No Cats!

Preston was dry today! Hallelujah!

After diving I took the kids to the library. Stockton threw up in the parking lot. Always with the throw-up after diving. Poor kid. As we were leaving, I saw Melissa Cutler! I was so excited. I've known her since 3rd grade. I'm sure my kids were annoyed with me, but it was Melissa Cutler!

Mike went over to the new house and started tearing out carpet. There were two rooms that had really gross carpet from pets living there. Needless to say, when we were done Mike informed me that we would never have a cat.

Welcome to the 70's

We closed on our house today! Good news: our interest rate is 3.875%, Bad news: We now have a 30 year loan. Mike was able to have today off so we could do house stuff. The kids were really excited to go over there, but we wouldn't let them until Jorja came home from school. One problem, Jorja needed to get a shot or she couldn't come back to school. I picked Jorja up and told her we had an errand to run. She wanted to know what it was. I told her, "You're not going to like it." She said, "Is it the post office?" When I told her she needed to get her shot, she screamed like she was on fire! Oh boy. Mike had the day off, why didn't I have him take her? He's never had to go with the kids to get shots. It's quite the experience. At least with my kids. My brother Mike went with me when Jorja got her kindergarten shots. For such a shy girl, she doesn't hold back. She screamed so loud they had to shut the door. I had to pull her on my lap, but she was holding her shirt down, so we pulled her shirt down from the top. Once she had the shot, she immediately stopped screaming. It wasn't so bad.

Anyway, after that little joy, we went to our new old house! I called my dad and he and Max came over too. Cassie & Christen were wanting pictures, so brace yourselves!

This is what you see when you enter the house

Main floor bathroom...gotta love those light fixtures
Upstairs bedroom, that carpet will be the first thing to go
Master bedroom...someone loved blue
Panic button...there is also a deadbolt on the bedroom door
Pretty sure Mike & I are going to miss our two walk-in closets

Sinks in the master bathroom

Yes, that's a blue toilet

More lovely carpet

Why does every house have one of these? Annoying.

Downstairs fireplace

Skinny hallway

The room that had the mold problem

Mike wants to turn it into a theater room

Mike's workshop?

Downstairs bathroom

Boys room?

Girls room? Trying to convince them to share.

kitchen

Roasting marshmallows in the kitchen!

Stockton, Maysen, Jorja, Preston

I didn't get any pictures of the outside. It was too dark by the time I started taking pictures. But, this should do for today. This house is completely different than our one in Georgia. We bought this house for the area and the yard. Hopefully we can make the inside into what we want it to be. The downstairs is pretty torn up right now, but we are thinking of moving into just the upstairs at first. There are three bedrooms upstairs. It will be a tight fit, but it wouldn't last forever. The backyard is pretty cool. It is .6 of an acre, I think. It has a large flat grassy area in the back (something Stockton really wanted), it also has a swimming pool. Hope we don't regret that one. One cool thing about the area, it is close enough to our mom's graves that we could walk. It would probably take 15 minutes. Our house is just east of the cemetery.

It was really dark when we were leaving. As Mike was walking Stockton out to the car, someone yelled BOO! Haha! Scared Mike! Bryce had come over to say hello. I am really excited to have them live across the street. Should be fun.

After we put the kids to bed, Mike ordered a washer and dryer. Wow. Busy day for our bank account. Our poor bank account has shrunk significantly.

Just Embarrassing

Preston drove me nuts today! Seriously bonkers! He has been wearing underwear since he turned four. That was our deal. He is about 50/50. He gets so involved in the computer he just doesn't care. When I was getting him dressed, he was mad that he didn't have pockets. I said, "I'm sorry, this one doesn't have pockets." He said, "Then I'm going to wet them then you'll give me pockets." Oh boy. I paused for a moment to try to decide if I wanted to fight this battle. I decided I didn't. I said, "All right, I'll get you pants with pockets, but you need to keep them dry."

At lunch Preston wanted cake. I told him he had to have something healthy first. He started screaming, "Cake is healthy! I want cake! I only want cake! I'm going to throw-up if you don't give me cake!" He did not get cake, and he did not throw-up.

After lunch, he was playing his computer and I asked if he was stinky. He said, "yes". It took him a minute to realize that he was wearing underwear. I told him this was the last time I was going to wash stinky underwear. Next time I will throw the underwear away. Oops. That made him MAD! He absolutely refused to wear underwear because he was afraid he would wet it. He kept screaming, "I want pull-ups! I will be sick without pull-ups! I'm going to throw-up if I don't have pull-ups!" That went on for a couple of hours. He wouldn't wear underwear, and I wouldn't let him wear pull-ups. It was awful. Especially since I'm trying to do homeschool in the midst of this screaming. I went upstairs with Maysen to look in the microscope. He followed me, screaming. Then Scoop came home with the puppies. They jumped all over him. Scoop had his hands full and I couldn't get to him fast enough. Two puppies jumping on a naked four year old. Wonderful. He had scratch marks all over his chest.

Finally when it was time to get Jorja from school, I let him get in pull-ups. I had told him that he could wear them if we were going somewhere. He promised he would stay awake, but he didn't. He slept all the way until diving. The worst part of all this is, Preston usually is the happiest, easiest kid. Super sweet, kind and not a problem. Then he pulls this screaming fit when Scoop and Cori are here. They are usually in St. George. They probably thinks he acts like this all the time. He hasn't screamed like this since he was 9 months old. (He screamed constantly for the first 9 months of his life, then has been practically perfect ever since.)

Anyway, that was embarrassing.

Diving was fun. Jorja even did a flip! They are getting so brave! I love watching them! After diving we went to a celebration dinner at Chuck-a-Rama. Stockton has been wanting to go there for a long time. We should close on our house tomorrow. The seller signed the papers today, so unless we back out we will be owners of two homes tomorrow! Yikes!

Smurfs

Jorja downloaded this smurf game onto her ipod today. Stockton has really enjoyed it. Too bad his strawberries spoiled while he was at church.

Maysen won our Settelers game today. I had to inform her. She had no idea. I also kept teasing Mike during the game about watching the Fairy movie. He kept getting distracted by this fairy movie that Scoop and Cori were watching. Mike tried to explain that it was a fairy that built things...

Jorja's Baptism

Today was such an exciting day. Jorja was baptized. She looked stunning. She was baptized along with two other children. One boy and one girl from a different ward. We got there about a minute before it was suppose to start. We were doing pretty good on time, but I realized I had left a spotlight sheet about Jorja that I was asked to fill out. We turned around, but I couldn't find it. Once we entered the chapel, I hurriedly wrote down what I remembered on the back of the program. I handed it to Brother Bromley while the bishop for the other ward was speaking. They read the spotlights of the children at the beginning of the program. One of the questions was 'What is your favorite activity to do with your family?' I thought it was funny that the boy put Go on cruises and the girl put Go to Maui. Jorja put playing games. We do have a lot of fun playing games together.

One of my favorite parts of the program was when Stockton, Erica, Jacob & Weston sang He Sent His Son. Lisa played for them. We were asked to find a musical number yesterday. These kids got up there without practicing at all and sounded great. They were a little rocky during the first stanza, but after that it was beautiful. I loved it. It is Jorja's favorite primary song, so it was just perfect. I loved that Maysen was able to say the opening prayer and Stockton was able to sing. They both had a part in her baptism program.

Jorja was able to get baptized first. She wore a beautiful dress that Scoop and Cori had given her. She got to be baptized TWICE! The first time part of her dress floated up, so she wasn't completely immersed. The second time, Mike made sure she went under and really dunked her! I watched Jorja from the side of the font. Everything was perfect. Except Preston fell asleep and missed the entire thing. I handed him off to Melissa and she carried him the rest of the baptism program.

After the baptism, my dad was able to talk to her about what just happened (being baptized) and what was going to happen (receiving the Holy Ghost). He did a great job and was able to explain in simple terms the importance of today.

I am so proud of Jorja. She is an amazing little girl. She is so Christ-like. She will give up something she really wants if she knows it will make someone else happy. I have seen her do this many, many times. Jorja is filled with pure love. I hope she will always live her life so that she will be able to have the blessing of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. She is such a joy and I am so blessed to have her in my life. I love you Porge!

Jorja & Mike

After the baptism, we had everyone come over to Scoop and Cori's house for snacks....lots and lots of snacks. Scoop and Cori really helped us out and the day was wonderful.

Jorja's second dress was the dress Maysen wore at her baptism. Jorja is wearing the necklace and bracelet that Sister Prillaman helped me make before we moved from Georgia. Jorja looked beautiful. She wore her dress the rest of the day. It was pretty funny to see her chasing dogs and sliding around in her beautiful clothes. She is such a crazy, happy girl.

Jorja, Mike, Stockton, Maysen, Stephanie, Preston

Maysen doesn't act like a teenager at all

Stephanie & Jorja

Jorja & Mike

Leave it to Mike's family to do this to a perfectly lovely cake. Actually it was pretty awesome. Jorja had picked out some snowman peeps, then they added pretzels for the campfire. I'm not sure who lit it, but nice one.

My Grandpa Parry came all the way down from Idaho just for Jorja. He drove back right after. I love my grandpa so much. He sure knows how to make us feel special and important. Everything he ever does is for his family. My Grandma Parry is just as amazing, but she is now too sick to travel. I know she would give just about anything to be here for Jorja. When we were in the chapel, I whispered to Preston that Grandpa Parry was in front of us. He turned to me and said, "Did he make my brown blanket?" Grandma Parry made Preston his brown blanket that he carries everywhere and sleeps with every night. He always tells me that Grandma Parry made it for him.

Jorja & Grandpa Parry

Stephanie, Jorja & Ron...my dad....Jorja's grandpa

My Grandma Millburn was able to come as well! Her eye is red because she had surgery on it, and she has a cast on her wrist because she fell and broke it. As my Grandpa Parry would say, "Getting old is not for sissies!" I am so glad Grandma was able to come.

Grandma Millburn & Jorja

Jorja & Princess

Scoop, Cori & Jorja

I really wanted to get a picture of Jorja and Weston together. I got a picture with Scoop & Cori, but when I asked Jorja and Weston to stand by the piano, Weston bonked his head on the corner. HARD! I am not kidding. That must have hurt. Weston barely even flinched. He walked it off and was completely fine. My kids would have been rolling around on the ground writhing in pain. That kid is tough! Too bad I didn't get my picture though. Maybe we'll get one when Weston gets baptized next year.

Scoop, Cori, Weston, Jorja

Jorja & Grizzly

Stockton is completely obsessed with his cousins. He talks about them all the time and always wants to be with them. I asked Stockton if he had a fun day, he said it wasn't perfect. I asked why and he said, "Because it didn't last forever."

Brandon & Stockton

They don't have any fun together

Grizzly, Jorja, Stephanie

Jorja & Stephanie

Thank you to all who made Jorja's day so special. We are so blessed to be around so many people who love us. I am so proud of this little girl!

Clocks

Another great Jazz game tonight! I watched the game with Mike & Scoop. Preston came in with two minutes left. He sat on Mike's lap and watched. He cheered for the Jazz (until he found out the other team was from Georgia....then he cried about our house.) It was so cute to see him clapping. I showed him where the shot clock was on the screen, I knew he would be hooked. Every time I use the microwave Preston sits on the floor and counts down with the numbers. He seems to find it fascinating. Maybe, just maybe he will use this interest and develop a love of sports....or maybe a like of sports. Probably just a love of timers.

Exclusion Notice

As I was sitting here wondering what I was going to blog about today, Scoop handed Mike a letter....which was handed to me. It was from Jorja's elementary school and was sent at the start of the month. Scoop and Cori have been in St. George so we don't get the mail here. (It is one of those group mailboxes with a key.) Jorja has to get her second Hepatitis shot by November 17th or she can't come back to school. Great. One more thing to add to the list. Sorry about that Porge.

Preston is FOUR!

Today was a LONG fun-filled day. We started the morning with cake for breakfast! Breakfast of champions. Seriously, it was the only time we had during the day to celebrate Preston's birthday. I can't believe my little baby cakes is 4 years old! Preston loved his train cake. He insisted that he was three until he blew out the candle...now he is four. He also informed me it was his birthday until the birthday cake was gone. I think he's planning another day of celebration tomorrow because there are a few pieces left.

Before cake we opened a few presents. Preston was really excited about his 'minions' and he used them to blow out his candle. He also received a Zum (for webkinz...I took him to the store and let him pick out anything he wanted, and that is what he chose....it blew the other kids minds.) He got puppy jammies, a puppy book and Thomas underwear. Lets hope those trains stay dry! They didn't today, buy maybe tomorrow....

Preston....pretty happy with his cake

Preston

Preston & Stockton

Jorja, Preston, Stockton, Maysen

Preston's minions blowing out his candle

This afternoon, my dad and Max came up. My dad brought Preston a puppy pillow pet. He LOVED that. Max & Preston enjoyed throwing snowballs, especially at the man in the tree. It was cold outside. I need to wear something other than flip-flops.

We had diving today and the kids did great! It is so much fun watching them! Stockton and Maysen worked on back dives. When Stockton first started them, he would land flat on his back, but today he did so good. This was Maysen's first time with the back dives and she did great. Jorja was even brave enough to do a forward dive today. She was so excited. When it got time for the free dive, Stockton kept doing a flip with a twist off of the high dive. He is so fun to watch....so full of joy when he is diving.

As soon as we got home, Maysen and I rushed off to a Young Womens/Relief Society activity. They were making things for the Festival of Trees. I am SO excited to go to the Festival of Trees again! Maysen and I actually made the temple blocks that the Fuller girls have been making. I thought that was pretty cool. Too bad we didn't get to keep one....but now we know how to do it, so we'll see if I'm brave enough to be crafty by myself.

It is now past ten and Preston is playing Mike's ipad. He fell asleep during diving. Naps are no fun when they are taken by a four year old. At least it's his birthday, so I don't mind.

Train Cake

Mike and I worked on Preston's birthday cake tonight. Preston had a hard time getting to sleep. I think he's a little excited about tomorrow. Stockton kept trying to get a 'last look' of Preston....he wants to always remember the last time he saw him when he was three. Then Stockton started telling me exactly what Preston looked like the last time he saw him when he was one and two. Stockton also said, "I wish Preston could stay a baby forever." I am excited that he will start wearing underwear again tomorrow.....let's hope Preston still remembers his promise....

Sick Day

Jorja woke up this morning and started throwing up. Poor little Porgie. She was pretty sick for most of the morning. This afternoon she felt better. She was so sad that I wouldn't let her go diving today. She cried and cried. I was so sad for her. Mike spent the time while we were at diving playing games with Jorja. They played Clue and Age of Mythology. I think she had a nice time, and she will get to go diving again on Wednesday. I'm glad she likes it so much. Hopefully Bubs & Ange's kids don't get sick.

Blanket for Abbs

I brought home a baby blanket from Grandma for Abigail. It is so beautiful. I had to get a picture of beautiful Abbs on a beautiful blanket. Stockton was so excited to see her. He loves babies. Jorja and Preston had a great time playing with Lincoln and Ella (once Preston got over the slinky incident). We didn't do anything special today, it was just nice hanging out with them.

Abigail

Abbs & Stockton

Abbs & Jorja

Jorja had her baptism interview today. She is all clear for Saturday. We are pretty excited for her. Last night Jorja came to our bedroom. She wanted to sleep with us. Once she climbed in, she wanted her stuffed canary. I told her no, she already brought her fox down. I didn't want to climb up two floors to get another animal. I guess Jorja really wanted it because without complaint she went and got her canary and came back down. This morning she was complaining that her back hurt. I asked her what happened. She said that when she got out of bed last night she tried to bounce off her bed, but she missed and landed on her back on the floor. The wind was knocked out of her for a bit. Now I feel bad that I made her get the canary....I didn't know she was hurt.

Quick Trip

Yesterday afternoon I made a quick trip up to Idaho to visit Grandma Parry. I went by myself and it was a really nice visit. Grandpa took us out to dinner at Sizzler. Yummy. I spent the day with Grandma and had the best time. It was nice to actually talk to her without having to focus on the kids. They were having a ton of fun with Mike while I was gone. They played games, archery, rode the 4-wheeler and had their cousins over. When I got home they were playing Clue. Preston crawled on my lap and cried for about fifteen minutes about how he wants to live in Georgia. He misses the house, the letter P in his bedroom and he misses the green Germ-X. Preston has slept downstairs alone the last two nights. He is so proud of himself for being brave.a

Sentences

Stockton cracks me up. As part of his spelling, once a week he writes sentences for a few of the words. Stockton, of course, never just writes the sentences. For example, this week he needed to write sentences for: versus, square, telephone, denture, ceiling, sealing. I know these words are incredibly easy for Stockton, but it's nice to have easy things on the to-do list. Anyway, this is the paper Stockton turned into me.

The "Birthday Boxing" match was about to start. It was Robby vs. Jack. "Before they square off" the announcer announced, "It's present time!" Robby gave Jack his gift. It was sealed with a red bow. Jack opened it. "What's this?" he asked Robby. "It's a pair of dentures!" he laughed. "Now, what's mine?" he wondered aloud as he tore open a blue box with green ribbon attached to it. Jack chuckled, "It's a telephone! Y'know, so you can call an ambulance. Right now." The announcer started talking into the microphone again. "Well, now that gift exchanging is over, let the battle BEGIN!" The jumbotron finally had something to show. The audience is the back looked up at the ceiling for a better view & watched the two Birthday Boxers.

Jorja the Smarty-Pants

Today I had parent-teacher conference with Jorja and her teacher. Her teacher was pretty much blown away with Jorja. I chuckled inside. She was pretty much off the charts in all the categories. It's nice that she is off the charts on something besides her weight. Well, she's back on the charts now, but it took YEARS. The only thing her teacher wanted her to work on was participating more in class. She asked Jorja if she would make a goal to raise her hand when she knew the answer. Jorja shook her head fervently. I told the teacher, "I promise, she is my loudest child. Just at home." I know exactly how Jorja feels. I hated raising my hand in school. I can't stand it when people I don't know very well look at me...or if I have to talk to them. Poor Jorja, not a fun trait to inherit.

Yesterday I had my hair cut. I cut quite a bit off. I was wondering how long it would take Mike to notice. I don't know the answer because finally I spilled the beans. He pointed out that I didn't notice his haircut either. I think that if he had hair halfway down his back and cut it to his shoulders....I would probably notice. But let's not test that theory.

Jorja is NOT a Schnitzel

In case you don't understand this reference, you really need to catch up on Phineas and Ferb.

If you don't feel like spending ten minutes watching Phineas and Ferb, short story.....Jorja went off the high dive. And she was cute.

Election Day

Sorry Matt. We did our part. Also, I hate mold. They found a bunch of it in the house we wanted to buy. We hope the seller will agree to get this fixed. Kind of a disappointment.

Mrs. Trombino's Class

Dear Mrs. Trombino's Class,

I have been having fun at Utah. It snowed one time. I have been staying with my grandparents while we look for a house. My teacher is Mrs. Walker. There are 25 students in my class. My number is 26. There is a boy gone for a few months. I had fun for my birthday. I share a birthday with my cousin Lincoln. We went ice-skating. I got my braces off. I take diving lessons now at the University of Utah. Today was my first lesson. I miss Mirror Lake. I will write again soon.

From,
Jorja

New Plan

We were running a little late for (9:00) church. Instead of stressing and walking in late, we decided to go to our (hopefully) new ward. That started at 11:00. We arrived at church, stress free about ten minutes early. The only problem was no one was there. Not a car in site. It must have been stake conference. Time for a new plan. Mike set up the projector in the loft and we watched the priesthood session of conference. The kids were great and watched all two hours.

Stockton has been after Mike to work on his Arrow of Light. One of the things they worked on was a chess belt loop. The kids know we are getting them a Mario chess for Christmas....that might be their only present. Anyway, Stockton has been anxious to play it, so we got it out just for the day. He loved it. Jorja did too. Later we played Settlers. Maysen drew a picture of us as cats with different resources. It was cute.

Happy Halloween!

We went trick-or-treating with the cousins today. Stockton slept over last night, so he was able to spend ALL day with them. That made for a happy, happy Stockton. Preston was so cute when he was trick-or-treating. When the door would open, he would walk right in. At one house I said, "Say thank-you" and he turned around and hugged the person at the door. It was so cute! One quick side-note. I know we are trick-or-treating on Saturday because Halloween is on Sunday. They do this in Georgia too, so it is not just a Utah thing.

Maysen, Stockton, Jorja, Weston, Brandon, Jacob

Maysen ~ Scourge
Stockton ~ Dimentio
Jorja ~ frog

Weston ~ Lego Man

Preston the Leopard Looking at his Loot