Conference Breakfast

We decided to do a family breakfast instead of a family dinner this month. My dad came over first so he could get the scones rising. Sam made a French toast casserole that was delicious. When Bubs and Ange came over, I started talking to Abby about cousins. She liked how Amy's name started with an A, just like her name does. We decided to make a graft of the cousin's names. Then we added the parents and my mom and dad. This is what our graft turned out like. M was the clear winner. If we did a graft of last names M would win by a mile.

Amelia's birthday is on Monday, so we celebrated her birthday too. Maysen, Jorja and Lincoln all have October birthdays (of the family that was here.) They all decided Amelia would be the most excited about blowing out the candles. I was excited to find a chocolate vegan cake for Anne. This isn't the vegan cake, but at least Anne had a chocolate cake she could eat.

 Amelia

 Jeff's head, Maysen, Preston, Amelia blowing out candles, Gayle, Greg & Matt, Max's legs, Ange's legs....I think....

We "watched" the first session of conference together. I definitely will need to rewatch that one. I like to watch all of conference again anyway. When Matt and Sam were packing up we couldn't find Anne and Jeff. They were downstairs reading with Stockton and Jorja. I loved that!

Jeff & Stockton, Jorja & Anne

Stockton LOVES babies. I was sad I didn't get a picture of him with Amy, so he came upstairs and posed for me by her carseat. He assured me he had the chance to meet her and already had a conversation with her. I love him!

Amy & Stockton

Jorja wanted to show Stockton her new car. Stockton and Jorja drove with her in the front seat, Mike and I were in the back. Stockton liked the car a bit more after driving it. Surprisingly it has a lot of power. Stockton drove around Pepperwood and then to our church parking lot. He made Jorja drive. It was so funny to hear Stockton try to teach Jorja how to use the clutch. "It's like kissing a boy. You need to move in gently...." He said he was trying to teach her in language she would understand. Hahahahaha. Mike helped Jorja get her new license plate on her car. Seriously. I hope she doesn't regret this license plate. 

Jorja and the front of Maggie

 Now the back

Stockton had his diving friends over for the second session of conference. Gavin, Dani, Noelle, and Connor all came. They stayed for a long time and seemed to love it. Mike took me to the airport before Maysen and Stockton left for Logan. I flew out to New Mexico. It was great to see my brother Mike. I love my family!

Tucson Arizona

Ahhhh!!!! Today was finally the day when we were able to find out where Stockton will be spending the next two years of his life. Mike and I went to the store this morning and got stuff for French toast.  Stockton had planned on opening his call at 11:00. I had mentioned this on Facebook before, but about 10:00 I put a message that we would do a Facebook live at 11:00. I wanted the family members who weren't here to be able to watch him. Right after I posted that message Stockton and his friends decided to go down to the lake. They left at 10:30. I was so close to posting, "Update: Stockton is out skipping rocks. We will go live when he gets back." Haha. They pulled in at 10:58. Nothing like cutting it close. I don't have any pictures during the actual call, just some after. If I could change anything, I wish I would have handed my phone to someone else to record Facebook thing. Still, it worked out great except the video is too long to make it on this blog.

Mike brought up an iPad that he was able to download his call on it. It worked really well. I don't think Stockton missed the call not being in an envelope. Stockton was so cute when he was reading it. You could tell that he was emotional. I don't see him like that very often. Time seemed to stand still when he started reading his call. I wanted to yell out, "Wait! I'm not ready yet." But decided that wasn't a good idea. Stockton will be serving in the Arizona  Tucson Mission. He will be English speaking and leaves January 30th, two days after his birthday. I was actually quite shocked with his call. I thought for sure he would go foreign and speak a different language. He is so dang smart, so I knew he would be awesome at it. He checked the box that he was extremely interested in learning a foreign language and extremely interested in going on a foreign mission. The first thought that came to my mind when I heard this call was someone must need him there. Stockton had the same kind of thoughts. He told me that he thinks he could've done well in a foreign place so there definitely must be a reason he's going so close to home. Mike's Aunt and Uncle live in Tucson. Scoop called them to tell them Stockton would be serving there. Scoop said that Carter was so excited. He had never heard him that excited before. The mission home is in Carter and Marveen's ward. He said they would look out for Stockton. (Marveen is Grandma Honey's youngest sister.)

Stockton with his call

 Amelia & Abby in their unicorn shirts

 Stockton and Jorja watching Raising Arizona to prepare for his mission.

It was so cute. After Stockton read his call, Preston brought him a globe and they sat down and looked where he would be. Amelia brought the globe. Ange said, "I think it will break her heart if he gets sent to the other side of the world." I'm glad people think of things I don't think of. I'm going to always love these pictures.

Stockton & Preston

We had Stockton's favorite Cold Stone cake to celebrate. I didn't get a picture of that, but it said Called to Serve on it. I was taking the divers home and had to hurry on out of there. Noelle needed to be back at 6:00 to go to Homecoming. Now that's a real friend! I dropped her off at her house right at 5:58. Cutting it close, but we made it.

Zoe, Gavin, Noelle, Dani, Stockton, Connor, Gage, Daedan

I made the divers listen to the BYU/McNeese State football game on the radio. I'm sure they loved it. Ha! It made my drive great. Once I got home I wasn't sure how to listen to it. I asked the Alexa on our thermostat in the hallway. It worked. I just sat there and finished the rest of the game. After awhile I wondered why I didn't listen to it in my bedroom. We have one in there too. Mike, Jorja and Preston got home right as the game finished.

Stockton texted me tonight to let me know that Donovan Mitchell was at the football game. I asked if he was there. He was. I told him, "I have never been prouder of you in my life." He said, "That really says something after the big-boy thing I had this morning." Haha! I couldn't figure out how to watch the Utah State game, but Stockton kept texting me updates. I tried to get Sling TV to work, but couldn't figure it out. Mike was feeling sick and was sleeping, so I didn't want to wake him up. He definitely wouldn't understand. :)

Jorja had a friend Aysha sleep over. They were out until just past midnight when I texted her to let her know that even if she had a friend sleeping over she still had a curfew. Aysha is going to go to church with us tomorrow. Jorja will like that.

On the way home I was able to think a lot about Stockton's new mission. I am so happy. I kept thinking of all the good things about Stockton serving so close to home. It will be so nice to send him packages without stressing about how expensive it is, or if he will even receive the packages. Christmas and Mother's Day phone calls will be a lot easier to coordinate. I like knowing that he is in America. He is going to be such a wonderful missionary. I'm so excited watching him excel in this next phase of life. Stockton had told me earlier that the scariest mission to him would be English speaking in America, and that is what he got! I think Heavenly Father knows when we need to be pushed out of our comfort zones! Despite this being scary for him, Stockton is so excited. This is going to be one crazy ride!

Wait Until Dark

Jorja had to be at Alta all day to get ready for homecoming week. She loved this last year and she loved it again. Preston helped me clean up around the house this morning. That was fun. He makes me laugh. My dad and I went to the play Wait Until Dark at the Hale Center Theater. I loved it. We had great seats and the actors did fantastic. I kept thinking how much more Jorja would like this play than the one we went to yesterday. Stockton's diving friends met at our house while I was gone. Mike came home and they all drove to the cabin. It was a tight fit. Mike, Preston, Gavin, his sister Zoe, Gage, Dani, Noelle and Connor all in the pilot. Bubs texted me today to let me know they would be able to come. I was so happy! I think Stockton would be a bit sad if no extended family members could make it. Jorja and I drove her little bug up after the play. The bug did great. I was a bit surprised. I was starving by the time we left, but super anxious to get up to the cabin. I decided to pull off in Park City. We found a pizza place that said they were fast. They weren't. After about fifteen minutes we walked out of there and decided to shoot for Evanston Wyoming like usual. I had trouble getting back on the freeway. It was dark, I was super hungry and anxious. I started breathing really deep and I couldn't stop. Jorja was getting freaked out. She said I was having a panic attack and needed to pull over. I thought I just needed to get some food and I would be fine. I don't know why I was gasping for breath like that. It stopped after I was on the freeway for a bit. I did not like all these random turnarounds at Park City. I'm not getting off at that exit again. While we were driving Jorja got a text about homecoming plans. They are going to do the day date the night before. That will work out well. She will be able to go to some of her lacrosse games. She signed up for fall season. They only have games on one day and it was the day of homecoming. We started talking about how busy that week would be. Saturday is the dance and three lacrosse games. Friday they will go to a haunted house. Thursday she will have lacrosse and then go straight to Wait Until Dark with Mike. Jorja said, "WAIT! That is when it is? I won't be able to go to the Alta/Corner Canyon football game? That is the only football game I care about!" Great. Mike and I have fantastic timing. I did great until the last hour and a half, then I was so tired and Jorja was asleep. The thing we had been listening to ended and it was a struggle to stay awake! We made it around midnight. I was so glad to get there. Maysen, Stockton and Daedan were there. Stockton met Daedan up at Utah State. How nice of him to come and see Stockton open up his call tomorrow! We have a full house now. It is great.

Rabbit of Seville

Welp. Stockton's hair is gone. Stockton is getting ready to turn in his mission papers and needed to submit a mission photo. I tried to find a picture that would work, I even teased Jorja asking if she could photoshop his sterling scholar picture. Mike said that would be lying on his mission papers and wasn't a good idea. Anyway, today was haircut day.

Stockton ~ before

 Seriously.

Stockton watched the Rabbit of Seville while Mike attempted to shave him.

Mike & Stockton

 Stockton on his way to show Jorja his haircut.

 Stockton ~ after sideburn shave

Once his sideburns were off we went to Fantastic Sams to get an official missionary haircut. There wasn't a line, so that was great. In and out and nobody got hurt. Except for Stockton's hair.

Stockton and the haircutter

We picked up pizza, dropped Stockton's phone off to be repaired and then headed over to Gavin's house. Stockton hid behind the door while I knocked. Gavin was surprised, his sisters were more surprised. One of the girls jaw was open for a long time. It was funny.

Stockton ~ after

Maysen really wanted to go to the temple as a family. She wanted Stockton to baptize her. I forgot to tell this to Stockton and he left his recommend on his desk in Logan. Or so we thought. I told Stockton to bring home his laundry and I would do it for him. I found his recommend this morning in his church pants! Yay! We were able to do a family temple trip after all! We decided to take Stockton's mission picture while we were here. We were disappointed that he left his monkey tie up in Logan. He loves that tie. Stockton borrowed one of Mike's ties today. That worked out well because they didn't want any animals on ties for the picture. Dodged a bullet there!

Maysen, Jorja, Stockton (Stockton reminds me of Taylor in this picture.)

 Stockton ~ this is the picture he sent to the church office, just cropped a little more

 Stockton and Mike (notice the pale skin where Stockton's sideburns were)

Stockton baptized all of us, even me. That was cool. Stockton did great with all the crazy names. He also had some funny ones. A lot of girl names that were boy names, if that makes sense. Like Thomasia. It was funny. We went home to pick up Preston and change out of our church clothes. Mike did a quick check of the duck house with Preston.

Mike & Preston 

 Preston in the duck house.

Then we headed to Iceburg. . . where Jorja curled her hair.

Jorja also had to do a quick change into her Chick-Fil-A clothes, but we got her to work on time. Stockton's phone is no longer cracked. He came home and finished his mission papers. The last thing he did was hit the 'yes' button that said his mental/physical health information was accurate. Once he did that red words popped up that said "Recommendation has been submitted." That was kind of anticlimactic.

Stockton has an appointment with the bishop tomorrow morning and with the stake president at 5:00 tomorrow night. This mission thing is moving along. Stockton hung out with his dive friends the rest of the night. I'm glad he was able to see them. They have been good for him.

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!

Diving with Ducks

Gavin came over today to swim with the ducks because he was sick when the rest of the divers came over. They had a great time in the pool, then dried off and drove to another pool.

Gavin & Stockton

Gavin with the first diver duck.

Two more divers.

The ducks.

 In a tube.

Stockton diving into a doughnut.

Gavin & Stockton

There were two deer in our backyard. Mike tried to help them out. They weren't interested in going the easy way. Instead they bounded across the lawn and hopped the fence right between the two aspen trees.

Gavin and Gage came over and swam with Stockton after diving. Now that is a lot of swimming! After they left we finished watching the Incredibles. The boys were in the pool. Maysen and I sat on chairs just outside the pool. It was great!