Sneaking Out

Ellie called Jorja this morning and asked if she could come to the school right then to help with teacher appreciation day. Jorja hurried down there as quick as she could then went to breakfast with Kelsey afterwards. Elections for student government are going on right now. The paperwork to run is due on Sunday. I am soooo glad Jorja doesn't have to do that! Jorja's friend Alex is running for junior class historian. They take pictures. She sent Jorja this picture she took for the yearbook. (Alex is really good!) This is from the pep rally at the beginning of they year.

Aysha, Annie, Eden, Kelsey, Seurette, Chloe, Jorja, Jordan, Joe, Johnny, Luke, Marshall, LJ

 Jorja and Kelsey

 Jorja being a weirdo

 Bear smelling the flowers Scoop and Cori gave me for Mother's Day

Jorja worked tonight. She closed. It took her longer to get home than usual because when she went outside someone had spread trash all over the parking lot. It took her about thirty minutes to clean up. That's annoying. We were anxious to have her home because we planned to go night swimming! The pool is ready to use now and we wanted everyone to be there for the first time of the year. Stockton couldn't be there of course. We ended up getting in the pool about midnight. It was so fun! We swam for just over an hour. Jorja and Preston were crazy. They kept being dolphins and spitting the water at each other dolphin style. They would laugh and laugh. Mike had the pool so warm! I think it was 98 degrees. It was perfect!

We got inside a little after 1:00 in the morning. We started getting everyone ready for bed, but we were all pretty wide awake. I got Preston settled. He has been sleeping in Jorja's room for the last month or so. I asked him if it was because Maysen's bed was cozy. He said it was because Jorja was there. So sweet! (We have now made the guest room Maysen's room. She wanted her own space after having her own room at college for four years. I agreed that that was a good idea.) I went out to hurry Jorja along and she was by her phone. Right before we got in the pool she noticed a message from Conner. Just a how are you message. She responded so good! How are you? She looked at her phone after swimming and saw that he had said something So good! We need to hang. It is now after one in the morning and Jorja wrote something like Yes we do, I miss you! I get my work schedule next week. She was surprised because he responded right away and said Wanna sneak out? I'm just driving around. Hahaha So, when I went to hurry Jorja to bed, she showed me Conner's message. For some reason I thought it was hilarious. I know it doesn't make any sense. I should have been livid. I wasn't. I just thought it was really funny. I looked at Jorja and said, "Well, what do you want to do?" I think she was a bit confused because I get so angry if she isn't home by 12. She said she would like to see him. I told her it was okay as long as he knew she wasn't sneaking out. She also had other rules she would need to abide by. Now I regret not saying that she could go if Conner would pick her up at the door. That would have been hilarious! Anyway, Jorja wrote back that her parents said it was okay and asked if that took the fun out of it. Haha. Anyway, Conner picked up Jorja around 1:30 in the morning. I forgot that there is a call ahead order in place after 12. So, the guard had to call Mike in order for Conner to get in. If they had been trying to sneak out, I wonder how that would have gone! Haha Anyway, I got out my sewing and worked on Kaylee's stocking. Jorja kept me updated on where they were. Jorja hasn't seen Conner since he left on his mission, so October was the last time she had seen him. He was sent home early because of the fun coronavirus. They caught up with each other and talked until almost four in the morning. Conner showed her pictures from his mission. He also showed her some pictures he found in his camera role. These are from Jorja's sophomore year and Conner's senior year, when they became good friends. He sent them to Jorja which she was so happy about. She had been disappointed that she didn't have any good pictures of the two of them from that time.

Conner & Jorja

They took a selfie in our driveway when Conner dropped Jorja off. Jorja and I then talked for about thirty more minutes before we were both exhausted and ready for bed. I was so proud of Jorja for showing me that message. I know I surprised her by letting her see Conner this late. I talked to her about how she actually has more freedom when she lets me know what is going on. I'm okay with a lot of things if I understand the situation. Also, I made sure she knew this was an unusual situation and not to plan on other rondevuets like this in the future.

Conner & Jorja

Pool Day

Cori took Jorja school shopping today. She sure is spoiling that girl. Jorja had just enough time to grab something to eat before she headed to work for the rest of the day. This is her last day of work for three weeks. Her friend, Sam, texted me from her phone asking if she could go to In & Out with them after work because they wouldn't see her for three weeks. I texted back Hahahahahaha - no. The rest of us played all day. The kids got in the pool two different times, for quite a long time. They loved it. Matt, Bubs and their families were over as well. Rachel's childhood friend came over with her kids too. The weather was perfect. No one got hurt. It was such a great day.

Brett and Eve

 Matt & Jeff

Grace

 Abby

 Mina

 Anne

 Grace & Anne

 Marie

 Amelia

 Ella

 Eve

 Marie on the slide

 The pool is happy

Eve was a nut! She went off the diving board a million times and down the slide a ton more. She couldn't get enough! Amelia was a fish. She loved swimming under the water. Grace too! I love it when my family is here!

Quackletta

Jorja went to graduation practice today. She said she did not do a good job with the flags. She was horrible at it. I doubt that. She did have to spend most of the morning making sure the flag didn't touch the ground.

Jorja

Today was yearbook day, which is always a fun day. Jorja laughed when she saw what Ian wrote. He said, "While I rarely come to church, you will always be my incentive to come." She showed that to Darby and he said, "Well, that's the truth!" Haha! My favorite messages were from older siblings to Jorja. The ones where they thanked her for being so kind to their younger siblings. I love that. I love that the older kids recognized she was looking out for the younger ones. I love that about Jorja. We both rolled our eyes when we saw what Traven wrote her. He took up an entire page, but at the very end he said, "#First kiss as a 16 year old" Really? He's putting that in there? Jorja said the weird thing is that half a year later, the kiss didn't ruin her and Conner's friendship, but it ruined her friendship with Traven. She just couldn't trust him after that and was kind of scared of him. Too bad because they were such good friends.

Emily & Jorja

Student government had their end of the year party today. It was a swim party at Brooklyn's house. Jorja had a great time. She loves these kids. She is going to miss the seniors terribly. I'm grateful she will have the chance to be in student government again next year. I hope her bond with the girls is just as strong as it was this year. She adored them.

Jorja & Braque

 Jorja

 Kassie & Jorja ~ I HATE this trend of sticking tongues out.

I tell Jorja all the time she looks ridiculous doing this. Yet, she still does it.

 Tally & Jorja

 Sam & Jorja

 Cade & Jorja

 Jorja & Isaiah

Luke, Tally, Sam, Taylor, Noah

Justice, Alex, Chloe, Bode, Kylie, Maggie, Luke, Isaiah, Traven, Cade

Jorja, Bella, Ellie, Abbey, Brooklyn

Mia, Aysha, Kassie, Kenedy, Jessi

Baylor, Autumn, Elle, Braque

 Jessi, Noah, Abbey, Alex, Jorja, Kylie, Kassie, Brooklyn

Preston went to a baseball game for young mens. Mike went with him. They were troopers. Neither of them like baseball as much as I do....or at all....they had great seats though.

It was dark when Mike and Preston got home. They went out to put the ducks away. They couldn't find Quackletta. They searched and searched for her and found her in our pool. She had drowned. It was so sad. Mike brought her in and I couldn't even bear to take a picture of her. Mike was devastated. He was so upset he didn't put Quackletta in her house before he left to the baseball game. Jorja came home from Kassie's house to find Mike holding Quackletta in the kitchen. They all got a chance to hold her and say goodbye. So, so, so, so sad.

Chicken Run

We went and saw Aladdin today. We were lucky to be able to find a time to squeeze it in before Jorja went to work. All of us (except Stockton) were able to go. I enjoyed the show and we had a great time. I rode home with Jorja in her bug. Mike took Maysen and Preston. Right as they left, Maysen got a text letting her know she didn't get the job at Chick-Fil-A. That was really disappointing. It would have been so much fun for the girls to be able to work together. Maysen thinks she was too serious during the interview. She would have been great. Mike took the kids to Zupas before they came home. Mike also caught rats. I think the second picture is funny. That rat looks HUGE!

Jorja had a Chick-Fil-A swim party at our house. Mike set up the movie screen for her. They had Chicken Run playing as they swam. We had pizza and smores too. Jorja had a great time. I'm glad she has made so many friends at work. It took her several months to realize people liked her at work. Now she loves it.

Russell and Kevin

Mike has been so happy that Quackletta is laying eggs again. He has dreams of baby chicks hopping around. Soon Quackletta will gather these eggs to her nest. She is such a good mommy. Hopefully her eggs will hatch this time.

Mike spent the day getting things ready for Jorja's after dance party. They are going to go night swimming while watching Megamind. They also have stuff for smores.

Jorja and Emily spent most of the morning getting everything ready. They planned on painting at the park, but it was cold and kind of rainy. Instead they set everything up at Emily's house. When Jorja and Emily were at Smith's Jorja saw Hadley-Kate. Emily was supposed to assassinate her. Jorja pointed her out. Emily jumped out of the car before she completely stopped it, ran up to Hadley-Kate and assassinated her. Emily said it was the best moment of her life. Haha!

Spencer & Jorja (Katlyn and Emily as well)

Jorja and Spencer

The theme for Sadie's was 'Night at the Movies'. Jorja wanted to be Kevin from Up and convinced Spencer to be Russell. She looked adorable, as always. Jorja went with a group of close friends. This is Jorja's 7th school dance. The crazy thing is that out of all 7 dances, every girl and boy has been different except one. Ellie Anderson was in her Sadie's group last year and in her Sweethearts group this year. I love that Jorja has such a wide variety of friends and that she feels comfortable with so many different people.

Spencer (Russell) and Jorja (Kevin)

 Madison & Jorja

 Jorja and Spencer

Spencer and Jorja

Chick-Fil-A friends

Josh & Madison (Ken & Barbie), Jorja & Spencer

The girls . . . Emily, Madison, ???, Jorja, Sami, Hailey, Katlyn

Jorja went to Pizza Limone for dinner. She has been carrying around her nerf sword religiously. Well, wouldn't you know it. When she went to dinner she forgot and left her sword in the car. While she was in line she saw Jordan coming up to her with a big grin on his face. She backed away saying, "No! No! No!" But there was absolutely nothing she could do. She is glad that she didn't get out on the first two days though, but she wishes she would have lasted a bit longer.

I helped Mike get ready and then snuck down to Thanksgiving Point to Paige's wedding reception. Paige is my first beehive to get married. Wow! Her reception was beautiful. There was lots of dancing. I hung out with Ron and Javita Henderson. It was a good time. Paige changed her first name when she was changing her last one. She is now Samantha Paige. Her mom convinced her to keep Paige as a middle name. She told her how much of a pain it would be to try and get birth records/transcripts or whatever if it was gone. Her husband has always known Paige as Sam. That is what she was introducing herself as in Hawaii when they met. I hope my kids like the names Mike and I picked out for them.

Stephanie and Paige

This dance was the last dance that will be held in the Commons. Next year all the dances will be in the gym while the commons is under construction. Jorja had such a good time. The kids then came here and watched Megamind. It was so cold outside, but Mike had the pool at 98 degrees. They did not get out of the pool until they were ready to go! The firepit was untouched. That's okay. Fun to see so many kids enjoying the pool.

 Jorja & Spencer