11:00 Church!

It is nice to have the extra time to get ready.  Although Stockton had fast offerings at 9:00 and I had a meeting at 9:30.  Still, it was nice. Maysen was excited to find out that Brother Kimball is going to be teaching her again!  This will be her third year with him.  She was in the wrong age group when we moved here.  When they discovered she was in the wrong class she didn't want to leave.  She liked Brother Kimball too much.  Last year she went to her correct class and got Brother Kimball again.  This year Brother Kimball's teaching the 15-16 year olds.  She is so lucky!  I hear he is an amazing teacher.  He taught Gospel Doctrine before we moved in.  I was told when he was a released the entire congregation gasped.  People like him so much.  Stockton has awesome teachers as well.  Brother Johnson and Brother Riddle.  Brother Riddle was just released as the Young Men's president a few months ago. Jorja has Mike as her teacher.  She is beyond thrilled about that. Preston has an older couple I think.  I haven't met them, but I overheard someone say that it was Magena's grandparents.  Hopefully he likes them, he had a substitute today.

We had family dinner tonight.  Matt and Sam came.  My dad brought Gayle.  It was fun.  We played team Pirateer.  Matt and I won.  Then we played Dominion and I won at that.  I would say this evening was a success!

Taking Back the House

Life has been so crazy for us these last few months.  So many wonderful things have happened.  The best was all the time I was able to spend with my brothers.  Loved that!  But, my house has suffered.  So, today we worked on taking back the house.  All the bedrooms and bathrooms are clean.  The downstairs tv room and movie room are clean.  Now we just need to get the kitchen straightened up before people come over for dinner tomorrow.  I guess I better get going!

Mike at McDonalds

Preston came home from school and didn't want lunch.  Weird.  Then he wanted to cuddle in my bed and he quickly fell asleep.  Weirder. While he was sleeping I got a phone call from my brother, Mike.  He asked what I was doing.  I told him I was sewing a stocking for Trevor. I asked what he was doing.  He said he was riding FrontRunner and would be in South Jordan in a few minutes!  What!!!  I couldn't believe it.  My dad picked him up at the train station and took him to McDonalds.  I met him there.  It was so great to see them!  I called Mike after awhile and asked if Preston was awake.  He was, but was feeling sick.  So sad!  He LOVES playing with Skye and Larkin.  He would have had so much fun!  Jorja was devastated she missed them too!

Larkin

This picture isn't the best, but Blake is so adorable!

 BLAKE, Mike, Larkin, Skye, Dad

 Blake, can he get any cuter?

 Why yes, yes he can.

 Token frog picture for Jorja

I followed my dad to the train station and bought a ticket to ride the train with them.  That way I could see them just a little longer.  Blake was so cute!  He kept closing his eyes.  I would say, "Where did Blake go?"  Then he would open them and smile.  Hilarious.  I tried to get a picture of him with his eyes closed, but this is the best I could do.

 Blake

Laundry Day!

It needed to be done.

Second Time's the Charm

The kids had to go back to school today.  Christmas vacation went by too fast!  Even with the three extra days they got because we took them out of school early.  Stockton did not appreciate the extra homework he received today.

Once the kids were at school, I went swimming with John and Cassie! Right when we got in the pool they happened to have a baby aerobics class.  Cassie joined that.  She looked like she was having a lot of fun. Mallory told me several times later that she sang Wheels on the Bus while she was swimming.  So cute!  Preston was mad at me when he found out I went swimming without him.  I didn't think he would care that much at all.  Man these kids, always changing the rules on me!

Mallory and John

 Cassie and Trevor

 Mallory and John

 Cassie and Trevor

John had a job interview in Utah this afternoon.  That would be so cool if they ended up moving here!  He also has an offer in New Mexico, so I will have to compete with Mike now.  My dad came up and played games with John for a little while today.  Then we went back to the pool!  Cassie was brave and went swimming with Jorja, Preston and Mallory.  John and I took Trevor to play racquetball.  Well, Trevor didn't really play.  He slept in his carseat while we played.  That was very considerate of him.  John won me the first game 15-4.  He was playing left-handed.  The next two games I played with the two bounce rule.  John won me 15-0 and 15-1.  I felt pretty awesome about scoring that point!

When John and I were done playing, we went to the pool to rescue Cassie.  Apparently Preston cried the entire time.  Ridiculous.  He told me Jorja was trying to drown him.  "She knew I wanted to follow her and she went where I couldn't reach, so she was trying to drown me!" Yep Preston, that is exactly what she was trying to do.  Preston was just jealous that Jorja wanted to play with Mallory.  He is quite possessive of that girl.  Once we were ready to go, we said good-bye to Mallory in the car.  They are sleeping at my dad's house tonight and leaving for Ohio early tomorrow.  Sniff, sniff.

Jorja and Mallory

 Preston and Mallory

Mike and I went down to my dad's house after the kids were in bed.  We played Ticket to Ride.  My dad had to leave to get Matt and Sam at the airport.  Mike and I went home before they made it back.  I knew if I stayed longer I would be up way too late.  Hopefully it won't be an entire year before we see them again . . . especially if they move to Utah!  (I know that chances are slim, but one can always hope!)

No Racquetball Today

We called up John and Cassie to see if they wanted to meet us at the gym.  We had a family pass and thought it would be fun to spend New Years Day playing there.  When we got there, ALL the racquetball courts were filled up.  All of them.  Plus they were reserved for the rest of the day.  That has never happened before.  We didn't want to waste our pass when we couldn't even play racquetball!  Disappointing.  We will try again tomorrow.

John read Fox In Socks to the kids.  Mike and I used to hide that book when the kids were little.  I hated reading it!  John was a pro though.  I videoed him reading, but Stockton was obnoxious so I didn't get a good one.

Jorja and Preston were lifting up their shirts so you could see their bellybutton.  They would stick their tummies out and pretend they were shooting who knows what from their bellybuttons.  This was accompanied with sound effects.  Preston then proceeded to pull down his pants AND underwear and shoot from his private area.  That game was stopped real quick and Preston had a visit to timeout.  He didn't complain.  He knew he deserved it.

Solitude

We bought passes at Solitude this year for our family.  Today was the first day we had a chance to make it up there.  Everyone went but Preston.  Hopefully we can get him to come next time, but he isn't very excited about it.  Jorja wanted to learn how to snowboard, so Mike spent most of the time snowboarding with her.  Maysen, Stockton and I went skiing.  Mike went down a few runs with Stockton at the end.  I am a chicken when it comes to skiing.  Hopefully Mike can take the kids up one-on-one sometime this year.  They will get so much better if I'm not in the picture!  Plus, I think they would love the individual attention from their dad!  Mike took some pictures and videos.  I'm not sure if the video is going to work, but I might as well give it a shot!

Jorja

 Stockton

We also finished the Book of Mormon today!  Perfect way to end the year.  Steve and Shannon and their family came over for New Years Eve. John and Cassie went to my dad's house.  We played a few games and ate a lot of food.  Too bad I didn't get a picture of my family.  I wonder why I didn't think of that!  The kids are always silly after the ball drops. They run around saying things like, "First one to touch this light switch in 2013!"  Mike said, "Who will be the first one to fall face first in the snow in 2013?"  Brandon and Weston ran outside and did that!  No coat, not even any shoes!  Then Mike said, "Who will be the first one in the snow forts in 2013?"  Again, Brandon and Weston ran out there with no coat and no shoes!  I wonder who will be the first one to catch pneumonia in 2013?

Last Sunday

Today was the last Sunday that we will have 9:00 church.  Stockton is pretty excited about not going early to set up chairs.  It is also the last Sunday with some pretty awesome teachers.  Jorja has loved her primary teachers.  Brother and Sister Jones.  Good thing that next year she gets to have her dad as her teacher!  She is thrilled about that! Maysen finished her class with Brother Kimball.  She wasn't sure if he will somehow miraculously move up and teach her again.  She has already had him for two years.  She is more then okay about that.  He is a fantastic teacher!

Every Card

Okay, this actually happened last night, but this is so awesome it deserves a post of its own.  Tonight we played Dominion with every card.  It was so much fun!  Especially since I dominated most of the game.  Right away I could see how valuable Trade Route was going to be.  I collected most of them.  On one turn I was able to buy three colonies!  By that time I did that, the trade routes were gone!  Most of them were in my hand.  It clogged it up a little, but better then letting anyone else have this awesome card.  Especially when you Kings Court a Trade Route with a Fortress.  Amazing.

We weren't sure how we should end the game, so we decided that it would be over when five victory piles were gone.  (We didn't want the game to end too quickly - it took quite a long time to set up!)  Anyway, our version ended up taking WAY too long!  We should have ended the game when all the Provinces and Colonies were gone/or five piles.  We played for four hours - past 2 in the morning.  It was Mike, Maysen, John, Pace and I.  So much fun!  I did get quite a scare when towards the end of the game Maysen kept Kings Courting a Saboteur!  She got rid of 4 of my Colonies that way!  I just lost them because the entire Colony pile was gone.

Maysen 

 Pace, John, Maysen's arm, Mike

We liked to joke about how this would blow Matt's mind.  Matt is a purest when it comes to this game, so he would probably hate it.  If we did play with him, we would have to set the game up and play in the morning.  That would give Matt all night to read every card!

Snow Forts and Fights

Steve brought his boys over to play in the backyard.  They were out there for a long time and I assume everyone had a great time.  I only stepped out to take some pictures, then I ran like a chicken back into the warm house.  Preston was excited to use his Santa present.  Mike says we need to get more of them!  Luckily I saw some at the store.  I wonder if that is where Santa shops?

Steve and Weston

 Jacob and Jorja

 Stockton and Jacob

 Jorja

 Brandon and Stockton (Steve, Preston, Weston)

 Jorja

 Stockton and Brandon

 Preston, Stockton, Jacob

 Backyard full of crazies!

 4 different forts

 Preston

 Now the fight has begun!  Mike defending his castle.

 Mike and Jorja

 Jacob and Stockton

 Mallory was oblivious to all the chaos going on around her.

 Mallory and Mike

 She thinks the snow is delicious!

39

That is how old I am.  Weird.  Today was also the first day in the history of Stephanie that I have been home on my birthday.  Usually I'm at the cabin, or at least in Idaho.  Once I was even on a cruise.  Mike is on call this week, so we had to be home - or I had to be without Mike.  No way was I going to be away from Mike, so home it was.  I actually wasn't feeling too well, luckily I never got as sick as some of my family members.

Anyway, this morning I went to breakfast with my family.  We went to the Black Bear Diner.  We had never been there before.  It reminded my kids of Great Wolf Lodge.  It reminded me of Daniel's Summit.  Good memories from both of those places.

John and Cassie went to see Bubs ref a basketball game.  I really wanted to go, and I was planning on going - I just didn't feel well enough to get there.  Hopefully I'll be able to see Bubs later in the season.

Maysen and I watched My Fair Lady.  Maysen had to watch two movies for her homework.  There were only two G rated movies on the list.  My Fair Lady and Brigadoon.  I was surprised that there would be several PG-13 and R rated movies on the list.  Anyway, we watched it and it was long!  At least I was able to work on Trevor's stocking.

Mike made me peas and hotdogs for dinner.  John was pumped about that.  Peas and hotdogs was one of my favorite meals as I was growing up.  John said Dad must have taken it out of the rotation, he doesn't remember having it since he was about ten.  Maybe my mom would make it. Anyway, it is delicious! After dinner we had presents and cake.  Jorja gave me a frog.

Stephanie and Un-named frog

 Jorja and Stephanie

Mike got me a blender.  I had asked for one.  The one we have now drives me crazy!  I guess it is 17 years old - still . . .

 Orange juicer thing

I had a delicious cake for my birthday!  Usually we are at the cabin, so it is quite simple.  I told Mike I wanted a Cold Stone cake.  I was excited to be able to choose what I would like and not worry about if anyone else would like the flavors.  Mike had to call and talk to the store because I wanted something different then their choices on their webpage.  I chose banana icecream with snickers, raspberries and hot fudge mixed in.  The cake was red velvet and they put a layer of hot fudge inbetween the icecream and cake.  The topping was a whipped raspberry topping. It was so good!  Jorja was the only one of my kids who liked it though. The other three slid their plates to me after one bite.  Weirdos.

They spelled my name wrong, so Mike got a discount.
They had spelled it Stephainie.

 Stephanie (only one i)

 The loves of my life!

Jorja, Stockton, Mike, Stephanie, Maysen, Preston

 YUMMY!

 Jorja and Stockton

 John and Stephanie

 Stephanie and Maysen

 Stockton

 Only one more year until I'm 40!  Yikes!

Mike was so nice.  He hates peas, he hates snickers and he hates raspberries.  He didn't complain about anything that I asked for.  That's love right there!