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.

BYU WINS

Jorja worked most of the morning/afternoon. Ivan picked her up after work and they were together for SEVEN hours! I'm guessing they got a little bored. This was actually the first time they met. Ivan goes to a different highschool. Hutch gave Ivan Jorja's number and asked him to call her. Jorja has always wanted to be set up on a blind date. I know they played arcade games and made rings. Luckily Jorja got home before her curfew.

Mike took Preston to see Dr. Doolittle. They wanted me to come, but I REALLY wanted to watch the BYU/Gonzaga game. Mike let me stay home to watch it. It was AMAZING!!! BYU is ranked 23rd and Gonzaga is ranked 2nd. BYU ended up winning by 13. It was such a fun game to watch! The crowd stormed the court. My brothers and I texted throughout the game. Made it much more fun. That would have been a fun one to watch with them. What a night!

SLCC Graduation

Stockton graduated SLCC this morning with his associates degree. Yep, just over one month before he graduates from high school he has a college degree. How awesome is that? He has worked super hard for this. I'm so proud of him! Mike, Maysen and I went to watch him graduate. The ceremony was in the Maverick Center. We followed the street signs instead of Mike's phone. Big mistake. It took us the wrong way. We saw someone pushing his car on the side of the road. No one was inside the car so he would have to run to the front then run to the back. Mike found a stopping place and jumped out to help him. Two other people came out to help as well. As we drove away once Mike got back to us we saw the guy buffing his car where the three men had touched it. That made us laugh. Our next stop was the Maverick Center. Traffic was awful. Stockton and I ended up jumping out so we could find the tent he needed to sign into. Mike and Maysen parked and then saved me a seat. Once Stockton was all situated, I left him to find the others. The gold cord Stockton is wearing is a high honor cord for having a 4.0. I think you only need a 3.75 though.

Stockton

 I told him to put his tassel on the wrong side. Whoops.

 I liked this girl's cap.

 Our neighbor was getting a 'Teaching in Excellence' award. That was cool!

We were lucky and Stockton was sent on the path to walk in right in front of us. We screamed his name as he passed.

Stockton

The keynote speaker was great. He is an NFL player on the Patriots, but I can't remember his name. He talked about being the coffee. Carrots turn soft when put in hot water. Eggs turn hard in hot water. Coffee beans change the water. I laughed so hard when he said he was going to tell a dumb joke. He said, "What do you call a gummy bear, I mean a bear with no teeth?" Hahaha! It was so funny. Especially since he said it was going to be dumb, then he blew the punch line. He did great for a first time speaker!

 Kristen getting honored

 Stockton receiving his 'diploma'

Really it is just a diploma case. He will get his real diploma mailed to him after he finishes high school.

Stockton ~ college graduate

 Stockton & Maysen

 Stephanie, Stockton and Mike

After graduation, we went to Freddy's for hamburgers and milkshakes. Mike does not like the fries there. He calls them 'frustrating fries' because they are so thin. Next stop was straight to school. I went in with Stockton to work with the attendance people so he could have an excused absence. They make it really hard now. It took awhile, but once they found the SLCC website and found Stockton's name and another page with a date of the graduation ceremony, he was good. I do like to walk by his sterling scholar picture whenever I go into school. That and Jorja's student government picture.

 Stockton's friend, Weston, posted this on his instagram.

The picture is of a different school at the state academic decathlon competition.

I sent my brothers' pictures of Stockton graduating, which led to some hilarious comments. Here is a sample:

Mike (M): And why is Stockton graduating from college before high school?? Doot!

Steph: He earned his associates degree. Pretty awesome.

Mike: That's sweet! Wish I knew how to do that when I was a kid...I got my associates when I was like 30. (side note by Stephanie....not true!)

John: Me too. I took like 7 P.E. classes my senior year. My counselor let me transfer out of my math class so I could get into Advanced Volleyball.

Mike: I got booted from my calculus class into photography and ceramics because I wasn't going to take the AP test and would be a 'distraction'.

Bubs: The math class sounded better at the end of your junior year huh? I wish they had all those college class options available to us when we went to school.

Mike: Yes. It was the greatest class switch I've ever made....Ange was in that math class and John Leatherwood. Nate Horton, my current business partner got booted with me into the same classes.

Bubs: Ange said you mostly drew pictures of me wearing purple Jazz shirts.

Mike: Makes sense...I did draw on the pictures on the board in class quite often. My favorite picture to draw was 'Patty Duke' which was supposed to resemble Pat Chipman. I also built a hot wheels race track out of book covers...that was sweet.

Bubs: Sounds like the teacher was just annoyed. My AP kids that aren't taking the test still stay in the class.

Mike: Not sure why my teacher thought I would be a distraction... She also moved my desk to the hallway and left the door open so I could hear the lecture... that was weird.

Bubs: I got in trouble occasionally. Once when I was talking to Danny Delahunty and the teacher accused me of spitting on him. Another time when a teacher accused me of tripping people coming into the room. Another when I got accused of throwing a rubber stopper through the smoke that was a result of making cyanide

Mike: So were you accused falsely then??

Bubs: First 2 yes. Second one no.

John: My teacher's all loved me.

Bubs: Also got falsely accused by Mr. Hammill for messing with the sprinklers at Alta View. Had to write that I wouldn't play with the sprinklers like 100 times.

John: You were a rebel student, Mike. I never got in trouble. Except for the time when my teacher got mad at me for not making eye contact with him during his lecture.

Mike: Did you gash your knee open on the sprinkler and he didn't like that? -----Yeah right you never got in trouble... I remember when Mrs. Barnes in 3rd grade got mad at me and said, "you're just like your brother" referring to Brett. I went home and told Mom and Brett had a talking to...haha. -----Except when we had the same English teacher at UVSC and I would meet with her about my papers and they turned into discussions how you wouldn't turn in your papers because you 'didn't like the topic' to write on.

John: Ah yes, freshman English. She still loved me though.

Bubs: I have no idea. I was no where near the scene. I think you have Mr. Hammill and Mark Pehrson confused.

Mike: I just know you gashed your knee open on sprinklers frequently.

Bubs: I always wondered how major leaguers could slide so far until I realized that they probably weren't driving their left knee into the ground. Game changer.

Mike: I got accused for cheating in 5th grade by Mrs. King... that was pretty much the only false accusation. My progress report said 'caught cheating' on it. Dad signed it and aid 'what?!?' And I just told him that never happened... and that was the end of my cheating scandal.

Bubs: I got in trouble at BYU for throwing tight whities in the tree. Once again, false accusation. -----Yes, sprinklers were my nemesis. -----I also got falsely accused of throwing frisbees in the dorm hallways at BYU. -----Got in trouble for boxing too, but that was legit. In fairness, I didn't know it was against the rules.

Mike: I pulled the fire alarm in 6th grade and we blamed it on Matt Burnham. They eventually came around to the real culprit. Not sure Dad or Mom ever heard about that one.

Bubs: Really? I always heard that ink sprayed on your hand if you did that. matt was an easy target to blame things on though.

Mike: False. No ink sprayed... the lever stays down though so that was kind of shocking.

Bubs: But not a big enough deal for Mom and Dad to find out about it.

Mike: Seriously though...if my son pulled the fire alarm I'd be concerned... then if I was told he pulled the fire alarm while the fire alarm was going off... I would no longer be concerned.

Anyway, the thread made me laugh and it was good to have something to smile about tonight. I was so excited to go to the Jazz game with Mike. We got there as soon as the doors opened, and secured a front row seat in the suite.

 Stephanie and Mike

 Stephanie

 Mike

 Free shirts for everyone at the game.

 Stephanie

 The refs warming up before the game.

Too bad the game was a blowout. We were on the wrong side of this blowout. At the end of the 3rd quarter this amazing dessert cart came around. I ate my sorrows away. The cart did remind me of Harry Potter though.

 We were allowed to have whatever we wanted. Talk about too many choices!

 Mike also got a giant scoop of cookie dough.

Well, this was certainly not the best playoff game to go to, I still had fun though. I have been to two playoff games and the Jazz have lost them both. One day I will get to see the Jazz win one! Bucket list item for sure!

Pumpkins

Bubs sent us this picture of the umps strike zone from yesterday's game. I laughed and laughed.

Stockton and I went to the courthouse today to pay his ticket. Hopefully we can get him signed up for the four hour class at the police station so he doesn't get any points on his record. Maysen sent me this picture with the caption, "Food I own right now." Should I be worried? Looks like she is officially a stereotypical college student.

Maysen's fridge

Evan and Hailey came over and hung out with Jorja. Evan had extra tickets to Cornbellys. Jorja could go, but they couldn't find anyone else to go with them. (Hailey had to leave to soccer practice in the middle.) They ended up carving pumpkins at Evan's house. This was great because Jorja wanted to invite friends over to carve pumpkins. I did not want to deal with that. I have so much to do to get ready for Australia, I couldn't add one more thing. Jorja had a great time. She tried to carve 'scary' in Chinese on her pumpkin.

Evan, Jorja, Hailey

I took Stockton, Preston, Gavin and Janelle to diving today. Stockton did the best twist I have ever seen him do. I love that he is working with Ted now. Ted speaks in a way Stockton can understand. Plus, he gets to dive with Gavin. Perfect. I spent my time at diving writing my book review that is due tomorrow. I was asked to review More Than Enough. I really loved it. Usually non-fiction is not my favorite, but there were so many good things that spoke to me right now. I loved her analogy of glass balls verses rubber balls. You can't juggle all of the balls all of the time. You have to focus especially on the glass ones. The rubber ones will bounce. The trick is to make sure the rubber balls don't turn into glass. She talked about how God says no to us all the time, so it is okay for us to say no to things too. There was a great chapter on dealing with hurt and one about sometimes being nearby is enough. I loved the chapter on shame and guilt as well. I will have to buy this one when it comes out in the stores. I think I want to highlight some things and look at them often. I did get the review sent off tonight! Yay! The rest of my day was spent on laundry.

Long Awesome Game with the Wrong Team Winning

The doorbell rang this morning. I was still in the bathroom combing Preston's hair. I was also still in my bathrobe. I made Preston answer the door. It was the missionaries. I went out and talked with them. They stopped by to pick up bread Mike had made. Mike makes four loafs at a time and usually gives the missionaries a loaf. Sister Arco hadn't seen Jorja's room, so we took her down to show her and to bother Porge. Sister Hutchinson loved seeing that Jorja had hung up her poster already. It was nice that Jorja finally cleaned her room yesterday too! The missionaries were teasing me because we had to be to church at 9:00. It was 8:45 and I was still in my bathrobe. I told them not to worry. I was good. We pulled into church right at 9:00. I'm very low maintenance.

My family sung with the ward choir in Stake Conference. We sang two songs. One of them is called Believe in Christ and it is one of my favorites. So beautiful. We also sang Abide With Me. I was next to Sister Carpenter who was the soloist. She was so nervous! Her voice is lovely though. One thing I didn't realize was that we would be sitting on the stands the entire time. The problem was Preston was sitting in the audience. I asked Preston if he wanted to sit on the stand with us. He didn't. Sue Beaudoin said she would sit by Preston and watch over him. Sue is awesome. She was Preston's scout leader years ago. Everyone loves Sue. I kept trying to look at Preston all during conference, but sometimes he was hard to find....

Conference was great. All the talks were so good. Anna and Harry spoke. I love listening to them. Jack and Renee Murphy's daughter spoke and was amazing! President Clark gave a great talk that I felt was an answer to our prayers. He talked about praying to find someone to serve. Now, this is nothing new, but I felt that he was speaking straight to Jorja. If she can change her mindset when she gets sad or anxious and immediately start thinking, "I feel myself starting to crumble, I need to find someone to serve right now." I think that would help her so much. I bet if she tried, every time things got too hard for her to handle, she could find someone else to make happy. I hope she tries to do this. I really do think this is Heavenly Father's answer to her right now.

Mike and I will be gone next week, so we had our family dinner today. Mike made more apple cider. He has now made over 100 jars of that delicious goodness. My dad brought Papa Murphy's pizza. Stockton said it was the best family dinner ever.

My brothers and I texted throughout the Dodgers/Astros game. It was a crazy good game. Too bad the Dodgers ended up losing. It was the second longest World Series game ever. Over five hours. Mike thought I was crazy for watching the entire thing. Stockton watched the end with me. Walk off single. Drat. John commented that this was the best game ever. So many good plays. (Just a way bad strike zone as Bubs would want me to point out.) It is fun to watch two teams play really well. I think Bellinger has become my favorite. I love being able to text my brothers and read their texts during the games. It reminds me of being a kid.

Black Bear Diner

On Wednesday the missionaries asked if I could help them drop off their car at the shop. Yesterday I let them know my car wasn't working. This morning Mike and I finally went to Walmart to see if we could get the car started. We did, barely. I texted the missionaries and they hurried over. I was in a rush because I had my visiting teaching appointments at 8:45. I was a little late, but everything got done. The missionaries love, love, love Jorja. Specifically Sister Hutchinson. I love it.

Jacqui and I went walking with Megan and Javita for our visiting teaching. It was great. We dropped off Jacqui and were standing in front of Javita's house when Damian pulled up. I went to talk to him. Damian is Maysen's age. Damian is hoping to be a professional baseball player. A few days ago he actually hit the light at batting practice on the UVU field. Lots of scouts were there, so it was good timing. I was teasing him saying he had to make it to the majors so he could get my brothers and me awesome baseball tickets. We then talked about the World Series for a bit. Damian said he could help Jorja out with softball in a few weeks. I hope that works out. That would be amazing!

Damian's broken light

A few hours after I got home Javita texted me telling me that the White Sox just contacted Damian. AHHHH! I screamed so loud! I was hoping to go watch his last game this fall up at BYU. I thought it was Saturday. It was today and I couldn't go. Instead Javita texted me every time he was up and how well he was doing. That was so fun! Damian had to fill out a lot of information to send to the White Sox. His trainer told him that means Damian is on their radar to watch in the spring. I hope he has an amazing season!

My brothers, my dad and I have this group text that has been going on for more than a year. Mostly we talk about sports. I sent them this text when I saw it.

Mike's texts were so funny. "Sweet . . . now I only have to feel guilty once a year for missing it instead of twice." "Can't wait for the next announcement where church will be reduced from 3 hours to 1.5 hours in 'the spirit of reducing and simplifying the work of the church'...that way everyone can get to their softball/baseball/soccer games/practices on time." Matt then texted, "Sounds good Mike. Let's vote for Mike to be prophet." Later Bubs let my dad know when Lincoln would be getting the priesthood. (Lincoln's birthday is the same day as Jorja's. He just turned 12.) My kids always joke with Lincoln that he is forever seven years old. It used to irritate him so much, but now he just goes with it. Kind of how Bubs hated his nickname we gave him while he was on his mission, but then he finally decided to embrace it. Anyway, I asked how Lincoln could get the priesthood when he's seven. Bubs said it was because he is super righteous. Mike said, "Church is changing Dad...priesthood session once a year. Lincoln gets priesthood at age 7... I'll make sure I head up to Utah though when Steph gets the priesthood." Oh man, I laughed so hard. They love to tease my dad. I love my brothers.

Stockton had to stay after school for Academic Decathlon. He thought he would be there until 3:30, so Jorja decided to wait it out. I started texting them asking if they were ever coming home. Stockton's meeting went longer than he thought it would. Jorja was stuck at school. (School ends at 2:25) At 4:00 I headed down to get her. I was almost halfway there when she told me Stockton was finished. That was a long wait.

Jorja invited some friends to celebrate her birthday with her at Black Bear diner. She is always planning things. Mike and I are just along for the ride. We told her it would be okay as long as her friends paid for themselves. Our deal is the kids get a birthday party on their even number birthday, so we didn't want to get tricked into giving Jorja a party. Ha! It ended up working out really well. All the kids got to sit together. Mike, Preston and I sat at a different table.

Paige, Jorja, Isaac, Evan, Sami, Camilla

Allison, James, Kenzie, Grace, Hallie, Hailey

 Hailey, James, Isaac

Grace, Jorja, Camilla, Evan, Hallie, Paige, Allison

Kenzie, Sami

 I made them take another picture with Hailey in the front because I couldn't see her too well....

James, Isaac

Grace, Jorja, Hallie, Camilla, Evan, Allison, Paige

Kenzie, Sami, Hailey

Hailey is so funny! She makes me laugh. I am glad Jorja is going to be with her while I'm in Australia. She will take good care of her. Hailey and Paige had to leave, but the rest of the kids came back to our house. They played some weird game while I watched the World Series.

Evan, Jorja, Grace, Sami, Camilla, Isaac, James, Kenzie, Hallie, Allison

The kids then watched Napoleon Dynamite and I was reduced to watching the World Series play by play on my phone. Dodgers lost. They weren't really in this game. Disappointing. One by one people were picked up until it was only Hallie. I had told her I would give her a ride home. I was talking to Jorja after we dropped Hallie off. It is pretty late at this point and I am not a night person. At all. Not even a little bit. Jorja gave a one word answer to one of my questions. I said, "Oh, I think you are done talking to me." Or something like that. It was the wrong thing to say. I didn't mean anything mean, I wasn't even mad, just stating what I thought was happening. Jorja started crying. I grew up with brothers and I don't understand girls at all. I was so confused. I had no idea what was happening and I don't think well that late at night. I kept asking Jorja why she was upset. What I did wrong. She started crying saying things like she is such a burden. I'm thinking, "How did we get here? Two seconds ago I thought things were fine and you had a great day." Jorja stayed crying in the car when I went inside. I got Mike up and told him I needed help with Jorja. I went out and asked her to come inside. She started crying on the couch. I could see a panic attack coming. Mike was with her and I went and got a glass of water and made her drink it. Shannon told me to do that next time. It worked. Swallowing made her breathing break out of the cycle it was in. She was able to bring herself back to normal before things got out of control. Okay, good to know that trick. Mike asked if she wanted to sleep in the guest room with me. She wanted to sleep in her own room. That is a good sign. I think she was okay when she went to bed. She had her Hank Smith CDs to listen too. I'm so glad.

Tiny Handprints

Early this morning I drove to Sherry's house to pick up Greg's handprints. Sherry was at a hair appointment, but she had left Greg's handprints wrapped in bubble wrap in a box in her front porch. I stopped by Matt and Sam's on the way back to drop it off. I wish I would have had my dad's pillow with me that he left at the cabin. Oh well. I love how this one turned out!

My brothers and I played Beat the Streak in One Day. At one point I was in 3,631st place. I ended the game in 218th place. I was quite proud of myself. If only I had gotten the last 14 right! John and Matt were frustrated because for some reason they weren't able to submit their choices. It takes longer than you think to do this, so that would be annoying. This time I actually checked the lineups to make sure all my choices were playing. The Indians and the As submitted their lineup about five minutes before 5:00. One of my guys wasn't playing and I was able to get someone in fast before the game locked. Anyways, it was pretty fun. I got 43 correct. If I had gotten one more correct I would have been in the top 100 and made it on the leaderboard.

Brad is at the cabin today with some of the youth from his ward. I hope everything works out for them. On Monday Brad texted me this message: "Stephanie - my kids floated the river this weekend and stayed at Steve & Sharon's cabin. We came up and brought them lunch. I drove past the cabin and see that the tree in the front has split and needs to be removed. Is this something we can do as a service for the young men when we go up this Friday?"

Wow! This was my reply: "Oh my gosh! That would be amazing! We were hoping to get that done while we were there, but found out the lid to the septic tank was missing. That occupied the rest of Mike's time. The septic tank has now been pumped and the lid secured, but the tree is still a mess. I would just cry from happiness if you guys were able to do that. Thank you! Don't feel like you need to finish the entire project, but anything you can do would be appreciated."

Hopefully it's not too big of a job. I thought it was super nice of Brad to ask.

Talk, Couch and Baseball

Preston gave a talk in church today. He did really well! He made great eye contact, you could hear him and he was articulate. Natural born speaker right there. I can't find his talk though. FAIL! This is what happens when I fall behind on my blog!

Preston

Mike and I went back to the Hodson's after church. They had their couch taken apart for us. That was nice! We could only fit two pieces in the first load. Good thing they live close. We are sure going to miss them! Taylor came back with us and helped us unload the first sections. Talk about riding in style!

 Taylor

 The way back wasn't quite as fancy.

We got to see Sherry, Matt and Miah for a bit. Sherry is getting Lisa's old bedroom furniture. It used to be in Grandma Honey's house. The furniture will be for Miah. She seemed pretty happy about that.

Mike was able to score tons of old school ds games and devices. The kids have been having fun with that!

Stockton & Preston

 Mike

 Bubs sent this meme to the group text we have with me and my brothers. Ha! Made me laugh.

I'm going to a Nationals game with Brett and John in a few weeks. I hope we get to see something like this! Mike went to a game with Larkin a few days ago. That was another amazing National game. Bryce Harper went five for five. Perfect game for Mike to go to. My brothers' had fun trying to find Mike on tv. I like how Matt is taking a picture of Mike taking a picture of Harper.

Mike on TV

 Larkin & Mike on TV

 Larkin with a game ball!