Anne's Journal

Matt and Sam came to town for Sam's work. They were having some conference. Yesterday they found out it would be virtual. Sam spent the day in Stockton's room on her laptop in meetings. Matt has been teaching English to kids in China all night long. He stays up all night and has little cat naps between classes. Yesterday they got back so late from Lagoon. He slept for just a bit and was up by 2:00 am to teach classes. I was up at 6:45 am and he was still teaching. I don't know how he does it.

Matt and Sam went to a movie once Sam finished work. My dad had given them a movie gift card and told them he would babysit five years ago. Today they cashed it in. My dad came up here to watch the kids. Don't worry, I helped him. Stockton has been spending many hours writing his plates. Anne asked him what he was doing. He told her he was writing his journal and she wanted to write one too. She found a pen from Great Wolf Lodge that has a diamond looking thing on it and went to work. This was the result.

Anne's Journal Princess Lily

Once upon a time there was a little princess girl named lily and she had been tired of being treated like a princess. She hated the whispering as she passed, the gown she had to wear, the high shoes she had to wear, and the rules she had to follow. but one day there was something even worse, a ball had been decreed anouncing the marige of there dauter (that was lily). to a son of a kid of a very differerent kingdom. everyone had idias of a wedding gown exept a young ladie named maddie. she knew the troubles she was haveing. the ladie had a simple dress that lily loved. when the ball finally arived the king had a gown the looked even more uncomforitable. She wished she could have maddie's dress, and at that there was maddies dress right there on her bodie. "What!" the king roared at the sight of her. "the prince is going to hate you" she ached with hopefullness at the thout and said "hopefully." and befor she knew it everything was gone."

end by dead die

Hahaha isn't that great? Kids are the best. I read it and thought that the reason everything was gone was because the prince didn't want to marry her anymore because he didn't like her dress. I asked Anne if that was the reason. She looked at me confused and said, "No, didn't you read? Everything is gone because of the knife." Then she acted out violent stabbing motions. I was stunned and said what? She said, "The king!" and did the stabbing motions again. Hahahaha I guess I should have paid more attention to the last page. Anne has always liked stories with villains. Man, it cracked me up. Can you believe how great of a writer she is? I liked "She ached with hopefulness at the thought." Not many seven year olds write like that. Okay, now that the story is over, here are some pictures of ducks.

Amy, Anne and ducks

Greg, Anne, Bear, ducks

Amy, Anne, ducks, Greg, Bear

Greg & Amy watching Anne chase the ducks

Anne with the ducks in a row ~ Angel, Peach, Daisy, Dodgers

Rachel slept here tonight. She didn't get in until super late because they had another long day at Lagoon. Rachel had bought season passes when she found out Brett was going to be deployed to Qatar. A few months later they un-deployed him. Woohoo! Except Rachel now had five season passes to Lagoon and she lives in Ohio. Haha. She is trying to get use out of them this week. Anyway, we had Jorja's room set up for Rachel. Maysen, Stockton and Preston all slept out in the motorhome. Jorja slept on the couch because she had to be at work at 6:30 in the morning and wanted to already be in the house when she woke up. It's been a crazy few days, but it sure has been fun!

Cousin Baseball

Heather is dating someone. His name is Josh. He is the head coach for the Davis High School baseball team. Jordyn and I had been wanting to check him out for awhile. We thought today would be the perfect opportunity. So, Heather, Jordyn, Markell and I all went to the baseball game. Markell even brought her boyfriend Ezra, so we got to meet him too. The weather was great and the game was so much fun! I drove up to Layton with Jordyn, so it was an enjoyable ride. Heather gave us strict instructions that we were not allowed to be embarrassing. Haha! We were well behaved. The game went extra innings. Markell and Ezra had an appointment, so they had to leave. Jordyn and I left after the 9th inning. Jordyn had a pickle ball game scheduled. The game went 10 innings. Davis scores five runs in the tenth and Layton scored 3. Too bad we missed the grand finale! Still, we had a great time.

Jordyn, Heather, Markell, Ezra, Stephanie

Preston had Young Mens at the Henderson's house. They did family search stuff. Jorja had work. She worked from 3:30-9:00. I told Mike I was going to be so mad if they kept her late again. Well...you guessed it. Shortly after 9:00 Jorja called and said they accidentally wrote that she was working until 10:00 on the board, so the manager sent someone else home. What? That's ridiculous. I was so annoyed. When I'm annoyed I don't hide it very well. If Jorja stays until 10:00, she might end up staying until 11:00 like she did last night. Her grades are awful. Two days in a row with all of her free time at work? That's not good. Jorja ended up getting home right at 10:00. I asked her why she didn't stay until 10? She said she started crying when she got off the phone with me, so her manager let her come home early. Whoops. I was really mad though and I'm glad Jorja got home. She stayed up late working on homework. That poor girl.

Jorja

Adopted Sisters

Jorja had a hard day today. She texted me from school saying, "I can't do this mom. I have a D+ in history" She had been working on her history papers over the weekend. Her teacher told her she just needed to have them in at the end of the quarter. He doesn't remember that. He said the highest she can get on anything is a B-, which leaves her grade in the toilet. We texted back and forth for awhile trying to figure out a solution. Later that day she texted, "I can't do ap classes I'm sorry. I literally can't do them." That is not true. She can. She has just missed so much school and been so sick. We texted for awhile longer then she said, "I'm actually crying in class right now I can't do this." It was a hard day. The quarter ends on Friday, so everything is intense right now. Jorja stayed after and talked to her Chemistry teacher. Usually that class has been an easy A for Jorja. She texted me and said the highest grade she could get was a B. That surprised me. Still, I just want Jorja to get out of this quarter with decent grades. It has been so rough. Jorja stayed after school to find out who made it to finals for the student body office elections. I brought her work clothes when I picked her up and she changed in the car. She had to work from 3:30-10:00. Except she didn't get off until 11. She works way too much for how tired she has been. I have been trying to convince her to say she can't work past 9. She doesn't want to do that. I never let Maysen or Stockton have a job because I was worried it would interfere with their grades. I wanted them to get scholarships and thought it would pay more in the long run to have a scholarship then a part time job. Both Maysen and Stockton got excellent scholarships. Fingers crossed Jorja will be able to figure something out as well.

I got to talk to Stockton today! This calling every p-day is amazing! I love talking to him. He was sick though. He has been sick since Saturday. He said that everyday he hopes he either wakes up better or super sick. If he was super sick he could stay home and recover. He has felt awful, but not enough to stay in bed all day. Riding a bike when he had the chills wasn't super fun though. He also had problems with his bike tires again. I talked to Stockton for two hours. While they were at the gym for basketball, while he was doing laundry and while he was fixing his bike tire. He was super embarrassed about dropping two phones at the same time into the toilet. So, Stockton has had better weeks than this one.

I met my cousins Heather, Jordyn and Markell for dinner. It was awesome! We laughed and laughed and laughed. We were so loud. Whoops. We stayed until we realized the restaurant had closed. I hope we get together like this more often, because I loved every second of this. At one point one of the girls said something about her divorce and the others gave her fist bumps. I said, "Wow. I don't fit in here." Or something like that. I was the only one not divorced at the table, and it was weird. Heather looked at me right away and said, "Who here has a mom?" Hahaha! I laughed so hard! I know I have written this down before, but when I was in Idaho there was a ton of people in my grandparents' kitchen. A phone rang and Mike picked it up. The caller was listed as MOM. Mike held up the phone and said, "Who here has a mom?" Everyone started saying, "Not me, not me, not me" There was not one person in the room that had a mom. Heather was there when it happened. We all started laughing hysterically and pointing at each other saying, "You don't have a mom!" We were crying from laughing so hard. Jordyn's mom came in right after it happened and said, "This is the saddest thing I have ever heard!" Which made us laugh even harder. The second Heather said that to me I started laughing so hard. Anyway, Markell is the only one of us that has a sister. I will have to adopt Heather and Jordyn as my sisters from now on. Haha.

Markell and I had our food served in a pineapple

 Markell & Jordyn

 Stephanie, Heather, Markell, Jordyn

Cousin Bonding

Preston woke up feeling sick today. He went to church, but we didn't have him pass the sacrament. He rested a lot when he got home.

Some of my cousins came over today. Savannah is having a mastectomy tomorrow. She wanted to have a chance to talk with Heather and I before her surgery since both of us have had one. It was so much fun being with them. Savannah told us that the doctor said to her, "It sounds like you have been preparing all your life for this." Yep. Just part of being in our family. Heather has been retested for the gene mutations. They also found an ATM gene that causes breast cancer in her. I don't know if that is from our side of the family or from her dad's side. It wouldn't surprise me if it was our side. We got hit hard. I am so mad that I was so behind on the blog, because I can't remember much about this night. I just know I loved every second with these girls.

Heather, Larkin, Savannah, Jordyn, Debie, Stephanie

22 Years

That's how long ago my mom died. Twenty-Two years today. Boo. We hurried this morning to make it to the 9:00 session of the Jordan River Temple dedication. When we came home there was a plate of cinnamon rolls on our doorstep with flowers. Becky Johnson had left them there with the nicest card hoping my day was going okay. I love her! She is so kind.

Steve & Shannon and their boys came over for lunch. We had hamburgers. For some reason the pilot light went out on our indoor grill. Mike didn't want to take the time to fix it, so he grilled outside. Just as a giant windstorm came. And rain. It didn't rain for long though. The kids were able to play with their laser tag guns. Recoil, I think? Steve has the same guns that Mike got for his birthday. They played outside with those for awhile.

They also played some weird jeep shooting game on their phones. I'm not sure what the game is, but I know Mike kept running over his own teammates. I know he wasn't supposed to do that. It was nice that they could all play at the same time. Mike had it on the tv screen as well.

Stockton, Steve, Jorja, Weston, Mike, Brandon

 Jacob, Steve, Jorja, Weston

 Weird game they were playing.

Jorja likes to play this even weirder game. The Grandma is the bad guy. You have to hide from her, collect things and try to get out of the house before she kills you. It is freaky when she gets you. Jorja has never made it out of the house alive. These next two pictures are of Jorja showing them the grandma game. Her phone is also hooked to the tv.

Brandon, Weston, Jorja, Stockton

 Jorja was not successful.

Today was really fun hanging out with the Smiths. Brandon graduates from high school a week earlier than Stockton. Lucky! The kids are so ready to be done at this point, but they all have school tomorrow.

No Parking

Wow! What a day! We planned on going to the cabin today. Yesterday Jorja found out that her first softball practice of the season would be on Saturday. She didn't want to miss that. Also, Katlyn is going to be singing in sacrament meeting and she wanted to watch her. We agreed to let her stay home. She is going to sleep at Matt and Sam's house. I texted Katlyn's mom and she said it would be great for Jorja to go to church with them and she would bring her back when they were done. Yay!

I totally forgot about volunteering in Preston's class. I had lunch plans with my cousins. I texted them and we were able to push back lunch until noon. Still, I was late. To make matters worse, an NCAA basketball game was going on AND so was Comic Con! There was no parking anywhere! I usually park in the City Creek parking garage. I drove around that thing for a half an hour looking for a spot. Several other cars were doing the same thing. I finally gave up and found a parking meter a few blocks away. I ran all the way to Blue Lemon and were able to see Heather and Jordyn for a few minutes. I had asked them to get their food. Jordyn wanted to know if they could buy my lunch. I told her no. I wasn't 100% positive I would find anywhere to park. Anyways, I'm glad I saw them for a few minutes. Jordyn had to leave after a bit - tax season. I was able to talk to Heather for a little longer. It is so nice. I LOVE my cousins!

On the way home I was getting texts from Jorja asking if she could go to a friends after school. I could only look at the texts at lights. When I realized that I never met this friend before I texted, "I'd rather you just come home. Only because I'm going to be out of town. I'd rather meet her first before you go to her house or before she is over when we're gone. Sorry." Jorja sent a text back and called right when I walked in the door. I handed the phone to Mike because I really needed to go to the bathroom. Mike told her she could go to the friends. I was so mad! Jorja and I texted back and forth for awhile. Jorja was confused because Dad said yes. I was confused because I didn't realize she was asking him the same thing I already told her no for. Another one of my texts, "It is super stressful for me to not know where you are. I agreed to let you stay, but I don't like it. I don't want to be worried that you are dead in a ditch somewhere. Let's be honest, how many times have you made plans with your friends and then I have to pick you up anyway? Remember the last time you went to Classic?"Anyways, we ended up compromising. I talked to Kiyara's mom on the phone for awhile. She promised me she wouldn't murder Jorja. I let her know that I couldn't be a backup to get them. Kiyara's mom was really nice and probably thought I was a crazy person.

Our drive to the cabin was uneventful - yay! We made it around 10:00. Preston was cute working on Mike's laptop the entire way. He did RPG maker and played Geometry Dash. Made the trip go fast for him!

Preston

I always, always, always love being at the cabin. Today is no exception. It is so nice here! It doesn't look like we will be able to sled though. Lots of snow, but lots of dirt. Oh well, it will be nice anyway.

Cousin Lunch

I had my cousin lunch today. I was so excited about it. We usually meet at City Creek because Heather and Jordyn can meet us during their lunch break. Jorja has the day off of school, so I asked her if she would like to come with her friends. They love going to the mall, so I thought they would have fun hanging out at this gorgeous place. Jorja invited three friends. This morning it dawned on me that I only have the jeep! There are four seat belts in the jeep and we had potentially five people going. Whoops! I called my dad but he was taking Gayle to the doctors. I called Matt and Sam. They said I could borrow their car. That was so nice of them! After talking to Sam it dawned on me that we could just ride trax. That was my plan. I was worried I would be late, but I didn't know what else to do. Luckily for me, one of the girls couldn't go. I drove Jorja, Hailey and Katlyn up to Salt Lake. We got lunch at Chick-Fil-A. I sat by my cousins and they sat by themselves. Jorja did give Jordyn a clear jelly stamper we had got for her awhile back. I hope she has fun with it!

Meanwhile, at my table was Heather, Jordyn, Derek & Kendra and their two kids - Evelyn and Paisley. Lunch went by way too quickly, as it always does. It was wonderful to have this brief moment with my cousins. I walked Jordyn back to her building then hurried back to the food court. Kendra was still in the play area. I sat and talked with her while Evelyn and Paisley played. I think Paisley and Millie look exactly alike. It is crazy. I had brought my dot-to-dot book to do if I had extra time. I hate shopping so this sounded wonderful. Luckily I didn't need to resort to that and was able to spend time getting to know Kendra better. As we were leaving I ran into Jorja and her friends. Talk about timing! We went and picked up some frozen yogurt at Farr's before we headed home.

Funny I have a picture of yogurt, but nothing of people. Not my cousins, not Jorja or her friends. Oh well. Jorja and I spent the rest of the day watching movies. Well, tv shows. She wanted me to watch Stranger Things with her. Then she watched A Series of Unfortunate Events. I fell asleep while she was watching that. Since Mike was gone, she slept upstairs with me. It was really fun to have one-on-one time with her. Mike had the boys to himself for most of the day. Jeff's kids had school, so they got up there this evening. It sounds like they are having a great time so far. Days off are the best.

Larkin and Rennie

I watched Jeff for a lot of the day today. Well, not a lot of the day, but a couple of hours while the kids were gone. He was great. We played legos and watched some Leapfrog shows. I was hoping to find the Letter Factory, but I could only find the updated ones. They just aren't as cool as the old ones. Matt picked up Jeff and I headed to the school to pick up Stockton. I dropped off Stockton at diving and went to the Chick-Fil-A down the street. I met Larkin and Rennie there. We talked and watched Rennie come in and out of the play place for about an hour. I was glad I could see Larkin. She can't make it to the lunch tomorrow, so it was nice for me to snag her. Poor Rennie was so sick over Christmas. She was in the hospital twice with the croup. I don't miss those scary times of wondering if your child can breathe. Stockton liked to pull that trick the most. We haven't had to rush him to the emergency room for breathing issues for about twelve years.

Mike brought Preston to diving and picked up Stockton. We hurried home as soon as Preston was done. Mike took the boys to the cabin tonight. I was really nervous about them leaving so late. Mike texted me in Evanston, Cokeville and when they arrived at one in the morning. He promised me he would, even though he knew I would be asleep. It was perfect though because when I woke up early I saw the message that they were safe. That's all I needed to know.

Cousin Lunch

I love living close to some of my cousins.  We met for lunch at Blue Lemon.  It is right in-between Heather and Jordyn's offices.  Kendra lives across from the capitol, which isn't too far away either.  Usually Larkin is able to come, but she said she was busy for a long time.  She drives from Provo, so it is harder for her to get away.  Anyways, it was great seeing these girls!  I could spend every day with them and not get sick of them.  Ha!

Evelyn, Kendra, Paisley, Jordyn, Heather

Stephanie

I tried to take the selfie, but with my short arms it didn't work out too well.  Heather mentioned she should have taken it, but she always gets stuck doing that.  The curse of being tall.

Stockton and I went to diving today.  I was so tired.  I only got four hours of sleep.  I usually stay in the car for an hour before I go in and watch Stockton for the second hour.  That way I don't get a ticket.  I leaned the seat back and fell asleep.  I awoke to someone looking in my window.  That startled me.  For a minute I thought it might be a parking ticket guy.  I opened my door and talked to the college student. He said, "I'm sorry.  I just hit your car."  Whoops.  I slept through that! You could see where he it the car because there was red paint.  It just happened to be in a spot that got damaged years ago.  His poor car was brand new and shiny.  He had lots of scrapes on his front bumper. Poor kid.

Family Pictures

I finished John's Christmas stocking this morning!  I was so excited to give it to him.  I hope he loves it.  It is perfect for him.

My entire family spent the day together and it was awesome!  My dad made scones.  We had a number/letter system.  Here is Marie keeping track of her letter for her scone.

Marie

Stockton played with the little cousins all day long.  He taught them how to play scum.  They loved it!  They loved how silly Stockton was.

Skye, Grace, Stockton, Mina

Larkin, Marie, Ella, Abby

The 4-wheelers were a big hit....even if they weren't moving.

Trevor & Blake, John

Mike took John & Mallory and Matt & Anne on a sailboat ride.  Anne did not like it, but Mallory loved it.  Mallory jumped in over and over. It didn't matter that she was wearing a dress!  Mike said the entire way Mallory leaned over the boat with her head in the water.  She loved it! Mike called us when he was ready to be picked up.  Brett & Mike drove the 4-wheelers down to pick them up.  Mike (Smith) drove one back with John, Mallory and the boat.  Mike (Millburn) drove the other one with Larkin, Brett, Matt and Anne.  Mike wasn't used to having so many people with him.  He took a pretty steep hill.  Matt tried to warn him, but Mike thought he could make it.  He didn't.  The 4-wheeler tipped at the top, dumping Matt & Anne, Brett and Mike.  Larkin was holding onto the handles swinging in the air.  Brett and Mike got her down as fast as they could.  Matt rolled out of the way with Anne.  They were driving the 4-wheeler with the cage on it.  The cage held and didn't tip.  We are so lucky!  I wonder if my mom was protecting them. Anne did not like the fall, even though she has an awesome story to tell. Her foot hurt and she had it wrapped up most of the day.  It was so cute.  She always said her foot hurt when Sam was around.  When Blake brought out the water guns she had no problems with it.  I hope she starts feeling better.  She must be scared to death!  She kept saying, "My daddy saved my life!"

Stephanie & Anne

The kids wanted Mike and John to take them on a 4-wheeler ride.  I thought it was funny how all the kids wanted to be with Mike.  John kept saying things like, "I'm over here.....all alone...." I took this picture after Blake hopped off Mike's and went to John's.  It was even funnier before.

Larkin, Skye, Abby

Mike, Parker, Mike

 John, Blake, Trevor

One thing I really wanted to happen on this trip was to get a family picture.  This is the first time every member of my family is in one place since Matt's wedding.  Granted, the picture will only be current for a few weeks.  Still, I really wanted one.  I didn't want to deal with color schemes, makeup or hair.  We all just came as we were.  Maysen is in her pajamas.  Looking at the pictures with my brothers and sister-in-laws I realize I probably should have at least changed my shirt!  Oh well.  I still love them!  

Dad

Jorja, Mike, Stephanie, Preston, Stockton, Ange, Bubs, Maysen

(Back) Sam & Jeff, Anne & Matt, Brett & Eve, Rachel

Parker & Mike, Christen, Cassie & John

(Middle) Marie, Lincoln, Ella, Skye

(Front) Grace, Abby, Amelia, Mallory
Larkin, Blake, Mina, Trevor, Brandon

Hope you can follow my naming if ever it is needed.  Lots of people.

 I think this one is my favorite

I tried to get a picture of all the grandkids piled onto my dad.  That didn't work out too well, but this is what we got.

Eve's leg, Ella, Stockton's shoulder, Marie, Lincoln
Mike & Parker, Skye, Brandon

Jorja, Maysen, Grandpa's head, Grace, Abby, Preston's arm
Mina, Amelia, Trevor, Mallory, Larkin, Blake hiding, Jeff & Sam

 Now with Anne, but Parker's done

 Crazy kids . . . poor Grandpa

I didn't get a chance to snap individual family pictures of everyone, but I got a few.  I was so annoyed that I didn't get a cousin picture, but everyone humored me and let me get one at the end of the day.

John & his boys

Trevor, John, Brandon

 Cassie, Trevor, Brandon, John, Mallory

 Stephanie and Parker

 Stephanie, Parker, Mike

 Nationals Fans

Mike & Marie

 Parker, Mike & Marie

 All my brothers!

Spencer, Stephanie, Brett, Michael, Matthew, John

 With our dad

 The girls!

Angela, Stephanie, Rachel, Christen, Samantha, Cassandra

At least I think Cassie's name is Cassandra.  What a trouper Cassie is!  I think she is 37 weeks along. I would have had both of my boys by this point.  Cassie drove from OREGON!  They stopped every few hours to rub her legs so she wouldn't get blood clots.  Still.  She is crazy!  She loves our family.

Brett & Rachel

Grace, Mina, Eve, Marie

 Eve looks like she is saying cheese on this one.

 I love Marie!

 Silly faces!

 Skye, Blake, Mike, Larkin, Christen, Parker

 Silly faces.  Christen's makes me laugh!

Mike was anxious to get in another sailboat ride.  Of course it wasn't until he took off that I realized that I didn't get a cousin picture.  Mike took Jorja, Preston and Lincoln with him.  They went all the way to the beach on the other side.  We had never been there before.  It was really muddy.  They had fun hiking in the mud.  Jorja and Preston didn't have shoes.  They would probably have lost them anyway.

 Jorja

 Lincoln, Preston, Jorja

 Preston & Jorja

 Lots of people here, just like the old days.  I love it!

Bubs picked up the kids from the sailboat and took Lincoln straight back to Steve & Sharon's cabin.  I called and asked if he could come back.  Lincoln was tired and freezing, but he came.  I'm glad he did, because the picture with him looking at Anne is my favorite!  It's still hard to see everyone, but this is the best we could do.  The first picture is the only picture I have of Jeff's complete face.  I'll put the names on the other picture because it is easier to see people in that one.

 Amelia, Marie, Lincoln, Anne, Preston, Skye, Parker, Abby, Grace

Jeff & Jorja, Trevor, Ella, Eve, Maysen, Brandon, Stockton

Blake, Mina, Mallory & Larkin

 Look how cute Lincoln and Anne are!

Bubs was behind me making faces, if you can't tell by Millie's expression.  She thinks her dad is the funniest person alive!  Lincoln, Ella and Abby think he's pretty funny too.

 Grace is trying to make herself go blind

And that's a wrap for the day.  I stayed up super late with my brothers playing games.  When we went to bed we found out lots of the kids were still awake in the basement.  They were on the bunk beds listening to Stockton tell them a story.  Stockton was on the beanbag below them.  His story took hours.  Jorja and Preston slept through it.  They know how long Stockton can drag out those stories.  I know Marie and Mallory were still awake.  I think Skye and Larkin were too, but I can't quite remember.  Stockton is such a good cousin.  I think they will remember that for a long time.