Denton Times Two

Today is Father's Day, but I only have two pictures... and they are both screen shots. One is of Stockton in Denton, Texas and the other is Jorja who is staying on Denton Street in Boise, Idaho. That made me laugh. Speaking of Jorja, she invited someone she met in the elevator yesterday to go to church today and he did. Nice missionary practice for that girl!

I hope Mike had a fun day. He got a gas adaptor to the pizza oven, so we had pizza for dinner. He liked cooking it that was so much better! He also wanted a grocery store cake with yucky icing. Hahaha. We also played Dark Tower with him. That was pretty fun. It was the first time I had ever played, but it is one of Mike's favorite childhood games. He got a restoration version of it about a month ago and he loves it. Mike is an awesome dad. We are so lucky!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day! Even though it is Father's Day, it looks like I failed to get a picture of Mike. Whoops. I got most of these pictures off of Jorja's phone. Mike did send two pictures of Bear to his dad and said something like, "Hope you're having a ball."

Bear

We got to talk to Stockton today. He is doing great. He talked to us about the 'Corn' essay. Brett sent Stockton an essay Marie wrote on corn. Stockton loved it so much he took it to the mission office and had them blow it up. He now has it hanging on his wall. Hahaha. I love that Stockton loved this so much and I love that Brett knew Stockton would love it.

Jorja made a mask for my dad. I brought it to him and a Yellowstone hydroflask we had gotten him. I wasn't able to go until the end of the day though.

Jorja

We got Mike a bacon press, gloves to were when he string trims, and a pez. He also has a plow thing to put onto the lawnmower. That will arrive Wednesday. Today Mike found out that an offer he put on a boat was accepted. He is thrilled. I don't know what to think. It is a motorboat/sailboat. He has been looking at them for five years and decided to pull the trigger. Fingers crossed everything will work out with that.

We had hamburgers outside and then played croquet. The weather was perfect and the sky was beautiful! Preston ended up winning the game. He and Jorja were the last ones standing for awhile.

Stephanie

Jorja's selfies during the game

Jorja and Preston wanted to watch the sunset on the roof

Preston loved trying to throw the frisbee to Bear

Dad with his mask Jorja made

Baby Octopus

Happy Father's Day! Today was pretty low-key. Mike wanted tacos for dinner, so that was easy. I had ideas for gifts for him, but he ended up wanting to get things to work on his wand stations again. So, he picked out his own gifts and I didn't understand anything he bought. He's excited about it though.

Jorja ate a baby octopus. She said it was gross. Her eyes also got puffed up from an allergic reactions to something, not sure what. I've lost the picture with her way puffy eyes. Maybe some things are best not remembered. Jorja is roommates with a girl named Nicole. They are staying with Christine's family, I think. She will be with them for one week before they move Jorja to a different host family.  Christine's family has a dog, maybe that is what happened to Jorja's eyes? Here are random pictures I was able to snag.

Jorja

 Jorja & Nicole

 Nicole & Jorja

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day! Mike got no special breakfast because I'm lame. Jack Murphy spoke in church today. That was cool. He was in my ward growing up, except he was not a member of the church. I was shocked when we moved back here and he was in the high council. Pretty awesome. I took this picture and sent it to my dad.

Stockton and Jorja went to Nate Brown's mission farewell today. I was surprised he was having his farewell this early. I know he leaves sometime in July. But, you never know with lots of missionaries leaving in the summer. The kids came to sacrament meeting with us, then went to Nate's ward at 11:00. Only to find out that it really wasn't his farewell. They discovered that when Nate's mom came and said hi to them and asked them why they were there. Jorja was excited to see Sister Argo though. The two of them decided to come home. They cleaned the kitchen and made Mike snickerdoodles. This is what we came home from church to.

 And on the back . . .

I gave Mike blackout curtains and a curtain rod for our bedroom. He is always complaining that he can't sleep because it gets bright so early. Also the party house has lights on their house, kind of like Christmas lights. They get in the cracks of our blinds at just the right angle to shine on Mike's face. Hopefully he likes the blinds. Hopefully I picked up the right size.

The kids gave Mike a blow up movie screen for the backyard. That will be fun watching movies while swimming in the pool.

Jorja, Mike, Stockton, Preston

 Maysen is here too!

Jorja made dinner all by herself. She made chicken fingers and cooked them in the air fryer. They were quite delicious.

Jorja

 Dinner

We played Betrayal at the House on the Hill. This was the first time I wasn't the traitor. Although it was a secret traitor, so I didn't get to see what it was like to be a normal person. Jorja took this video of Mike while we were playing.

Jorja has to leave early for Leadership Camp tomorrow. She is so dang excited. She wanted to experience this so bad. She had to keep leaving the game to get her packing done. I'm getting her up at 4:45 in the morning. She is going to have fun this week. I'm excited for her.

Gregory's Blessing

Happy Father's Day! Gregory was also blessed today. I made Mike breakfast in bed while the kids slept in. Funny how they sleep in now. They have been super busy though. We opened presents before church. Mike got a new kindle that he was hoping would be easy to read pdfs on. The text didn't enlarge easy, so he was disappointed. His eyes have gotten really bad recently. The kids and I got Mike two games and one present that hasn't arrived yet. We got him One Night Ultimate Werewolf (Stockton's suggestion) and Betrayal at House on the Hill (Jorja's suggestion). Preston had helped me stash the presents. When I went to get them, I also found a Mother's Day card from Preston that he had hidden and apparently forgotten about.

Preston, Jorja, Mike, Maysen, Stockton

 Stephanie & Preston

Matt and Sam were in the back of the chapel, so we sat a few rows behind them. We still had soft seats, so that was nice. There were a lot of people on hard seats in the cultural hall behind us. We usually sit close to the front when we are at our regular ward. I did not like sitting in the back. I couldn't hear anything and found it hard to focus. Mike said that the speaker above us was not turned on. We did see Mr. Ward there. He was the Student Government advisor when Mike was a SBO. We talked to him for awhile and Mike introduced our kids. He asked about all of Mike's siblings. It's crazy how he can remember so many kids!

Mike got a lot of ties on Monday from Nathan. He joked about giving everyone a tie on Father's Day. Well, I thought he was joking. He was not. Everyone wore their ties to church except Jorja.

Stockton, Maysen, Mike, Jorja, Preston

We had dinner at our house with my family, Sam's family and a few of their friends and there families. There was a lot of people! I guess I should have asked how many people they were expecting so we would have been better prepared. It turned out fine though. Sam had asked us to provide the drinks and chips (and location). They brought pulled pork and lots of other food. Sam even had Preston's favorite caramels. I talked to Ange a lot about sleeping arrangements for when her kids are staying over while they go on a trip with my dad. Brett & Rachel will also be here at the same time. I'm really excited about that!

Gregory

 Stockton & Gregory

After everyone went home we played Mike's new games. We didn't finish the Betrayal game because it took quite awhile, we will finish it later. It turned out I was the traitor. Now I'm a giant two headed snake monster and everyone else is trying to kill me. Whoops. We stopped that game to play the Werewolf game before bed. That game is fast. It was fun and we discovered both of the werewolfs. (Jorja and Preston) Preston had no idea he was a werewolf because I was the troublemaker and switched cards on him.

We have had a long, busy week and from the looks of things next week is going to be just as busy!

Father's Day Mug

It was such a beautiful day today.  We had family dinner and it was nice to be able to play outside.  I made cream puffs.  I haven't made those in years!  They are delicious!

Ella & Anne

 Abby, Ella & Anne

 Jeff & Matt

 Bubs

 My dad supervising the kids.  Makes me a little nervous.

 Bubs

I was so excited to give my dad his Father's Day present that I gave it to him today.  He loved it!  This is the mug he would always use at the cabin.  When we bought it the original owner, whoever that was, took it home.  I always thought it was my dad's mug.  Nope.  He just always used it.  It was really nice of the person who owned the mug to let him have it!  Ha!  Anyway, Mike and I found this on E-Bay.  He loves it.

Dad

After I took my dad's picture I asked if I could take a normal picture. He said, "What do you mean?"  I then showed him the picture.  It is the picture below.  He looks a little drunk!  For the record, he is not drunk, he just has a hard time taking a decent picture.

Happy Father's Day!

I managed to make it through today without any pictures of the kids with Mike.  Grrrrr.  Mike seemed to have a good Father's Day.  His big present was a fishing raft and an anchor.  He is really excited to try it out.  He is going to take the kids back to Bridger Lake when Maysen and I go to Alaska.  I hope they have as much fun as they did the last time!

We are so lucky to have Mike in our lives.  He is the best Dad around. The kids absolutely adore him.  I love listening to him teach our kids. He is so creative, he makes everything interesting.  There is nothing not to love about him, he is the best.  I'm going to annoy the kids and make them write something about their dad here.

Maysen: I think that the worst thing about living in a time of war and army drafts would be having to say good-bye to my dad, possibly even forever. I love my dad and all that he does for our family, from the huge projects he undertakes to the small things he does that he thinks no one notices. My dad is a hard worker who has always managed to provide for his family, and he has a fun and happy spirit that no one can dislike. My dad is the coolest dad I've ever known. Kudos to you, Dad! Love you forever!

Stockton: Dad is great at taking care of our family. He is always learning new things and teaching us new skills. Dad is a lot of fun and I love him as much as he loves his family. No matter how hard things are getting, he always stays strong. He is good at what he does and is always finding new ways to have fun with his family. Dad helps people every day and encourages his kids when they are struggling. He has always been a great father to us. We love you!

Jorja: My dad is the best person in the entire world because he is so awesome and loves us so much. He is really fun and I love it how he does time with dad so much. He is funny and really good at his job and is probably awesome with a nerf gun by now.  He helps me not give up on the things I want to do and I know he always wants the best for me. YOU ARE AWESOMELY AWESOME AND DON'T GET A HAIR CUT, IT LOOKS GOOD THE LENGTH IT IS. Love you to infinity and beyond! 

Preston:  I love my dad, he is the best daddy in all the daddies in DaddyVille. I love him so much!  Here should be a random picture of Shiver

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Jorja & Padz, Preston & Shiver

The rest of the blog post is brought to you by Jorja.  I guess this is what she types while she is thinking of what to type.....

Mr. Waffle:

Elephants yeah!:

Paper jam Dipper:

Preston again:

Dad:

I don't know what to wriiiite:

COME TO ME INSPIRATION:

I'm being annoying, yay!:

I've written two words so far!:

Have fun erasing this, Mom:

efcjdbvjv:

What happened

Father's Day!

I got out of the shower this morning to find Jorja had made Mike breakfast in bed.  Waffles, muffins, milk and a cherry.

Today was a great day.  I hope Mike had a good day as well.  He does a lot better job with Mother's Day than I do with Father's Day.  I was pretty stressed this morning.  I was teaching and I didn't feel very good about my lesson.  Preparation wise, not material wise.  It was fine, just not awesome.  At least it is over.

Mike was busy today!  He cut a lot of flowers from our backyard for our kitchen.  They sure looked beautiful.

I had asked Mike what he wanted for dinner today.  He wanted to have Jorja help him grill steaks.  She was only too happy to do that!  She planned the menu a few days ago.  They worked on it together, everything turned out delicious!

Jorja

Preston got the first 'Speed Bump' of the year.  I think he didn't do his 20 minutes of reading.  Anyway, he pulled a slip out of the speed bump jar. It was baking bread.  NOOOOOO!!!!!  My last attempt at bread was a disaster!  Since it was Father's Day, I knew I couldn't pawn this one off on Mike.  Oh well, might as well jump right back on the horse.  The bread turned out great.  I can never get it as pretty as Mike can, but at least it was still delicious.  I figured out what I did wrong last time.  I couldn't find the lid to my mixer, so I held a trey over the dough while it was being mixed.  The entire 12 minutes.  I could only mix it on low or the dough would fly out of the edges.  Anyway, Preston's bread was looking the same.  This time I had the lid so we cranked up the speed. What a difference that made!

Preston's bread

I always let Mike pick out his own presents.  I never can even guess what he would like.  He likes getting cool stuff he doesn't need to feel guilty about.  He got a giant monitor for his computer....which is actually a tv.  He opened it up today and was really excited about it.  Too bad there were weird lines down the entire screen.  At least Amazon is great with returns.  We also gave Mike a 3 Wolf shirt.  Glow-in-the-dark.  Authentic from The Mountain.  He was pretty excited about that.