Today was so fun! I woke up super early, which is always annoying. I did get some blog posts done and was able to talk with Melissa when she woke up. That was fun. We had zoom church and sacrament. Mike and Preston blessed the sacrament and Michael passed it. Jacob spoke in his ward. I wish we could have watched that! He talked about his mission. He emailed Shannon a copy of his talk and she read it to Mike and I. It was really good. He talked about humility and things that happened on his mission, when he got sick and sent home and how he is doing now. I'm so glad he is better. He is awesome.
We had fun playing inside and outside today. The rest of my kids took a turn on Sherry's oculus. Stockton was instantly good. I failed over and over. My highest was a B. Stockton played his first game on easy and got a perfect score. His second game was on normal and he got an A. His third game was on hard and he looked like he was doing awesome, but the headset ran out of batteries in the middle. That thing is pretty fun.
Stockton
Mike
Jorja
Maysen
Mike and I took Sherry, Connor and Miah around on the sled chairs and pulling behind. We went on the big loop by Steve and Sharon's cabin and to the other entrance (not Chokecherry), went up to the springs and then back to the cabin. Connor and Miah had a great time pulling behind the snowmobile trying to knock each other off. One time they fell and Mike stopped behind us. He didn't do a graceful stop and Sherry ended up being tipped out of the chairs. She was okay though. We decided to do one run to the springs, since we were right by the bottom. Glad we did that because Mike found his goggles on the way up. He had been looking for those. When we got back Mike took Miah on a snowmobile run. She loved it. After she had changed out of her clothes he asked her if she would want to take the snowmobile on the lake bed. She jumped back into her snow stuff and was ready to go. Jorja, Sherry and Derek all went along. They had a great time. The snowmobiles can sure go faster than the 4 wheelers!
Jorja, Derek, Sherry, Mike, Miah
Jorja, Derek, Sherry
Sherry, Jorja, Miah & Mike
Derek, Sherry, Jorja, Miah & Mike
Trying to find a good place to cross the street
Usually the Chokecherry exit is the best
Miah & Jorja
Sherry fell off the back of Miah's snowmobile when she started to to drive away.
It is beautiful up here!
My dad sent some pictures of Bear dog. He asked how he could get him out of the kitchen. Hahaha. I told him to walk away with a plate of food. Mike says I should have told him to throw a ball. Bear dog is a good helper though.
Bear
Sherry and her family left this evening. We had the closing ceremony for the Olympics on and played games the rest of the night. I won Canadian Salad with a great Hail Mary at the end of the game. No tricks on the last round. Pretty proud of that. I went to bed around 11:00. I was so tired. The rest of them stayed up playing games. I'm not sure how long. When Mike came to bed he told me that they had a question about one of the rules in the new Cover Your Assets game. There was a spot in there where you could call Grandpa Beck if you had any questions. So Jorja and Preston did. And he answered. I'm unclear whether they called or sent a text. I'll have to find out when everyone wakes up. (Whatever they did it was late and he responded. Pretty nice of him!)
Shannon, Steve, Jorja, Derek, Preston, Stockton, Mike
Stockton and Jorja didn't come up to the cabin last night because Stockton went to the funeral of the mom of one of his roommates. He also found out that Nate's dad died in 2009. Even though we missed Stockton and Jorja I'm glad Stockton made the effort to be there for Nate. I can't imagine being 22 and having both of your parents gone.
Stockton & Alyssa
Mike likes to check out where the kids are, especially when they are going to be coming to us. He pulled up his phone and started laughing. He said it looked like they were at Chugz. He was showing it to everyone.
About 30 seconds later this picture was sent to our family group chat. Hahaha
My overnight donut casserole turned out. It was delicious, especially when it was covered in syrup, fruit and whipped cream.
We spent time sledding and it was great. We went to the Springs. It was warm and there isn't a lot of snow. By the time we finished the bottom had tons of slush. Despite that it was a blast!
Miah & Connor
Sherry
Connor, Sherry, Melissa, Miah, Derek, Michael
Mike's chair train behind the snowmobile is so much fun. He picked everyone up at the parking lot with this contraption. Hahaha. He's the best!
Mike & Preston
There was one time we got to the top before the other group. We had to wait a bit, so Preston climbed the mountain and sled down. He was going so fast! Haha. Love that kid!
Preston dot
That kid is flying
Most everyone went back. We were the last ones standing!
Connor, Miah, Shannon, Sherry
Connor, Miah, Shannon, Sherry, Stephanie
Connor & Sherry
Sherry brought up an oculus and it was so much fun! Mike recorded me playing BeatSaver. Her family is crazy good at it. I am not, but it was still fun. I was playing a song from Moana. I think it was called You're Welcome.
Preston (Connor, Michael and Sherry playing dominoes.)
Stockton and Jorja got up here this afternoon. We played games, games and more games. Love being up here! Jorja took Preston down and taught him how to swing dance. Then they taught us... a bit... we weren't as good. I wanted to record them but was denied. I talked to Jorja for a bit. She told me that she hung out with her friend Anastasia yesterday. Jorja and I met Anastasia and her mom the day we moved in. We were waiting in a LONG line at the TSC to get Stockton and Jorja's ID cards. Jorja ended up talking to Anastasia the entire time while I talked to her mom. They have a ranch in Montana. Jorja and Anastasia ended up exchanging numbers and deciding to take an institute class together. Anyway, last night Anastasia told Jorja that her entire life she had wanted to go to BYU, then she didn't get accepted. She ended up going to Utah State. She was talking to her mom while she was waiting in line saying she was worried she made the wrong decision. She didn't know if she would be able to meet anyone and was pretty scared. Right after she had that conversation Jorja started talking to her and she knew everything would be okay. I love how intuitive Jorja is. Just amazing.
Jorja was also talking about how she is supposed to go to Alta one more day. She wants to have the counselors give her a list of the students that have been accepted to Utah State. She wants to give an invitation to their advisory teacher and have them come down and talk with Jorja during their advisory. She wants to have donuts and have a chat with them. Hearing her talk about it sounded just awesome. Jorja's contact at Alta is Ms. Astle. Ms. Astle ran that by the vice principals. They didn't want Jorja to do it because then they would have to have the other colleges do it. Jorja wrote back saying the other colleges already can do it. She is supposed to come one more time, she is just the only one trying to be creative. Ms. Astle talked to the vice principals again and this time they approved it, as long as Jorja did all the work. So, that will happen the first of March. Sounds awesome. Can't wait to see how it turns out!
Stockton drove his jeep back to Logan today. I drove my dad's in Maysen's car and met him at the Bungalow. (Stockton's new house with his buddies.) We met Jorja at Morty's and had dinner. That was really good. My dad, Stockton and I then drove to Matt and Sam's house. We got there late, but we made it. We watched the Jazz game, where most of their starters and some backups were out. They almost pulled it off, but ran out of steam. I also spent forever trying to get Maysen a covid booster appointment. She wants to get the booster before she goes to Rachel's house next week. It took forever but we finally got an appointment for Sunday at midnight. We are sleeping at Matt and Sam's because Anne gets baptized tomorrow! Stockton and I are sleeping in Jeff and Greg's beds. My dad is sleeping in Anne's bed. All of Matt's kids are sleeping in Amy and Kaylee's room, which they do almost every weekend.
Today was Jorja's last day here. Preston is going to miss her so much. He has loved having Stockton and Jorja home. I'll miss her too. Bear was mopey after she left as well. Jorja picked up Beth and Kinley at the airport and brought them home. She took the pilot so she could fit everything. We will be in Logan on Saturday and will be able to trade cars. Alyssa was over listening to Stockton read his plates. He really wanted to finish them today. He has them mostly done. Alyssa ended up sleeping in Stockton's bed and Stockton slept in Jorja's. I hope the kids have a great semester. Sad to have them leave after having them home for so long, but I'm so proud in all they are accomplishing!
I had a dentist appointment this morning. I got a temporary crown on. My first ever. Hopefully my last. Becky and Camee took me out to lunch for my birthday. I changed the plan on them and asked to go to Zupas. I could tell that isn't Becky's favorite place, but I was having a hard time opening my mouth. Soup was perfect. We had a great time. Becky and Camee are so nice to me.
Sleepy Jorja
Preston giving Jorja goodbye hugs before he left for school
Still blows my mind that Jorja is fluent in Chinese
Sad Bear
Still sad Bear
Stephanie showing Jorja she is going to use the blanket Kinley gave her.
Jorja took a friend out to lunch today and then hurried to Provo to sign papers for FSY. Although she accidentally took her covid booster card instead of her social security card. Whoops. (Turned out it was okay because she had her passport.) Jorja has felt pretty well after her booster. Hasn't really been sick at all. That's nice. This is her last day here. We went shopping one more time for a few things and then brought Habbit Burger home for everyone. I had never been there before, but it was pretty good. Also...
Preston had a dentist appointment early this morning. I really wish I scheduled this for next Tuesday instead. Then I could have let him stay up later last night with Stockton and Jorja here. Oh well. Jorja and I went shopping today. We have been on the hunt for some khaki pants. She needs those for the ambassador program. We found something that might work, but it wasn't our favorite. We also saw the weirdest art! I'll put those pictures at the end. We met Mike, Stockton and Preston at a Japanese restaurant today. It was delicious and fun.
Jorja wanted a covid booster shot before she went back up to Logan. She said she didn't want to take the chance of having to miss out on anything after what she dealt with last year. Jorja is leaving in a few days. The only place we could find was CVS in Taylorsville at midnight. Well, they had appointments all day tomorrow, but if we went at midnight she could sleep it off. That is what we did. When we got there the pharmacy was closed. The worker told us to just knock on the window. We did, but no one answered. We tried for awhile and finally went and got the worker again. They went back and got someone to help us. They had earlier told us that the window was never down. Sounds like there was only one person back there and they were super busy. They were nice when they came out to give Jorja her booster shot though. Glad to have that done.
Maysen and I started the day really early. She had a 6:30 dentist appointment. I went with her and waited in the lobby. The sunrise was so beautiful. Hard to capture it though.
Stockton had a busy day. First he got a haircut. He spent a long time late last night shaving off his beard. He looks great though! I love seeing my boy under all that hair. Haha
Stockton before
Stockton after
The reason he shaved his beard is because he has a FSY interview today up at BYU. Before the interview Stockton and I met up with Alyssa and her mom at JCWs in Provo. It was pretty quick before Stockton and I left to go to his interview. I waited for him like I did Jorja. He said it went really well. I then dropped him off at Alyssa's house in Mapleton. Alyssa's mom had to take someone to the airport later today so she brought Stockton back home.
Preston also got a haircut today. We went to Wild Boar Barbers and had Dylan cut his hair. He cut Stockton's too this morning. I really like going to him.
Today was a great day. We now have 11:00 church, so that was nice. Alyssa left this morning to make it to church at her home ward. Preston was ordained a priest after church. Stockton performed the ordination, which was so great. My dad came over to our house after and made the kids milkshakes, per tradition. Haha. The kids found a new game to play with Bear dog. They would throw a ball down the hall for him to chase. He would and would go flying over the stairs. Balls are important. Worth risking your life. He never got hurt and the kids had so much fun playing with him.
Bear dog loves the balls
We played You Don't Know Jack and I actually won! That is a rare occurrence, so I had to document it. I was Bear Dog. (The kids make fun of me because my name is the first thing I see when we are signing in. Purple pencil. Red Balloon. Etc.) Preston was Gex and Mike was Five Finger.
We had a lot of fun playing games today. I also was able to get everyone to go to Brookers Founding Flavors with me. So yummy! Everyone loved it. Nice. Enjoy the pictures that came in backwards again. I tried to take a selfie, but Jorja had to show me how it is done. She's much better at it than me. Haha
Mike, Jorja, Stephanie's big head, Preston, Stockton, Alyssa
Jorja, Mike, Maysen, Preston, Stockton, Alyssa
Stockton
Stockton & Alyssa
Alyssa stayed over again and helped Stockton work on his plates. We played more games tonight. Jorja cleaned the entire kitchen. I am loving this Christmas break!
