Ducks at Diving

Mike has been opening the duck food at three different times during the day in the hopes that rats will not be able to snitch any. I thought it was so funny when all four of them were at the food bin. I'm happy they are all getting along!

Stockton is coaching diving up in Salt Lake today. He kept sending us pictures because ducks got in the pool! They were in there for an hour! It didn't really bother the divers too much, but eventually the swimming coaches got annoyed and got them out with a net. I wonder why the swim coaches were bothered by them? Haha - the swim picture makes me laugh.

I can't remember what Jorja and Riley were doing, but Jorja sent me this picture for today.

Hot Chocolate

Stockton finished his coaching for diving today. Well, his substitute coaching. He was pretty happy when he came home. He said a lot of kids learned new dives and a few twelve year olds bought him hot chocolate! Awe. They felt bad because he coached for four hours in the rain. What a perfect treat for him.

Stockton

While Stockton was at diving, Mike, Maysen and I got our last covid shot. We drove all the way to Overstock and got there a few minutes early. When we walked in the receptionist said, "Do you realize you were supposed to be here at 8:30?" I was kind of stunned and said, "We wrote down 9:30." She looked at her computer and realized we were on time and it was someone else that didn't show up. Then she asked for our covid cards. Whoops. I forgot to bring them. Luckily I knew exactly right where they were. I left Mike and Maysen there and I hurried home to get them. I think I made the round trip in 40 minutes. Not the best, but at least we were able to get it done. I ordered crepes from OHP to pick up on the way home. My arm hurt and I was tired, but other than that it wasn't too bad.

Bunny Kingdom

Stockton left this morning to go to the Air Force. He is going with his diving friends to visit Gavin, another diving friend. Stockton hasn't seen Gavin since his 19th birthday. Gavin can't come home from the Air Force, but he is allowed to have visitors. Gavin has his mission call now and will be leaving to Japan in the next few months. Stockton's going to have a great time.

I took Maysen and Jorja to the dermatologist. Jorja asked me if I could call the seminary and see if she could transfer classes. I think she is the only senior in her class and the only one who makes any comments. She is trying to decide if she should go on a mission as soon as she turns 19 or go to a year of college first. She wants to be in a class with kids that are in the same situation. I called and talked to the principal. He was so nice. He asked if he could talk with Jorja and her teacher. So, as soon as we were done with Jorja's appointment I dropped her off at the seminary building. Jorja said the meeting went well and she is now in a new class. She's happy about it.

Jorja and I went to go get her dress altered for inauguration. Jorja was meeting me there after getting her toenails done. She got her hands done yesterday and then decided she wanted to do both. I was very specific that she needed to meet me at the lady's house at 5:40 because the lady teaches a sewing class at 6:00. The only problem was no one answered the door. Turns out she didn't hear us. She felt so bad. We are going to come tomorrow at noon.

Mike and Preston taught me how to play Bunny Kingdom. Preston won. This is what our board looked like at the end of the game.

Jorja made cake pops and they were delicious. She made several kinds, including frogs. (The others were just round) I have a picture of Maysen with a cake pop, but not Jorja. Haha. These were delicious. 

Maysen

Luke and Bode

Maysen and I took a walk tonight up to the Pepperwood pool. They have redone it and it is beautiful. Although it turns out that I only took pictures of the diving board. Hahaha. I sent these to Stockton because they changed the fulcrum. They also got better boards. This is so much better!

Maysen and I saw Yolanda walking her dogs and talked to her for awhile. She is so nice! We also saw Jacqui. The weather was perfect and it was so nice to be out there with Maysen. Hopefully the world will open up soon! I guess open up more....

Jorja had a hard day today. She worked from noon to nine. Student government was getting together at noon to work on their dance that needs to be recorded tomorrow. Jorja had to miss that. Hopefully she can pick it up quickly. Jorja hung out with Hailey after work for just a bit. She was waiting until 10:00 because that was when Riley was off. Hailey kept her company. Jorja has been wanting to talk to Riley for awhile. She could tell something was off. She was right. Riley met someone else in Lake Powell. Jorja wasn't surprised at all. She was hurt that he didn't talk to her about it. Hurt that he kissed her after he came home. She couldn't understand why he would do that if he liked someone else. Hurt that she was lied to. He told her he never kissed the girl, just caught feelings for her. The next day Jorja found out that he had kissed her and once again she was lied to. Jorja was hurt because Riley tried over and over to kiss her and she swerved him so many times. One time Riley flat out asked her if he could kiss her. She said that she was scared of kissing boys. She hadn't kissed anyone for seven months and in her experience once a boy kissed her he didn't want to be her friend anymore. Still, Riley was persistent. Right before he left for Lake Powell they decided they were more than friends, but not quite dating. Later Jorja found out that Riley had been talking to this girl the entire time he had been talking to her. She felt like he played her, and she was right. I'm frustrated with Riley because he made all of Jorja's insecurities a reality. Jorja was extremely honest with him and it still blew up in her face. I know she is going to be stronger because of this. She knows it too, but today she is sad.

Jorja was proud of herself for not crying when she was talking with Riley. Once she drove away she broke down. She was driving home about 11:30 and was bawling. She was on Draper Parkway by Walmart when she could tell people in a truck next to her were waving trying to get her attention. She looked over and it was Bode and Luke Hillstead. Once she looked they could tell she was crying and Bode motioned for her to pull over. She parked in the Walmart parking lot and Bode and Luke talked with her for an hour. They were so nice and kind to her. Jorja has known Bode since 2nd grade and they have always been in student government together. They are really great friends. Luke is Jorja's co-captain in PLT and has always been super nice to Jorja. I know Heavenly Father sent them to Jorja today. They were just what she needed. They took this picture to replace the screensaver Jorja had of her and Riley.

Luke, Jorja, Bode

Jorja came home around 12:30 and talked to me for a bit. Bode and Luke were going to sleep at Alta and had invited Jorja. She asked if she could go. I told her she could. Even though Jorja was the only girl, I felt like these boys would take care of her and keep her safe. I felt that it would be better for her to be with them then home tonight. What started out as a super sad night ended up being so fun. Thank goodness for good friends. These boys were so kind.

Luke, Jake, Aiden, Bode

 This is where they set up their hammocks

 Luke

 Jorja and Bode

Writing on Puzzles

Mike was excited to find three duck eggs

A girl in Jorja's Sweethearts group keeps asking her what we are spending the $20 for the day date. If we are just doing things around town, why would it cost that much? Mike and I had asked each couple to contribute $20 to offset our cost. We did end up cutting out Nicklecade, and the Ferris wheel didn't work out. Still.....we are spending way more money than $20/couple. I told Jorja she could knock it down to $15. When you think about it, $15 is a great price for a date that you don't have to plan at all. Oh well. Jorja's just really embarrassed because she is the youngest. She feels intimidated. The original place where the girls were going to do dinner didn't work out. They were going to have it catered at a fancy airplane hangar. That would have been cheeper and super cool. The girl who was setting it up wasn't able to pull it off though. Her sister secured it first. Now the kids are going downtown for dinner and it will be $50/couple. I think that is why Jorja is getting grief for the price of the day date activity. Anyway.....Mike and I finished writing on the back of all of the puzzles. This is what they look like, and now you know my phone number.

I took Preston to diving today. He hasn't been for awhile and didn't want to go after Stockton left. He ended up having a great time today. I hope he starts to love it again. I don't think he will ever like it as much as Stockton did though. The life guards were kicking the parents off of our regular seating area and making them sit up high in the bleachers. Usually that door is locked. They never asked me. I guess I look official? Turns out this is a new policy because some idiot parent got into a fight with a swim coach. Boo for swimming! Boo for idiots!

Preston trying out Ted's new platform. Haha!

The parking at the U is absolutely atrocious now. The entire thing is under construction. I was able to find one spot and was super proud of my parallel parking job. I took a picture when we finished diving. I'm pretty sure the white car in front of me is different, I think it was an even tighter fit when I parked.

Jorja had to go to the girls' basketball game today. I let her drive Joe and Traven. They also went to Chick-Fil-A before and after the game. Ummmm, Jorja.....don't you have enough of Chick-Fil-A as it is?

Matching Boots

Today was a perfect day. We played outside and inside. Stockton and his friends stayed up until 4:00 in the morning yesterday. Weirdos. I would never want to do that. Ever.

We went to the Springs and had a great time. Jorja was being a wacko and fell a few times on the way up.

Hailey, Jorja, Gavin

It is seriously so beautiful up here. We are so lucky.

 Jorja

 Hailey and Jorja

Jorja tried standing up on her sled while being pulled up to the Springs. I couldn't believe it, but she made it the entire way. She did fall twice, but I have never seen anyone make it on a sled like that before. It is surprisingly hard to do.

Stockton, Jorja, Hailey

Jorja

Stockton and Preston made a diving game with the empty game board pieces Preston gave to Stockton for Christmas. They loved it. It was fun. I almost won, but choked at the end. The boys went outside to work on a jump. They spent a long time doing that. Preston wanted to go out, but his boots were completely soaked. I looked under the bench to see if any of the random boots that had been left were his size. We found a pair that matches the random snowsuit he has been wearing. His size too. Perfect.

Preston with his boot find

We went night sledding up at the Springs and had the best time. We had headlamps this time, and that worked out great. Each of the kids had one. The hill was so fast! We even tried a train through it. It was so much fun. Night sledding has become my favorite. I love it in the day because it is so beautiful, but at night it is super fast and just a little bit scary. So much fun.

Stockton's Dive House

I have been doing gingerbread practically non stop for a few weeks. I am so tired of gingerbread. I love it, but the parties this year were too close together. It worked out though. If I had any parties at the beginning of December that would have been awful. My hands were full dealing with Mono Jorja. So, it worked out, but it was very tiring.

Mike's family came over for gingerbread houses tonight. Shannon brought a lot of pizza, Sherry brought veggies. Jorja had to work until 8:30. Weston was gone by the time she got back, so that was disappointing.

Derek, Weston, Steve, Audrey, Nova's head

 Stockton, Preston, Xander, Miah

 Nova

 Shannon

 Weston

 Weston sent Jorja a video trolling her with his 'R-Town' house

 Sherry, Derek, Steve

 Audrey

 Jacob

 Derek

 Maysen

 Nova

 Jorja's back!

 Melissa & Nova

 Leo

 Nova, Derek, Leo, Melissa

 Xander

 We saved this chocolate walrus for him for a long time!

 Miah

 Sherry

 Sherry, Miah, Xander

 I loved Miah's pond in her backyard

 Sherry, Miah, Xander ~ had to get a picture of those Christmas sweaters!

 Miah & Jorja

Most of my pictures will be of Stockton's house. He made a diving house and it was awesome. Gavin came over after diving and brought his sister Zoe. Jorja and I ran down to Hailey's house to drop off her a gingerbread house. I left my camera with Stockton to get pictures of Gavin and Zoe with their houses. That is why their pictures are obnoxious. Pretty sure I would have gotten a non-smoldering picture if I was there.

Stockton, Gavin, Zoe

 Zoe

 Gavin

 Gavin & Zoe

Now to Stockton's house. He won't be here for the next two years, so I am going to post a million pictures of the house this year. He is so funny. I'm going to miss him.

Stockton's dive house

 3 meter, 5 meter, 1 meter

 Gavin at the top, Ren at the bottom

 Stockton made all of his diving friends

 Dani in her missionary clothes climbing the ladder is my favorite. Noel is on the roof, Courtney is on the 3.

 Stockton is pushing Gavin off of 5. Jackson climbing up to 1.

 Connor and Gage are in the showers.

 Dani

 Stockton

 Gillian's head, Ren bellyflopping

 Stockton. I love him.

 He even has the red U.

 Best house ever.

Maysen made a Dungeon and Dragon map. She named her world Staa. We were going to use this poster for the Christmas party. Jorja was writing 'Starry Night' and accidentally wrote 'Staa'. Whoops. Seriously that mono brain is awful! Anyway, Maysen's board looks pretty cool.

 Maysen

Jorja dancing with her dad. Love.