New Shift Leader

I got to spend time with Laura today! We went to lunch and talked for about an hour and a half. Then she had to go home to pick up her kids. I didn't get a picture with her, but I did take a picture of beet lemonade. Whoops! I took this picture to send to Bubs. His kids love beets for some weird reason.

After school, Jorja went with quite a few friends to In and Out. The purpose was for Jorja and her homecoming date to feel more comfortable around each other. That didn't work out. She said he only said two things to her and walked away twice while she was talking to him. Later that night he texted her and apologized for not talking to her. She answered that she wasn't sure what he wanted her to do. He said they just need to hang out more. Problem is, Jorja is soooo super busy. The little time she has she doesn't want to spend in awkward situations over and over again. Hopefully things will be fine by the time the dance comes around.

It fantastic news.... Jorja finished her checklist to be a shift leader. She was determined to be the first one to finish and she was. By a long shot. Some of her friends received their list months ago and are still working on it. Jorja was tracking down managers and calling people to get this done. I'm so proud of her. She also has been put in charge of social media for Draper Chick-Fil-A. She is to post on their Instagram and Facebook account. Instagram will be no problem. Jorja has never bothered to figure out Facebook, so we'll see where that goes.

Jorja ~ new shift leader

I went to my dad's class today. As I was leaving I got a text to hurry home so we could go bowling as a family. Jorja has been wanting to go a lot. Mostly she wants to learn so she won't be embarrassed on dates. Too bad Stockton isn't here for this. Preston got over one hundred on both games. He did have the bumpers on, but still! We went to Olympus Hills bowling alley and Preston loved the computer screens that would do weird things with your face. Also, he kept doing magic tricks with quarters and then just got super silly about it. I love him.

Preston

Burned Out Bowling

We got to talk to Stockton today. After awhile we switched to Google Hangouts, which we have never tried before. I know that is how Shannon talks to Brandon and Erica. Elder Alia still needed to call his parents, so Stockton wanted to try this. It worked great! There was some lagging, but we were able to video chat with him for the first time. It was amazing! It was soooooo good to see him! He was very disappointed in me when I told him I had lost motivation for my blog. His exact words were, "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!" I think Stockton loves the blog the most out of my family. I was just telling Mike that I had to get it back on track for Stockton. Right now I am twenty days behind. Ugh. I decided to just start where I am and catch up when I can. If there is always a twenty day hole, then what can I say? I just gave up.

Anyway, other things that happened today. Maysen had her first day of her senior year of college. She had two classes today. They were both writing classes and she was happy with both of them. It was nice to talk to her and hear her so positive.

We had a family bowling day. My first game was my worst game in thirty year....maybe ever. I was dominating the next game, but time ran out on us. Still, I was so far ahead it... and the last game is the one that really matters, right? It was nice being with my family, even though it is only a family of four now. Going to enjoy Preston having a sibling at home while I can!

Preston

 Jorja ~ uses the bowl from way behind the line method

 Mike in the middle of his strike dance

 Jorja

 Mike

 Jorja...one pin...

Jorja met us at Firehouse Subs and then we went to the bowling alley. She was with Kate before. She went straight to Joe's house. She was helping him ask a different Kate to Homecoming. He was so nervous he made Jorja get everything set up on the porch while he hid around the corner. Then he was too nervous to make it back to her car so he made her hop three fences. She came home with what looked like a giant rug burn on her arm. Glad she had fun though. She is excited Joe is going with Kate.

Tacos

Jorja and Travin

We had the missionaries over for dinner again today. This is the day we originally signed up for. Mike made taco bowls. Sister Turner was thrilled. Yesterday she told us how much she loved tacos. Jorja was able to come home early from Macbeth again, so she was here too. That was nice. Stockton was at the state bowling championship and Preston was at piano. Stockton did great, but overall Alta took 4th. Mike set up the massage table and Preston loved it!

Preston and Mike

I have been after Stockton for a long time to finish his BYU college application. He has been super slow about working on it for two reasons. One, he is incredibly busy. Academic Decathlon and Sterling Scholar stuff. The Sterling Scholar portfolio was due today. Two, he doesn't want to go to BYU. I don't want him to close any doors. Utah State was pretty low on Maysen's list, but became her top choice a few months later. Anyway, Stockton realized tonight that he hadn't sent in his SLCC transcript. YIKES! We hurried and ordered it and are crossing our fingers that it will get to BYU tomorrow!

178

That was Stockton's bowling score today.

Busy Life

Stockton had to be at school early. He had an Academic Decathlon competition today. It was their first one and he had no idea what to expect. The frustrating thing though is today they are doing yearbook pictures. Stockton won't be there for the bowling picture. They were going to change it to after school so Stockton could make it, but then the basketball guys had practice. Stockton was a little annoyed about that. I took Jorja to school. She still has her black eye, but used a lot of makeup to cover it up. She is also getting her student government yearbook picture taken today. She was not thrilled with her black eye this morning. She was supposed to wear jeans, a grey shirt and her student government sweater. Jorja picked a grey shirt that had words on it. They made her turn her shirt backwards, so Jorja will be wearing her shirt backwards in the yearbook. Haha! That made me laugh. I'm sure she'll still look adorable. I went straight to the temple after dropping Jorja off. I was able to make it to the 8:00 session. I was quite happy with that.

Preston received his school reflections award today. They had the award ceremony for the kids that moved on yesterday. He thought it was so cool going into the ceremony knowing he was already chosen to move on. They announced the kids that moved on at the end. These two boys were both chosen for film.

Preston and Seven

As soon as Preston's name was announced we skipped out of there. I took Preston with me and we hustled to get Jorja. While I was at the ceremony I got a text from Stockton saying he wouldn't be back from Academic Decathlon before school was over. Then I got a text saying he needed to stay after for a NHS meeting. Jorja was supposed to be home right at 2:45 today to meet Damian. He is going to work with her on softball. I texted Damian and hurried and brought Jorja home. Damian ended up cancelling; but at least it wasn't us who didn't show up. I hate that. The missionaries did come over. Jorja wore Sister Hutchinson's jacket for awhile.

Jorja

Stockton had bowling as well today. He didn't get home for a long time. He told us about the crazy tests he had to take. They took tests all day long. The theme this year is Africa. He was laughing about the African music they were tested on. Stockton didn't feel prepared for this. For example, he was tested on African economics. That isn't something you can just randomly pick up; but at least he knows what to expect now. He had a great time at bowling though.

Jorja went to Sami's house today. She had dinner with them and stayed until Sami needed to go to soccer. I was at Javita's house when Jorja called for me to pick her up. I talked Jorja into going back to Javita's house with me. I finished up what I was doing with Javita while Jorja talked with Damian and a few other people. The missionaries also stopped by there. Haha! It was great. Javita had us come upstairs and pick up a box of Whitley's old clothes. Jorja loves Whitley's hand me downs. Whitley knows how much I despise shopping. The box was huge and heavy, but we managed. Jorja and I went through some of the clothes late tonight. Jorja has to dress up tomorrow at school. There was a dress in there that will be perfect.

Off to Australia

I spent the day frantically getting everything ready so I could leave. I checked Preston out of school and took him grocery shopping with me. He really wanted to be there to pick out a few things. If that is what it takes to make him feel comfortable then that is what I was going to do. He asked me about twenty times if he could be with my dad on Saturday during Stockton's dive meet. Luckily my dad was available then.

Stockton came home with his new bowling shirt. He is so excited that Alta now has a bowling club. Too bad they didn't start this three years ago! He had games today, but I have no idea how they went. At least he let me give him a gigantic hug before he went bowling.

Stockton

I dropped Jorja off at Hailey's house. I am so glad she is going to be there. I think spending a week with Hailey is just what she needs right now. I met Mike at the car shop. He has our van in to fix the brakes while we are gone. We drove to the car lot and Steve took us to the airport. Then he took the new car to have the brakes looked at. Hopefully all the cars will be in tip top shape when we get back. I was sick to my stomach on my way to the airport. I'm so nervous about the kids. Isaac texted me a quick note. I told him I was nervous and feeling sick. He assured me that it would be okay. For some reason that made me smile. I know it will be okay. I felt anxious all day, but I didn't feel like I was supposed to stay. I felt I was supposed to leave, I just hope all the kids will be happy and safe and fed!

We got to the airport in plenty of time. Our plane did not. It was still in California when we were supposed to be boarding. Mike was so stressed out. We worked with the lady for a long time to see if we could find a different way to Australia. If we missed our connection in California, we would have to wait four days to get another one. Mike would be late to his conference and miss his presentation. We were flying American Airlines, but they wouldn't let us switch to Delta because they are not on happy terms with them right now. There were about seven of us in the same boat. We asked if they would hold the plane for us. Nope. We all decided to take our chances. We knew it would be risky, but it was our best option. Jorja sent me a Marco Polo video saying that if I didn't make the flight I shouldn't let Hailey's mom know. Haha! She's pretty excited about this week. On a side note, while we were waiting I asked if they could put the World Series on the tv. Nope again. CNN has a contract with them. The lady put Mike and I in the exit row and I felt slightly uncomfortable. The two shortest people on the plane had the most legroom. I felt like I needed a bar to put over my lap to keep me safe. It was weird.

Stephanie & Mike's feet

 Mike and Stephanie on the first flight. Mike's just a little bit nervous.

The flight attendant asked if she could leave her suitcase under my chair. I told her sure, but I have a favor. Could she please help us get off the plane as quickly as possible? I let her know our predicament. When the plane landed they asked everyone to stay seated and let the group of us get off first. We hurried off and ran through the airport. A lady was waiting for us and got us on a bus to drive to the correct terminal. We made it just in time! Yay! Yay! Yay! Too bad the Dodgers lost the World Series though, and I didn't get to see even one pitch of this game.

Mike had an isle seat and I had a window seat. A nine year old girl traveling by herself named Silvia sat between us. She wanted to play bowling with me right away. The bigger planes are nice with the personalized tv and video games. Stockton would probably play trivia the entire time.

 Silvia was really excited about the back of the remote for some reason.

 They also feed you on the long flights. Silvia gave me her salad and swiped my cheese.

We will be on this airplane for the next fifteen hours. Oh boy..... I hope the kids are doing okay.

Bowling and Missionaries

Mike took the day off of work today, although he was on call and worked most of the day. Stockton had his first bowling meet today. When we were at Angie's yesterday I got a text from Johny. (He is the down syndrome boy Stockton's age that lives on our street.) The text said, "Hi. John. I. Stockton. Take. Me bowling. Club. John." Haha. He makes me laugh. Stockton texted me after school to say he couldn't find Johny. I told him to leave and I would let Stephanie (Johny's mom) know. When Stockton and Jorja walked out to the jeep there were lots of people around it. Johny was trying to get into the jeep. Stockton was so funny when he was telling the story. I wish I could write it like he tells it. That kid makes boring things hilarious. Although it drives him nuts when I take him too literally with his stories. Stockton had fun and did decent at the bowling competition, but the kids from the other school were crazy good. I know one kid got a 236. My goal is just to break 100.

The missionaries came over tonight. Sister Hutchinson's companion left for home yesterday. Her new companion is straight from the MTC. We talked with them for a bit. Sister Hutchinson was introducing Jorja and telling her companion how much she likes Jorja. Preston started telling a story and Sister Hutchinson was laughing so hard. She said, "I'm sorry Jorja, but Preston might be my favorite." Then Stockton started telling a story and made them laugh again. Sister Hutchinson said, "You are funny. I've never talked to you before, but your mom kept telling me how funny you are. She was right."

While the missionaries were over I got a text from Stephanie asking if Johny was here. Stockton dropped Johny off at his house and watching him walk into the garage. Later I texted Stephanie and asked if she found him. Yep. He was at the Valentines. Whew.

Rainy Day at the Field

I spent the morning moving sticks to the front yard so they could be picked up next week. I saw my neighbor Paul leave his house and I waved to him. We live on a cul de sac, so he usually wouldn't pass my house. When he turned my way, I knew he was coming to talk to me and I knew what he was going to talk about. I walked up to him when he stopped and we talked for a long time. Paul is Audrey's dad. He has decided to be a woman. He has had the surgeries done to become a woman. He told me his name is now Whitney. We talked and talked. I told him that I would do my best to call him Whitney, but to not be offended if I accidentally call him Paul. Sue and Jim walked by why I was talking to him. I introduced them to Whitney. It was a little awkward because I wasn't sure what to call him. I said, "This is Audrey's ____" I looked at Paul/Whitney. He said, "Mom". When they walked away I told him I was sorry if that was awkward, but I'm a big believer in getting the elephant out of the room. I asked how Audrey and Elizabeth were doing. Elizabeth is his wife. I told him that all three of them would always be welcomed at our house. He seemed very relieved when he drove away. I called Sue up afterwords to explain who Whitney was. She was super nice about it and was completely shocked. She had no idea that she was talking to someone who used to be a man, he looked so much like a woman. I know she will be super nice to Paul/Whitney, because that is the kind of person she is. I figure that I don't have to agree with this, but I want Paul/Whitney to know that if Audrey is ever over at our house that this is a safe place for her. He won't need to worry about us saying bad things to his daughter. She is safe and she is loved.

Jorja met some friends at a park for a late breakfast. This is good. She needs to be around lots of different friends right now. I picked her up from the park at about 12:30. She has a softball tournament today. She was a little sad before the game. Luckily Raina came to the rescue. Raina brought a loud speaker where the girls were able to dance to music. Jorja lit up. She can be so silly. One time she was was dancing and singing on the way up to the plate. She is freaking adorable.

Raina & Jorja

 Jorja waiting to do the coin toss

 Joe tying Jorja's shoe

It started raining hard for the third game. Shannon called me and I was talking to her under my blanket. Jorja took a picture and sent it to me. It was hard to watch the game with the umbrellas in front of me, but I didn't want to move because I knew I would get sopping wet if I did. I was able to see Jorja get an awesome hit though. Then she stole second. Then she scored from second when the girl behind her got a base hit. Jorja also did an awesome bunt earlier that got an RBI and she made it to first. Perfect!

Later tonight I dropped Jorja off at the bowling alley where she bowled with Raina, Shay and Taylee. They also played laser tag. Jorja had a lot of fun. I texted her after 10:00 and said I was tired and was picking her up. I brought her home and then she got sad again. We laid on my bed for awhile listening to old music. Jorja does great when she is busy, it is just when things slow down that she gets sad. It will be a rough few days, but then I think she will be able to handle things and be back to her regular self again. I sure love that super sensitive girl.

Maysen and the Zoo

Maysen had her first real day of volunteering at the zoo. It went better than she had hoped for. They asked her to do some e-papers. I honestly can't remember what they are called, but she was able to observe four different animals and write down what they did for 15 minutes. She will definitely be able to relate this to studying animal behavior. I am so impressed with the zoo. They are asking Maysen to do things that will be best for her, not necessarily what they need done. Although my neighbor Kristen told Maysen that they must trust her if they asked her to do the e things. Anyways, I am so excited for Maysen! She sounded so happy too.

Stockton went bowling today. He needed to bowl four games to qualify for a chance to be on the competitive bowling team. He had done two games earlier, so the total is six. Stockton's average ended up being 123.5. He had one poor game with 101, but he did have a game that was 149. Hopefully he makes it, he would love it. The teacher in charge of the bowling is his statistics teacher. Stockton keeps talking about how he can't believe the statistics teacher is using such an incredibly small sample size. Ha!

Mike came home and packed things up for him and Preston to go to the cabin. A few days ago we noticed how cold it was getting up there, and we haven't winterized it yet. Mike decided to stop by and say hi to Maysen on the way to the cabin. It is about an extra hour to do that, but then he gets to see Maysen. I packed up some things to have him bring her. Shoes, boots, gloves and ear warmers that would be great for the zoo. Mike took Maysen and Preston out to eat. Preston looks excited.

Preston and Maysen

The theater was having a fundraiser at a dessert place called Create. Jorja wanted to go. She was able to convince Stockton and Evan to go with her. Evan is my favorite. Well, now he is tied with Drew as my favorite because he lost points when he admitted he used to like the song Set Fire to the Rain. I hate that song. It makes no sense. How can you set fire to rain? Why does she keep repeating that phrase over and over? So annoying. Anyways, Evan makes Jorja happy and that makes me happy. Evan is one of Isaac's (and Jorja's) best friends and is super nice to everyone. It was nice for Jorja to get out of the house with a friend. I'm glad Evan was willing to come along.

Evan my favorite

Jeff & Greg

I watched Jeff and Greg today while Matt and Sam went and picked out granite and floors for the condo they are redoing. I actually got them both asleep at the same time. Jeff was so cute to watch sleep. He was quite cozy.

Jeff

Stockton went to the first bowling activity for the bowling club. I can't remember if I wrote about this, but Alta is starting a bowling club. They will bowl every Wednesday. Stockton couldn't be more thrilled. The only problem was diving with BYU is Wednesdays and Saturdays. Stockton decided to move to the U for diving, which I think will be better in so many ways. Plus, now I won't have to check Preston out of school every Wednesday. I'm really happy about that. Stockton loved the bowling today. This looks like it is going to be a very good thing.

Tire Fruit

Our first stop today was at the hotel Marie left Jingle Puppy. She was so excited to have him back. I'm pretty sure I would have driven out of the way to get Shiver back for Preston.

Marie & Jingle Puppy

I got a new charger and was able to pry the broken part out of my phone.

We were making great time when we started to hear a weird noise. Rachel pulled over and we found out we lost a part of the tire. It was like a piece of fruit by the foot fell off the tire.

We tried to get it fixed as soon as possible. We drove through this town that looked like a ghost town. I finally took a picture, but most of the bad part was behind us. We did not want to sit and wait in a scary area like this with four little kids.

Rachel ended up driving on it for over an hour, but we made it to Memphis. The guy at Goodyear was super nice. They stayed open for us and got it fixed as fast as they could. He also told us about a delicious barbecue place that we could walk to. We hung out here while the car was being worked on.

Stephanie, Grace, Marie

 Eve, Rachel, Mina

 Eve often scowls and I find it hilarious

 Grace and Mina

We were finally back on the road, but that set us back several hours. It could have been tons worse though, so we were lucky. After awhile Grace started freaking out. She was crying and crying. Rachel thought it was her potty cry, so she pulled over trying to get her to go to the bathroom. She wouldn't stop crying. I took Grace and was able to get her calmed down. Because I'm her aunt.

Stephanie and Grace

I sat in the back with Grace for the next few hours. Turns out she didn't want to watch Pocahontas. We put a blanket over our heads and sang primary songs until she was calmed down. We made it to Birmingham Alabama. Eve had just fell asleep. Rachel said she was easy to transfer. Rachel went and got the keys to the room and asked that a crib be brought up. When we got in the room, there was no sheets or anything on the bed. We had to go and change rooms. It took a long time with a lot of commotion. Eve woke up and then it was super hard to get her back to sleep. Rachel had to go to the car to grab something. While she was gone the front desk called and said they had a noise complaint and we needed to keep it down. I told her we were doing the best we could, but the kids woke up. I'm thinking, there wouldn't have been a noise complaint if the room had been ready! Whew!!! What a day!

Stockton had his last bowling class today. Mike told me he won the eliminator bowling challenge. Everyone bowls one frame and the lowest is out. Repeat until only one remains. The last two contestants were Stockton and his teacher. Stockton got a strike for a win. Pretty awesome. Stockton even won this fancy trophy.

Idaho Falls Fireworks

I have been procrastinating writing this entry because I have so many pictures! Now I have dug myself into a hole and am now a week behind. Anyways, we started today up at the cabin. I bought a little kid toy at the store. Jeff liked watching his dad play it.

Matt, Abby and Jeff

 Matt & Jeff

Terry and Debie had a barbecue at their house. Mike and Stockton got there first. They came from Utah. It was fun to see some cousins. I didn't get to talk to many, but I saw Terry, Tammi, Jordyn, Courtney, Jason, Steve, Sharon and Renee. There were lots of people there. Terry and Debie set up a slip and slide. The kids had a great time. Preston had the bright idea to play a mini game with the kids as the bowling pins. They had so much fun doing that. Marie kept getting pummeled, but she took it like a champ.

Maysen & Anne, Grace

 Abby & Marie

 Mike

 Grace, Abby, Lincoln, Max, Preston holding hands getting ready to slide

 Grace loved the slide

 Matt & Jeff

Mina

 Maysen & Anne

 Maysen

 Abby, Ella, Lincoln

Marie, Mina, Preston

 Marie

Mina, Preston, Abby

Ella, Lincoln

Jeff, Matt, Greg

We hung out at Terry and Debie's for a long time. Debie had to leave and we were still there when she came back. She was surprised and said, "You are still here?" I told her we had no where to go. I did get to talk to Missy for a bit. Missy lives in Texas now and I haven't seen her for a long time. My kids found the playroom upstairs and had fun making a lego Mario Party board. Preston won.

Stockton, Mike, Jorja, Maysen, Preston

Jorja dancing

I have wanted to see the Idaho Falls fireworks show (put on by Melaleuca) for a long time. Everyone would say how amazing they were. First we stopped by Walmart and got some food and games to bring there. We followed Matt and Sam and drove and drove on fields for the parking. All I could think of was, "We are never getting out of here." We laid out our blankets near Sam's family. I was surprised. I thought everyone would stay at Terry and Debie's until it was time to go to the fireworks and we would all sit together. Oh well. I'm sure Sam loved sitting by her family and it was nice of them to save a space for us. We played a Brain Games board game while we waited. The fireworks were really pretty, and we had a great view.

We tried to hurry out as soon as we could. Mike took Maysen, Jorja and Preston in the jeep. My dad took me, Stockton and Max. We were able to pull out of our spot and drive about 20 feet. Then we were stuck there for two hours. It took us two hours to get out of the parking lot. Brett and Rachel watched from the other side of the river and were able to get all the way back to the cabin (about an hour and a half away) before we were even out of the parking lot. I was glad I was riding with my dad. I wanted to make sure he stayed awake. We got back to the cabin about two in the morning. Bubs and Ange left the fireworks and went home to Utah. Bubs said it took them over an hour to get out of the parking lot. Then about ten miles down I-15 they got a flat. They had to drive home slow on a spare the rest of the way. They got home about 5:30 in the morning. That sounds awful.