Fish in the Pond

I forgot to post this adorable picture Mike took of Preston yesterday. Those two sure had a great time together. It helps that they are almost the exact same person. I can't believe how similar their personalities are. I love it. The two of them got back around 3:30. They brought home five fish to put in our freezer and ten fish to put in our pond with the ducks. They were quite happy about that.

Preston

Today was a long day for me. First, I got up super early to go to my exercise class. I was up late waiting for Jorja, so I didn't get much sleep. We have Jorja leave her phone in our room at night. I looked at her phone and saw a message from a boy at school that said something like, "I don't know what to tell you, I'm really bad in these kinds of situations....." not sure if that was it, but it was around those lines. I thought that was weird and I wanted to ask Jorja about it. Jorja was getting ready when I got home. She had plans to go with Collin and his friends to Thanksgiving Point. I asked if I could see her phone. She said, "Just a second, I need to reply to Gabby real quick." She then handed me the phone. I wanted to ask Jorja what the message I saw was about, but when I was looking for it, it was gone. It dawned on me that Jorja deleted the message. That is a big no around here. One of the conditions of her having a phone is that she doesn't delete anything. I asked her where the message was. It took her awhile but she finally admitted to deleting it. I totally lost it. We had a LONG discussion about honesty last night, and first thing in the morning she lies to me again? I yelled at Jorja. I was so mad I couldn't even stand it. I also grounded her until her birthday, which is in a little over a month. It is so long because it is not a real grounding. She will still get to go to homecoming, work, lacrosse, student government stuff, the quinceanera she RVSPd to a month ago. So really, it's not much of a grounding. I also found out that Collin's friends cancelled at the last minute yesterday, so she hung out with just Collin for most of the day. She insists it wasn't a date. She honestly thinks it wasn't a date because she isn't 16. Like that is the only thing that makes it a date. "Jorja, do you think Heavenly Father is not okay with you watching a movie with a boy before you are sixteen but doesn't mind you kissing boys?" How is kissing not a date, but watching a movie is. How does she even think like that? She didn't kiss Collin, but still! Anyway, Jorja begged me to still let her go to Thanksgiving point with Collin and his friends. She didn't want to cancel on him like his friends cancelled on him yesterday. Yep, I'm the worst grounder ever. Well, Collin's friends cancelled on him again. Jorja got Hailey to come with them. Hailey is such a good sport. They drove to Thanksgiving Point and then realized how expensive it was to get inside. They decided to go to a movie instead. They saw Crazy Rich Asians. I was a little sad when she texted me that. I was hoping to hang out with Jorja this weekend. I thought we could go dress shopping and I thought it would be fun to see that movie with her. I ended up spending the three day weekend all alone with small bursts of disciplining Jorja in between. So, it was a pretty disappointing weekend for me.

Jorja & Hailey

 Collin & Jorja

Jorja texted me and asked if I could bring her Chick-Fil-A clothes to Hailey's house. She wasn't supposed to work today, but a girl was sick and asked if she could cover for her. I gathered everything and headed down there. Mike came home right as I was leaving. Once I got to Hailey's house I realized I left Jorja's badge on the counter. I didn't think I would have enough time to go back and get it, so Mike was nice enough to hurry and bring the badge down to me. Hailey's mom, Melanie, let me inside and I talked to her while I waited for Jorja. Jorja was texted right as she turned into Hailey's house that she wouldn't need to come in after all. Oh well. I ended up talking to Melanie for a long time. I was telling her why Jorja was grounded and how frustrated I was. Jorja said that she was keeping things from me because she didn't want me to think less of her when she makes mistakes. Melanie and I tried to convince Jorja and Hailey that if they were ever in a situation and thought, "I would be embarrassed to talk to my mom about this." Then they shouldn't do it. Hailey felt kind of awkward with the entire conversation. Melanie and Hailey convinced me to let Jorja go to a Haunted House with Hailey tonight. They convinced me that this would be more of a punishment for Jorja. Also, Jorja owes Hailey big time. Hailey is always going places with Jorja that she doesn't want to go. So, Jorja's first day of grounding ended up with her spending the day with Collin and Hailey and spending the night at a Haunted House with Hailey, Allison and a bunch of boys. Yep, this will be horrible for her.

Fishing, Tea and Drama with the Porge

Mike and Preston spent the day at Bridger Lake. The campground is officially closed, but they allow people to park anyway. Basically they got to enjoy the lake with only a few other people showing up here and there. They didn't have to pay. They got to park the motorhome right next to the lake in the best spot. The only thing I think was the dumpsters were turned upside down and the dump stations were closed. These two were pretty pleased with how everything turned out.

Preston

 Preston ~ he loves, loves, loves to play games. The more complicated the better.

Jorja had plans to hang out with a kid from work named Collin. She promised me over and over it wasn't a date. They were going to hang out with Collin's friends. I had a date with Anne. I got to go to a tea party at her preschool. It was for grandmothers, so Anne asked if I could come with her. As I was leaving my street this is what I saw. Never seen a hot air balloon there before.

I stopped by Sam's house to pick up their car. That way we didn't have to transfer car seats. I also picked up rolls Sam made for Anne. The preschool called her this morning to tell her they were going to have rolls that had dairy and asked if she could make some for Anne. Sam had to whip up the rolls before I came. It worked though, the tea party went off without a hitch.

Anne

Jorja saw a movie that she said was the worst movie she has ever seen. I think it was called Night School. After awhile Jorja and Collin came over to get some knives so they could carve pumpkins, then Jorja went to Alta super early for the football game. She had to set up flags or something like that, then she wanted to stay so she could have a good seat. Collin ended up showing up for the game. He doesn't go to Alta or Timpview. He came to be with Jorja. I am trying not to be annoyed by that. Jorja says she was joking when she asked him to come. They spent almost all of the day together and I don't like that one bit.

Collin & Jorja

I was tempted to go to the football game, just because I like to watch football and I was home by myself. Jorja doesn't like it when I show up to things though. I decided to stay home and work on Grace's Christmas stocking. The game ended up in a blowout, not in our favor. I think Alta was supposed to win. At the start of the 4th quarter it was something like Timpview 41 Alta 0. Alta ended up with 21 points. I bet Timpview put their second string in. Anyways, I was following along with the game. Jorja didn't come home for a long time. I knew when the game ended, because I kept updating the score. She usually goes somewhere with student government afterwords, so this wasn't unusual. I checked the Life 360 app and was surprised to see she was at the church parking lot by our house. What??? I was pretty sure she was just talking to one of her friends. Still, I was a little bothered by that. I was interested to see if she would tell me where she was. This was our texting conversation.

11:07 Me: When will you be home?

11:11 Jorja: Not later than midnight :)

11:12 Me: Where are you? Who are you with?

(Realize that I know exactly where she is when I asked the question.)

11:18 Jorja: Apollo burger with student gov

WHAT!!!!!!! Did you catch that? Jorja flat out LIED to me. LIED! The only time I have ever yelled at Jorja was when she lied to me about the Pepperwood party, and here she is doing it again. I could not believe it.

11:21 Me: You're there now? Where is Apollo burger?

11:21 Jorja: Idk but I'll be back before 12

Nice sidestepping of the question. Jorja did come in before 12. I had her come and sit on my bed and tell me all about her day. She went through the day in detail, although she did say that she ended up not going to Apollo burger because she ran out of time. She still omitted the fact that she was at the church parking lot for an HOUR! I was trying so hard not to be mad, but inside I was steaming. I was silently pleading for her to tell me the truth, but she never did. Finally I called her out on it. She was there with Collin. They were just 'talking' about all of Jorja's boy drama, which I'm not even going to get into now because it is ridiculous. I was so hurt. How could she lie to me when she knows I can't handle being lied to? The obnoxious thing is Jorja has done things that she should have gotten in major trouble for, but I have never once punished her when she brings things up herself. I only punish her when I catch her in a lie. I feel sick even just thinking about this night, so I'm going to stop this entry right here.

Pep Rally

Mike and Preston went fishing today. They took off in the motorhome, just the two of them. Their plan is to go to Bridger Lake and Preston couldn't be more excited.

Jorja had her pep rally tonight. She had to be at the school early and then got home sometime after midnight. I think she had a great time. At least it was good weather.

Joe & Jorja

 Carson, Marshall, Joe, Jorja

 Student government

 Student government went to eat super late at night.

Skipping Fishing

Mike took Stockton, Jorja, Preston and Weston to Bridger Lake.  They have loved fishing here for the last few years.  Last year, Maysen and I were in Alaska, so we missed it.  We were planning on going this year, but Maysen can't be in the sunlight because of the laser hair treatment she had done yesterday.  Mike asked her if she would rather stay home. She would.  Especially since there are no hook ups at Bridger Lake.  If it gets hot in the motorhome, it would be miserable.  I stayed home with Maysen.  What a sacrifice on my part.  Just kidding.  Fishing isn't my favorite thing, so I was okay to miss it.  Maysen spent most of the day working on her homework.  She has an essay due the first day of class. We were also able to go to the Liu's wedding reception.  (The Liu's boy, Lawrence's wedding) I didn't want to miss it.  I now team teach with Sister Liu in primary.  Mike used to team teach with Brother Liu in primary.  I was glad one of us could make it.  It was great because I didn't need to come up with dinner. There was so much food!  I talked to Lisa Riddle for awhile.  I sure miss the Riddles.  Lisa was one of my beehive advisors.  Now she is Young Womens president in her new ward.  Yikes!

Bridger Lake

This is Mike.  I am guest-blogging today.  While Steph and Maysen were galavanting around Alaska with Steph's college roommate last week, I took Stockton, Jorja and Preston fishing to Bridger Lake in the Uinta Mountains just south of the Wyoming/Utah border.  When I was younger, my Dad would take us here and to other nearby places including Marsh Lake, Stateline Reservoir and China Meadows.  My Dad first learned of this area when he worked for the U.S. Forest Service after college before starting his own car business.  He came back many times to fish and hunt.  I remember several times camping there with not only my immediate family but also with my Grandma and Grandpa Hirschi in their Road Ranger camper.

The way to Bridger Lake includes about 25 miles of dirt forest service roads.  Sometimes it is very bumpy!  This time it was quite smooth.  I think the road people had just recently watered it down and smoothed it out.   Much appreciated, road people!

Braving the 25 miles of dirt road leading to Bridger Lake

We arrived just before sunset.  This is the beautiful view that awaited us.  Bridger Lake campground is fairly primitive - no electricity or water hookups or anything, so you bring in everything that you need.

 

Bridger Lake welcoming us at Sunset

We were anxious to get out and fish, remembering how FANTASTIC the fishing was here at this time last year.   Before we could do so though, there was work to be done!  First task:  backing up the motorhome into this spot.  It was a tight squeeze, but we made it.

 

Tight squeeze!

Next came time to inflate the boat and get the fishing poles set up.  The kids got me an inflatable boat for Father's Day this year, and this is the first time we've taken it out.  Bridger Lake has lily pads around the entire lake, so fishing from shore is not an option unless you want to stand on the one little dock on the far side of the lake which is usually crowded with people.   They did a great job taking turns pumping it up and we had it ready to go in no time.  Then they patiently waited while I got all the fishing poles ready to go.  

Finally, we got everything in the water.   I didn't want to waste time setting up the trolling motor or hauling the big heavy battery down, so we used the oars this first night.  Stockton was the first to catch a fish.   About 2 seconds after his worm and marshmallow hit the water he had one on.  He was pleased that he got to claim first fish!   I spent the right of the night helping the kids get worms on their hooks, getting untangled at times, and getting hooks back out of the fish that bit them.  I don't think I ever got my pole in the water because the fish kept us so busy.  That's a great problem to have!

 

Preston with his catch nearly slipping out of the net.  Dad needs a new net next year kids!

Once it got too dark, we left the water and carried things back to the RV.  I showed the kids how to clean fish.  They were not fans.  They were brave to try it, but it can be a bit much, so I finished up while they went back inside.   Fresh fish for dinner is delicious, but there was plenty of non-fish to eat as well so everyone was happy.

We skipped the campfire the first night since we hadn't brought any firewood with us.  The next day we made sure to gather some up so we would have it for marshmallow roasting that night.  We got more than enough and used the new roasting forks the kids gave me for my birthday.  They worked just right.

Roasting Marshmallows

Preston shielding his face with a plate while roasting

Yum!  S'mores!

When we were at WalMart shopping for this trip, I spotted some toy crossbows on sale.  These were the EXACT same kind I had when I was a kid so I couldn't resist picking up a pair of them.  The ones I used to have were just like these except the darts were all red and the sight was black instead of bright orange like they are now.  Most the time when I used to play with them, we shot the small Lincoln Logs out of them since they worked much better (i.e. "hurt more") than the darts that came with them.

Just like the ones I had as a kid!

I took the kids outside and had them practice shooting a target on the side of the motorhome.  Fun stuff!  I may have to take one to work and see if it will shoot Nerf darts.

Target Practice

We spent the entire day Saturday out on the lake.  The kids loved it and so did their Dad.  We also fished Sunday morning before heading back.  More than one of the kids asked it we could come back next year, while I was glad to hear!  I think we should make it a yearly tradition.

Everybody loves fishing at Bridger Lake!

The funniest thing the second night was when Jorja decided to watch Elmo in Grouchland on the little bunkbed TV.  While I took a shower, all three kids become enthralled in the movie.  We learned that Stockton does a very good Elmo impersonation too!

In all, we kept (and cleaned) about 35 fish that weekend.  The kids named most of them as they caught them.  "Garfield" and "King Hippo" were by far the biggest and fattest.  Garfield measured 15 inches.  I didn't have a scale, but he was very chubby!

Fish waiting to be cleaned

Jorja holding a fish - I think this is Garfield

Stockton with King Hippo in the net

Sunday morning we cleaned up, packed up and drove off.  I was surprised that the lake is only about 3 1/2 hours from our house.

A little suprise of 35 rainbow trout in the freezer ready to welcome Stephanie home from Alaska.  I know what we will be having for dinner for a while!

I had a great weekend with the kids and will always remember being able to share with them one of my favorite places from when I grew up.  Thank you guys for coming and sharing that time with me!  And Dad, thanks for spending time with us kids when we were younger, taking us to places like this and teaching me to love fishing.

China Lake

Jorja and Preston were so excited to go fishing again.  Preston caught a brook trout.  He and Weston were the only ones to do that.  Those are the natural fish at Bridger Lake.  All the other fish were rainbow trouts. Those ones are brought in.....at least that is my naive understanding. Preston was so proud of his fish.  It did look pretty cool.

Preston

 Preston & Jorja

 Jorja

 Jorja with Preston's fish

 Preston with Jorja's fish

 Jorja with both fish

 Bridger Lake

 Mike and Stockton

 My goal was to take a picture of a dragonfly.

Hard to see, but the goal was accomplished!

 Stockton and Mike

 Stockton

 Throwing the fish back

Mike & Stockton in one boat, Steve, Weston & Brandon in the other...I think

Stockton & Mike

Shannon and Jacob went home last night.  This afternoon the rest of us went hiking up by China Lake.  Jorja wished she would have brought her swimsuit.  She wanted to swim in that lake so bad!  It was really pretty.  We hiked past the lake and went to two other ponds that Mike and Steve used to visit when they were kids.  When we were almost back at the truck, Jorja realized that she left her new water bottle. Mike and Jorja ran back to get it.  Luckily it was by China Lake and not the other places we went to.  We let the kids ride in the back of Steve's truck.  They thought that was great fun. I was slow getting out of the car, so this is the best picture I could get.

Weston, Maysen, Jorja, Brandon, Preston, Stockton, Mike

 Preston, Stockton, Weston, Erica, Maysen, Jorja, Stephanie

 Preston & Stephanie - I'm holding his wet socks

 Weston, Jorja, Oscar, Steve

 Jorja's waterbottle - I should have taken a picture of China Lake!

 Preston

More fishing after the hike.  Jorja is addicted!

 Jorja

We were planning on leaving tomorrow morning, but we ended up leaving about 10:00 at night.  Steve left a few hours earlier.  Maysen and Preston are sleeping in the bunk beds.  Stockton is in our bed. Jorja's in the pullout couch.  I tried to stay awake until we were off the bumpy dirt roads, but I couldn't do it.  I slept next to Jorja and gave Mike strict instructions to find somewhere to stop the second he gets sleepy.  I would say this fishing trip was a success.