Katelyn

A few weeks ago Nikki asked me if I could pick up Katelyn at the airport and take her to BYU. She's going to ACT camp. Of course I said yes! Nikki looked after Stockton so much when he was in Tucson I was happy to help her with Katelyn. I met her at the Provo airport and took her to BYU. The Provo airport is tiny! It was my first time being there. I helped Katelyn check in and get all set up in her room. Then we went to lunch at Cubbys. I accidentally went the long way to get there and we didn't have as much time as I hoped, but I got her back in time. There was a line getting into the parking lot when I brought her back, so I said goodbye and she hopped out. I made my way to a parking spot so I could get my audio book going when I saw $40 laying there! That sneaky girl! I jumped out of my car and ran to her dorm. I was able to make it inside the building but then realized I probably would really embarrass her if I continued any further. I ended up keeping the $40 and texting Nikki thanks. I did have a great morning with Katelyn. I love Nikki so much!

Stephanie & Katelyn (the airport still required masks)

Mike spent his morning working on the duck waterfall. He is very happy with how it is turning out. He was able to reuse the bucket from his house growing up. He also got the girl statue from his house placed over there. Spoiled ducks.

Maysen and I made dinner today. Maysen made dinner along with dessert. She wanted to make this colorful s'more dessert. It was fun cooking with her.

Jorja had some friends come over to swim and watch an outdoor movie. She helped Mike set up the movie screen. One day Mike will make it easier to set up. Right now it is kind of complicated. They watched Monsters vs. Aliens. She seemed to have a great time.

Nikki!

From my dad: I label this picture, "Bear's dilemma."

Haha! The kids got a great laugh out of that one. Today was a GREAT day! So much fun! First thing we did is drive to Carter and Marveen's house. Marveen is Grandma Honey's little sister, so Carter and Marveen are Mike's aunt and uncle. I don't think we've seen them since Grandma Honey's funeral more than 15 years ago. Stockton was able to see them twice in passing towards the end of his mission. Anyway, they had us over for breakfast and it was delicious. It was so fun talking with them. They were very happy to have family visit. It was crazy watching and listening to Marveen. She reminded me SO MUCH of Sharen. I'm so glad we were able to spend time with them.

Carter and Marveen's house

Stockton

Mike, Carter, Marveen

Jorja, Stockton, Preston, Maysen, Carter, Marveen, Mike

Jorja, Stockton, Preston, Mike, Stephanie, Maysen

Carter showing us the seeds inside the cactus

The cactus they got the seeds from, they gave us one to take home

Mike's grandparents use to live down in Arizona a few streets away from Carter and Marveen. Mike got directions and the address and we drove by. This is where Grandma & Grandpa Hirschi use to live. There is a cool picture of Mike and Scoop riding big wheels when Mike was little. Mike thinks it was taken here.

We left Tucson and drove to Sierra Vista. Stockton's last area. Stockton would always tell stories about how missionaries were obsessed with Polar Pop. Which is insane when you realize Polar Pops are just gas station soda. Stockton made it a goal to go his entire mission without having a Polar Pop. Yes, he picks weird things as goals. Like going an entire year without hearing Hannah Montana or not touching the Smiths' dog.... maybe that one was Preston, I can't remember. Anyway, we decided he needed a Polar Pop.  It turns out it was exactly what he thought it would be. He didn't miss much on his mission.

Stockton

Preston & Stockton

Maysen making a shake

5th apartment ~ Sierra Vista ~ 20 months to 24 months

Stockton

This is where my baby ended his mission

Stockton and I stopped by the Bradley's. They didn't know we were coming, so just the two of us came to the door. Sister Bradley was so excited to see Stockton. Stockton taught Eva baptism lessons. Sister Bradley sat in on them, she is a recent convert. She just raved and raved to me about what an excellent teacher Stockton is. It was really cool to meet these guys. I'm glad I got to do that. You could tell they loved Stockton. It was awesome.

Sister Bradley, Eva, Stockton

We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner before stopping by Nikki's! I was so excited to see her! The last time I saw her was almost six years ago. It was in Alaska right before Maysen started her senior year of high school. Anyway it was awesome to see her again! I loved every second! The kids were good sports and didn't hurry me along. Haha. Lynn is from Star Valley Wyoming. We were talking to them about our cabin near there. Nikki mentioned to me they were thinking of buying a cabin somewhere between Star Valley and Swan Valley. Our cabin is right in the middle! How cool would it be if they bought a cabin near us! That would be amazing!!! Hopefully Nikki will come visit us at our cabin to check the area out. I mean, if they go visit Lynn's family, they could sneak away for a day to stay with us! I get excited just thinking about it.

Nikki, Stephanie and Eryn in the background

Stephanie, Stockton, Nikki, photobomb by Preston

We left Nikki's around 10:00 and drove to Tucson. We slept in the mission office parking lot again. Mike and I were so tired by the time we got to Tucson. We fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow. At least I did. I'm assuming Mike was the same. Man, today was a great day.

To Parrydise We Go!

Merry Christmas! Mike, Maysen and Preston headed up to the cabin around 8:00 this morning. John and Cassie and their family were shortly after them. Jorja and I left around the time they got there. It took me a bit because while I was packing, Stockton called! Yay! Yay! Yay! He was allowed to talk with us for an hour. I asked him about dinner with Nikki. He said it was fun. They gave them presents. He listed them all, but I can't remember. Nikki had asked me what size jacket Stockton wore. I told her small, but Lynn had bought the jackets that day. I think they were Christmas plaid, I haven't seen a picture yet. Anyway, the jacket was huge on Stockton. He said Lynn was so funny about it and kept saying things through the night like, "I think I nailed it." Haha. I wish I could remember everything Stockton told me. It's only one day later.... my memory is awful. It was so great talking with Stockton. I called Mike on his drive up and was able to merge Stockton's call so they could talk with him too. I missed Stockton's first text where he sent me a zoom code. Dang it! Hopefully he will do a zoom thing on my birthday. I would love to see him. It's been soooooo long!

Mike put in a doggie door as soon as he got up here. Bear is a fan. He also put up my boot drying rack that they gave me for my birthday. John and Cassie got up there after and were able to spend some time sledding today.

The mug John uses now Hahaha

Birthday present ~ boot drying rack

John and Cassie at the cabin

Sunset in Parrydise

Jorja and I arrived after the sun went down. Cassie had spaghetti ready and it was delicious. We had a great time. Games, movies, etc. The kids loved the rock climbing stuff Mike put in. Jorja watched Soul with the kids downstairs. Mike, John, Cassie and I played Nertz. Mike won. Mike, Maysen, Preston, John and Mallory played Stop Thief! I can't remember who won that game. I also am annoyed that I forgot to bring Dominion. I haven't played that forever and wanted to bring it this time. Matt and his family are staying at Steve and Sharon's cabin. They got here this evening. Hopefully we will get to see them sledding tomorrow.

STOCKTON HAS BEEN TRANSFERRED TO NIKKI'S WARD!!!

The most amazing, unbelievable, exciting thing happened today! Stockton called and told me he was being transferred to Sierra Vista. I told him that is where Nikki lives. Nikki is my college roommate and I love her so much! Maysen and I visited her in Alaska, but they have now moved to Arizona. Wouldn't that be cool if Stockton ran into her? I sent Nikki a message while I was talking to Stockton. Thirty minutes later she wrote back and said what ward she is in. Stockton wasn't sure what ward he was being transferred to, but he knew who he was replacing. I told her he was replacing Elder Otuafi and Elder Jensen. Guess what! THAT IS NIKKI'S WARD!!! I couldn't believe it! I was still on the phone with Stockton when I noticed Nikki had replied. All I read was "That's us!!!" before I started screaming and running around the room. Hahaha. I was so excited. Stockton was laughing and Maysen was looking at me like I was crazy. Stockton said he was so glad he was on the phone and could hear my reaction. Out of every place Stockton could have gone to in the entire world, he is being sent to Nikki's ward. So, so, so, so cool.

I was on a high the rest of the day. Maysen and I spent the day gathering more supplies for the pantry and watching Avatar. We also went to lunch at Schmidt's Pastry Cottage. I took a picture to troll Mike. He loves the eclairs there. So does Preston. Then we went to Home Goods or something like that. I have loved having one-on-one time with Maysen.

Maysen

The reason Mike went to the cabin after Bridger Lake instead of coming home was because of today. The Internet guy came and put in different internet. We are now paying less money then we were before for coverage that is about as good as what we have at our house. So excited about this! Especially if Preston stays online all year. What a fun place to do school from! The weird thing was he placed the Internet box at the top of the stairs. Mike is going to buy a longer cord and try to move it someplace less conspicuous.

Jorja had a hard day. She was told that Packer is cancelling all the activities for the rest of the year. No after school activities at all. They will just have to watch leadership lectures in class. It is really stressing her out because she is in charge of the Make-A-Wish fundraiser. The three main events they use to earn money have all been cancelled. The school dance. The Choir Performance. I think Battle of the Bands was the last one. I can't remember. She was also frustrated from other student government things. Mike took her to Taco Bus to make her feel better. They finally made it, even though it was super slow.

Jorja did get a picture of Kate today, so she loved that. She is hoping she can do a good enough job that they can do a cool backyard makeover for her. Fingers crossed!

Bears

Nikki and her girls took Maysen and I down the Turnagain Arm to Chugach National Forrest.  Maysen kept making fun of me because I kept calling it 'that finger thing'.  Finger....arm....what's the difference? It was raining when we arrived at the visitor center so I decided to leave the fancy camera in the car and just use the cell phone.  I tried to take a picture of something, but my camera ran out of batteries as soon as we walked inside.  It might or might not have been because I was checking Instagram every three seconds.  Literally.  BYU dropped their box today in New Mexico.  I wasn't sure if Mike would notice when they did, so I wanted to take a screen shot and text it to him.  My phone was dead before the box dropped.  When I got back to Nikki's and was able to charge it I saw a ton of messages back and forth from Mike and Brett.  Mike tried for the box and missed it by one minute!  Oh man! There were tons of cool things in there too.  A Taysom Hill jersey and a signed picture of Taysom jumping over the Texas player were two of the things.  Mike would have loved it.  It makes me smile that he did that with his girls.  How fun.  Maybe Brett will have better luck in Virginia.  Anyway, we played around there for awhile and then watched a movie.  They even had a penny machine.  I was excited about that. Preston LOVES the penny machines.  Preston and Jorja both got penny books in Hawaii.  Preston downloaded an app that he can find out where every penny machine in the world is.  He was pretty obsessed with that.  He loves it when I bring him home a smashed penny. Maysen is still a bit bitter that I let him do that.  She says she always asked me if she could have a penny when she was little and I would always say no.  I asked her if she wanted to collect them now. She said it was too late but might reconsider when she is married. Whoops. Sorry about that Maysen.

Our next stop was to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.  That place was cool!  You basically just drive around and look at animals. All of these animals have been rescued and would not survive out in the wild.  You can stop and get a better look.  They also have signs where you can find out what happened to the animal before they were brought there.  We first saw this moose.  He was pretty cool, we named him Henry.  

Henry  

We spent the most time here with the bears.  They were incredible!  So much fun to watch.  They had the brown bears on one side and the black bears on the other.  Nikki told me if you ever encounter a black bear you need to fight back, but a brown bear you play dead.  I think the rhyme was, "Black fight back.  Brown lay down."  Hopefully I don't need to know that.

I took a lot of pictures.  I think I enjoyed the brown bears more than the black ones.  Maybe because the brown bears were awesome!

 This was my favorite picture

The brown bears and black bears do not like each other.  There is a fence between the two areas, but sometimes they like to yell at each other anyway.

 Look at those horns!

We left and looked at other animals for a bit, but came back to the bears for feeding time.  We were only there for the black bears.  Still, the brown bears were more interesting.

Bear food

While I was trying to get a picture of this guy eating, Maysen was trying to get my attention.  She was looking at the brown bears.  One of the brown bears was standing up looking at her.  She said he was like that for about thirty seconds.  I totally missed it!  I got a picture of him standing later, but it would have been cooler to get him standing looking at Maysen.

 Maysen

 This poor eagle only has one wing

We met Lynn in a parking lot at Home Depot.  Nikki was bringing him money so he could buy a gun off of some guy.  Ha!  They are giving us the full Alaska experience there!  We went out to eat after the transaction was completed.  I can't remember where we went, but it was delicious!  I had a meatball sandwich on a giant pretzel.  So good!  I gave half of mine to Nikki and got half of her sandwich, also on a pretzel.  I'm bringing Nikki's sandwich to the airport with me.

Lynn took the younger girls home while Nikki and the older girls went shopping with me.  I wanted to get some Alaska shirts.  We struck out at Target, but Walmart had a ton.  It was so fun looking at all of the Alaska things!  Once we finished there we came home to packing and ice cream.

Had to say good-bye to the caterpillar 

Eryn loved Maysen.  She kept telling Maysen she was her best friend. She is adorable!

Maysen & Eryn

Nikki has five daughters.  I can't believe how different all five of them all.  They look different and have completely different personalities. Maysen and Jorja look different, but Stockton and Preston look exactly the same.  Funny and fantastic to get five daughters all completely unique.

Riley & Kelsey

Katy, Maysen, Eryn, Maddie

 With me!

 Nikki and Stephanie

 With Eryn

 Maysen said this picture squished my eyeball

 I love Nikki!  I'm going to miss her!

Nikki and Kelsey took us to the airport.  Our flight leaves at 1 am.  I will write about our flight home tomorrow.  I hope it doesn't take twelve years to see Nikki again!