Christmas for Two

Stockton sent us this picture of Alyssa noticing the pencil sharpener. It has been a long joke about how unobservant the Millburn are. None of us noticed the pencil sharpener that is outside, but all of our spouses noticed it first thing. I think Bubs is the exception to us. Anyway, Stockton got a kick when Alyssa noticed the pencil sharpener. Alyssa also got all of her classes back, so that is a relief.

Alyssa

New tables at Alta

Mike, Stockton and Alyssa all got back from the cabin today. Stockton and Alyssa hung out with us for awhile. Maysen was able to give them her present. She got them a duffel bag she was really excited about. It actually was a super nice present. More pricey than a regular duffel bag, but she has enjoyed having a job so she can do things like this. Anyway, everyone borrows Maysen's duffel bag she got at the Overstock warehouse when we first moved here. She wasn't able to find the exact one, but she found one from the same brand. Mike and I gave them a router they will be able to use in their apartment. We are planning on giving them either a couch or a washer/dryer... they will let us know what they decide.

Stockton, Maysen, Alyssa

Mike and I went up to Alyssa's house and watched Stockton and Alyssa open their wedding presents. That was really fun. People are generous and very nice. Stockton said it was like Christmas but every present was for him. Hahaha

Stockton

Stockton and Alyssa stayed at her parents house tonight. Mike and I drove home exhausted. Long day, especially for Mike. Also... enjoy some random photos of Jorja's eye therapy homework. She has things taped like this around the house. Whatever works to get those eyes fixed!

Mission Tags

Jorja got her mission tags today! She was so excited. I worked today. The start of the school year is busy in the registrar's office! Jorja went by herself to eye therapy and to the dentist. Then she went on a date with Pete. Mike drove up to the cabin tonight. He is going to work there tomorrow and then help Stockton and Alyssa shut everything down. I hope they enjoyed their honeymoon. Back to the real world for them very soon.

Jorja

Jorja & Pete

Mouse Attack

Today at work we had a baby shower for one of the counselors named Cierra. It was at Sundays Best. We had permission to leave a bit early. It was fun and delicious. I got oatmeal. Mike texted later today and asked what I was doing. I sent him a picture. I was at the church park with Bear.

Bear

Mike played with a different sail today

Shannon

Shannon hopped on board for a bit while Steve was taking Brandon and his friends skiing. Glad Mike got some in person human interaction today! Stockton and Alyssa had quite the experience. A mouse woke them up when it ran under their sheets and across their legs. GROSS! We haven't had a mouse problem for a long time at the cabin and now Stockton & Alyssa experience this while on their honeymoon! Lame. And disgusting.

Unruly Tile

My dad gave a talk in his ward today, so I went to listen to him. I sat by myself in the back. About a year ago, Mike put a tile on my keychain, but we never got around to setting it up. So it is there for no reason. Jorja has a tile on her keychain and uses it ALL the time. She can locate her phone with her keys or her keys with her phone. I think my tile is running out of battery, because it will randomly go off when no one is touching it. I bet you can see where this story is going. I was sitting in the back when all of a sudden, during the prayer, the tile started going off. TWICE. I sat in the foyer for the rest of sacrament meeting. How embarrassing! While I was there a lady came in and asked if the bishop was there. I told her I didn't know because I was just visiting this ward. She put an envelope on the table next to me and said, "This is my tithing. It has money in there." Then she walked out. That was totally weird. I gave the envelope to my dad after his meeting ended and figured he could track her bishop down.

The kids watched zoom church. Jorja still feels really sick. So glad she didn't go to Colorado this morning. Her ticket was for 3:00 in the morning, or something insane like that. Jorja's mission farewell was originally supposed to be today. That would have been a disaster. Anyway, Maysen, Preston and I watched the zoom in the computer room. We had the intercom on so Jorja could listen to it from her bed. Preston did sacrament. That was pretty cool. He blessed it and passed it around, including going downstairs for Jorja. Mike came home from the cabin today. It is nice to have him back! I'm glad he was able to enjoy himself at the cabin.

Bear Escapes...Again

Mike had a better time on the lake yesterday than today. There was no wind or fish today. He is all packed up and ready to come home tomorrow. Yay! Bear dog escaped again when he was going to the lake. Mike had no idea how he did it, but he left his bone at the top of the deck. Mike was really worried he jumped that entire way. Turns out he just ran through the rails. He had never done that before. Maybe his new haircut gave him super skinny powers. Haha

Bear

Mike was worried Bear jumped from here

This is where Bear really got out

Jorja slept most of the day. She picked up her FSY friend, Riley, from the airport and hung out with him. At 9:30 pm she started not feeling good again. She felt her fever come back. She decided not to go to Denver tomorrow. I think that is a good decision. You know Jorja is really feeling sick if she is deciding not to go visit a friend and she paid for the ticket herself.

Stockton took his physics test today and got 100%. Alyssa picked him up from Snow College and they hung out in Mapleton. They watched fireworks and enjoyed the festivities that Mapleton put on. Stockton stayed over at Alyssa's house tonight. I'm glad he feels comfortable with her family and I'm glad they are so welcoming to him.

Alyssa & Stockton

Jorja Finishes FSY

Mike spent the day sailing on the lake. Bear dog got out of the gate and tried to follow him. Mike isn't sure how he escaped. Mike was able to get him back and go sailing. Mike doesn't want to take him out on the boat when he sails alone because he is worried Bear would get scared and jump in the water. Mike wouldn't be able to leave the boat to get him. Mike did leave Bear with a big bone to occupy his time. Also, Mike found out he can officially work from Idaho if he wanted to. Even full time. Mike was happy about that.

Bear & Mike

Bear

Alyssa's shower invitation

I got a haircut today. I wish I had picked the Blue Jays for survival baseball. They won the Red Sox 27-5. Hahahaha That's nuts! The game was played in Boston. Double nuts! Jorja still felt miserable today. At 8:00 am she texted me letting me know she was feeling better except her throat hurts so bad. She has a ticket to go to Denver on Sunday and was wondering if she should change it. She looked into it. It would cost $10 to change the ticket with $120 extra dollars in fees. That is more than the original ticket cost. Around 9:00 at night Jorja called me and asked if I could pick her up. She said she felt so sick and got permission to go home. She didn't think she could drive home. So, I picked her up in Provo. Just to recap. Mike and I drove two cars down to Provo on Sunday because she wanted her car and didn't think she could drive. We left Jorja and her car there and we drove home together. Jorja didn't drive her car the entire week. I drove down today and picked her up, leaving her car there. Somehow we got to get that back. Ugh. I wish she wouldn't have insisted on having her car, but oh well. Too late now. Anyway, I got to the dorms and texted Jorja that I was there. While I was waiting for her to text me back someone came and knocked on my window. I rolled it down and they told me my tire was flat. I went and looked and sure enough it was. Great. I found Jorja. The health counselors took her temperature on the way out and it was back to 100 degrees. What a way to end her FSY experience. This was her last week. Lame way for it to end. I got Jorja in the car, made it to a gas station and was able to get air in the tire. Jorja slept most of the way home. She sure looks miserable. I can't believe how long she has been sick. Hopefully this will go away soon.

My phone made this video and Preston liked it.

Utah/Seattle/South America

Mike has been having fun with Bear dog at the cabin and getting a lot of work done. There was a data temperature issue at work and he ended up being on a call for hours, but other than that it was great. Mike found Bear's purple ball that we lost up here last time. He got the drive belt back on the giant mower. Now he needs to replace one of the big tires on it. The water level is starting to go down on Palisades, but it is still pretty up there.

Bear 

Flat tire

Purple ball!

Parrydise

Sara Henderson called me and I was able to help her and Benny with transcripts they needed so he can apply to BYU. Benny is on a mission somewhere in South America. Sara and Ray are now Mission President and Companion of the Seattle Washington Mission. Crazy that Sara is already gone. They live on Mercer Island now. I'm glad I was able to help her. Benny had his P-Day while I was helping and sent me a thumbs up picture. Haha.

Elder Benny and tiny Sara

Stockton is loving FSY and said this is the easiest week so far.

Jorja still feels really sick. The health coordinators say it isn't strep, she doesn't have any white spots. By 11:00 pm she said she feels a lot better. Not perfect, but better. Hopefully she is done with this!

These are actually surprisingly good.

Maysen the Editor

I got a lot of pictures from Mike today. Sounds like he is having a great time at the cabin. He has worked a lot on his boat. He added a fishing pole holder, a gear hammock and a sink drying rack. These are pictures from the last two days of work. Mike said Bear did really well on the boat and the auto pilot is so cool.

Bear

Jorja is still pretty sick. At 10:00 this morning she sent me texts about how she still feels dizzy. She's not feeling good. Her throat isn't hurting but she feels so dizzy, like she is about to pass out. The FSY people are letting her take naps during class now, even though she isn't on break. She has been going outside and sleeping on the grass. I hope she starts feeling better soon. Too bad she can't fully enjoy her last week at FSY.

Stockton texted us about he was conducting a class where the general YM president and wife were in attendance. He got to shake President Lund's hand. Stockton is really liking his group of boys this week. I'm so glad he got a great group after the rough time he had last week.

I got locked out of the house today while I was running to the mailbox. The door shut behind me and for some reason the handle doesn't work. Preston was still asleep and Maysen was on a work call. I had to hop the fence and find a way inside. Preston and I both had eye appointments later today. Nice to get that done.

Maysen is being moved to the editing team at her job. She is super excited about this. A few weeks ago they asked the content writers to turn in 3,000 words a day. Maysen was asked to try to turn in 2,000 when she was hired. Trying to get to 3,000 has been so hard for her. Mostly because she turns in quality work and it takes awhile to research about whatever topic she needs to write about. Somehow she doesn't know the banking or real estate practice in Malta at the top of her head. She has been working almost non stop during the week. From the time she wakes up until the time she goes to bed. It is just not sustainable to keep doing this. When one of the editors left Maysen reached out and asked if she could become an editor. Well, she had a training this morning and she is starting today. She is really excited about it. I think this will be a much better job for her. Hope it is!

Otto

Mike has been enjoying his time at the cabin. He installed new speakers in the boat and said that parts of the old speaker crumbled to dust as he touched them to remove them. The sound is now so much better. He also got the auto pilot mostly installed. He said it looks like Otto from Wall-E. He is excited about this because he often goes sailing alone. This way he can have Otto steer while he messes with the sails and things like that.

Jorja still feels miserable, but better than yesterday. She is wondering if she should have just dropped this contract. It's too hard when she feels this sick. She might ask if she can go home early. She doesn't feel good at all. That was all texted to me around 7:30 this morning. At 2:00 she sent me a text saying she is feeling better. Hopefully the worst is over. Obviously I still feel too anxious to go to the cabin. Although I did remember that Preston and I have an eye doctor appointment tomorrow, so it's good we didn't go yesterday. Hopefully we can go before the week is up. I went down to Sherry's house to pick up the dress she wore at Tage's wedding. She is letting me borrow it if I want. I'm still going to look for something else because it doesn't fit me exactly right, but at least I have something if I need it. Also.... Alyssa's invitation for her bridal shower came today. It looks so cute. Becky is so nice. She is always thinking of ways she can serve other people.

Scoop's 83rd Birthday

Today was the last day at the cabin. It is also Scoop's birthday. Scoop got sick awhile ago and has been really dizzy. His eye doesn't open very well and he has to wear an eyepatch. It was nice to spend his birthday with him. Mike and Matt took Tage and Dallin out out on the jet ski/wake boarding this morning. Scoop and Cori took them home this afternoon. I went home with the Hardys later. Mike is staying up here a few more days. It was fun riding back with the Hardys. Miah and Xander were belting out songs, including show tunes the entire way home. It made me laugh.

Sherry, Scoop, Mike

Xander & Bear

Checked where Mike was while I was driving home. Hahaha He loves that boat.

I got home just around 11:00. I talked to Maysen for a long time and then headed to bed so I could wake up bright and early to get Preston. Jorja came home after midnight and then did laundry. They let her leave early since she has to fly to Hawaii tomorrow. Tough life. Jorja also sent me this video of Preston. His group won the FSY cheer and got to perform it in front of everyone. Stockton and Jorja both said this was awesome and a pretty big deal to get picked. I finally got a text from Preston asking how he was doing. It said, "It's been good." Glad Jorja is there to let me know he really is having a good time. Boys!

Parrydise and Provo

Today was a nice relaxing day on the lake. Mike, Matt, Tage and Dallin went out in the morning. They did wake boarding with the jet ski and Mike got his boat out onto the water. Around lunchtime Sherry, Miah, Xander, Scoop, Cori and I went out to the boat for lunch. Tage and Dallin came back and watched the dogs. We had lunch on the boat and that was nice. Xander spent a lot of time on the jet ski and loved it. I don't enjoy the sailboat aspect of being on the water. I do not like it when the boat lurches to one side. I went down below and read a book. Miah had a great time hanging out on the top, front of the boat. She was happy as could be. Down below she would feel sick. Xander and I bonded reading below. After everyone had turns doing whatever they wanted we headed back around 5:30. Xander said he has decided everyone was right, the cabin is a lot of fun. He declared he would come up in the winter! Xander hasn't come up for the last few years. He is an indoor boy and likes to say he hates the sun. That will be great to have him come! It's been fun getting to know Xander better this trip.

I love this picture of Miah & Xander reading

Miah

The rest of the day was dinner and games. Sherry made a delicious dinner of potstickers, spring rolls and salad. There were also hamburgers for whoever wanted them. Sherry and Cori went to the store to get a few things for Scoop's birthday tomorrow. They also got Mike and I some things for the cabin as a thank you. A camper napkin holder and hot pad, a s'mores cooker and a cute bag for me for when I start my new job. That was nice! We played the tree game on the oculus and I played Canadian Salad with Scoop, Cori & Matt. I won by a lot so that was very productive. Haha (Usually I blow it with the last hand.) Today was a really good day.

Today also looked like it was a good day in Provo. Jorja sent me these pictures of Preston. She said he looked very happy and even did a dance for her. I am so glad the two of them are up there together! I'm glad Preston is having a fun week. Not going to lie, I was pretty worried. So glad it's been great.

Preston & Jorja

Housing Secured!

We got up early this morning and made it to Steve & Sharon's cabin by 7:45. Sharon got us all geared up and we headed to the river. We had two great runs. Two rafts on the first one and one on the second. Mike was able to go on the first one. We both used our wetsuits and I ended up being so grateful for that! Sharon had Tage and Dallin each have a turn on the stick. That was great! Mike went back to the cabin after the first run. Sherry was going to be there before the second run was over. I decided to keep my wetsuit on for the second run even though multiple people told me I would be too hot. Usually the second run is pretty hot and I just wasn't sure what I should do. Well, it wasn't today. It was colder than the first run. (That rarely happens!) I was very thankful I kept it on because I was cozy the entire time! We hit some good waves the second run and we were covered! It was also fun to see Sharon enjoying the raft. The second run had a lot of people since we only had one boat and only two less people from the previous run. Sharon just got to ride and she enjoyed every second of it!

When we finished the runs and finished cleaning up, Tage, Dallin and I watched a video with Steve, Sharon and Ruby. (Ruby is a 12 year old girl that was at the cabin with Sharon's brother and sis-in-law. They were planning on staying until Friday, but their daughter called early in the morning to tell them that her water broke and she would be having her baby, five weeks early. Stockton style.) Ruby also LOVED Tage. She thought Tage was the coolest person she ever met. Tage was also super nice to her. It was really cute. After the rafting video, Steve took us back to our cabin. I ran in and got rafting pictures that had my mom in it. This was taken on her birthday in 1993. The last birthday she had before she got cancer. She probably had cancer in these pictures and just didn't know it. I snapped some pictures before handing them to Steve. It is hard giving up pieces of my mom, even though giving them to Steve & Sharon will be so much better than having them stuffed in a drawer. One of my favorite things about these pictures is my mom's handwriting on the back. It's awesome. I love looking at her name. She wrote the best cursive rs. Anyway, I gave them to Steve and Sharon for their collection. Crazy this was her birthday. I miss her. 

Mike was gone when we got back. He was at the lake with the Hardys. They had fun playing with the jet ski. Xander and Miah loved it! The Hardys also brought their dog Nagi. Bear and Nagi had fun playing on the beach. Luckily they are getting along.

Scoop and Cori arrived shortly after Mike got back from the beach. Perfect timing. This is the first time Mike's dad has been here and Mike loved showing him around.

We had hamburgers and played games. We had a giant Canadian Salad game. I thought I had tied Mike with 20 points (which is an excellent score on that game) but I missed a trick and ended up taking second with 30 points. Everyone else was in the 100s I think, but I still lost by 10. Fun that Mike won that though.

The best thing that happened today was Stockton and Alyssa secured housing! Alyssa noticed that housing was being opened again on July 6th at 9:00. Ten spots were available. They got everything ready and decided to send two emails. Stockton sent his right at 9:00 and Alyssa sent hers at 9:00 and 20 seconds. Stockton got an email saying he got in if the forms were filled out and the deposit paid in the next 24 hours. Alyssa got one saying that they were sorry, they got over 100 applications in 10 minutes. Wow! So thankful they will have a place to stay in the fall! They put a 1 bedroom as their first choice and a 2 bedroom as their second. They will find out in a couple of weeks which one they get. So relieved and thankful they were able to get in!!!!!