Yep, Preston is now a sophomore. I hope he has a great year. He is taking foods, Honors English, seminary, Secondary Math 3, AP Chinese, World History, Honors Chemistry, and Computer Programing. He really wanted to take game development, but that is only offered 5th period. AP Chinese is also only offered 5th period. Lame.
Preston
I worked today too. It was CHAOS in the counseling center. I hear the first two weeks of school are always like that. Paula wants me to work the first two days for this reason. Plus, Alta is at full capacity, so they stopped taking permits. Well, the district just told Alta they have to let everyone in. So, now I have to hurry through a bunch of enrollments. The annoying thing is the classes are full. It is hurting the children who are at their regular school. I'm all for letting kids go to whatever school works out best for them, but if the school is full, it is full.
Mike took Maysen's car into the shop today and was able to get her tire fixed for free. That's going to be nice to not have to worry about it. There was a pretty big nail in the tire. Mike also had insurance people and a roof fixer come over and look at our roof. Hopefully that will work out. We went to dinner today at Leatherby's. Traditional first day of school ice-cream. Another year.... here we go!
I took Preston to school today to find his classes. We also got his yearbook/ID picture taken, along with mine. Weird. I love being at the school with Preston though, even though I rarely see him. I laughed so hard when we found his locker. I sent this picture to Stockton. He always wanted a black or gray locker. He had red four years. I don't think Jorja ever had a red one. There are LOTS of red lockers. Probably 95%. Maysen had a black one her sophomore year and Preston has one his sophomore year. Poor Stockton got left out.
Preston at his cool black locker
His locker is by the back staircases where the buses drop off/pick up the kids
Preston getting his yearbook picture taken
Matching IDs
Stephanie & Preston
I took Jorja to her eye therapy appointment. She went to the temple with Kylie and then on a date with someone named Ken. She went on a date with someone named Mitchell yesterday. She has been going on lots of dates. Gotta get all the dating in before missionary season comes!
Preston
Stockton sent me this video of a commercial my brother Mike made. My brothers use to make commercials all the time. This was in 1991. I was probably a junior in high school, Mike was probably 12 years old. Haha. I love my brothers.
Jorja went to Alta today to talk with the student government and PLT classes. She is going to Alta again on Monday, so they are getting a lot of Jorja! Jorja asked me if I would go and pick up some Krispy Kremes for those classes. I did not realize how expensive they would be. I bought half as much as I planned and we hurried and cut them in half before she brought them. Jorja went out to lunch with Ben, which was nice. It's been a long time since she's seen him! Before she headed back to Logan we got a picture of her and Mike with their sweaters and coins. They were both student body officers for Alta and both were awarded the Alta coin. Supposedly this coin will get them into any future Alta event for free. (Might just be sporting events, I'm not sure.) Mike has never tried his out, so it would be interesting to see if it worked! Haha Cool that they both were given one though! Jorja's coin is engraved on back. I should get Mike's engraved to match!
Welp, my kids keep on growing. Preston started high school for real today. His first full day at in-person school in almost a year and a half. Going to be an adjustment. Stockton and I dropped him off. Stockton got a picture of him as he was walking toward the school. The building looks kind of funny. The brick is the old Alta and the silver is the remodeled Alta. Right now the school is half and half. I wonder if they are going to turn it all silver or just leave it like that. Stockton and I dropped Preston off and then went straight to Bountiful for his last dermatologist appointment. Got it all done before he moves to Logan. We celebrated with Black Bear diner. I got oatmeal and Stockton got pancakes that he couldn't come close to finishing. Haha
Preston ~ 9th grade
Bear and I waited outside for Preston to come home. He was so happy to see him!
Jorja was shopping with Cori who definitely spoiled her. Once she got home we headed out to the Labyrinth. We went here for Jorja's birthday and Mike wanted to go with Stockton before he heads back up to Logan. We just did an hour this time. It was pretty fun and frustrating. It is such a great idea. 40+ mini escape rooms. I wish there was a little direction. Sometimes it is so hard to figure out what to do. Like the task is so random you have to accidentally figure it out. I snapped a couple of pictures in the pirate room and one in the ninja room. Stockton realized he was missing his phone as we were leaving. I asked the guy up front if anyone had turned one in. He said no and asked for my name and phone number so he could call if it did get turned in. Haha Like we were going to leave without his phone. I got the guy to open the rooms we had been in so we could look around. There is this barracks one that you have to crawl through. The guy wanted to look at it last because it was harder to get to. Well, where did he find it? The barracks! At the bridge towards the ceiling. I am sooooo grateful he was able to find it. Stockton has a wallet case so his debit card and drivers license were in there too.
Pirate Preston
Preston, Mike, Maysen
Ninja Jorja
We went to Leatherby's after and there was a crowd! We waited it out and had delicious ice cream. Jorja missed her hangout with her friends though. She didn't complain and said it was nice to be able to had a family adventure. The only picture I got of Stockton today was this one at Leatherby's. Haha
Preston went to high school today! Wow! He had Hawk Flight School. He had school for half a day. They met in their advisories and did an orientation and played games. He came home happy, so I think he had a great time. Preston was in the afternoon session, so that was nice.
Preston ~ Hawk Flight School
We played lots of Dominion games. Games against each other and games against bots. At one point all of us were downstairs on our laptops playing against bots. Haha. I had a good showing. I took a picture of two of my wins. I have been on a roll lately. I'm worried things will come to a crashing end shortly.
Jorja had a group date tonight with her friends. They got dressed up to play Clue. The idea was for each couple to dress as a character. Jorja was Mrs. White. She dressed in black because Mrs. White in the Clue movies dresses in black. Her date was Spencer Hall, who she works at Chick-Fil-A with. Jorja stayed out late. She is going to pay for it tomorrow. She has to get up really early. She thinks this is the last real hangout with her friends before she moves away.
Spencer & Jorja
Giselle & Caleb, Jorja & Spencer, Lily & ?, Carson & Ella, Bode, Luke & Sami
I took Stockton to the dentist bright and early this morning. His teeth are great. We stopped by OPH on the way back to have crepes and pancakes. Delicious. I then took my dad to the airport. He is going to spend a week in Kirtland, Ohio. He's pretty excited because he is just a person in the tour and not leading it. Karl Anderson is the guide, who President Hinckley called "Mr. Kirtland." Patty called my dad up. She had someone cancel late and wasn't able to give him a refund. He said not to worry about it and to let someone else go, so she called my dad. He's pretty excited about it. He looked great when I picked him up. He didn't look sick at all. I'm pretty sure he had what I had the other day. He was still waiting for his covid results. He took the test on Saturday and told them he was flying Monday morning. Don't worry, the results came back negative. He should have a fun week.
I took Preston to school today to get his ID card. Today was the day for freshman to get their pictures. No one was there when we arrived, so we didn't need to wait in a line. On the way out I snapped pictures from the new wall outside the office. Jorja's senior SBO picture is still there. That won't be replaced until the new pictures come around November. All the SBOs have their pictures framed in a hallway. They ran out of room awhile ago. I was wondering where Jorja's picture would be put. Right now it is front and center in the new hallway. Hope it stays there! At least Preston can say hello to her if he wants. He won't, but I will when I go to parent/teacher conferences and what not.
Preston
Jorja's senior SBO picture. Of course the glare is on Jorja's face haha
SBO wall ~ I never thought about 2020 SBOs not getting to have the fancy dress/tux picture
Those pictures now are taken at inauguration, so I guess it makes sense. Jorja didn't get an inauguration last year.
Student government wall ~ don't know why 2017 is missing
Oh glare you are annoying
Preston's card. Not blurry in real life. What a cute kid!
I took Preston to Firehouse Subs. I wasn't too hungry because I had eaten with Stockton, but I knew it would be awhile before we had dinner. I decided to get a chicken and dumpling soup and a water. The soup was HOT. No worries. I thought I would take a few sips and eat the rest at home. After Preston had already eaten half of his sandwich I had a small spoonful after blowing on it. I was able to choke down three spoonfuls that way. Well, almost three. It was so hot that it made me throw-up. I started laughing and realized I was throwing up. I spit into my water cup, but I couldn't stop. It was so embarrassing. No way was I going to try that soup at home, I threw the rest away. I knew I wasn't sick so Preston and I headed to the mall to get some new shoes. He picked out some blue checkered Vans. They are cute. I felt drained for the rest of the day.
I feel A LOT better today. By this afternoon I was ready to get out and do some errands. I took Preston to find his classes at Alta today. We met his advisory teacher, Coach Webb. I was worried because I had never met her and had no idea what she is like. She was so nice to Preston. I think she will be great. It is so crazy that my baby is about to start high school. I wish he was able to have Jorja here with him.
Stairwell up to his first class ~ math
Preston
I took this for Jorja. Memories....
We found all of his classes, even his AP Computer Science class that wasn't on the map. We also found his locker, but it isn't working yet. They still have to program the combinations. We left the high school and went to pick up Preston's glasses. He looks so different and so much older with them on. I think he likes them. They are not super strong, so he won't have to wear them all the time, but they will be nice to have. His prescription is -1 in both eyes.
Preston
Alia came down and picked up his truck. Stockton loved seeing him. President Grisel also texted Stockton today. What an amazing text! Val is his son who has just started his mission to South Africa.
In weird news, you can not see the mountains outside. I wish I had taken a picture. We got a call from the school that all outdoor events were cancelled because of the dangerous air quality. Today was supposed to be the first day of football season. The air is so bad because of fires that are in California and Oregon. The smoke has become stuck in the valley. So that's fun.
Jorja went out with friends. She brought them over after awhile and we played Jackbox with them. Ella, Megan and Lily were here. It was a lot of fun.
Jorja has now graduated high school. I'm going to miss this time of her life. I do wish she had wanted to spend more time with us though. Jorja did so well in high school. I'm so proud of her. She took chances, made mistakes and got messy. Hahaha. But really, I can not believe how far she stretched herself. She spent years and years quiet and shy, then she turned it around in a blink of an eye. It was hard and painful, but she clawed her way out of her shell and I don't think she is ever going back. Four years in student government. That was brave. Highschool was scary and one of her very best friends would tell her not to run, she would only embarrass herself and he would be the only one to vote for her. Glad she didn't listen. She tried out and was in different theater plays her freshman year. She was so sick most of her sophomore year, but still made life long friends and nailed her main responsibility as president, the morp dance. Jorja went to Taiwan and lived as a foreign exchange student for three weeks. She absolutely loved that experience. She was surprised how she was able to read everything and understand everything, but said she had a white girl accent. Haha. Covid shut down her junior year and wreaked havoc on her senior year. That was hard and sad, but she still reached her goal of being a student body officer and did a fantastic job on the fundraiser. At inauguration when Mr. Packer was talking about Jorja he said he didn't think anyone else would have been able to pull the fundraiser off. I agree with him. Watching her work behind the scenes.... she worked so hard and gave everything she had. She sure is leaving high school with no regrets. Maysen and Stockton were dressing Jorja as she got out of the car. She had a hawk medallion, a step2theU medallion, a NHS yellow thing, and five cords. Blue& white ~ blip-literacy, green ~ world language, purple ~ English, red~ high honor, yellow and white ~ I think for a high gpa? Not sure. Anyway, Jorja is amazing.
Jorja
Stockton & Jorja
Maysen & Jorja
Jorja & Stockton
Each graduate was given four tickets. That meant Preston had to stay home and no grandparents. We arrived early so Jorja could get some pictures with her friends. We took some family pictures outside the institute building before we went in.
Maysen, Mike, Jorja, Stockton
Maysen, Mike, Jorja, Stockton, Stephanie ~ all Alta Hawk graduates now
Maysen, Jorja, Stockton
Jorja & Stephanie
Mike, Jorja, Stephanie
Jorja & Stephanie
Jorja & Mike
Jorja, Stockton, Mike ~ the first of many photobombs featuring Stockton
Jorja (Stockton)
Jorja
Jorja
Jorja & Stephanie
Maysen, Mike, Jorja, Stockton, Stephanie
Ella & Jorja
Jorja calling to Giselle
Ella, Jorja, Giselle
Marshall, Layla, Jorja, Riley, Jake
Jorja standing for Chinese immersion
Jorja's name is announced
The grandparents were able to watch graduation on a zoom link. I'm glad they had that. Cori took some screenshots from the program. I don't know who is giving Jorja her diploma though. Also, one side note, they announced the student body officers and the lacrosse team first. Bode is on the lacrosse team. As soon as their names were read they had to leave to go to their playoff lacrosse game. They ended up winning that game and eventually won the state championship.
Jorja getting her diploma
Alta High School ~ Class of 2021
Ella & Jorja
Jorja & Lily
Sami & Jorja
Riley & Jorja
Jorja
(Stockton)
We swung by our house. Jorja changed real quick and we picked up Preston. We met Scoop, Cori and my dad at Leatherbys. I'm glad we were still able to do that tradition even if they couldn't come to the graduation. I didn't get a picture of Jorja with Scoop and Cori, but they were there.
Jorja & Grandpa Millburn
When we got home I called Utah State to find out what needed to be done for Jorja to be able to take the Chinese class she needs. They had me fill out a form online asking for permission to take the class. Hopefully it won't be filled up by the time this gets done. Jorja slept for awhile and then went to hang out with her friends at Luke's house. She took her graduation announcements to hand out there, then promptly lost them. Oh Porge.
Tonight was the Pepperwood party. Mike and I chaperoned from 12-2. This year wasn't too bad, we just walked around the wooded area. No one even came near us. Jorja and a few girls slept over in the motorhome so they wouldn't have to drive home too late. It was a long day.
