Hidden Easter Egg

Mike found this old hidden Easter egg today out in the wood pile. It had Jorja's name written on it. It's probably ten years old. Mike sent a picture to the family chat. Jorja asked if she could have it. Mike told her there was a spider web inside. Yeah, we just threw it away.

Preston's first quarter of high school ended today. He earned a 4.0. I'm very proud of him. He had an A- in math a few days ago with one math test left. He scored a 101% on that test and ended up with 96% in the class. That's how you do it! I did feel super bad today. Preston asked me if he could stay after school in the e-sports room. He did that with Jack on Wednesday and loved it. I told him he could. Later I put down my phone somewhere and was doing the dishes when I heard it ringing. I ran downstairs and it was Mike. He told me that Preston had been trying to reach me but to not worry about it, he found a ride home. Whoops. Sorry about that Preston. Mike was out with the motorhome getting everything winterized when Preston called. I went downstairs and saw a message came in from him asking to be picked up at 4:30. It was 4:55 when Mike called. Mom fail.

Maysen has had this idea for Jorja's birthday. She wants to get lots of little presents for her to open. We went the other day and Maysen picked out several things. I went to this cool little packing store to get wrapping paper. I had always wanted to go to that score and now I wonder why I didn't go there years ago. It had the cutest stuff! I had taken pictures of the different groups of presents Maysen planned on giving her and tried to find boxes to match the right size. We ended up getting them wrapped tonight. I can't remember all of them but the boxes were something, "Open when you are studying" "Open when you are lonely" "Open when you are missing your family" "Open when you are with friends" Things like that. It turned out really cute. I think Jorja's going to love it.

Good Eyes

Jorja got up early and went to breakfast with Paige. When she came back, Mike, Jorja and I all caravanned to the tire store. We dropped off Jorja's car, Mike took the pilot home and Jorja and I took Maysen's car to the eye doctor. I'm glad we were able to get the tires on Jorja's car changed today. It makes me feel much more confident with her having the car up in Logan. Now we can cancel the tire appointment we were going to try and get done in Logan on Saturday. That will be nice. Jorja's eyes are good. Her prescription has changed. Jorja's not 100% confident they got the right prescription. She has some trial contacts to test it out though. We did find out that her nerves didn't change. I guess the nerves are supposed to be perpendicular and Jorja's comes in at an angle. The doctor said all should be well and if any other eye doctor is concerned about her nerves she can let them know that it has been looked into and that is just how she was born. What a relief! That is exactly the news we were hoping for.

Jorja

Jorja's eyes were dilated for awhile. She came home and took a nap in the dark. She drove back to Logan today and made it just fine. We will get to see her again on Saturday. I'm excited about that.

The bishop came over to talk to Mike and I tonight. We are getting new callings. Mike is going to be released as the zoom guy and I will be released as a Sunday school teacher. I'm disappointed to be leaving Kalani though. Our class is great this year too. Mike and I are being called as ward activity leaders. This was a calling that was given years ago before it was discontinued. The bishop said they noticed it was quietly inserted into the handbook that the wards could have one again. The ward council voted unanimously to have one. That is because they have been in charge of the ward activities. Haha. Anyway, I hope Mike and I can do a good job. The key to us doing a good job is everyone in the ward needs to have low expectations. That's what I'm hoping for.

Opening Night

Mike and I were lucky enough to go to the Jazz season opener. A company that wants to do business with Overstock contacted Mike to see if he would want tickets to the game in a suite. I was super excited. Mike and I have been to games in a suite before and it is amazing. Well, turns out there are different suites. This one was in the nose bleed section. It was as high as you could get. It didn't have it's private bathroom, but it did still have a section were you could mingle and eat food. The Harry Potter dessert cart didn't come by though. I actually thought it was awesome. I love how companies can still provide almost the same experience even if they can't afford a giant box. The tickets were free to us so it was still great!

I was annoyed though. I had been looking forward to the Jazz honoring Derrick Favors. This was his first time back since being traded to Oklahoma City. I didn't know if they would honor him, but I hoped they would. After the first quarter I snuck out to go to the bathroom. It was down the hall. As I was leaving the Jazz Bear flew past me on a Segway. Haha. Anyway, when I got back Mike said they did an entire video montage about Derrick Favors. The camera panned down to him and he waved while the crowd went nuts. I was sad to miss that. At least the Jazz won today though! It was a fun night.  

Jorja came home tonight. She has an eye appointment tomorrow. She will have to miss her Chinese class, which is too bad. At least her other classes she can do on zoom, even the in person public speaking one. I was glad she made it home safely. It is always nice when I know my babies are safe.

Big Snowmobiles

I talked to Stockton for awhile about schedules today. Jorja called me and begged me to get her an eye appointment. The earliest I could get her on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday was November 12th. (Those are the days that it is easiest for her to miss classes.) She said she couldn't wait that long and asked me to try again. She would take any day. Jorja wanted to go to the doctor up in Logan, but her eye doctor had wanted to see her one more time to make sure her nerves in her eyes were okay. That they hadn't changed at all. I was able to get an appointment for Thursday. The problem is she has to miss her Chinese class. She is missing her Chinese class today because she has to go to Lehi for the ambassador program. (She scooped ice-cream for three hours.) Anyway, hope all is well with her eyes and that her grades don't suffer because of this appointment.

Mike was able to get the two big snowmobiles running today. He was proud of that. Mike and Bear came home tonight. It's nice to have him back!

Barrel Stove

I woke up Preston early this morning so he could study his Chinese. Mike woke up early to drive to Soda Springs and meet Jorja. Jorja convinced some kid named Shawn to come with her. Bear was so excited to see Jorja that he peed all over her shoes. Whoops. Mike successfully passed off Jorja's jacket and name tag. Preston's Chinese teacher wasn't at school today, so he got up early for no reason.

Bear, Jorja, Shawn

Mike was pretty excited when he found out that the old Alpine Market is going to be an ACE Hardware. Two hardware stores! Mike spent the day making an outdoor wood stove out of an old rusty barrel that was in the garage. It still needs a chimney pipe and high heat black paint, but he got lots done.

Freak

Jorja asked for a picture of the outside of Maysen's car. Here it is!

I taught my lesson today. It went really well. There were only three kids there though because of fall break. Next time I teach is right before Thanksgiving. We'll see.....

Stockton and Jorja both made it back to Logan. Mike and Bear went up to the cabin. Mike said Jorja and her friends did a great job of cleaning up. There was only one window left open. Mike is planning on doing some projects at the cabin the next few days.

Jorja and friend on the drive home

Mike did text Jorja this picture to say someone left him a jacket at the cabin

Jorja was there with a lot of Utah State ambassadors and they all have that jacket. Jorja texted, 'Oh no is there a name tag in the pocket?' Mike then sent this picture.

Jorja then texted, 'Freak' Hahaha That made me laugh. Although Jorja needs the name tag on Tuesday for their trip to Lehi. Mike and Jorja have now made plans to meet in Soda Springs early in the morning. They have to leave at 6:30. As I was tucking Preston into bed he asked if I could get him up an hour and a half early so he could study his Chinese. What? That would be at 4:30 in the morning. I asked him multiple times this weekend about homework. I guess Preston didn't consider a verbal quiz homework. I told him I would get him up at 5:00, but not earlier. Looks like Mike and I will both getting up early.

Maysen's New Car

Well, Steve was right. The car he picked out for Maysen was perfect. It is a Ford Escape and it is awesome. Maysen can see perfect. It also has every single feature on our wish list, including memory seats. Didn't think we would get that one. I'm also sure Steve gave us a great price. Anyway, I think it will be a perfect car for Maysen. We are actually going to share it with her. Maysen only needs to drive to work on Friday. We are both paying for it, but Maysen is paying most. Matt Hardy helped us set up a loan for Maysen. She has been asking for a long time to get a credit card so she can start building her credit. We never got around to getting her a card, but this car loan will be perfect. 

Maysen & Steve

Mike, Maysen, Steve

Maysen

I watched BYU lose to Baylor, which was sad. I also watched Grace get baptized, which was awesome! Best thing to come out of the pandemic is being allowed to watch family get baptized when they live across the country. Grace is adorable. I'm so glad I was able to 'kind of' be there. Haha

Jorja sent me a ton of pictures from this weekend. (At my request, of course.) I know she went to Jackson Hole today. Looks like they are having tons of fun. Also, Stockton didn't risk his life today, so that was good too. 

I thought the live photo on the last picture was funny

We will end the day with Mike and his dog. Bear is obsessed with him. No idea why he is on the couch though.

Glad I Wasn't There

So.... come to find out... Stockton almost fell off a 100 foot cliff today. I did not find this out until a few days later. He has all the details on his blog. Basically Stockton was climbing a cliff when the rocks started moving underneath him. At first it was slow. He even took this picture before things got bad.

Stockton 

The problem was, every time he tried to climb the rocks would start moving. A lot. He finally stopped 30 feet from the cliffs edge. Two of his friends ended up making a chain and being able to pull Stockton out of his predicament. I am so glad I wasn't there. I do not like heights. At all. I have extreme anxiety around cliffs and things like that. If there is a fence, I'm fine. Like I loved the Eiffel Tower with the glass floor while Mike hated it. This? I probably would have been throwing up watching my baby in danger.

The spot where Stockton was heading has two trees at the edge...look at the drop...

Things were much tamer at home. Mike, Maysen and I went to look at a car for Maysen. Maysen can't see easily in many cars with her height. The car we went down to see didn't work. She did really like this Nissan Xterra. She felt safe and she could see well. We took it home for a 24 hour test drive. I don't think we are going to pull the trigger on this one. The air bag light is already lit and won't go off. The gps, while awesome for it's time, is really clunky and not easy to use. The backup camera (which was a must for me) is small and not the easiest to see, it also has some rust on the back. With the price we didn't want to go for it. Mike texted Steve when we were picking up the car to ask him what he thought. Steve told him they just got a car on their lot that he thinks will be a better value for Maysen. We are going to look at that tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

Stuck Duck

The ducks were quacking like crazy this morning. Mike thought it was because of the rain. When he went out there he found Angel trapped in the strainer. She was wedged in there good. It took Mike a long time to get her out. For a bit he thought he would have to break into the pond. Angel's back was pretty torn up. She had to be in there for a long time. At least overnight. We didn't go out and check on the ducks when we came back from Boondocks. Mike put her in the pond after he rescued her. She immediately swam back to the strainer. What the heck??? Crazy duck. Mike grabbed her and put her in the duck house. Hopefully her wounds will heal up fast.

Angel's stuck

Preston didn't have school today. We just had a lazy day. Preston's favorite. Stockton and Jorja both left on adventures too. Jorja went to the cabin with the ambassadors and Stockton went to Stout Canyon with his mission companion and friends. Stout Canyon is by St. George, so they had quite the drive. 6 hours compared to Jorja's 3. Hope they both have a fun, SAFE, weekend!

The Party Continues

I made it to Alta to work at the Hawk Stash. I think that is what it is called. I got the key out of the secretary's drawer, found the room/closet, unlocked it and spent the next half hour helping students get backpacks and food. It went well. There is this cool metal hawk thing on the wall in the office. Had to take a picture. 

Jorja is still in the hallway... not much longer and this picture will be gone.

The mountains look so pretty out of these windows.

Once Mike finished work we took the kids to Boondocks. Maysen wanted to do go-karts for her birthday. Her birthday was on a Sunday and Boondocks was closed Monday and Tuesday. We had so much fun today! The weather was perfect for October. We rode go-karts, did the bumper boats, did this 3D game that we waited in line forever for when we went to San Francisco, ate pizza, played mini-golf and laser tag. It was a lot of fun. While we were there, Preston wrote some program to send Jorja the entire script of the Bee Movie sentence by sentence through text. His phone was in his pocket and it was texting Jorja for a LONG time. Classic little brother.

Preston & Maysen

Maysen, Preston, Mike

Preston being a grumpy old man

I made him look at me. He was not amused.

Maysen

Maysen and Preston both got it in the right spot, but the iguana wasn't blowing fire today.

Mike, Preston, Maysen, Stephanie

We stopped by Cold Stone on the way home and had delicious ice cream. Preston doesn't have school for the rest of the week. Fall break. What a perfect day.

Logan is Covered in Snow

Stockton sent us these pictures this morning. Man! Logan got snow! Utah State ended up cancelling every class before noon. Including online classes. I guess electricity was knocked out in some areas too. Stockton was very relieved to check his emails and see the message from his conditioning professor that class was cancelled. It is his earliest class and is out in Smithfield. Glad he didn't have to drive in that! When Stockton signed up the class was supposed to be held on campus. I kept telling him the time he is going to appreciate living on campus the most is when he is walking to the 7:30 am class. Little did I know the class would move and it is faster for him to get there if he stays off campus with his mission buddies. Glad Stockton has a car. It would be awful taking the bus there that early. Although I think Stockton said his professor drives to campus to pick up the kids that don't have a ride. Wow! Anyway.... Logan got a lot of snow. It looks beautiful and I hope the kids had fun!

I met Becky today. We went down to Alta and she showed me what needed to be done for the Hawk Stash, which is a food pantry at Alta. I am doing it for her tomorrow while she will be at an appointment with Isaac. Looks simple enough. I always love being at the school.

Practice Makes Perfect

Preston asked me to wake him up an hour early so he could study his Chinese. He wanted to go and retake a test during advisory. Later that day he texted me and told me he was going to stay after school to retake the test again with the feedback he got from this morning. (It is a verbal test.) I'm glad Preston made the extra effort because he got 100% on the test after school. I'm also glad his Chinese teacher worked with him and allowed him to retake the test a few times. Preston basically didn't have a year of Chinese. Last year it was all online run from St. George. I know the teacher did the best she could, but it was such a weird year. I never heard him talking Chinese the entire year. I have been wondering if he is behind everyone else. I'm glad he is working so hard right now.

Once I brought Preston home, Maysen and I went out to eat at Zupas. She loves it and I wanted to take her there for her birthday. With her birthday being on a Sunday, today was the next best thing. We then went to Deseret Book so she could pick out a temple bag. Rachel made Maysen one that has worked okay. I asked her if she would do it and she modeled it after the one my grandma made me. The problem is, Maysen has really heavy temple shoes. We needed to get her ones with a heal so her dress would fit. The bag works great with slippers like I have, but the heaviness in the shoes throws everything off and makes carrying the bag awkward. Anyway, we found one that will hopefully work. The bag Rachel made was awesome because you can just hang the bag with the dress and everything ready to go in the closet. We couldn't find any bags like that. But, it is pretty and I think it will work better for Maysen.

Stockton texted me a picture of him with Alyssa. He has mentioned her a few times on his blog. He studies calculus with her. Yesterday I was teasing him and told him I thought Alyssa was imaginary because I had never seen a picture. He sent me this today. Hahaha

Stockton & Alyssa

Weston went to see Mike today. Mike ended up doing a root canal on him. Shannon couldn't believe that they were able to get Weston's pain fixed on a p-day without even calling the mission president. She says she has no idea what they would have done if Weston was in Chile. Mike was so awesome to do that for Weston. He has never even met him. He has heard about him from us, but this was the first time they met in person. Weston told his mom that my brother was 'dope'. Hahaha. I am so grateful I was able to call my brother and he was able to give Weston the help he needed. Crazy that out of all the places in the entire world Weston could be serving in, he was serving in the exact area where my brother is a dentist at the exact time Weston desperately needed a dentist. Weston and Shannon were both really happy. I am very thankful that my brother is indeed dope.

Maysen's 24th Birthday

Holy cow! Maysen is 24! That is hard to believe. And not hard. Time is weird. I got quite the surprise this morning. I woke up around 4:30 and immediately started wondering if my kids in Logan were safe. I grabbed my phone to check find my friends and noticed Stockton and Jorja weren't at their dorm room. I panicked as I searched my phone to find them. Where were they at 4:30 in the morning??? When my app updated it showed them in Alpine, Wyoming. It took me a few moments to register that they were coming here! I couldn't believe it! I hurried upstairs and waited for them to come. I only had to wait about five minutes for them. They were disappointed they didn't surprise me. (Although they did.) They had been talking about crawling through the dog door if they couldn't get in. Haha. I'm glad I was up when they arrived. Best surprise! Maysen heard us talking, so when Jorja went in to sleep in the other bed where Maysen was she was able to tell her happy birthday. What a great surprise for Maysen. My kids are awesome.

Stockton & Jorja at 4:30 in the morning

Stephanie, Stockton, Jorja

We had crepes for breakfast. I forgot to bring up the crepe makers though. Mike and I did pick up some pre-made crepes. They weren't as good as the homemade ones though. Whoops. We watched stake conference online, which was nice. We had cake and ice cream. Jorja brought Maysen cardinal salt and pepper shakers. I think it is awesome that every time Maysen looks at those she will remember how much Stockton and Jorja love her. I also got her salt and pepper shakers. Hahaha. Jorja and I think alike! We also got her a 5 minute dungeon add-on and a Pokemon black ds game. Hopefully she was happy with everything!

Maysen

Maysen's second birthday cake

Forgot to bring candles again. We had three 4 candles. Probably because I'm in my 40s and always have my birthday here.

Stockton & Maysen

Jorja's instagram post

Random picture of one of Maysen's favorite comics

We played games, ate and cleaned up. Stockton and Jorja headed back for Logan this evening and we headed out about an hour after they left. The story about them coming.... apparently Jorja texted Stockton at 1:00 am and asked if he was up. He had just gotten home. She asked him if he wanted to go to the cabin to surprise Maysen. He was up for the adventure and five minutes later they were on their way. Jorja had gotten Maysen the cardinal salt shakers that day. She wanted to give it to her. She remembered we were at the cabin and that it was Maysen's birthday. They decided to just send it and I'm so glad they did. Something that will always be remembered and appreciated. 

I drove the first third of the trip and traded places with Mike. He finished everything up. While Mike was driving I got a phone call from Shannon. They were on the phone with Weston, who was in a lot of pain. His tooth hurt. Like REALLY hurt. Shannon knew my brother is a dentist in Albuquerque, where Weston is serving. She called to ask for help. I was able to get Mike on the phone. He said he could see Weston at 7:30 in the morning. He doesn't need to make an appointment, just walk in. Yay! Hope Mike can help him! Anyway, we got home around 11:00. Not too shabby. Quick, fun trip. I hope Maysen enjoyed her birthday and I hope she has the best 24th year! I think it's going to be a good one!