4.0 to End Jorja's Highschool Career

Stockton coached diving at Pepperwood for Nate. I think he had fun doing that. Mike went to the cabin. He went by himself with no Bear. It is a short trip and he has projects he wants to do. He said the tree removal guys did a great job. Last time Mike was there the tree removal guys were looking at removing some of our backyard neighbor's trees because they were crashing into power lines. They told Mike they would remove any he wanted. They did that and got rid of some branches of trees Mike had cut down, for no cost. He was pretty happy about that. Jorja got her final grades from her senior year. She earned a 4.0. Nicely done Porge!

Bear freaks out when he sees deer out the window. Stockton thought it would be funny to see him chase the deer. Luckily he came back soon. I didn't like him going into the Taylor's yard. I don't want them to get mad at me. They love deer and hate dogs.

Spring Fling

Jorja had a Spring Fling dance with student government today. It turned out great, but man alive there was drama getting that pulled together! People complaining to the principal about student government being exclusive. It's really annoying that these kids are never allowed to hang out together without people complaining. Jorja was super mad because dance company had a dance the week before and no one complained. That dance was super fancy. This one was in our backyard. We did go all out and have Jorja pick up the dog poo, so you know.... better shut them down. Actually we did a bit more than that. Destiny and Allison came over and hung lights. Just a few. Destiny is Bode's mom and Mike and I went to high school with her. Allison is Ella's mom. That part was just fun for me because I got to interact with them, and they are just great. The kids ended up going to some ax throwing place and having dinner at Chuck-A-Rama. They came here and Bode had a speaker they were able to use for the music. Then they went swimming. We had the pool pretty hot. The kids were pleasantly surprised. Half of them jumped into the pool in their clothes. I think Caleb (Hailey's brother) and Paige started that. The kids got into swimsuits and continued the dance in the pool. They were jumping around singing to the music. It was really cute. We haven't heard anything about a student government closing social, so this might cover it. If it was, it was a good way to send them off. They all had a blast. (These were not just student government kids. It was just student government that did the asking.)

Riley & Jorja

Nate being thrown

Look at our fancy lights in the tree

We had some on the fence too. And a string on the ground for randomness.

Video of Nate's launch

Not a Coffin

The other day I peaked in Stockton's room and saw him sleeping like this. It made me laugh because he looked like he was in a coffin. I would not be laughing if he was in a real coffin.

Stockton

Today was a good day. I had a meeting about AP proctoring at the school. I saw Jorja right before she went to get her first covid vaccine shot. She signed up to do it at school and will be going with Sami. Hope she is okay! Also, it is always fun to see this....

Bear

Jorja ~ jersey day at school

Test, Test and Test

Mike ordered a boat cover months ago. It finally came last week. There isn't as much snow here as there was last time we came up. He was able to get the snow off and look inside and make sure everything is okay. He has the cover on, but needs to go to the hardware store to get rope to tie everything in place.

He also needed to replace this circuit breaker. Bleach spilled on it last year. He also replaced the sketchy plug that was by one of the bunkbeds. Every time someone bumped it, the lights would turn off. Weird.

Jorja did great on her three tests. She got a 96% on her government test and only missed one on her geography test. She studied hard for four hours and ended up getting a 100% on her statistics test. Nicely done Porge! Online school hasn't been fun for Jorja at all, but she has learned how to study better. Speaking of online school, Canyons district has decided for all the kids to go back on Monday. After Thanksgiving. After many of them have been traveling. So, we will cross our fingers and hope for the best. Hopefully school doesn't get shut down again in three days. 

Jeff had a zoom birthday party today. It was cute watching him open his presents and seeing how he wants to be just like his big sister. He's adorable.

Jorja's 18 fo Today

Jorja is an adult! Officially 18! Wow! She has brought such joy to my life. A fair amount of stress too, but I wouldn't trade her for anything. I filled out the paper to have 'Jorja's 18 fo today' on the sign outside our neighborhood, but for some reason they didn't put it up. Maybe they didn't like the fo? Oh well. I checked Jorja out of her volleyball class to take her to lunch. She met us at OHP. Pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes for her. Crepes for everyone else. Mike had a meeting and couldn't come, but we brought him back an apple pancake. Maysen texted me a picture of the dessert pancake they brought Jorja. I had run to the UPS store to mail Stockton a package. Nothing exciting, just his voting ballot. Anyway, lunch was delicious and the company is the best.

Jorja

Maysen, Jorja, Preston

Jorja got back in time to go to her lunch, which she spent filling out paperwork to get activities approved for the fundraiser. She stopped by Packers after school and said that the only thing she wanted for her birthday was for him to approve her activities. He didn't like that she had filled out all the papers. He wanted her to work with the committees. She is getting frustrated at all the hoops she keeps being asked to jump through, and the lack of communication. I am proud of her for working so hard. Anyway, Bode found her after school and brought her to her car. Her friends had decorated it. They also gave her a stuffed Remy from Ratatouille. It has a magnate in it and can stay on her shoulder. She loves it.

Riley, Jorja, Heyboys, Giselle, Bode, Brenton, Jake

Remy & Jorja

We took Jorja to the Labyrinth for her birthday. It is kind of like an escape room, but it is may different rooms. Most of the rooms have three puzzle things. They were actually quite hard. The nice thing was when one room stumped you, you could go to another one. We had tickets for two hours. I had a few of Jorja's friends meet her there. Ella, Giselle, Riley, Jake, Bode, Brenton and Sami all came. It was perfect because Jorja got to hang out with her friends while Mike, Maysen, Preston and I all worked on the puzzles together. We would see Jorja running around the place while we were there. For the first half hour I sat on a bench and talked to Stockton. He called right as we were going in. It was so cool to talk with him! He told me a story about how some Elders from a different mission in Arizona referred someone to them to help with service. They asked to call. It was Elder Valentine. How many Elder Valentines can there be? At the end of the call, Stockton asked which mission they were calling from. He said Pheonix. Stockton said, "Is your first name Ian?" He was stunned. Hahaha! Stockton was talking to Ian Valentine! Ian is in our ward and grew up with Stockton. I was able to tell Brenton, Ian's brother, about the call right there. It was so cool!

Anyway, after Jorja and her friends came to our house for pizza and cake. Jorja opened her presents. Maysen gave her a present earlier. They went to Michael's before Maysen's birthday. Maysen wanted things for a terrarium. Jorja wanted things to make a farm in her glove box, so when people randomly open it there is a farm scene. Anyways, they each got the other those things for their birthdays. Preston gave Jorja a new water bottle. She lost hers a few weeks ago. Jorja's big present from us was Impapa roller skates. They are pink and she really wanted them. We had looked together and they were sold out everywhere. It looked like they wouldn't be back in stock until March. I ended up finding them on eBay and was able to surprise her with them. Jorja had a great birthday. I only got pictures with a few people that came. Disappointed in myself that I didn't get a group picture. Oh well.

Jornja is seriously how she wanted her name spelled on the cake

Didn't get 18 fo today on the sign, but at least she got it on the cake

Bode & Jorja ~ he wore their sweethearts sweatshirt to her party. So awesome.

Jorja & Riley

Jorja and Sami

Jorja, Giselle, Riley and Jake all went to the top of Pepperwood to look at the stars. While they were gone, Ben came over. I had invited him, but he wasn't able to go because of corona. He takes care of his grandparents and has to be super careful. He brought Jorja a Crumbl cookie, a balloon and a card. I told them where she was and he drove up there and gave it to her. Jorja came back shortly later. She had a text from Sophie asking her to look on her porch. Jorja asked me to look, but nothing was there. Sophie told her it was pretty big. She then decided she put it at the wrong house. Jorja and I went on a little scavenger hunt to find it. We found this chair a house two doors down from us. It also had a Crumbl cookie and a card. Hahaha. Definitely for Jorja. Jorja loves it.

It was a good day to turn 18

Professor Pupp-o

Mike and Preston spent the day at the cabin. Preston did online school. Mike worked on different things. He put a fancy new thermostat in the water heater room. He can control the temperature with his phone. I think he is hoping to get a washer in there. Before the pipes would burst during the winter, but if he is able to keep this room above freezing without paying a fortune then we should be fine. We will see what happens!

I finished parent/teacher conference today. The girls wanted Little Caesars pizza, so that is what we had for dinner. Jorja asked if she could go with me. She rode in the car. She couldn't come inside, because of quarantine, but she was desperate to get out of the house. Mike and Preston got home in time for scriptures. Jorja likes to put her glasses on Bear and call him 'Professor Pupp-o". We have been enjoying reading Stockton's Plates of Elder Smith. Man, I miss that boy!

 Professor Pupp-o

There was a meeting about covid tonight. Alta has 22 cases. They decided to do online school for two weeks. Now Jorja won't get to go back to school until October 7th. There will be no school tomorrow, then   online school will start on Thursday. A lot of Jorja's friends are planning on hanging out tomorrow, even the ones who are quarantined. Sometimes it's hard to be the child of a rule follower.

Last Second Arrest

We had a lazy morning. Went to the store, ate breakfast, played Colt Express. I was the Marshall for the first time ever. This time we played with AI players, which was a little different. Maysen had a ton of money. I wanted to arrest Preston for my last turn, it was one of my cards I needed to do. He went up before I could arrest him. I was disappointed, but I threw my arrest card for kind of no reason. I mean, maybe I would be able to arrest someone, but I doubt it. Anyway, when we were playing the cards, Preston got away from me, like I thought he would. But the AI person PUNCHED Maysen into my train car! So I ended up arresting Maysen. That wouldn't be a big deal, but it just so happened that the last card had a stipulation on it that if anyone was in jail at the end of the game they would lose. WHAT??? Maysen had the most money by a long ways. She totally had the game in the bag, except I randomly arrested her. I felt so bad! Anyway, after the game I took Mike to the boat dock. He spent several hours on the lake. He got the solar panel attached and his 3d printed remote holders up, he ate lunch out there. He had a great time. He texted us when he was close to see if anyone wanted to come boating with him. The kids didn't want to. Maysen is still a little nervous. She says she would like to go when Dad has more experience. I forgot to pack Preston's swimsuit. Whoops. Jorja is going to bring it up, but he didn't want to get on the boat until he had it.

Solar panel

Remote holders

Thin garbage can that Mike is so proud of. Hahaha

Jorja painted more of the hallway after school before she went to the football game in Orem. Alta lost. There were only about six students there. Alta was given 300 tickets, but most of them were bought by parents. Jorja says there were only six, but I bet there was more, just not many.... Jorja went to the game with Aiden. They had a long talk after. He talked to her about being careful with Riley. Hahaha. Aiden is my new favorite!

Aiden & Jorja

New haircut Bode

Ella & Bode

Jake, Bode, Ella, Jorja, white shirt guy, Aiden

Jorja & Aiden

I had asked Jorja to be home before midnight, the earlier the better. She is going to be driving to the cabin tomorrow and I wanted her to have plenty of sleep. Well, I checked find my friends and she still wasn't home after midnight. She called me. I guess when she turned onto our street she saw Gabby's little brother on the side of the road. His car had broken down. She pulled over to wait for him. He called his dad, but there was no answer, so he called Gabby. She got their dad and he said he would be there. Well.... they waited a long time and he didn't show up. So, James called his dad again, no answer. He called Gabby. She went and found their dad. He had fallen back asleep. Hahaha. So, Jorja asked James if he wanted to wait at our house. I'm glad he wasn't an ax murderer! Jorja drove James to the church parking lot when his dad got here. You can't get into Pepperwood after midnight without jumping through a lot of hoops. They thought this would be easier.

Jorja & James

Sweaters!

Jorja got her sweater today! Too bad it wasn't one day earlier, but second day of school is a lot better than we thought it would be this year. The student government class took pictures in front of the new ALTA letters, in front of the new fine arts center.

Marshall, Brenton, Dawson, Joe, Layla, Jorja, Sadler, Bode, Cai, Autumn, Justice, ???, ???, Ryan, Jordy, Carson, Luke, Grace, Ethan, Giselle, Riley, Jake, Nate

JJ, ???, Dallen, ???, Dash, Alex, Vivian, Paige, Ella, Janelle, Taylor

Marshall, Dallen, Bode, Dawson, Sadler, Joe, Brenton

Layla, Jorja

Jorja & Layla

Bode, Marshall, Jorja

When these guys were all elected I made the promise me to get a picture like this.

Jorja & Brenton

Jorja took a freshman girl, Brikelle,  in our ward out to Swig after school to see how she was doing. I am so proud of her for reaching out to others. She is definitely one of a kind. On the way to Swig, Jorja got her picture taken in front of the flower sign. Jorja said yesterday Packer thanked the class for the birthday gifts they left him. He started crying when he talked about them putting his name on the flower sign. Jorja almost chickened out doing it because a few people told her that was lame. She went with her gut and did it anyway. Glad she did! (Ethan thought it was a great idea and encouraged her to follow through as well.)

Jorja

Jorja watched the tennis meet, ran home and cooked steaks for dinner, then hurried to the soccer game in Lehi. She is loving not having a job. I did not enjoy these pictures below. They are super close, Riley is next to Jorja, but what bothered me the most is JAKE SEARE IS WEARING MY MASK!!! Gross! Nothing against Jake, but I don't want him wearing my mask!

Luke, Aiden, Sammi, Giselle, Riley

Jake (wearing my mask!), Ellie, Jorja

Jorja left the game early so she could meet up with Ella. I am glad those two have become good friends. I have always been impressed with Ella. Also, you better believe my mask was washed thoroughly as soon as Jorja got home.

Jorja's Last First Day

Jorja had to be at school early to hold open doors. Usually they have their sweaters when they do this on the first day, but they haven't gotten their sweaters yet. They all had to wear the shirts Packer gave them at 'camp. Shirts from 2016. Hahaha. I hope they will get real shirts this year. School also was a B day, which is kind of bizarre to start with 5th period. School was supposed to start last week and they didn't want to mess with the schedule. Fine with me. Jorja started with math 1040. Stockton's favorite teacher, VanOrden. She had PLT, seminary and then her 9th grade geography class. Jorja was excited to be back, but said it is really weird. The masks, the social distancing.... Lunch has got to be surreal. Everyone sitting six feet apart. They have three lunches now. Jorja went out to lunch and then straight to seminary. Her parking spot is right by the seminary doors, so that works out perfect for her. As weird as everything is, I know she is glad to be back. She would have been able to have a couple of free periods in her schedule, but she wanted to soak up the last of her highschool experience after last week being cut short. She is so happy to not have to do school online like her friends in Washington and California. Let's hope they are able to stay in school!

Jorja

Jorja & Layla

Jorja, Luke, Sammi

Jorja, Bode, Giselle, and someone without his shirt on! Why does he not have a shirt?????

Preston had a great day of online school. It's crazy how different the personalities of my kids are. Today was pretty boring with disclosures, but it is what it is. I got to talk with Stockton today. This week is a transfer week, but Stockton won't be going anywhere. He will serve another transfer with Elder Crawford and Elder Hickey. He is also still the district leader. Hope he loves it! He has been doing amazing!