Marie's a Teenager!

Mike, Maysen, Stockton and Jorja are all home. Maysen sent me this picture and said "Bear waiting for Dad to come home." Hahahaha - he loves Mike so much.

Bear

I ran to the store to get things for dinner and couldn't resist getting this cake for Marie. We didn't end up eating it tonight though. We are planning on getting it out for lunch. In case you can't tell. It is a cotton candy cake. Not a cake that is cotton candy flavor. The entire cake is cotton candy.

Mike sent me this picture. He found a small air conditioner thing to put in the window at the cabin. It has been so hot up here!

I played a quick Dominion game with Mike, Stockton and Preston. This was the best game for me today. Overlord worked well with Tactitian and Legionary.

Mike and Stockton payed a visit to Jorja.

Jorja

Brett's family and Matt's family and my dad all arrived a bit after 6:00. I made taco haystacks for dinner. Marie was adorable as the birthday girl. I can't believe she is a teenager! We watched Olympics and just hung out together. It was fun!

Marie

I finished Rachel's stocking a bit ago. I gave it to her today. Although I took it back because I might add one more thing. I'll give it to her when she is at my house next week. I think her stocking turned out beautiful. I love it!

I FaceTimed Jorja today. We got her registered for the ambassador retreat. It's going to be at Bear Lake. Three days. She is going to have a blast. I can't wait for her to have this experience. I think she is going to love every second!

Eagle Eyes

Last MTC day at the cabin. Weston has been doing so well. It is fun to hear him talking in Spanish, cracking jokes with the other missionaries, conducting meetings and learning how to be the best missionary. I am glad Stockton got to go to the regular MTC though. I think home MTC would be so hard.

Elder Weston Smith 

Mike and I took the jet ski out on the lake. Steve and Shannon took the boat with three of their kids. I wore my wet suit Mike got me for the first time today. I was a fan. I spent the entire time on the jet ski today. The first time I had been on it. I wasn't ever cold. The wet suit made a huge difference. Mike and I came back early while the rest finished wake boarding. On the way back the water looked much smoother than on the way out. Hope they had a great time! Sounds like they did. Brandon even rescued someone. They had fallen off their jet ski and were left behind. Brandon saw a tiny dot waving. They picked him up. The family said they were about to call search and rescue. Glad Brandon has eagle eyes!

Mike

Mike & Stephanie

Mike took Stockton, Jorja and Bear home. Stockton is going through the temple with Gavin on Wednesday. Jorja has school and work. Bear likes Mike. Mike will bring Stockton and hopefully Maysen back up with him. Maysen has still been feeling sick. She says she is doing a lot better and she is hopeful for the Wednesday drive. Steve and Shannon's family left a bit later. Weston told me this is his favorite place and that he loves it here. Awe. That's awesome. This place is the best.

Elder Weston

Elder Weston & Shannon

Preston and I are now at the cabin by ourselves. My brothers and their families will come tomorrow. I had Preston take a shower and hang out in Mike's bathrobe while I washed his clothes. Mike will bring up all the clothes Preston packed on Wednesday. Glad we have a washing machine here now!

Recording

Sunday at the cabin. Steve and Shannon and their family went to brunch at one of Shannon's high school friends. They went to church after. We did zoom church at home. Mike got Mike Masters to do the camera, but our Mike is still the host. Mike has been recording homecoming/farewells and sending the link to the parents. I reminded Mike to record Teagan's farewell. I told him there was no reason to record the entire thing, just wait until Teagan started talking. Bad idea on my part. Mike Masters didn't have the video on mute. Because our Mike was the host when he recorded it said, "Recording started" into the microphone! We were dying! Ahhhhh! Teagan and Bro. Scott looked so confused. Bro. Scott got up and they were trying to figure out what was going on. Mike said, "Fine, I'll stop the recording." Too bad it then said, "Recording stopped." So embarrassing! I felt so bad because I was the one who told Mike to start the recording in the first place. Whoops.

Today was fun. Mostly playing games. Ping pong. Fooseball. Card games. So much fun. I went on a walk with Steve and Shannon's family. It felt so good outside! The hot had died down and the weather was just perfect. We watched a church movie that Weston was allowed to watch before we headed to bed. Jorja was wired! She had so much energy. My family is all sleeping in the double bedroom downstairs. Jorja and Preston are on the bunkbeds above us. Jorja hung down like this in the pitch black for such a long time! Mostly singing about how she wasn't sleepy. Hahaha

Jorja

MTC in Parrydise

We had crepes this morning and then spent a good six hours out on the lake. We had Steve's boat and Mike's jet ski. We had the tube behind the jet ski. Mike, Preston, Brandon and Jacob spent a lot of time on the tube/jet ski. We took turns surfing. I took a lot of pictures of Jorja. My family only spends one day a year with a motorboat traditionally, so we do not have the experience the cousins have. Jorja got lots of time to work on the surfer. She did great and had a lot of fun.

Jorja

Mike & Jorja

Jorja

Brothers ~ Mike & Steve

Looks like Brandon and Jacob threw Stockton and Preston

Preston

Stockton and Preston

Jorja had to go back earlier to do homework. She has an essay due. Her finals week is next week, so she has a lot of big things coming up. She has worked so, so hard this summer semester. I am incredibly proud of her. Mike and I took her back on the jet ski. She rode the tube. Mike dropped both of us off while I drove Jorja back. Mike drove the jet ski back to the boat, but it doesn't work with the tube behind very well. Mike tried lifting the rope up higher, but it ended up breaking something off of the jet ski. Rip. It was a handle the person riding backwards could hold. Mike says it is meant to break off and be replaced instead of doing big damage to the jet ski, so I guess that is good. Once I got back on the boat Mike and I both got the opportunity to surf. That was fun. The water wasn't to cold at all.

While the rest of us were on the lake, Weston was doing cabin MTC. He had zoom classes all day long. It is fun to listen to him speak Spanish and interact with the other missionaries. He is doing so well!

Elder Weston Smith

Steve, Shannon, Jorja and I played Trek to Zion tonight. Steve ended up winning. My long road got blocked by a measly two point wagon. Oh well, apparently I blocked Jorja's long train within the first five turns. Whoops. 

Back to Parrydise

I took Stockton to Salt Lake for diving this morning. He has been driving quite a bit to do that! I finished packing when I got home. I didn't get as much finished as I wanted to. Hopefully my brothers and their families don't judge me! I took Preston with me and went to pick up Stockton. Jorja was getting a haircut, so she stayed behind with Mike. Bear was also getting a haircut, which is why I went ahead of Mike. Preston and I got Stockton and then headed straight to the cabin. We stopped in Evanston at Paffs and had carne asada fries. First time there. It was good except for the hand sanitizer that got squirted into my eye.

Mike let the ducks wander

Mike got to the cabin about an hour after we did. Bear took the front seat and Jorja was banished to the back. Maysen stayed behind. She is still not feeling well. We are hoping she is better by Wednesday and can come up for the second leg of our cabin trip.

Bear

Mike and I did a test run on Bear's fence. We were 5 seconds away when Bear came charging through the fence at full speed. There was one post that had just a bit more space and he found it. Haha. Mike moved six boards and fixed that. We tried again in the front yard and again.... 5 seconds until Bear found another spot. He is Houdini!  

Can you find the space that was too big?

Mike and I went to the grocery store. This is my first time in this store. It is a lot bigger than Alpine Market. Who would have thought that a bigger store would be built even closer? I took a picture of this "cake" It is cotton candy. I don't know how I feel about this!

Steve and Shannon and their family got here around 10:00. Shannon and Weston got here first. Steve, Erica, Brandon and Jacob were just a bit later. This is going to be a fun weekend!