Taylor Swift

Our view this morning

There was a lot of snow this morning! Wow! I got up early and exercised, cleaned the bathrooms, showered and got dressed. Woohoo! Getting out of pjs is an accomplishment these days!

Jorja posted her Taylor Swift election video. It is too long to post on here, but it was so funny! I don't know how she comes up with all these ideas. She made a music video to Taylor Swift's 'You Belong to Me' song. The 'boyfriend' in the song was a paper that said, "Financial Chair".... Okay, I took a few screenshots to kind of get a taste of the video. 

"She doesn't get your humor like I do"

 "She'll never know your story like I do"

 "She wears short skirts"

 "I wear t-shirts"

 "She's cheer captain"

 "And I'm on the bleachers"

 "Dreaming 'bout the day"

 Jorja put a lot of random clips of her doing 'dating' stuff with the Financial Chair paper. Haha!

 This is Jorja spinning

 with the Financial Chair paper

 To be a true hawk you have to kiss someone on a full moon through the A

Super weird, but this was so funny

 "Walking the streets"

 "With you in your worn out jeans"

 "Laughing on a park bench"

 "Whatcha doin' with a girl like that"

 "She's cheer captain"

 "And I'm on the bleachers"

 Then Jorja put a ton of badly photoshopped stock photos

 I thought that was so funny

 She makes me laugh

 I am constantly blown away with her creativity

I didn't even post all the photos, she had so many

 "You belong with me"

Oh man, the final product was so funny. We laughed and laughed. I am so thankful all of my kids got a heavy dose of the creative genius of their dad! They make life so fun!

Cancelled and Busy

Kerity had to cancel her appointment with Jorja because they work out at Shandon's house, and his daughter just came home from her mission and needs to be quarantined for two weeks. It is also really cold outside, so that doesn't sound fun. I think that is better. We didn't want to cancel, but now we don't need to feel bad. Jorja was on call-in for work today and they didn't need her. Yay! She worked a lot on school work and was able to get all her history done. The quarter ends on Friday and she still has a ton to do. Crazy with the SBO campaign going on. Elections start on Friday as well. Jorja still has Chinese, math and English. Fingers crossed she can get it all done! These next two days are going to be busy! For Jorja. Not for anyone else in our house.

We asked Mike how he was doing, dentist wise, on the group chat. He said they have shut most everything down. They can only see emergencies. If they are found out they are in violation they can get hit pretty hard with fines, or revocation of licenses or jail time. So, they closed up and only see emergencies for two hours a day, and they screen them pretty hard. Mike works tomorrow then doesn't work again until April 10th. Mike only gets paid when he works, so that is not a welcomed thing for him. We are lucky our Mike can work from home. Granted, brother Mike makes a ton more, so hopefully all is well! Sure do love both of my Mikes!

Jorja's Top Ten

Jorja posted her first video for her SBO campaign. The top ten reasons why people should vote for her. She is so funny.

Today is my brother John's birthday! Woohoo! It is also Madison's birthday. She is one of Jorja's best friends. Jorja and I went to the store this morning to get some things I needed and a few yellow things for Madison. Jorja wanted to make her a yellow box. We went to Harmon's and they are awesome there. I stopped at the Harmon's gas station. The guy yelled not to worry, that they spray everything down after every customer. He then brought me gloves I could put on to pump the gas. Once I started everything he asked if I would get in the car and he could finish up. He said that he had to spray everything down anyway, so why not. I got in the car and he washed my window while he was waiting. Jorja and I went through the self checkout lane at Harmon's. Again, they sprayed everything down after every customer. Loved it.

We let Madison come over. I figure they have already been in close contact with each other. They worked five hours together in the drive through and were within a few feet of each other. It was good for Madison to get out of the house too. She has kind of a chaotic situation going on around there right now. Nothing bad, sometimes it is just nice to have a change of scenery.

Jorja with Madison's yellow box

My nephew Jacob got his mission call today! We watched it on Instagram live. He has been called to the Colombia Cali mission and is going to the Colombia MTC July 16th. It will be interesting to see if the world is back to normal then. I hope so, because this sounds like a perfect mission call for Jacob!

Stockton Goldberg

We got to talk to Stockton today! They are asked to stay in their apartment unless they have a scheduled appointment and they are not sick. And the people aren't old. Stockton made me laugh when he said that some missionaries clearly haven't mastered the art of amusing themselves. Especially when we saw the Rube Goldberg machine he made with his companion. Hahaha

Elder Wells and Stockton

My favorite part was the bicycle tire. They have a full water bottle at the top, so when the cereal hits the flyswatter it moves just enough that the water bottle falls down, moving the tire, which moves the flyswatter, which hits honey Bunches of Oats. Hahaha. I LOVE him! I'm so happy he is happy.

Maysen had her last dermatologist appointment today. I'm glad they didn't cancel. She has been taking accutane. There is a 100% chance of birth defects if someone gets pregnant while taking accutane. Because of this, girls have to be seen in a certain time frame and they have to take a pregnancy test every time. This is Maysen's last time. She has one more month of pills, but doesn't need to go back. Yay!

Maysen and I went through the drive thru of Jamba Juice to pick up Jorja an açaí bowl. Jorja worked 13 hours today. She took someone else shift and had a two hour break before hers started. The dining room is closed, so Jorja brought her homework to do and we gave her the açaí bowl to eat. Jorja was very tired, but happy when she came home. She even brought us food. :)

The sad thing that happened to Jorja and the happy thing that happened to Preston today was the schools are not going to be reopened until May 1st. Preston is loving life and Jorja thinks she will go insane. I am so thankful that my family gets along and loves being together. I'm thankful that Maysen is home with us. I'm thankful that Stockton is happy and bringing joy to others in the mission field. Life is good.

Who Is the Favorite?

We had home church again today, this time with Maysen. Mike and Preston passed the sacrament. Mike had me give a talk. I read the kids a text thread that my family is in. It made me laugh so hard, so I am going to put the extended version here, minus the gifs.

It started with Brett taking a picture of his slippers and saying....

Brett: In other news. Last month I made my best purchase ever using my last two birthday amazon cards from dad.... I wear them nonstop like a grandpa.

Mike: Dad sends you amazon gift cards for your birthday? Lucky

Brett: He does. In my email. $20 baby. You must make too much money.

Mike: Dad has his favorites... I'm ok with it

John: Dad's unofficial favorites rankings: me, Max, Brett, Matt, Spencer, Steph, Mike

Mike: I'm not sure you take the top spot though

John: That's why it's the unofficial rankings. I'll wait for dad to correct my list.

Mike: Got it...makes sense now

Steph: Haha - good luck Dad!

Brett: That's crappy Steph. Hopefully Dad can move you up in front of Spence on his favorites list.

Steph: I need to be moved up in front of John.

John: To the top? Good luck.

Steph: You doubt?

John: I'm more concerned with Max and Brett at the moment. Talk to me when you reach the top 3.

Mike: My unofficial rankings: Max, Dog #1, Brett, Dog #2, Steph, John, Matt, Spence, me

John: What is this, the Coaches poll?

Steph: Haha - the dogs

Mike: I'm kidding by the way... Dad did send me a gift card for my 40th... maybe that will help my seed in the unofficial rankings

John: I didn't consider the dogs. Hmm.

Brett: Dang. I was holding strong at the top. Now it's all in doubt.

Mike: At least you beat out Dog #2 in my rankings Brett.

Mike: Do we need to do a poll with the steps? Because that will throw all rankings out the window. Putting Brittany and Shannon in the mix might push me out of the rankings

John: I don't think I would know where to rank them all individually. Maybe by clumping them into groups. Brittany and Shannon in one group, Jex boys in another group and Ashley in her own group.

Matt: Dog #1, Dog #2, Max, me, Brittany, Chris, Ashley, Brett, John, Ian, Steph, Cameron, Spence, Shannon, Peter, Mike

Brett: Ouch. Mike after Peter is tough.

John: Shannon that low? You must have some insider info.

Brett: Shannon so low?

Mike: Peter provided the avenue for Max so I understand

Matt: No inside info. It's just she never visits.

Brett: I think with Matt's votes in I surpass John.

Matt: Criticism of my rankings for having Shannon too low are valid and persuasive but I am not allowed to change my rankings after they have been released and after listening to commentary.

Mike: New rankings: Max, Dog #1, Brittany, Brett, Dog #2, Cathy, Shannon, Chris, Steph, John, Ashley, Matt, Ian, Spencer, Cameron, Peter, Mike - I thought throwing Cathy in the rankings could make things more interesting. Also congrats to Bubs for pulling ahead of Cameron.

Matt: Chris gave Dad tickets to the last jazz game of the season. Definitely would help him in the rankings. Plus he gave Dad a car.

Mike: Hmm... that might move him up 2 spots in my poll... just ahead of Cathy

Matt: Mike, if you buy Dad a super nice car I think you could surpass Peter.

Mike: Maybe...

Then my dad chimes in here with a gift of someone blowing into a paper bag.

Dad: Hi just finished reading my scriptures, cooking a magnificent breakfast, and then sat down to see why my phone was pinging all the time. I need a little time to respond.

Mike: Can't wait for the official rankings!!

John: Rank me first. The rest doesn't matter.

Bubs: These rankings seem to have a strong East coast/side bias.

Brett: Brett's dad's rankings: Brett, Peter, Cameron, Spence, Ian, Matt, Steph, Chris, Shannon, Cathy, John, Dog 2, Max, Dog 1, Brittany, Mike

John: Purposely skewing the rankings.

Brett: I had to get some separation from the top dwellers. But had to keep Mike at the bottom to preserve the integrity of the rankings.

Mike: Dang... still dead last

Mike: Makes sense. Brittany after Dog #1 does show attempt to create separation at the top

Matt: I think Brett is ranking strategically. This is a scandal.

John: Huge scandal.

Brett: Prove it.

Bubs: My Dad power rankings: Beepers, Cathy, Brittany, Dogs, Ashley, Peter, Shannon, Ian, Cameron, John, Chris, Steph, Matt, Brett, Spence, Patrice, that one girl from the old movie that blew up a car so she and that arrogant kid could be saved when they were stranded, Mike

Mike: Haha... Beepers. Classic

Dad: The official rankings are about to come forth!! Wait for it... Wait for it... Drum roll...

Matt sends a Sponge Bob gif that he is scared and biting his fingers

John: If Mike is not last, that will be a major plot twist.

Dad: I love you ALL, just the way you are!! (With a Mr. Rogers gif)

Dad: Commentary to follow...

John: Aww, so sweet.

Mike: That is the nice text before his actual rankings come out...

Dad: Wait for it...

Mike: Before the blow... huge plot twist if Brett is out of the top 5

Dad: All right, buckle up... here are the hard, but truthful facts in this case: Fact #1: Dog 1 has a name... Scally (the dog of my childhood.) Dog #2 would be Sandy (the dog of my pre-teen and teen years.) Then comes Beepers (3), Kenny (4), Zoey (5) Jaksy (6), Phineas (7), erroneously called dog #1, and Milo (8) erroneously called dog #2). More FACTS to follow... "The truth will out"... quoting Shakespeare. John, tell us the play in which that was said, and the character who said it. Stay tuned... (like what else have you to do?)

John: The Merchant of Venice. That's why I'm number one.

Matt: My favorite part of Beepers is how it would try to bite me every day when I came home from school. Definitely earned that third spot in the dog rankings.

Matt: Or is that chronological?

Dad: John, are you sure it's in Merchant of Venice? And what character? I had another play, and another character in mind. John, your ranking depends upon your correct response, or you're backing up your first statement with proof.

John: Launcelot

Dad: Lancelot? That sounds like something from King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable

John then sends this screenshot

John: Proof from my personal Shakespeare book.

Dad: John's ranking goes up!! I just googled it. John is right. I was thinking of McBeth when Lady McBeth is about to be exposed.

John: Underlined the quote in question.

Dad: OK, let's not get distracted. As for another fact, Mike has received an Amazon gift certificate every year that we have been giving them out. He just remembers his 40th birthday one. Mike, Search back through all your emails and see if you can find them. You will become a rich man, indeed. Unless you get ripped off like Maysen. I am so sad that somebody ripped off Maysen. By the way, giving out those gift certificates in Amazon was Cathy's idea, not mine. I wanted to just send you a hilarious card with no money in it.

Brett: When buying my wonderful slipper shoes I wondered if I spent my 2018 Amazon card, and I hadn't.

Dad: Also, we have been discussing whether to give any money to the parents of our 33 grandchildren. We decided that we would just give money to the kids, not their parents, and their parents could just deal with it. Now that I see that you can get ripped off anyway, or just forget to spend it, and lose it in your emails, that solidifies our decision. Although John's ranking may have gone up because of his massive knowledge of Shakespeare; alas, he will be the first casualty. However, he can expect an email that will be appropriate, hilarious, and worth it's weight in gold.

Dad: Further facts: Chris' ranking needs to be questioned... yes, he did buy our tickets to the Jazz game, but may have given Matt and I the COVID-19 virus. He is presently in quarantine in San Francisco. He gave us his car, yes, Perhaps that was because I cosigned on his loan.

Mike: Nice... me claiming no amazon gift card resulted in the end of any of you getting one in the future. My ranking just went down... except I can't go down any further. Unless this is just a ploy for dad to eliminate those in the bottom rankings from amazon gift cards while continuing to send them to those in his top rankings

Bubs: Instead of Amazon gift cards, which I used to buy board games, Dad could pay for a month of my girls dance. That seems like a fair trade. The last game I bought was "You Got Crabs" which the kids love. Me... Not so much.

Brett: I will always have these shoes to remember they were the last gift from my father.

Dad: Here's a thought: Do any of you doubt that we are now living in the last days? I used to teach my seminary kids that the silence for half an hour in Revelation chapter 8:1, could be (emphasis on "could") be 20.8333 years, if you take two scriptures and interpret them literally, that 1 day to the Lord is like 1,000 years to us. (2 Peter 3:8, Abr. 3:4) The year 2000 was the opening of the seventh seal (if you go by the Gregorian calendar, which is the one most used today). question for you mathematicians (Stockton excluded): What day and what year will the seventh seal be opened if we take the half hour mentioned in Revelation 8:1 to be literal? Stay with me, guys... this all pertains to the ranking question discussed so vigorously in this text stream. I might point out that if you want to get a fright, just read what happens when the 1/2 hour expires: For a shortened and less confusing summary, read Bruce R. McConkie's chapter headings for the following chapters: 8,9,11,13,16,17,18. And, by the way, whoever solves my story problem could (emphasis on "could") be elevated to the number one position in my rankings.

John: October 31, 2020

John: So... am I right or what?

Dad: John is the winner, but... the game is far from over!! I now declare John, temporarily the number one contestant in my rankings.

John: I seriously nailed it on my first try. I impress even myself.

Dad: And you thought Halloween was scary when you were a kid.

John: I've pretty much locked up the top spot after nailing both the Shakespeare and Revelation questions. No one else is even close at this point.

Dad: Third question... whoever answers this might (emphasis on "might") catapult himself up to the number one ranking, despite John's magnificent previous successes. And remember, lest we forget, that this all has to do with the OFFICIAL rankings!!!... in other words, no * (Questions soon to follow, as soon as it is correctly composed.)

Brett: Haha. Dogs probably first for sure.

Dad: What is the origin of Halloween?

Steph: I just got 99 texts in the span of two minutes. Yes, I counted them. 99. Dad, you should get me a new phone for my birthday.

Then there is a lot of talking about the origin of Halloween. I'm going to skip it because this is already really long and that stuff is incredibly boring.

Dad: John is nailing all these questions in dramatic fashion!!! Now... I've got one more. This could be a game changer for each and everyone of you. Stay tuned, while I compose...

John: I believe everyone else is mathematically eliminated.

Bubs: And if Dad's next question is about the Gregorian calendar, it was officially adopted in the 1500's when the world went to bed on October 5th and woke up on October 16th. 

Bubs: Boom

Bubs: Move me to 1st. 

Bubs: Also, there will be no leap year in the year 2100, there was no leap year in 1900, but there was for the year 2000.

Bubs: Calendar questions are in my wheelhouse.

Dad: Boom!! Boom!! and Boom! Spencer is a freaking Daniel...

Bubs: Leap year happens 97 times every 400 years.

Dad: No more questions... My final and OFFICIAL rankings will be out shortly. Please stay tuned. Hint... read and absorb Elder Holland's talk titled "The Laborers in the Vineyard" I will announce my final, and I mean final, decision at 8:55 PM Mountain Daylight Time. That is all.

Dad: All right, kiddies... I'm ready to make the great announcement: Who is my favorite child? Who is number one on my favorites list? And, by inference, who will be the recipient of my vast estate... and who will receive unparalleled favors during the remainder of my days? There's a few who have been exceptional: John, for sure. Spencer, for sure. And that's about it. If we lived the law of primogenitor, Spencer would get a double portion of all my goods: one portion for his household, and another portion to help out family members who may be in distress. therefore, he seems to have the edge. However, the younger son seems to always get the birthright: Nephi, for example; Joseph, for another example; Jacob, for yet another example. The examples are far reaching. It is interesting that the two in the running are both the eldest and the youngest. Therefore knowing this I now make the following declaration until my demise:.. The winner is... Parentheses cough... Cough, cough... I am having trouble breathing... I'll get back to you, maybe, I'm out... Literally?

Matt: Oh boy. Dad was within 6 feet of me today.

Dad: Wait! I can breathe freely again! I think I'm going to make it! And after this near death experience, I am in a sound mind... For once. And so, I will make this final, and irreversible, declaration. But before I do, I want you all to promise me to read Jeffrey R. Holland's talk, cited above, before The Sabbath tomorrow is over. I will make my announcement when I am satisfied that you have all read it. I want no hard feelings. Capeesh?

Dad: ANNOUNCEMENT is to be made at high noon tomorrow Mountain Daylight Time. Until then...

Bubs: If John just gives me a bowl of porridge, it's his. He'll still have to take out an aging Dad with sheepskin or whatever though.

Brett: I listened to the Holland talk. Spoiler alert, we all get the same inheritance - BUT. IT. WILL. BE. HUGE!

Anyways, it went on for a lot longer, with my dad even doing three blog posts in one day. I think Mike ended up being on top, but I can't quite remember - haha Anyway, we then watched Holland's vineyard talk for church.

And on a completely unrelated note, I thought this was so funny. All of these NBA players have the coronavirus, not funny that they have the virus, but I did think the picture was funny.

Mike and I took Jorja to film some more things for her Taylor Swift video she is doing. It is so funny! We went to Alta and filmed some scenes on the bleachers and her with a desk. We went to Altabank for a picture to post because she goes to Alta and is running for Financial Chair. We went to Corner Canyon for one part of the Taylor Swift video. I can't wait to see it when it is finished!

Jorja

 The picture below is the one she posted.

Her caption read: Hi I'm running 4 financial chair btw (get it cuz bank = money = finance = altabank) #comedian #ilovealta #blessed

Here is me looking all fancy helping Jorja with her video ~ gotta love my duck socks!

We filmed a short video with a chair when we got back. I hope she ends up posting that one too because it makes me laugh. I don't know why Jorja wanted a picture with a shovel. Haha

Jorja

We finished the day listening to a chapter of Saints and playing more of the puzzle game. We got to the first official break. Today was a good day.

Hours

Jorja had to be at work at 10:00. She was scheduled to work until 5, but then was on call after that. Meaning she might have to stay longer. Jorja thought she might have to stay an hour. Then we were planning on filming more for her election video. She texted me when she was almost done and said she had to stay until 9:00. That is eleven hours. She wasn't too happy about this entire situation. What the heck? Luckily she had a nice manager that let her take her break. Jorja had to be there at 10:00 for a team leader meeting. Usually those meetings count as your break. If she had a different manager, they could have not let her take a break and made her work eleven hours straight. She is also working thirteen hours on Monday. They didn't schedule her that much, but she is covering for someone. She says it will be different because she will be mentally prepared for that. I hope she can keep up with her school work through all of this. She has covered so many people's shifts this last week.

Onward

We helped Jorja film a video for her election today. Jorja got permission from the owner to climb out the Chick-Fil-A window yesterday. Haha - glad he was on board with it. Chick-Fil-A has been pretty slow, until today. Jorja went through first and ordered. Her friend Ben took the order and made me laugh. Especially when he said, "Does my hair look good? Wait a minute, it's me, of course it looks good." Hahaha. That isn't in the video, but I laughed and laughed. Once Jorja ordered we went back out and Jorja gave her sweatshirt for Mike to try on. We then waited until the line was gone. We actually had to go through a couple of times. We thought the line was gone, but then someone would come. Anyways, we finally got it and the video turned out so cute. Haha. Jorja makes me laugh. Mike and I left her there because she, once again, worked today.

Pretty rainbow driving home

Mike and I have been closing up the church for the last two weeks. We only had to kick someone out one time. A teenage boy and girl were in there eating food. I guess there are not many places to date right now. I brought Rachael McHenry's missionary plaque so we could get it hung up. Thomas Mogensen's missionary plaque was gone. He must have come home. He was scheduled to finish his mission in April, so that's not too early. I took this picture and sent it to Becky to show her how Isaac is in first place now. Haha Stockton is also moving up in the rankings.

 Rachael's plaque

I sent these pictures to Rachael's mom to show her the plaque was up, even though she won't be able to see it for awhile. I'm still waiting for Ian Valentine's information and Darby's picture before I can do theirs!

We watched Onward today as a family down in the movie room. Maysen has been looking forward to that movie for a long time. She loved it. Yay! During the movie Jorja leaned over to me and said, "Conner's coming home from his mission." Oh wow. I guess he is being sent home because he has asthma. That's got to be hard. So many missionaries are being sent home right now. Weird how quickly the world changed.

Tomato

I really don't have anything exciting to post. We are at home. Jorja works a lot. I ordered food from Zupas because I needed to go out anyway to pick up Rachael McHenry's missionary plaque. I got food for everyone and messed up on the order! I got Maysen tomato soup when she wanted clam chowder. Ahhhh! Maysen LOVES clam chowder and hates tomato soup. I know this. I don't know how I messed up so bad. At least I got her a grilled cheese too so she didn't go hungry. That is about all the excitement here.

Earthquake

So today we had an earthquake, that was new. Jorja and Preston slept through it. It was a 5.7 and the epicenter was in Magna, Utah. I was downstairs. Mike and Maysen were upstairs and both came running out of their beds. Mike was in his garments and I tried not to laugh. It was pretty funny. The house was shaking a ton though. It seemed to last about 15 seconds. Crazy! I was dizzy for the rest of the day, it was weird. We didn't have any damage luckily. The kids are all home because of the covid-19 virus. The earthquake happened right when we would be taking the kids to school, or in Jorja's case, driving to school. I wonder what they would have done. We got tons of calls that the schools were closed so the buildings could be checked and made sure they were safe. I wonder if this happened last week if the kids would have been sent home. Jorja ended up taking two people's shifts today. She worked a lot. She was hoping to get some more filming done, but that didn't happen.

Social Distancing

Jorja did not like it when we told her she wouldn't be able to hang out with her friends for awhile. We told her she could go to work, but that was pretty much it. She doesn't understand. Tons of her friends went on a hike today and I wouldn't let her go. They stopped by to drop her off a skateboard. She went to get it and was out there for a long time. I kept texting her to come inside and was super annoyed by the time that was over. I tried to explain to her how serious this is, but when no one else is social distancing it is hard to understand. That was the only rough patch of the day though. The rest of the day was pretty fun. We even got the office organized. Big accomplishment for us.

Jorja's station

Jorja found this video of Preston cheering for her at one of her soccer games.

Jorja & Ben

 Riley & Jorja

 Ben & Jorja

I talked to Rachel for a long time today. It was nice. I sent pictures to her of the stockings I'm working on.

Rachel's stocking

 Kaylee's stocking

 This is what Kaylee's stocking is going to look like

Maysen found out today that she didn't get the internship at the Friend. That is too bad. She would have been fantastic at that job. It's good and bad to be so close. It's awesome that she went as far in the process as she did. But it almost is harder to not get it when she was so close. We really thought she had it when they contacted her and asked for her bishop's and stake president's contact information. I wonder what she is going to end up doing. I know whatever she does she will be amazing at it.