Ducks Like Grapes

Evidence by Preston

Preston

Jorja had her last range drive today. Her last five hours straight of drivers ed. When I picked her up yesterday I was a little early, so I stopped where I could watch the cars driving around and I tried to guess which one she was in. I saw her pull up and her teacher was there for her to get out of the car. He said something to her and Jorja jumped. I thought, "I wonder if he found a spider in her car?" No, it was worse. It was a hornet's nest! Jorja said there were bees flying around her while she was driving, for TWO HOURS! Now that creeps me out. Ugh! Mike picked up Jorja from work today. She was at the drive thru when he got there. She loves the drive thru.

Jorja

 Ducks

 Stockton sent me this picture today.

That is a lot of people! He competed three meter today and was happy with his dives. This might have been his last competition ever. That is sad. I'm glad he was able to go to Texas. He had a lot of fun. I'm excited for him to come home though!

Stockton

 Nate, Gavin, Noelle, Dani, Wren, Wren's husband, Stockton

Stockton Crepe

Apparently Jorja and Madison made Stockton as a crepe for breakfast.

The final product.

Mike made a breakfast feast for everyone here. Today was a nice lazy day. We just played around. Stockton and his friends took the Fun Island we got from Lisa and Nathan to the lake.

 Stockton

Mike took Terry's sailboat out to see how the kids were doing. Preston loved that. He loves it when the big kids include him. They are good to him.

 Stockton, Gavin, Connor, Noelle, Dani, Gage's elbow

 Mike towed the Fun Island out a little farther.

He also towed them back when they were finished. I think they enjoyed it. It was tiring for them to carry the island back up to the cabin though. Later they took the 4 wheelers to Big Rock and the Springs. I tried to get these pictures off of Instagram, well . . . . not the best, but at least it's something.

Connor, Noelle, Dani, Gavin, Gage, Stockton

 Connor, Gavin, Stockton, Gage

Mike and I went back to Alpine Market to get stuff for hamburgers. We ran into Sharon there and convinced them to come over for dinner. That was fun to see them. Too bad they bought the lodge or this would happen much more often. Too bad for us anyway, I think they have really enjoyed it. One thing I didn't write about yesterday was I made spaghetti. Well, Mike had the noodles boiling when we found out we needed to drive down to Sheep Gulch earlier than expected. So, while Mike was driving the motorhome from West Table to Sheep Gulch I was trying to keep the boiling water from not spilling. It was quite the feat!

Meanwhile in Jorja land, I have no idea what was going on, but she sent me this video in a text.

Okay. . . that was . . . interesting. Jorja and Madison both work at Chick-Fil-A. They both had to work at 3:00. How convenient! Jorja had to work longer than Madison, but her parents were so nice to drive down there again, pick her up and let her stay at their house. She's been having a blast.

Jump Rock on the Snake

Today was an early day. We were supposed to meet Steve and Sharon at their cabin this morning. We realized that we couldn't drive the motorhome there. We were worried about being able to turn around. Mike hooked up a trailer to a 4-wheeler and loaded it with a mattress and bean bags. We had about four kids ride that way. I failed at getting a picture on the way there. We spent the day on the river. This was Preston's and Gage's first time white water rafting. Preston wasn't sure he wanted to come, but Stockton convinced him to come this morning. Preston LOVED it! He didn't complain once. Mike had him wear the GoPro and he took that job seriously. The second run down he had full control of it. It was great. These next pictures are from the GoPro. We stopped at Jump Rock and the divers had a great time! They had to change their dives. First, they are diving in a life vest, so spinning is different. Second, they have to go in feet first. Third, and this is one I told Steve and Sharon after they saw Connor do a back dive extremely close to the rocks, they are trained to dive close to the board. They had to adjust and do their dives as they were jumping out, not up. Steve mentioned many times how much fun he had at Jump Rock. The boats would float by and see the kids up there. They would yell, "Do a flip!" or sometimes they would count down. The divers were waiting for Steve and Sharon to give them the signal that the rope was ready. Then when they finally dove the boats would be stunned. It was really funny. I might have these labeled wrong, so Stockton will have to tell me what to fix when he gets home. I will do my best though. There are so many videos!

This is how you have to climb up to jump rock. I hate it. It is scarier than jumping!

Stockton double

Gavin backflip

Stockton reverse

This is now the second run, but still filmed with the GoPro. Mike convinced me to put my phone in a waterproof pouch he had bought awhile ago so I could take some pictures. I was a bit nervous, but it worked great. My phone stayed bone dry. When Preston looks back you can see the paddlers in the boat. It looks ridiculous because it looks like I am on my phone in the middle of this grand adventure. I promise I was just taking pictures! It was hard to do through the plastic.

There are some big rapids, but most of the trip is like this. It is great.

Big Kahuna ~ this video does not do this rapid justice!

I wish Preston or I would have videoed going through the Ropes. It seemed bigger than Kahuna or Lunch Counter. It was crazy! And fun! Okay, now to pictures from my phone. The kids had a chance to eat lunch and rest during the two runs. The motorhome was great for this.

Dani, Connor, Stockton

Gavin, Preston

 Mike walking to the river for the second run. I was practicing taking pictures with the plastic on.

I don't really have an order for the pictures. There was too many and I just wanted to get them up here. I was impressed that they turned out so well considering there was plastic over the lens!

Gage, Preston, Gavin

 Steve & Mike

 Gage, Preston, Gavin

 With Noelle and Dani

 Stockton on the stick ~ he is guiding the boat at this moment

 Preston is in ready position.

I was not a paddler. My job was to relay Sharon's instructions in the hope that the paddlers in front will understand what is needed to be done. I was not just yelling for no reason. Like Mike said, "I have one job. It might be stupid but I'm going to do it." That was a Galaxy Quest or Spaceballs quote. I'm not sure.

I think this is Big Kahuna ~ Preston's videos are much better!

I think this is Lunch Counter

I had one percent on my battery, but it took videos for a long time. The divers decided to do just one jump. Well, they couldn't stop themselves, they were having such a great time. It was a lot of fun watching them. It was also warmer this time too. That made a huge difference! Also, another funny thing. Noelle and Connor loved to say, "I boys!" in this sing song voice to ever boat that passed. One boat was confused and said, "Did they just say 'hi boys?'" I think the boat was full of girls. We also found a paddle on the way down. Sharon would ask the different boats if they lost a paddle when we were stopped at Jump Rock. Preston was the one who found the correct boat. Good eyes Preston!

Gavin back double with a boat counting . . . up?

Gavin double half twist

Gavin back double

Stockton back double

Gage front flip

Gage back flip

Stockton double

Connor backflip

Connor front flip half twist

Gavin backflip

Stockton back double half twist

Dani full twist

Noelle full twist

Preston, Gavin, Stockton, Dani, Noelle, Connor, Gage

 Preston, Stockton, Dani, Noelle, Gavin, Connor, Gage

What a fun day! We parked the motorhome back at the cabin and took the 4 wheelers to Steve and Sharon's cabin. Stockton is the only one riding the mattress this time! Still, I'm glad I have Mike's invention documented.

Gage, Dani, Gavin

 Stockton

Steve and Sharon took Mike and I to Alpine Market. We got pizzas. Steve and Sharon came over and ate with us. They brought salad and ice-cream. They also had a cool Snake River rafting crashes video. The kids watched it on the projector downstairs. That was fun. Steve and Sharon are going rafting with a new group tomorrow, they took a group down yesterday. I can't believe how much time they spend letting people have this great experience. And all for free. For us, it costs them a ton! So very kind of them. Mike and I got Maysen and Preston tucked into bed. (Maysen stayed at the cabin and worked on her writing. She had no interest in being on the river.) Stockton and his friends watched a movie. I think it was Hutch. Not sure though. I don't know what time they got to bed, but we didn't need to get up early so yay!

Visiting Stockton's Picture

Preston at the 'new' table ~ he loves it when I take his picture.

Today was a crazy day. I got up at 5:00 to take Jorja to drivers ed. Her class starts at 6 am. We found out Stockton needed to do a few more things to get the New Century scholarship. One of those was to send his high school transcript. We hurried down to Alta to get that sent off. Paula in the registrar's office is awesome and has helped us on many occasions. Once again she was great. She sent the transcript off, no problem. No fee as well. Before we left I made Stockton take a picture by his picture.

Stockton & Stockton

 Sterling Scholars

Mike came home early to get things ready for our next adventure. I took Stockton, Gavin and Gage to diving. I dropped them off, but forgot how horrible the traffic is coming home at this moment. Luckily Mike was able to take Jorja to work. Mike packed up the motorhome and we drove to the University of Utah. Jorja is staying behind with Madison. She is thrilled with that arrangement. Madison's parents picked up Jorja from work. We picked up Stockton and his diving buddies in the University of Utah Institute parking lot. Did not want to deal with all the crazy construction by the pool in the motorhome. We drove the motorhome to the cabin. We had Maysen and Preston. Stockton brought Gavin, Gage, Connor, Dani and Noelle. The kids were asleep by the time we got there. Maysen and Preston in the back. Stockton and Connor on the bunkbeds. We folded down the table for Gavin and Gage and folded down the couch for Dani and Noelle. Once we arrived we had the boys sleep in the bunkbed room, Maysen and Preston got their own bed downstairs. We had the girls in a room upstairs and Mike and I crashed in the sponge room by the mud room. The kids were up talking for awhile, they did sleep on the way after all. I reminded them of our early wake up. Hopefully they didn't stay up too long. This is going to be a fun weekend!

Incredibles 2

Maysen had her last day of WIFYR today. She has loved it this year. Stephanie Black was her group leader and she did a fantastic job. The people in the group liked it so much that they have contact information from the others and are planning on making a permanent writing group. I think the goal is to have something ready once a month. I don't know if they are planning on meeting in person or just through the Internet. Maysen loved her group this year. She said they were all supportive and everyone became invested in the other stories. Maysen also won an office supply kit that she was happy about. Her own stapler and tape holder were in it. She said she always wanted a tape holder. Ha! Stockton was thrilled when I gave him (or the family) a stapler for Christmas a couple of years ago. He carried that thing in his backpack. My kids make me laugh.

Stockton coached diving again. He was so happy that he got Aiden to do his 1 1/2 back. Aiden could do a double, but the 1 1/2 was scary for him. Stockton worked with him feeling comfortable going into the water on his head by doing back dives. When Stockton told Aiden he was ready, he got up on the board and was really nervous. Right as he was up there his twin was walking by. Maybe his mom too. They were cheering for him. He decided just to chuck it. He nailed it! Stockton was so happy for him! After practice, he had some diving friends come over. Noelle was recently given a car, but she is younger than Jorja. She lives up in Salt Lake. She drove here with one of her parents. Gage came over too. They spent most of the day together. They made Miis, went to Freebirds and Habit Burger, played double dash and did backflips. Gage dropped Noelle off at Trax around 6:00.

Jorja had work today. She worked the cash register by herself and was so proud. Gabe came in for an interview. Jorja's positive he is going to get the job. Great. I was hoping Jorja wouldn't have any contact with him this coming year. He is the one that tried to trick Jorja into making out with him. Gross! Hopefully this won't be a problem. Gabe knows that I won't let Jorja hang out with him. I think he stopped bothering her after he found that out. I hope. Jorja did find out that she doesn't work at all next week. She has leadership camp until Thursday. Too bad she didn't get scheduled Friday or Saturday. She's a bit worried she will forget everything when she comes back. The week after she has Trek, so we will see how that works out.

I picked up Jorja from work and we went looking for shoes. We looked before work too. She wanted some blue tennis shoes that she could take to camp next week. Their color is blue. Surprisingly, that was not easy to find. We picked up a lot of blue stuff at Zurchers already. She wants to be "so blue, you don't even know." We were at Payless when Maysen called and was ready to be picked up. Jorja was still deciding. I left her there and went and got Maysen, then back to get Jorja. We got back about 6:00. Jorja was planning on seeing a movie with her friends that started at 6:10. Well, they didn't make that one. They made the 6:10 showing though. She went with Madison, Carter and Tommy. They saw Incredibles 2. Maysen has been so excited to see that. She didn't want to wait knowing Jorja was seeing it today. I took the rest of the kids to the 7:00 show. Most of the good seats had been sold, so we were quite close to the screen. It wasn't horrible, but I'm glad we weren't any closer. The movie was great and fun. I wish Mike would have been able to come. He is on call and things have been dicey at his work for the last few weeks. He was worried something would break and he would have to leave the movie anyway. I'm glad we were able to go. It was a fun night.