anyway. She also missed the Valentine party in student government. Ever since Jorja had mono last year, whenever she gets sick, she gets really sick and has a hard time shaking it. Still, nothing has compared to the awful days when she first had mono.

Mike had work off. He gets every other Friday off, except during crunch time ~ Black Friday and Christmas season. It was perfect timing because Sherry came down from Highland to do Kaylee's handprints. Super nice of her to do that! She had the day off of school today and spent it doing us a favor. It was awesome. I have a lot of pictures of Kaylee getting her handprints, but none of her footprints. Weird. Also, I couldn't help but put every picture with Amy watching in the background. Haha

Mike wandering, Sam holding Kaylee, Matt watching, Sherry creating

 Kaylee

 Taking the oxygen sensor off to get Kaylee's footprints

 Matt, Kaylee, Sherry

 Amy's watching

 She's concerned

 And adorable

 Matt & Kaylee

 Kaylee

Poor little girl. You will love the handprints when you are older though. If you notice all the Enfamil in the background, it is because Matt and Sam are stockpiling it. This is the only thing Kaylee will eat and it has been discontinued. Matt searched every store from Provo to Layton yesterday getting as much as he can. Sam has a lot of writer friends around the country. Some of them are sending her some. Bad timing for this. Hopefully by the time they go through it all her little body will be able to tolerate something else.

Mike and I went to lunch at Sizzler after the handprints were done. That was nice, fun and relaxing. We tried to convince Jorja to go with us, but she wasn't hungry. She hasn't been hungry for a long time. Jorja had her ACT camp today. She picked Drew up at school and they got to Provo for the 3:00 check-in. Evan and Gabby were also there. She said it was a lot more fun that she thought it would be, which was great. Evan and Drew were in one group. Gabby and Jorja were in another. She is hoping that she will be in a group with someone she knows tomorrow since it is all day. Fingers crossed for that one!

Aubrey, Gabby, Drew, Evan

 Ben

Once she got back she picked up Ben and they stopped by Crumbl. Jorja had a coupon for free cookies. Then they went to Smiths before Jorja came home. Hopefully she isn't sick tomorrow! Also, Mike finally finished the Sweethearts video. It is awesome. Here is the link to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEYgVkgdzzA 

Valentine's Day

Right after Stockton left for his mission I saw this pillow at Smiths. Wow! How perfect! Now every cactus reminds me of Stockton. When I came back from dropping Jorja off at school, this was on my bed. What a perfect Valentines Day present.

Stephanie

Today was also Stockton's p-day! Yay! Yay! Yay! He got our brownies package and loved it. He also got a package from Preston that made him really happy. For scouts they made missionary packages and Preston left him a nice note in it. Stockton sounds great. He says the MTC has flown by. He really likes his companion, Elder Womack. One funny thing is Elder Womack hates elevators. They make him lightheaded. Stockton takes the stairs with him to their classroom. On the 5th floor. Which is 120 stairs each way, so about 1000 stairs a day. His math makes me laugh. Especially when he was talking about taking a knife and figuring out the volume of the cereal dispenser and the bowl then converting cubic knives to bowls. Hahaha. That kid cracks me up! We also got an email from the mission in Arizona. It had Stockton's schedule for the first two days he will be here. I loved that! Mike said that is much better than being dropped off in the middle of Brazil and having to sleep on a church floor for a week while looking for a place to stay. Yikes! Stockton sent this picture of him and his friend John. The guy in the middle is the choir director. He has also directed the Mormon Tabernacle Choir before, as a guest director I think. Stockton said he and John were taking a picture when this guy stepped right in between them. Haha! Stockton is going to miss running into John. I'm glad they had each other up at Utah State. They really got along well.

John, Choir director, Stockton

Jorja went with some of the student government kids after school to a retirement home. They had a dance. She got to dance with old people. She said it was so much fun. When she came home, Evan's mom pulled up right behind her. Evan, Drew and Shafer had brought her flowers and a blanket. They had a card that said they hoped she started feeling better. Jorja has missed a lot of school with her mono. Student government with Shafer is the first class of the day on A days and Chinese with Evan is the first class of the day on B days. The first class is for sure the hardest for her to make it to. I think Jorja vented to Evan a few days ago about how tired she was of being sick. She told me that she doesn't even remember what it feels like to be healthy anymore. Drew called her when we were driving to Wicked yesterday to check up on her. These boys are really good to her. Especially Evan and Drew. Drew is a huge reason why Jorja was elected her freshman year. He campaigned for her so hard. He was not shy and is hilarious. He made a big difference. Evan was Jorja's rock last year. Especially when her heart was broken. Evan was there for her. Evan is my favorite. He is such a good kid. They made Jorja's day today. She absolutely loves the blanket they brought her, but I didn't get a picture of it.

Jorja, Drew, Shafer, Evan

 Tulips from the boys

Jorja had a date with Mitchell today. This is the kid she wrote me a long note about begging me to let her have a date with him. She told me that they talked and agreed they would just be friends so they could hang out together. Mitchell brought her flowers, chocolate and a card. Hmmmm. Very friendly. Just kidding. It is Valentines Day, so that was nice of him.

Mitchell's flowers

Mitchell took Jorja to get sushi and then they went to a movie. She seemed to have a great time and Mike and I were both very happy that she made her curfew.

Mitchell

Jorja came into our room and was telling us about her date. I asked her a question, which I can't even remember what it was now. (I'm about two weeks behind on the blog. Ugh.) Anyway, we ended up getting into an argument. I don't even know how that happened. I didn't want it to happen and it wasn't my intention. I made her sad after she had had such a good day. Jorja asked if she could talk to Mike alone for awhile. I left them alone for about 30 minutes. I wish Jorja and I could get our relationship back. I just need her to be 100% honest with me. I know she hides things because she thinks about Mitchell because she knows I don't like him. I don't like him because she isn't honest with me about him. Which makes her hide things, which makes me mad. It's a vicious cycle. We are both tired of it. I really didn't mean to make her mad today.

No Grade Kids

Jorja got to miss ballroom, lunch and seminary to help with the Special Olympics Alta was putting on for the elementary schools. Jorja had a great time. The kids liked to chase Jorja around and hit her with pool noodles. They would laugh because none of Jorja's friends would help her because they were too busy laughing at her.

Kenzie, Jorja, Carter, Finn

 Jorja and Carter

 Jorja and Mackie

Stockton stayed after school for the last National Honor Society meeting. They had a slide show. Stockton said it ended up being a power point presentation that he could tell was put together at the last minute. Mrs. Pugmire is in charge of NHS and was doing the slideshow. She is also Jorja's English teacher. Mrs. Pugmire had a huge picture of Jorja come up and said, "These are some of our 'No Grade' students" Hahahahahahaha!!!!!!! All the National Honor Students think Jorja is a slacker. Nevermind that she has a 4.0. Stockton laughed and laughed. He found it much more amusing than Jorja did!

I took Jorja and Preston to a Chinese event today. Jorja is .3% away from an A in Chinese, this is extra credit. A Chinese dance company is touring the United States. It was long, but pretty cool. The worst thing about it was finding the place. I hate driving to places that are new to me. As we were driving, Evan texted Jorja and said I cut them off! WHAT? I don't cut anyone off, ever! He then proceeded to text her about everything I did. 'Your blinker is on too long.' 'Now it's off.' 'Speed up!' That was a little unnerving.

Ariel, Jorja, Preston

 This pickle dance description made me laugh.

 Jorja and Ariel

Jorja went to elementary school with Ariel. She now goes to Corner Canyon High School. It was fun to run into her.

 Jorja and Preston on stage at the end of the show.

 Looks like Jorja got some sun during the Special Olympics. She will be feeling that tomorrow!

What Others Think

I meant to put this quote on the blog yesterday. Hank Smith read it, but it is a quote from Hillary Weeks. "I stopped worrying what others thought about me and I started worrying about what others think about themselves when they're with me." Those are some great words to live by.

Evan came over today. Jorja and Evan spent a couple of hours studying for the AP Chinese test tomorrow. Yikes! I sure hope they do okay.

Fishes, Diving, and EFY

Today was a crazy busy day. Lots of things happening at the same time. I will break things up into three different sections. First, Maysen and Preston. Maysen is taking an Oceanography class at Utah State. They had a field trip at the aquarium by our house. Maysen asked if Preston would want to meet her here and go with her. He was SO EXCITED! Preston is the most vocal about missing Maysen and jumps at every chance to see her. Maysen told them they would have to be at the aquarium at 9:45 at the latest or Preston might not be able to in with her. Mike was there right on time. Maysen was driving through Bountiful. Oh boy. Once the bus arrived they wouldn't let anyone off of it because one more bus was still coming. Preston could see Maysen, but couldn't get to her.

Preston waiting for Maysen

 Maysen and Preston! Preston's much happier now!

 Preston eating lunch.

Mike picked up Preston around 2:00. He said Preston loved the field trip. Maysen headed back on the bus to Logan. How fun that he got to see her for a few hours. I wish I did! I couldn't see Maysen because Stockton had his regional diving competition. It was held at the U, so I needed to volunteer. Gavin's dad picked up Stockton at 6:30 this morning. Warm ups started at 7:00. Stockton and Gavin weren't scheduled to dive for a few hours, so Gavin's dad took them to breakfast. I was assigned to put the scores in the computer. It is an easy job, but I got soaked. The computer got soaked. Too bad for me, my cross stitch bag got soaked. I forgot it was under my chair. Once I realized I hurried and pulled everything out. I had all the papers and the fabric drying on the giant foam square thing behind me. So glad the red didn't bleed! Stockton did great on one meter. He placed high enough to go to Nationals in Florida. Yay! He actually wanted to go this year. Stockton has earned a spot to go to Nationals on other years, it just never worked out. Regionals are usually on Saturday and Sunday. They will have 3 meter on Saturday and 1 meter on Sunday. Then Nationals will have 1 meter on Saturday and 3 meter on Sunday. It is quite annoying. Anyway, this time they had one and three meter both on Saturday. It made for a really long day, but yay! 1 meter will be on Saturday at Nationals. 3 meter will be on Sunday, so Stockton will only compete in 1 meter. Here are a few of his dives.

Front 1 1/2

Front 2 1/2

Back 1 1/2

Inward 1 1/2

Mike dropped off Preston at the aquarium and then hurried up to the U to watch Stockton. He was able to watch him dive most of 1 meter. He had to leave to go back and pick up Preston and take Jorja up to Orem. He dropped Jorja off in Orem and raced back to Salt Lake to watch Stockton. He got to see the end of his 3 meter competition. Yikes! That's a lot of driving! Stockton also earned a spot to go to Nationals in 3 meter, but he is going to decline it because of the Sunday thing. I also worked the computer during this event. Stockton texted me after one of his dives and said that Gavin wasn't going to do his 205 (back 2 1/2). I showed the text to Gavin's dad who was announcing next to me.  Then Gavin failed his 107 (front 3 1/2). You can't fail two dives and make it to Nationals. He had to do it and land it, but he did not want to. His mom wasn't very happy with him. They had already bought tickets and everything. Stockton got Mickey to talk to him. I watched Mickey try to calm Gavin down, which raised my opinion of Mickey. Gavin went up on the board. He turned around like he was going to go for it, then he turned back around like he was just going to jump off, then he turned around again. He threw it and landed it. That was a lot of pressure. He was so scared. I don't know why he signed up for that dive. He hadn't even tried it for six months I guess. He was always too scared to do it in practice. Anyway, he made it to Nationals too, so that is great. Now we just have to find some cheap plane tickets!

Stockton ~ reverse tuck ~ there is a maximum degree of difficulty,

so Stockton had to lower some of his dives to meet that qualification.

Inward 1 1/2

Front 2 1/2

The dreaded back 2 1/2 ~ Stockton landed it!

Inward 2 1/2

Jorja got to go to a mini EFY today. It was held in Orem. Mike dropped her off, but she ended up hanging out with several boys. She loved that!

Evan, my favorite, and Jorja

 Isaac and Jorja

 Evan, Shafer, Jaren, Jorja, Dallin, Isaac

Jaren moved here from California at the start of the year. Jorja was so excited he was able to come. His family just bought a house in our neighborhood, although they won't be in our ward. They are staying in a rental house at the moment. I drove up to Orem to pick up Jorja. She tried to get some of the boys to ride home with us. They weren't allowed to. She found out later they went to In and Out. She was a bit sad. She says that sometimes she wishes she was a boy so she could hang out with them. She has more close friends that are boys than girls. Jorja would not enjoy being a boy. She is way too girly for that!

Eve's Down

This is how Eve looked most of the day. She was hot. She let me take her temperature. 102. She wouldn't let me give her any medicine though. Luckily she didn't start acting sick until after Brett and Rachel FaceTimed us. Grace was better, Eve wasn't sick, I'm glad they didn't have to worry about their girls today.

Eve

I picked up Jorja from school at 6:00. We went to the store and bought things for Evan. He is having his wisdom teeth out tomorrow and Jorja wanted to bring him something. We went to his house after, but he wasn't there. Jorja remembered he had a basketball game. I brought Jorja home and she hurried and ate dinner before she was off again. She went to this monologue thing the theater was putting on. Her friend, Jaron the Fruit King, asked her if she would go. Too bad he went first and she arrived right after he finished. Isaac went with Jorja. Jorja drove. Isaac was terrified. It was funny.

Jorja & Isaac

We tried to drop off the package to Evan after the monologue thing. Evan's house was dark. Isaac then remembered that he was at his dad's house tonight. I thought it was too late, but he convinced me to try anyway. We drove to his dad's house, but the house was dark. Oh well, we will try again later. The girls were still up when I got home. Yikes! They were easy to get down though.

Gingerbread, Gingerbread, Gingerbread

Stockton and Jorja both had friends over to decorate gingerbread houses. Maysen also was able to build her house, since she was at college for each of our family parties. It was a crazy, fun time.

Jorja ~ this is the gingerbread house she made with the student government kids

 Maysen

 Stockton & Sydney

 Hailey

 Stockton

 Sydney

 Hallie

 I like the lego tree and the upside down snowman

 Hailey

 Hailey & Jorja

 Jorja

 Jorja made a cool manger scene. I tried to take close up pictures, but this is the only one that turned out.

These are the three wisemen with their various gifts. The long pretzel is a camel.

 Drew tried to decorate his house with zombie repellant. It disintegrated his house.

This is all he had left. I still made him take a picture.

 Jorja and Hallie dancing, not sure why.

 Sami

 Hallie, Sami, Hailey, Jorja, Evan, Drew

 Hallie attacking Evan

Sami, Hailey and Jorja laughing at him.

 Hallie, Sami, Hailey, and Jorja's still laughing

 Hallie, Sami, Hailey, Jorja, Evan ~ now getting attacked by Drew

 Hallie, Sami, Hailey, Jorja, Evan, Drew

 I think it's funny that Drew is looking at his bunny ear fingers

 Hailey, Jorja, Evan

 Hallie, Sami, Hailey, Jorja, Evan, Drew

 Hallie

 Hallie & Sami

 Sami, Hallie, Hailey, Jorja, Evan

 Jorja

 Hailey, Jorja

 Hallie, Sami, Hailey, Jorja

 Hallie, Sami, Jorja, Hailey

 Jorja

 Evan with creepy Jorja

 Hallie, Jorja, Drew 'pouring' zombie repellent on Sami's house, Evan, Hailey

 Jorja

Jorja and her friends watched Elf after decorating the houses. Jorja gave Evan his Christmas present. She got him this fly shooter gun and Season 5 of Parks and Rec. I wish I had a picture or a video of his face. He liked the presents. The episode of Parks and Rec that made Evan laugh and laugh is in Season 5. This is the episode that Jorja and Hailey recreated and sent to Evan. Perfect present for him.

Gavin came over and hung out with Stockton and Sydney for about an hour. They played ping pong and other such nonsense downstairs. Sydney left when Stockton and Gavin went to diving. Preston was feeling sick, so he stayed home. Gavin came back after diving and hung out with Stockton and Jorja.

Stockton & Gavin

 Gavin

 Gavin, Jorja, Hallie

Yay! I survived the last gingerbread party of the season! I'm still making gingerbread. I'm trying to get enough to give to the people we home and visit teach. Plus a few extras. I am determined to figure out how to made a dairy free/egg free house. That way if Mike and Christen are ever here around Christmas, I can make a house for Larkin and Blake. I want to give the house to Becky Johnson. Luke is allergic to dairy and eggs too. I will figure this out. I'm mostly worried about getting frosting strong enough to hold the house up, but I will figure this out.