BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER!

Today is my cousin Heather's birthday. She called me and we talked for over an hour. She was telling me everything that had happened the last week, and boy was it A LOT! They have had a lot of HARD things, a lot of scary things and a lot of amazing things. The veil has been very thin for them. I don't want to write down everything she told me because I don't know what she wants to keep personal. After being told that her dad had no chance, it now looks like he might make it. Right before we got off the phone Heather got a text that made her cry. She was sobbing as she read it to me. I had her copy paste so I could send it to my brothers. It looks like Glade is going to be okay. Wow! What a ride.

Spotted when Jorja and I were at Pirate Os

Ducks, Jorja and Bear's behind

Bear & Mike adding the Anderson's trout to our pond

Living Ordinance

It was so nice and fun to have all my kids home. I'm going to miss this part of my life. We played Mario Party downstairs and Preston dominated. Stockton and Alyssa got their marriage license. So nice that you can do it online now. Stockton had a bishop's interview for to get his living ordinance recommend. The only problem was the bishop had no idea he was supposed to do that. He was wondering what Stockton came to talk to him about. We didn't realize that Stockton would need a stake president interview too. Don't know why we didn't think of that. All of the stake presidency is out of town. Stockton is trying to figure out how to get that taken care of.

Jorja and a Crumbl hat for some random reason

Jorja, Stockton & Preston playing Mario Party

My BeReal looked funny on my phone. Talk about perfect placement!

I texted Heather a bit today. The news today is MUCH better than it was yesterday. Fingers crossed Glade keeps progressing in the right direction!

Bachelor Party at the Bungalow

I picked up Stockton at Alyssa's house in Mapleton this morning. He had taken the shuttle from Snow College to BYU. Alyssa picked him up at BYU. Stockton took his physics test while I was driving down there. He didn't do as well as he had hoped on this test, but he has enough of a cushion that he should still be able to get an A. I was telling Stockton about Glade on the way back to our house. Once he got to our house he looked at the list he had been compiling from the wedding invitation Venmo. Second name on the list was Glade Powell. He sent Stockton and Alyssa a wedding gift probably hours before he got sick. And now he is so close to dying. What a bizarre situation. I texted Heather throughout the day. I'm just going to post the thread because it will be easier than explaining. I only took screenshots of the relevant Glade information.

In happier news, Stockton went down to Logan for a bachelor party the Bungalow boys were throwing for him and Ezra. Ezra gets married three days after Stockton. Gavin went down with Stockton. Stockton was happy about that and had a great night out with the boys.

Ezra, Jaye, Spencer, Morgan, Jacob, Clark, Nate, Ezra's old companion, Max, Stockton, Gavin

Permit Preston

I spent the morning gathering documents so Preston could get his learner's permit. I met Heather and Jordyn up in Bountiful for lunch and it was SO FUN! It has been too long since we have been together! I enjoyed every second of it. Heather and Jordyn were on their lunch break, so it didn't last hours and hours. It was sooooo great though!

Stephanie, Jordyn, Heather

I stopped by Alta to pick up Preston's official transcript. That was one of the forms of ID that was accepted for his drivers license. It was fun too because I got to talk with my friends there about Jorja's mission call. I took Preston to the DMV. I thought I knew where it was without using the phone gps thing. I put it in anyway, just in case. I got off of the freeway and thought I was supposed to turn left at the light. All of a sudden the gps is telling me to turn right. Ahhhh! I couldn't get over fast enough, so I drove through the light and found a place to make a u-turn. I then turned left and was on the road the gps said I should. Almost two miles down the road the gps said we arrived. There was NOTHING there. Just dirt as far as you could see. I had to keep going because the road was so narrow there was no where to turn. I finally found a spot and drove to where I thought the building was. Turns out I was right all along. Thanks gps! Anyway, after that Preston was able to successfully pass his learners permit test. I didn't tell him there would be an eye test though and he didn't bring his glasses. He was struggling reading the letters. The lady asked him if he would want to try with his mom's glasses. He put on my glasses and read them right away. So, he will need to make sure he has glasses if he drives. He is NOT anxious to learn how to drive.

Preston 

Here are some random pictures I put on Instagram/Facebook. Jorja said I picked out the worst pictures, but I love them. This is what I wrote on my post: After 12 years of studying Mandarin, Jorja has been called to serve as a missionary in Hong Kong speaking Cantonese. Haha! Poor girl. She has always done the hardest thing. Entering a Chinese Immersion class in 2nd grade, a year and a half after everyone else. Forcing her extremely introverted self into doing brave and scary things. Putting herself out there and running for student government. She has been brave and worked so hard and has been wildly successful. I have no doubt the same will be true with her mission. Jorja exudes love and is not afraid or embarrassed to show it. It has been one of the greatest joys of my life watching her become the person she is. I will miss her terribly while she is in Hong Kong, but man am I excited to see how she conquers her next adventure. Love you Porge!..... oh, and Preston can drive now. :)

Stockton, Jorja, Preston, Maysen

Jorja & Mike

Jorja

Jorja right after reading her call

Stephanie, Stockton, Jorja, Preston, Maysen, Mike

Jorja ~ my brother John guessed Hong Kong

Preston with filters....

Aubrey Kills

On a wim I decided to drive down to Layton to see Aubrey play volleyball. It was an away game, but I have always wanted to watch her play. I was pretty sure Heather would be there, I don't think she has missed a game. Although she might have during the covid situation. Anyway, I'm so glad I made it here. Aubrey is awesome! She made the game winning kill in two of the matches. She leads the state in kills. I got one of them on video. Go me! 

I had no idea where to find Heather, so I made my way to a bench when I thought I saw Heather and Josh sitting on the other side. I slyly took a picture of them and zoomed in, then I looked up and waved. I went and sat by them. It was great. So fun to be with Heather. So fun watching Aubrey. Just a great day. Heather invited me over to her new house after the game. She gave me a little tour. It is just lovely. Heather seems so happy right now. I am so happy for her. I can't wait to hang out with her and Jordyn again! It's been ages!

Heather and Josh looking like tiny dots

Aubrey

Aubrey was dancing in the middle, I'm guessing because she made the winning play? I wish I had recorded that!

Stephanie & Heather

Aubrey & Stephanie

Bear Bread

Jorja went hiking with Ivan today. She was excited. It is the first time we have let her hang out with him since the social distancing thing. Once they watched the sunrise in separate cars. She has begged me to let her go hiking with him. Hiking should be easy to stay six feet apart she said. I told her I didn't believe she would stay six feet apart. Welp..... Jorja is a hugger. This social distancing thing has been hard for her. Hopefully her immune system will be strong. It has failed us a lot in the past few years though.

Ivan and Jorja

I met Heather and Jordyn at Zac's for lunch today. We did better than Jorja and Ivan at social distancing, but we weren't perfect either. We sat outside at a table to eat. It was soooooo wonderful to talk with them. I love having them live so close to me. Both of them are also the only girl in their family. We relate to each other really well.

Heather

 Jordyn

 This is the biker gang that Jordyn joined

 I got a sunburn just from lunch. Didn't expect that today.

Bear is still lethargic. We do give him sedatives to keep him from running around while his stitches heal. Bear came in and dropped a loaf of bread by Mike. What the???? Preston set up some play tents outside to hang out in with Mike and Bear. He loved that.

Bear and his bread

 Preston

 Mike

 Bear

Riley had asked Jorja if she could come down and talk with him after work. Jorja came home Monday from work sad. When I asked her what was wrong she said she just friend zoned Riley. Well, they weren't able to finish talking because he had to leave. He sent her a message when she got home Monday and asked if they could talk. He said that no matter how things shake out he would still be her friend. That made Jorja feel so much better. Anyway, they talked for a long time after work. A lot longer than I would have liked! I got annoyed. But they decided that being just friends would be the best thing for them right now. Jorja came home super happy. They are planning on going on an early morning hike tomorrow. She went to bed at 1:30 and wants to get up at 5:30. She said she could get herself up. Hahahaha

Riley & Jorja

Salt Flats

Jorja and Riley went to the Salt Flats today. They took lots of pictures and even more videos. Riley brought scooters that they tried to ride around on. He also brought his guitar. One of my favorite pictures is on the fancy camera, but I'm too lazy to find it at the moment. So, here are some pictures I swiped off of Jorja's camera.

Jorja & Riley

 Jorja edited Riley out of this picture

 And edited herself inside herself

Jorja is such a crackup. She makes me laugh all the time. My kids are great at entertaining themselves and I love it.

My cousin Heather sent me a tiktok that was trending. It was a little kid going down a huge slide and falling off the slide half way down. The slide was Uncle Georges! Never, never, never wear shorts on that slide! No good will come of it. Of all the ways we got hurt on that slide, I never saw anyone fall like that kid did. Ouch!