Baby James' Blessing

Today was James' baby blessing. Mike, Maysen, Preston and I all went. After the blessing we went to Scoop and Cori's for a 'tea party.' Melissa had made SO MANY treats. They were delicious.

James Orion

Mike and Steve trying to fix their old pinball machine

Preston's picture of 'David Letterman'

Derek drew 'Clown in a Sandwich' I don't know why, but it was funny

We stayed quite awhile playing games. I was able to watch the end of the Jazz game with Scoop. Jazz won, so that was great. Jorja called and we ordered her a temple dress. We are having it ship to Stockton's house. Hopefully it gets there in time. The dress she ordered is called 'Weston.' I thought that was funny.

Wavelength

Totally surprised to see a post on Facebook that Stockton's childhood friend from Georgia got married on Tuesday. Wow! Pretty cool wedding date though. 2-22-2022

Moses and his bride

I texted Chantale a few pictures from high school. I asked if this was her sister. It was! She laughed and laughed. Chantale is ten years younger than her sister.

Danielle & Eric

They were in our homecoming group senior year. No way I can remember everybody. I'll see if I can get Mike to help. Blast from the past for sure.

Back row: Bryce, Teresa, Alex, Sarah, Matt?, Rachel?, Adam, ???, Paul, ???

Middle row: Heather, Seth, Misty, Ben, Kelli, Brandon, Danielle, Eric

Bottom row: Mike, Stephanie, Tami, Aaron 

We met at Steve and Shannon's house to play games. Preston came with us. Brandon came down from Provo. Lisa, Nathan, Melissa and her family, Taylor and Michael were there. Derek's mom and niece also came. (They are in town for James' baby blessing tomorrow.) We played a game called Wavelength. Totally a Michael Hodson game. He loves games you can argue. Haha. After that game we played Herd Mentality. I thought that game was a lot of fun.

Michael & Nova

Preston reading the rules for Wavelength. He LOVES reading rule books. Also he has primer in his hair.

Mike

Mike and Preston have been working on building a video game cabinet, which is why Preston has primer in his hair. They have been having a lot of fun with that. Mike building with one of his kids. Mike's dream come true.

Snowboarding on the Lake

Nova and I were the first ones up. I got out my stacking toys for her. Much to my delight, she played with those for hours! Scoop and Cori gave me an Amazon gift card for my birthday and this is what I bought with them.

Nova

Melissa, Michael, Nova, Leo

Michael & Nova

James & Leo

Leo's hand, Steve's face

Nova

Melissa, Derek and their family left this morning. We headed out to the Springs when they left. Jorja came with, but the other kids didn't want to come. Maysen had to work. Stockton and Preston were making robots for their robot arena battle. They spent hours doing that and had a great time.

Steve & Mike

Taylor, Steve, Mike, Michael, Stephanie, Jorja

Stephanie & Jorja

We came back to the cabin and Mike took the chairs off the 4 wheeler. I grabbed Preston's head thing. It was pretty cold, so I'm glad I did. We went down to the reservoir bed and rode the toys around. It was so much fun! We brought a sled and a snowboard. We had a great time pulling people on the 4 wheelers with those and riding fast on the snowmobiles. I'm not sure how long we were out there, but it was awhile and we were COLD when we got back.

Stephanie

We only got a few videos of the snowboarding. It was a lot faster than these videos show, but man it is beautiful out here!

We cleaned up when we got back. We were the last ones to leave and I left with the kids before Mike was all the way finished. We stopped at the gas station and I filled both cars up. Then we went to the grocery store and I let the kids pick out snacks and Stockton and Jorja picked out some non-perishables they could take home. I snapped a picture because it's been a long time since I've been at the grocery store with all four kids. I love every second I get to spend with them. They are the best!

Jorja, Stockton, Preston, Maysen

Jorja called me after we had been driving awhile and wondered if I was close. I wasn't. She had gotten her bug stuck. Luckily while I was talking to her someone stopped by and helped them push the bug out. We listened to Harry Potter on the way home. I was so tired by the time I got home. It was about 10:00, but I am NOT a night person. Mike pulled in one minute after us, even though he left an hour after we did. We spent a long time in the store and then I drove very slowly. Plus I made two wrong turns. It was not my best drive. It was nice having Mike home though. We both drove down to my dad's house and picked up Bear. Bear was VERY happy to see Mike. It was so nice of my dad to take care of him while we were gone. Now we are back to normal. Everyone got home safely. Such a great weekend.

 

Grandpa Beck

Today was so fun! I woke up super early, which is always annoying. I did get some blog posts done and was able to talk with Melissa when she woke up. That was fun. We had zoom church and sacrament. Mike and Preston blessed the sacrament and Michael passed it. Jacob spoke in his ward. I wish we could have watched that! He talked about his mission. He emailed Shannon a copy of his talk and she read it to Mike and I. It was really good. He talked about humility and things that happened on his mission, when he got sick and sent home and how he is doing now. I'm so glad he is better. He is awesome.

We had fun playing inside and outside today. The rest of my kids took a turn on Sherry's oculus. Stockton was instantly good. I failed over and over. My highest was a B. Stockton played his first game on easy and got a perfect score. His second game was on normal and he got an A. His third game was on hard and he looked like he was doing awesome, but the headset ran out of batteries in the middle. That thing is pretty fun.

Stockton 

Mike

Jorja

Maysen

Mike and I took Sherry, Connor and Miah around on the sled chairs and pulling behind. We went on the big loop by Steve and Sharon's cabin and to the other entrance (not Chokecherry), went up to the springs and then back to the cabin. Connor and Miah had a great time pulling behind the snowmobile trying to knock each other off. One time they fell and Mike stopped behind us. He didn't do a graceful stop and Sherry ended up being tipped out of the chairs. She was okay though. We decided to do one run to the springs, since we were right by the bottom. Glad we did that because Mike found his goggles on the way up. He had been looking for those. When we got back Mike took Miah on a snowmobile run. She loved it. After she had changed out of her clothes he asked her if she would want to take the snowmobile on the lake bed. She jumped back into her snow stuff and was ready to go. Jorja, Sherry and Derek all went along. They had a great time. The snowmobiles can sure go faster than the 4 wheelers!

Jorja, Derek, Sherry, Mike, Miah

Jorja, Derek, Sherry

Sherry, Jorja, Miah & Mike

Derek, Sherry, Jorja, Miah & Mike

Trying to find a good place to cross the street

Usually the Chokecherry exit is the best

Miah & Jorja

Sherry fell off the back of Miah's snowmobile when she started to to drive away.

It is beautiful up here!

My dad sent some pictures of Bear dog. He asked how he could get him out of the kitchen. Hahaha. I told him to walk away with a plate of food. Mike says I should have told him to throw a ball. Bear dog is a good helper though.

Bear

Sherry and her family left this evening. We had the closing ceremony for the Olympics on and played games the rest of the night. I won Canadian Salad with a great Hail Mary at the end of the game. No tricks on the last round. Pretty proud of that. I went to bed around 11:00. I was so tired. The rest of them stayed up playing games. I'm not sure how long. When Mike came to bed he told me that they had a question about one of the rules in the new Cover Your Assets game. There was a spot in there where you could call Grandpa Beck if you had any questions. So Jorja and Preston did. And he answered. I'm unclear whether they called or sent a text. I'll have to find out when everyone wakes up. (Whatever they did it was late and he responded. Pretty nice of him!)

Shannon, Steve, Jorja, Derek, Preston, Stockton, Mike

Gingerbread Party and the BEST Present

I got the coolest message from my brother Mike. He said, "I asked Larkin to learn and sing a song for you to add to your Christmas present. She only recorded a minute of it so I'll send you a sneak peek. Hope you like it." It was AMAZING! He is having Larkin play the guitar and sing Visiting Hours! I cried and cried when he sent it. It was soooo cool. I absolutely love it and can't wait until he sends me the entire thing! What a nice, thoughtful, awesome gift! Larkin plays and sings beautifully too. I love it!

We had the Smith family gingerbread party today. It was so much fun. It's a lot of work, but I love getting together. Tage never fails to tell me this is her favorite thing of the year. Haha. Lisa and Nathan flew in yesterday, so they were able to be here too. What a great day.

Stephanie~ making frosting. Yes, I used ALL those bags of powdered sugar

We actually had a spot for the food this year. Shannon usually brings pizza and Sherry usually brings salad.

Stephanie again

Stockton invited Alyssa. They were here first and got a head start.

Alyssa & Stockton

Candy

Preston wanted a chocolate house

Matt, Xander, Connor, Erica's head, Miah, Dallin, Tage

Leo, Jacob, Nova's head, Alyssa, Stockton, Preston

Xander, Connor, Miah's elbow, Melissa's head, bit of Tage's face, Derek

Leo, Jacob, Nova's head, Brandon, Maysen's head, Alyssa, Stockton, Preston

Jorja & Michael

Jacob (sleepy Connor, Xander, Brandon)

Jacob & Brandon (Xander & Miah behind)

We hung out in the movie room after decorating. Mike made lots of cotton candy. We had fun throwing in different hard candies. Holy cow jolly ranchers are crazy strong!

Connor

Matt, Miah, Connor

The newlyweds ~ Dallin & Tage

And now... the houses...

Preston's chocolate house

Jorja

Stockton ~ heat miser/cold miser house

Alyssa

Stockton & Alyssa

Maysen

Mike

Tage & Dallin

Miah

Xander & Connor

Sherry & Matt

Brandon (and Steve)

Jacob

Shannon

Michael

Michael made a home in a trailer park

Lisa ~ she was planning on making Snoopy's house, but I didn't get any licorice, or red for the roof.

Melissa & Taylor

Aimee flies here in a few days, but we will be at the cabin. I sent home two houses, frosting and candy for them. Hope they have fun! Too bad we don't get to see baby Jonathan. I missed getting pictures of some houses. Erica, Nova, Leo..... anyway, today was a great day. Alyssa is sleeping in Stockton's room and Stockton is sleeping with Jorja and Preston in Jorja's room. We played Jackbox until it was time to sleep. I'm exhausted, but it was such a great day. Although we did find out one sad thing. The little kid bumper cars at Lagoon burned down. That use to be my favorite ride. Hope they build it back.