Fred Hodson's Viewing

I spent most of the day doing laundry. I was very thankful it was late start. I was tired! I did get a lot of done though. All the laundry from the cabin is already washed. Nice to have that taken care of. I also got the wordle in two tries and was pretty proud of myself.

Preston went to Nicklecade for young mens. Mike and I dropped him off then went to Larkin for Nathan Hodson's dad's viewing. It was nice to see Lisa and Nathan there, even though it wasn't the best reason. Nathan's dad had Parkinson's disease. They knew it was coming, but it still caught them off guard. The siblings gave them a basket of fruit and chocolate. Thought flowers would be hard to take back on the airplane.

Nathan & Lisa

Aimee was even there. She is doing residency in Texas. I asked her how everything was going. She said she got in right before the viewing and is heading back right after the funeral tomorrow. Then the next day she is taking her boards. WHAT? That's awful timing for her. Wow.

F to A

Jorja was sick this morning. Ever since she had mono last year she has a hard time recovering from viruses. She sounded horrible when I tried to wake her up. I gave her medicine and let her sleep through first period, then took her to school. She was feeling much better by that time. She didn't want to miss math again. She has missed so many math classes! Her teacher told her that if she did well enough on the test she would use the same score for the quiz and then not make her turn in her homework. (Jorja hadn't done any of her math homework. She got soooo far behind!) Well, Jorja scored 100% on her test. Well done Jorja! Her math grade went from an F to an A just like that. I am thankful her teachers are willing to work with her! She has had a rough road the last few years.

Mike didn't think he would get to see Lisa, even though he was only ten minutes away from her house. Luckily he was able to skip the last meeting and hang out with her. Also lucky that Lisa was on Spring Break. She picked him up and took him to her house. He was only able to be there for about forty-five minutes, but that is better than nothing! Lisa made chocolates for Mike and he was able to take some home. They were amazing! We haven't had Lisa's chocolates in a long time! Lisa was even nice enough to take Mike to the airport. I picked him up by myself. When we got home, Preston had put himself to bed. Haha. Jorja was still at work. It is nice to have him home!

Family Dinner

I woke my dad up early this morning and then we hit the road. We said goodbye to John and Renee last night. I didn't set an alarm, but I always wake up early. My dad wanted to stop by these statues on the way out of town. His friend Bruce Couch had told him about them. Bruce went on my dad's last church history trip with him. My dad has been their home teacher for years. My cousin Rozie is married to Bruce's brother. Anyway, we have never seen these statues before and they did look beautiful.

 My dad getting a closer picture

 Should I leave my dad and say I forgot he was taking a picture?

I was on a tour with my dad when he asked me to get out of the bus to take a picture of the new Kansas City Temple. I did what he asked and watched as the tour bus drove away. My dad claims he 'forgot' I was taking a picture.

I made it home in time for 10:30 church, which was great. We had dinner tonight at Steve and Shannon's house. All of Mike's siblings were there. Lisa is flying back to California tomorrow. Crazy Aunt Mona came, and it was great to see her. Her husband George is in the hospital right now. He had a really bad accident and they don't know if he will make it. He has hundreds of titanium plates in his face right now. Holly & Josh and their kids also came over. So fun to talk with them. One of her girls, I think one of her twins, was awesome at Code Names. She said 'revere' and got four picks. I can't remember what they all were. Things like revolution and horse. It was great.

Jorja hung out with Weston and Michael for a long time. Michael gave her a talking to about some of the boys she has liked in the past and it was awesome. Shannon wanted to take a serious picture of us posed the same.

Weston, Jorja, Michael, Stephanie

We were at Steve and Shannon's house until late. Such a great time! Sherry, Lisa and Michael were there pretty late too. Jacob and Weston are leaving on an HEFY trip on Tuesday. Jacob is going to Ecuador and Weston is going to Zimbabwe. Steve and Shannon will be empty nesters for a few weeks... so they are going to Hawaii.

Weston & Jorja

Officially in Tucson

Okay, all of the pictures will show you that we are most definitely NOT in Tucson, but Stockton now is! Stockton had to check out of the MTC at 5:00 in the morning, so it was an early day for him. He called me when he was at the airport. I got to talk to him for exactly 9 minutes. Still! It was wonderful to hear his voice. He sure did love the MTC. He's a little nervous about being an official missionary out in the real world, but I know he will be fantastic.

We had our last day at the cabin today. Steve left really early. The rest of us played for a bit. It was cold, but so much fun. We sled out front for a bit and one last trip to the Springs.

 So beautiful!

 Mike & Preston ~ penguin style

 Preston

 Stephanie

 Penguin race! Mike & Preston, Stephanie & Jorja

We had agreed not to try and crash each other on the race. Of course Preston does not follow the rules. Despite him trying to jump on us towards the bottom, Jorja and I still pulled out the victory!

The Springs was so fun even though we broke our last two of my favorite sled. I went off a jump and broke the very last one. Dang it! We had one too few sled for the last run. Alex wanted to just ride the 4 wheeler down. I talked her into trying penguin style with me. She was nervous, but I talked her into it. I told her we could just go until we meet the 4 wheeler path, which really isn't very far. She agreed. We went so fast! It was fun . . . but we crashed. I was having a harder time steering then I usually do and Alex isn't used to going that fast. Anyway, I re-injured myself. It feels exactly the same as when I hurt myself on the rowing machine. It's always the last run. I was still able to finish, on my belly too. I have never done penguin sledding from the Springs. I have actually never gone on my belly from the Springs. It was super fun. I wish I could go down again.

Snowman by Lisa and Nova

I took Maysen and Jorja home. Preston is saying good-bye to Maysen. He loves her so much. I regret not going through Idaho Falls on my way home. The roads looked great and I thought we would be fine. But soon they were an icy mess. We were already too far on the way when we passed a 'chains only' sign. We drove on ice for hours. It was not fun. It took us forever too. We even went a different way to Logan then the way we came, but the roads were still terrible. I guess in the winter it is always better to backtrack to the freeway. I was so glad when we finally dropped Maysen off.

Preston & Maysen

 Jorja & Alex

We helped Maysen bring stuff up to her apartment, then we went to eat with her. Last semester a hamburger restaurant opened in Maysen's building. Stockton was a fan. Maysen not so much. It was nice to be able to have somewhere to eat without needing to drive. We filled our bellies and said goodbye to Maysen.

Maysen & Jorja

We dropped Alex off around 9:30. I think. I was so glad to get home. We only made it home a few minutes before Mike and Preston, and they left waaaayyyy after us. Although they didn't drive to Logan and didn't drive on thick icy roads for several hours. Still. Anyway, this weekend was a lot of fun. I love the cabin. I love that Mike and our kids love it as much as I do. Happy memories.

So Much Snow

It is crazy how much snow is here! So beautiful! I love it! We had the morning to ourselves today. We went sledding around the cabin and then up to the Springs. Mike bought tubes because he has always wanted to try them out here. I have always been super against it. I don't feel that you can steer tubes, and that makes me nervous. There used to be barbed wire at the bottom of the hill. Now it is just a wire fence and the barbs are gone. I guess that is better. I shouldn't have worried though. The tubes didn't move at all. Super slow. The kids had fun being pulled behind the 4-wheeler with them though. Preston had a bit of success with the tube, only if he had a sled underneath. It was weird, but he enjoyed himself. We went up the the Springs this afternoon. It was FAST! Crazy fast. So much fun! I don't remember it ever being this fast during the day. I loved it!

 Maysen

 Alex

 Jorja

 Preston

 Preston, Jorja, Maysen ~ before the trip up to the Springs

 Preston, Jorja, Maysen ~ Almost to the Springs...these kids got pounded with snow!

 Maysen & Jorja

 Maysen, Jorja, Alex

 Jorja & Alex

 Alex, Preston, Jorja

 Preston with random dog

 Jorja & Preston with random dog ~ Jorja went crazy when she saw the dog and flew off her sled

 Jorja, dog, Preston

If I knew having a dog would keep Jorja from being boy crazy, I would for sure get a dog.

Jorja & Alex

 Alex

Steve arrived a few minutes after we got back from the Springs. That surprised us. We did not know he was coming. He got a phone call right as he got here with the news that Weston made Varsity for lacrosse. That's cool! That is also why Weston couldn't come this trip. The Hodson's were a few minutes behind Steve. Lisa came all the way from California! She brought Michael, Melissa & Derek, Nova and Leo. This is going to be fun!

Jorja & Nova

For some reason Jorja and Michael were fighting like dinosaurs

This is going to be so much fun!