Preston Passed!

Mike took the week off of work. We wanted to take a quick trip to Yellowstone, but it has been hard to plan because of Preston's math. We were able to sign him up to take his test on the first day it was offered, which was great. We just didn't know if he would pass. We assumed he would, but it wasn't a certainty. He would get one more chance to retake the test, but would have to wait 24 hours and would have to sign up again. There might not be any slots until Thursday. This morning I dropped him off for his tests, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. While Preston was busy with math, Mike and I were busy getting things ready for the trip. I got the kids beds all set up and Mike replaced the skylight in the shower.

 Mike

I didn't need to worry because Preston passed! Yay! Preston doesn't need to take 7th grade math. It is so good to have that over with. It was a lot of work for Preston, but I'm glad he did it. Mike took us to the new IHOP to celebrate. I sent this picture to Jorja. This is her favorite thing to get at IHOP.

 Not too crowded today.

Speaking of Jorja, she is having a great time in Taiwan. She said it would be really hard if she didn't get along with the other nine kids in the group, but they have loved being together. Yay!

 Mia ~ Jorja's host sister

I was able to talk to Stockton today. He is still companions with Elder Alia and was very happy about that. Elder Alia is the new district leader as well. When the next six weeks are over, Stockton will have been companions with Elder Alia for half of his mission! I'm glad they get along so well. Being able to talk to Stockton once a week is awesome. Best policy change ever!

Mike and I were able to get everything ready for our trip. We plan on leaving early tomorrow. Maysen and Preston are sleeping outside. We aren't leaving crazy early like we would when we would drive from Georgia to Utah, just regular early. Only a few things to do in the morning. That will be nice.

Last Math Class

Preston had his last math class today! He has finished all of the online portion too. His math test is scheduled for Monday at 10:00. He has to get at least 80% to pass the class. I'm sure he will be fine, but just a titch nervous. Preston's teacher is the one who told me to put him in this summer school math class. It is 7th grade math. If he passes the test, he will be in 8th grade math next year. Preston's teacher things 7th grade math will be too frustrating for him, she think it will be too slow. Anyway, if he doesn't pass the test, then he is retaking the same math and I have just made the problem worse. So, here's hoping he passes! Maysen and I picked Preston up and we went to Original Pancake House for crepes. Mike met us there. It was delicious. Later that day I got a message from Jorja saying, "I miss our food so much" She is starving. Just having a hard time with what is there. Wishing they had a Zupas. She was also a little homesick tonight. She said it has been super fun so far, but she kind of wishes she was only going to be gone for one week. Here are some random pictures from Jorja.

Jorja & friends

 Jorja's picture reminded me of this one of Brett.

Brett thought it was so funny, he even bought the picture! This is when we were at Disney Sea in Tokyo.

 Jorja is hot

 My Porge. I love her.

We had a relief society dinner at the Rich's backyard. My neighbor Elizabeth came with me! I was so happy! She even walked back with me, Becky and Stephanie. She opened up to them, which was awesome. Elizabeth is super shy. I talked to her for about an hour on Tuesday. I'm glad she feels comfortable around me. She needs someone to lean on. Her life is a mess. About two years ago her husband, Paul, decided he wanted to be a woman. He had all the surgery done and now goes by Whitley. Elizabeth has tried her best to support him/her. Anyway, Whitley wants a divorce and has been super cruel to Elizabeth lately. I can not even imagine what this trial has been like for her. I have never seen anyone fight for their marriage like Elizabeth has. If anyone had a reason to divorce it is her. Still, she is hurting bad. I'm glad she came with me today. I hope she was able to make friends.

Good-bye Friends

Preston went from four hours of math to the dentist. So, he's having a fantastic summer so far. Jorja studied for her online class again and caught up on sleep. She spent today saying good-bye to friends. She went with Hailey and Emily to Zupas and Michaels. She asked me if I knew where her overalls were and before I could answer she asked,"Are they in the freezer?" Yep! They were. Haha. Jorja got stuff at Michaels to make a Jorja doll. She is going to give it to Kelsey to take to student government camp since she can't be there. Haha.

Jorja

 Jorja, Emily, Hailey

 Hailey & Jorja

We bought new bedding for Maysen and Jorja. Jorja was still in a crib when I bought her bedding last time. Jorja's stuff came on Monday, but Maysen's didn't arrive until today. Jorja's looks just like Maysen's, but she picked green. I hope they like it.

Maysen

Jorja met Brynlee and Chloee around dinner time. They hung out in Riverton for awhile. Jorja met some of their friends and seemed to have a great time.

Chloee, friend, Brynlee, Jorja, friend

 Brynlee

 Chloee, Brynlee, friend

friend, Jorja, friend

Jorja went straight from Brynlee and Chloee to pick up Spencer after work. They went to Leatherby's and got home later then I would have liked them to. I was exhausted, so I fell asleep before she got home. Mike knows I hate doing that. So, he was the one that was texting her asking where she was and telling her she needed to come home. Once she came inside, she woke me up and we talked for a few hours. The nice thing was, I wasn't annoyed or upset because I hadn't been waiting for her. It was nice to have Mike be the bad guy for once, and I got to just listen to all her stories. I liked that.

Jorja & Spencer

Preston's in Summer School

Preston started his summer math class today. Four hours of math. He has two weeks (four days a week) of four hour math. The rest of the class is online. At the end is a final. If he scores over 80% he will get to skip seventh grade math. Preston's math teacher recommended this for him. I hope we don't regret it. The class is held at Mt. Jordan Middle School. Preston seemed to enjoy the first day. Which is weird because it is four straight hours of math.

Jorja had a date with a boy named Wesley today. She wanted to cancel because of her online class she needs to finish. I told her I didn't want her to cancel this one, she can cancel her date with Spencer tomorrow. I was worried if she cancelled with Wesley, he wouldn't have the courage to ask another girl out again. I know Spencer (from her seminary class, not the one she has been going out a lot with recently) won't have that problem. Jorja was THRILLED when she saw Sami in the car. She was worried it would be awkward, but Sami makes everything better. They went to Bahama Bucks and the park. She came home happy and spent the rest of her day working on her class until it was time to go to work at Chick-Fil-A.

Jorja, Sami, Wesley

 Jorja, Hayden, Sami, Wesley

I also took Jorja to the dermatologist today. Her face has really started breaking out and she hates it. She was so annoyed because the dermatologist said to just keep doing what she is doing. Jorja takes very good care of her face. She washes it morning and night. She also takes the pills he has given her, so this acne is driving her crazy. Jorja is also super subconscious about the dark circles under her eyes. She has had them her entire life. We have talked to this dermatologist about them before and he gave us way expensive drops to use. It didn't help. So, today he starts pinching her skin just under her eyes and pulling it up. He showed me how the pigment wasn't dark when he pulled up. He said that usually you only see this in someone older. He asked if she had severe allergies. Nope, but her dad does. He told her she got this from him. Anyway, this is what the dermatologist wants to do. He wants to INJECT something into her cheeks, just below her eyes. She will have to do this for life. I'm so mad, because of what he said to her. He said, "Don't think of this as something cosmetic, think of this as fixing a defect." WHAT???? A DEFECT???? Way to make her more self conscious about the thing she is the most self conscious about in the world. I was fuming as we drove away. Jorja was in tears. She begged me to let her do this. She said this is the entire reason she wears makeup. Because of this and now her acne. Jorja is also terrified of needles. Not just a little bit, but a whole lot. She wasn't brave enough to get her ears pierced until six months ago. Now she wants to commit to getting a needle poked right below her eyes every six months for life? Plus, it's super expensive. Ahhhhhh!

Stephanie's House

We drove a couple of hours to Villa Rica this morning. I stopped by Mirror Lake Elementary to see if Mrs. Catlin was there. The school was locked up. I guess they start on Monday. Next, I tried my house. I knocked on the door and asked Shelby if her mom was there. Stephanie saw me from the bridge. She gave a gasp and said she would be right down. Shelby invited me in. I asked her if she knew who I was. She didn't. I asked Alyssa if she remembered me. She didn't. I told them, "I'm Jorja's mom." Alyssa got a big smile on her face. Both of the girls knew who I was then. It was fun to see Stephanie. I didn't get to see her last time I came down. It was also fun to see the house. Rachel said later that she was surprised about how many memories came back to her and she just visited here. On the way down here we were talking about how Rachel took care of me during one of my surgeries. After my mastectomy I needed to have some reconstruction surgery done. Rachel was living in Alabama for six months while Brett was in basic training. Rachel came to help while I had my second surgery. On the way to the hospital Rachel called up and said the school had Maysen and Stockton in the office and both of them were sick. I was shocked because I had no idea they were even a little sick when I sent them to school. I called Janet Lott and she picked up the kids and brought them to Rachel. Rachel said Maysen was easy. She asked for a bucket then went and laid in her bed upstairs. Stockton on the other hand was a different story. He did not want to lay in his bed and he wouldn't acknowledge Rachel. He kept walking in circles around the family room. Rachel kept trying to get him to walk around the kitchen so he would be on tile. He wouldn't listen to her. Stockton threw up THIRTEEN times on the carpet! Rachel was newly pregnant with her first child (Marie). What an introduction to motherhood!

Anyways, it was so much fun to spend time with Stephanie. She was so nice to let us just barge in on her. We were there longer than I planned because it is so hard to go. It was really nice to be able to catch up with her. When we came last year we found out that they had reorganized the ward and we would be meeting down in Carrolton if we still lived here. Teresa would still be in our ward. Stephanie said they reorganized it again and they are now meeting somewhere else. I can't remember. Temple maybe? They aren't in Teresa's ward anymore. That would be hard on me.

Stephanie & Stephanie

 Alyssa, Stephanie, Stephanie

The girls loved it there. Stephanie's girls were so nice to them. Joslyn and Lily specifically. Joslyn took the girls up to her room and shared all of her toys and let the girls play dress up. Rachel was really impressed. I think this is the first time I met Joslyn. She was born after we moved. She is five now. Lily was Preston's age. It was her birthday today. She was super nice to the girls as well.

Marie

 Jorja's old room

Joslyn, Marie, Mina, Grace

 Eve & Lily

 Joslyn & Marie

 Lily, Joslyn, Grace, Marie, Mina

The stop at my old house put us way behind schedule. I'm so glad Rachel humored me though. I sure loved it here and I loved seeing Stephanie and her family. Today was a long driving day. We didn't have any car problems, but we did have to drive through a Georgia rain storm. They just come out of nowhere. We arrived at Brett and Rachel's new house right after midnight. Three long days in the car. Brett and Rachel's new house is awesome. It is the biggest house they have ever had. There are three big rooms with big closets. There is a nice kitchen and a two car garage. They are going to love it here.

Eve

Brett had little gifts next to where each girl was sleeping. Here is Mina with a skim board and a barbie. Marie got a boogie board. Grace and Eve got sand toys and Rachel got a scooter. (Rachel had left her scooter in Idaho and was really sad about it. She thought that would be something she could do with Mina and her broken arm, since she won't be allowed to swim in the ocean.)

Mina

 Brett even got me a beach towel!

Brett has a air mattress set up for me in the front room. It is going to be nice not to be in the car tomorrow! Stockton took his biology final today. He got a 115 out of 125. I think he is done with summer school now. He must be so happy!

Tire Fruit

Our first stop today was at the hotel Marie left Jingle Puppy. She was so excited to have him back. I'm pretty sure I would have driven out of the way to get Shiver back for Preston.

Marie & Jingle Puppy

I got a new charger and was able to pry the broken part out of my phone.

We were making great time when we started to hear a weird noise. Rachel pulled over and we found out we lost a part of the tire. It was like a piece of fruit by the foot fell off the tire.

We tried to get it fixed as soon as possible. We drove through this town that looked like a ghost town. I finally took a picture, but most of the bad part was behind us. We did not want to sit and wait in a scary area like this with four little kids.

Rachel ended up driving on it for over an hour, but we made it to Memphis. The guy at Goodyear was super nice. They stayed open for us and got it fixed as fast as they could. He also told us about a delicious barbecue place that we could walk to. We hung out here while the car was being worked on.

Stephanie, Grace, Marie

 Eve, Rachel, Mina

 Eve often scowls and I find it hilarious

 Grace and Mina

We were finally back on the road, but that set us back several hours. It could have been tons worse though, so we were lucky. After awhile Grace started freaking out. She was crying and crying. Rachel thought it was her potty cry, so she pulled over trying to get her to go to the bathroom. She wouldn't stop crying. I took Grace and was able to get her calmed down. Because I'm her aunt.

Stephanie and Grace

I sat in the back with Grace for the next few hours. Turns out she didn't want to watch Pocahontas. We put a blanket over our heads and sang primary songs until she was calmed down. We made it to Birmingham Alabama. Eve had just fell asleep. Rachel said she was easy to transfer. Rachel went and got the keys to the room and asked that a crib be brought up. When we got in the room, there was no sheets or anything on the bed. We had to go and change rooms. It took a long time with a lot of commotion. Eve woke up and then it was super hard to get her back to sleep. Rachel had to go to the car to grab something. While she was gone the front desk called and said they had a noise complaint and we needed to keep it down. I told her we were doing the best we could, but the kids woke up. I'm thinking, there wouldn't have been a noise complaint if the room had been ready! Whew!!! What a day!

Stockton had his last bowling class today. Mike told me he won the eliminator bowling challenge. Everyone bowls one frame and the lowest is out. Repeat until only one remains. The last two contestants were Stockton and his teacher. Stockton got a strike for a win. Pretty awesome. Stockton even won this fancy trophy.

Cabin Flowers

Mike and Stockton left for Utah early this morning. Stockton needed to go to his film class. He had to take a midterm. They got there in time, so I was happy about that. Mike also texted me a lot of pictures he took from Saturday. I didn't take many pictures today, so I thought this would be a great spot to put them. Mike had asked the kids to pick wildflowers before they got mowed down. I think they loved it.

Marie

 Mina & Brett

 Brett & Mina

 Mina, Brett, Marie

 Bubs

 Ange

 Matt & Anne

I went on a walk with Rachel and played frisbee golf with Brett, Matt and my dad. I'm not very good at frisbee golf. I did take this next picture today. Marie found this hole. My brothers were talking about how they have never seen it before. I'm worried it is the septic tank. It looks like the lid is missing. What the heck? I'm worried about it because when we bought the cabin we were told it would probably be years before the septic tank would need to be dealt with. Mike's house growing up was on a septic tank. It is super expensive to fix/replace. I just hope the lid is missing and we just need to cover it. I'm anxious for Mike to see it. I sure hope we don't have to come up with $10,000 right now. Not a good time.

After that gross picture, here is a picture Bubs texted me that he took today. This is on the way home from the Springs. Beautiful.

It was also Trevor's birthday and Rachel sent them a video message of us (her kids, Jorja and I) saying happy birthday. We had a super fun foosball tournament today. We played a doubles tournament. We had an adult matched up with a kid. Preston was on my team. We lost the first game to Brett and Abby. We went through the bottom bracket and ended up playing Brett and Abby again and were victorious. That sent us to the championship. We played Bubs and Max. We won the first game 10-9. So fun! We played the next game and lost 10-1. Whoops. It was really fun though.

Jorja hopefully is coming out of her post efy funk. Rachel took her to the store, and I think the change of scenery helped. I took her to the store later to get milk. We talked in the car for awhile, so that was good. Jorja ended up face timing Isaac and Evan. That made her super happy.

Mike called and I talked to him for a bit. Stockton's midterm ended up being pretty easy. Someone in the class asked if it could be open book and the teacher was good with that. The joys of college. Mike took Stockton bowling after. They had to buy socks and it looks like Stockton is the proud new owner of pretzel socks.

Stockton's feet

 Scores

 Stockton won both games

 Then they came home and played punch out on the arcade Mike made

Mike and Stockton are going to meet us tomorrow at Terry and Debie's house. I'm glad Stockton is able to spend so much time up here and still meet his summer school responsibilities. It's nice that his bowling class is cancelled tomorrow because of the 4th.