Denied

I had my second plasma appointment today. I woke up so dizzy. I had my early exercise class and about fainted in class. It was weird. I almost fainted in class after I gave blood too. Anyway, I had my  appointment, so I wanted to go. They said I couldn't give today. I had a bruise from my last appointment and they didn't like how I was dizzy. I am going to try again tomorrow though.

I'm not sure what this video is about, but I found it on Jorja's phone.

She sure does such a good job of making other people feel important.

Jorja took the bus home with Madison. The plan was to go with Madison and her dad to get her drivers permit. Except Madison's dad forgot. They spent their time doing homework though. Jorja and Madison went to a Chick-Fil-A service project today. They met at the Southtown Chick-Fil-A. Jorja knew they were going to a retirement home to have dinner, that is all she knew. Turns out only three people from Jorja's store came. Also turns out the place was in Salt Lake City. Jorja ended up driving. On the freeway. In traffic. In the rain. In the dark. Yikes! Luckily there were no problems. There were three girls from the Draper store and some people from Southtown. Chick-Fil-A provided the dinner. This place is for older people who are going through cancer. Jorja didn't come home for a long time and I was worried. Turns out that she stayed with Madison and the other girl and just talked to these guys for hours. The Southtown people left right after dinner. Jorja loved it. We were in bed when she came home. She sat on our bed and talked to us about it for a long time. That girl has a heart of gold. She was so happy and we were so proud of her. I have never met anyone that loves so intensely and completely as Jorja. She loves everybody. I wish I could be more like her.

Now for some random pictures:

I finished Grace's stocking today!

 Jorja and I have a streak of 100 on Snapchat

 She has sent me fun pictures like this for 100 days.

Gosh I love her so.

Preston Goes to the Temple

Preston did baptisms in the Draper Temple for the first time today. Mike works at the temple every Thursday morning. He has done this for years. I remember when Jorja turned 12. Mike wanted her to do baptisms for the first time when he was working because all of his friends were there. His friends are all a lot older than him, so it makes me laugh. I love that he does this though. Anyway, Jorja, Preston and I headed to the temple early this morning. We got there about 5:50 and the place was packed! Oh boy. Once they started letting the kids in, the new temple president and his wife came out to shake the kids hands. When they got to Preston they said, "You must be Preston. I heard this is your first time here. Thank you so much for coming." and other things along those lines. I thought that was really cool. We did the confirmations first, then waited to be baptized. Mike baptized Jorja first. She stood on the side in her towel while she watched Preston get baptized. He was so dang adorable! Mike and Preston met Jorja and I in the hallway and walked us out. I was a failure and completely forgot to get a picture of the kids outside of the temple! Ahhhh!!!!! I was totally planning on it, but got distracted with Mike. When he met Jorja in the hallway he wanted to tell her his idea for her campaign next year. Jorja likes campaigns where she can dress up at school easily and campaigns that have a lot of puns. The first year she was a race car driver. The second year she dressed as a card dealer. Mike told her this year she could dress as a farmer. Then he started rattling off pun after pun. We were in the temple and laughing so hard! I can't remember all of them, but some of them were: Jorja won't quack under pressure. Jorja doesn't horse around. Keep Alta on track....tor. Preston added Jorja won't bail on you. The funniest thing was Mike's explanation as he was talking about them. I can't even do it justice so I won't even try, but we were crying from laughing so hard. So, that is why I forgot to get a picture of Preston in front of the temple. It's hard to be a good mom for your last child! I did make Jorja and Preston take a picture before they got out of their church clothes. Well, I made Preston put his shirt back on. He was thrilled with me. He loves me anyway though. I'm lucky!

Preston

 Preston & Jorja

One of my brothers sent this picture of a cereal that is coming out in December. They said it looked like something I would like. I sent the picture to Jorja in snapchat. Apparently she opened it in seminary and started laughing like crazy. Riley took her phone and replied to me that her phone was being a distraction. Whoops.

Jorja stayed after school in math to get some extra help for her test tomorrow. Too bad her teacher wasn't able to help her, the place was packed and she ended up leaving after thirty minutes with no help. She doesn't like not having Stockton around to help her anymore. I picked up Jorja and Traven after school. He wanted to come over to see the ducks. I was planning on taking Preston to diving, but I didn't want to leave when Traven was here. I just didn't feel good about that. Preston also came home a little hurt from pe. They are doing a lacrosse unit and he HATES it. He hates pe too. Maybe that will make him enjoy musical theater more next semester? (Preston didn't sign up for that and wasn't thrilled when he saw it, but I'm guessing he'll like it better than pe.) Anyway, we skipped diving today. I dropped Traven off at his house on the way to take Jorja to work.

Traven & Jorja

The ducks are getting way too big for the cage we have them in. We are nervous about putting them outside because they don't have their feathers yet. It is not working how we have them now though. Mike went and bought an extra heater, so tomorrow we are going to try and have them outside. I sent this picture to Jorja while she was at work.

Quacky Chan & Kiki

 Jorja sent me this back.

 Preston loves his duck too.

 Jorja & Kiki

Another problem we have with the ducks is their claws are too sharp. No one is affected by this more that Jorja. Probably because she is picking them up constantly. There is this app at school where people can report others who they think are suicidal. Jorja was reported when she was in middle school. The counselors pulled her out of class and talked to her before they talked to me. I was livid. I'm still mad when I think about it. Jorja had bruises from sliding in softball and someone said she was cutting herself. Jorja doesn't even have her ears pierced because she is so scared. If she was going to do self harm, that is not the way she would do it. I am still so mad about how the entire situation was handled. They made Jorja feel like she had done something wrong. She was nervous when they called her down. As soon as she walked into the office they made her hold out her arms to be examined. Ridiculous. Jorja was humiliated. Anyway, I wonder what would happen if she was reported now. Her arms look more like she has been cutting herself than they did the first time. I was there when these scratches happened, but yikes!

Jorja's arm

 Preston & Quacky Chan, Jorja & Kiki

 Jorja and her two favorite things. Kiki and her phone.

Mike has spent a lot of time figuring out duck diapers. I think he has a pattern now that will work. The ducks are growing so dang fast that they keep growing out of them! The kids love being able to cuddle them though.

Preston & Quacky Chan

 Jorja and Kiki and Quacky Chan FaceTiming Stockton trying to get help with math.

Jorja was so stressed when she went to bed. She was in tears. She is worried about her test tomorrow and says she doesn't understand anything. I was frustrated because why did she wait this long if she didn't understand it? I know she has gone before school several days, but still....math is something that you can't get behind in. Her job takes up so much time now that she needs to be more diligent about her homework. I hate that Jorja tells herself she isn't smart. She is. She just needs to not compare herself with Stockton when it comes to math. He was in a league of his own, and that's okay. I ended up sleeping with Jorja in the guest bed. She will be okay, she is just overwhelmed right now.

Random Snaps

Kylie & Jorja

Apparently if you put an 's' on a picture that stands for 'streaks'. Then you send it to a bunch of your friends.

 Jorja

 Mike

Too bad I took a screenshot of Mike while there was weird icons going down the right side of his face. Whoops.

Don't Fail Math

I went to exercise at Orangetheory this morning. We each wear a heart monitor. The goal is to get 12 splat points by the end of class. That means you spent 12 minutes in the orange or red zone, which is the highest for your heart rate I think? Anyway, at the end of class today I had 43 splat points. Nothing like working out next to someone who is 39 weeks pregnant to motivate you! Seriously! When I was that pregnant there is no chance you would catch me at a gym. She is having her baby on Friday. I wish I liked exercising that much. I just don't.

It's been fun since Jorja signed me up for Snapchat. She sends me random pictures and videos throughout the day. She sent me this one about how she was with her friends failing math. Ummmm....

Jorja

 I sent her this picture back. Padz has high expectations for Jorja.

Jorja said she opened this picture in her English class and couldn't stop laughing. She thought it was so funny. Her teacher sent her out in the hall until she could get herself under control. Whoops.

Aresha & Jorja ~ another random picture from The Porge.

 Mike brought the ducks into the duck house.

 Jorja likes to play with Kiki as soon as she comes home. Kiki's wearing a diaper Mike made.

Getting the Boot

Mike and I got up early this morning to finish the poster we were supposed to make. I thought we were going to do something on the computer, but we never got around to it. Doing stuff like this stresses me out. I hate it. Mike took the poster to Ward Council and did a little craft project there. He pushed lights through it. It ended up looking pretty cool. We left a big space after the date because neither of us could remember the time. Looking back, I can't remember if we ever fixed that. Oh well. 

Mike, Preston and I went early to church. We met with the bishop for Preston's priesthood/twelve year old interview. Too bad we didn't put our stuff down on our bench first. When we finished the interview it took us a bit to find a seat. The primary program was today. Preston didn't want to do the program, especially since he was officially twelve. He talked to Megan Okerlund about it. She made him a deal that if he gave a talk he wouldn't have to come to any of the practices. At least he knows the drill about how the primary programs work now. When the bishop called Preston up, he was already up there. Preston gave a great talk. It was short, but good. All of my kids are fantastic speakers. Preston had the entire audience cracking up. This was his talk.

Since my 12th birthday was yesterday, I am graduating from primary, so you can imagine how excited I was when I found out I had to do the primary program anyway.

In primary, I have learned that the priesthood is the authority to act in the name of God here on the Earth. The priesthood can bless our lives in many ways. For example, each year before I start school, I ask my dad for a Father's blessing. When someone is sick, they can ask for a priesthood blessing. The young men that prepare, bless and pass the sacrament can do that because of the priesthood.

Yesterday I turned 12 years old. That means I can receive the Aaronic priesthood. I might even be able to pass the sacrament next Sunday!

I am excited to be able to receive the priesthood and use it to serve the other members of the ward. It is cool that Heavenly Father allows us to serve others so that we can learn to become more like him.

The talk seems tame enough. No laugh out loud moments. Preston had the audience cracking up in the delivery. All from the first paragraph. When he said 'you can imagine how excited I was...." the way he said excited was super funny. Totally exaggerated and obvious he was being sarcastic. Then he doubled down and whispered, "I wasn't excited." Holy cow. It was so funny. Everyone cracked up. I had tears, it was hilarious.

During the meeting I got a text from Scoop. He was asking if I knew what time Preston's ordination would be. I rarely get texts from him, so I was confused why they were asking me and not Mike. We didn't know when this would be happening at this point. I handed my phone to Mike and he told him we weren't sure exactly. It would be third hour, but we didn't know if it would be at the beginning or the end. Scoop texted back to let him know as soon as we could because they have a long way to come. As soon as sacrament meeting was over, Mike went in search of that information. I headed to my Sunday school class. Mike came in awhile later, after texting his dad the plan. I let my dad know the information as well. Mike taught my class today. This morning when we were making the posters Mike asked me if I was teaching today. Whoops! With all the excitement of Preston's birthday I totally forgot about that. I begged Mike to teach his Resiliency lesson for me. It was perfect. Thank heavens for Mike! He is always bailing me out.

Mike, Jorja and I went over to the primary next to watch Preston get the boot. When someone turns twelve, they have the entire deacons quorum or beehive class come in to sing to the new kid and take them back to class with them. It's pretty cool. It's hard for me to believe that when Jorja got the boot I was her advisor. It seems like forever since I've been in Young Womens.

Bulletin board outside of primary

 Preston's paper doll is right above the sign.

While we were waiting, Jorja and I noticed that it was 11:11. On 11/11. We talked about how World War I ended at this time 100 years ago. That's crazy! Jorja and I both took screenshots of our phones to get the time. Mine was dumb. I liked Jorja's though. (I'm not good at checking my messages...)

Stephanie's phone

 Jorja's phone (Eliza & Jorja)

 Preston's boot

 Sister Hawkins & Preston

 Deacons quorum: Brother Henderson, Ethan, Nick, Will, Luke, Matthew, Aiden, Jaxson, Andrew, Sister Masters, Ben

 Sister Hawkins & Preston

Singing hello/goodbye to Preston

Preston getting the boot

I went to my class before it was time to sneak out early for Preston. I was worried that my dad wouldn't get here on time, and I didn't want to wait if he wouldn't be coming. I texted him to let me know when he was there or if he wasn't coming. When I left class I saw my dad talking to Mike. My text to him never sent. Mike texted his dad and asked him to be there at 11:30. His dad wasn't there when I came out of class. Mike texted him again and asked if he was coming. No answer. The people came out of the room at 11:50 and told us they were ready. We weren't sure what to do because we didn't know if Mike's dad was going to come or not, and if he came when he was going to be here. There have been many times in the past when we think he is coming to things, but he doesn't end up coming. Mike chooses to plan on his dad not coming so he isn't disappointed anymore. There were a lot of boys in the classroom. We are hoping Preston can become friends with them. Social skills aren't the easiest thing for our kids. Anyway, as we were leaving the classroom at 11:58 I got a text from Mike's dad saying, "We are here where are they going to ordain him?" I about died. Mike and Preston hurried to find Scoop and Cori. Preston gave them both big hugs. Scoop wasn't happy with me at all. There were tears in his eyes. I felt so bad. It didn't help that several people stopped Preston and told him what an awesome job he did. Several people also stopped Mike and I and told us how much they loved Preston's talk, how he was so funny and how much he reminded them of Mike. Scoop told me that they would have come to see Preston if they knew. I reminded him that I told him about the primary program. He said, "We didn't know he would have a part." Except I know I told them Preston would be speaking. I just didn't make a big deal of it because I didn't want to make them feel like they had to come. It is so awkward wanting to invite them to stuff, but trying to not feel like we are begging. Anyway, I felt horrible about how things happened, even though I know I did nothing wrong. At least we were able to get a picture with Scoop before they left.

Mike, Preston, Scoop

Once we were home we had a few hours to relax, which meant the kids and Mike wanted to play with ducks. Jorja kept trying to go out the back door to get the mallards, but they would run away from her. So, she decided to go out the window and sneak up on them from behind. I sent her this picture on Snapchat.

Jorja

 She was successful!

 Preston & Quackletta, Jorja & Waddluigi

 Jorja, Kiki & Quacky Chan

 Quacky Chan & Kiki

Jorja has been practicing driving her stick shift lately. Mike took her out driving yesterday. Today she drove her car by herself to church. We decided to go see Shannon to drop off some things. She lives about twenty minutes away. Jorja put this sign on the back of her car before we left. Haha! It did make her panic less though. Jorja did great. She drove all the way to Riverton and only stalled the car once there and once on the way back. Both times she didn't stress and was able to restart it right away. She is going to never regret learning how to drive a stick.

 Jorja's snapchat streaks were a video, but I loved this picture of her.

We had to hurry back from Shannon's to go to Preston's Court of Honor and Jorja's Evening in Excellence. Jorja drove here too. They had a cute slideshow with each of the girls in front of a whiteboard. It was a cute picture of them with their name and about five major accomplishments they have achieved this last year. For some reason Jorja's wasn't put in the slideshow. Neither was Hadley Kate's. It was kind of sad. Oh well.

Jorja & Ebony

 Jorja & Stephanie

Jorja answered Luke to the Christmas dance tonight. Hailey and a girl named Lily wanted to come with her. I was disappointed that I forgot to take a picture of Jorja's poster before we came. Jorja said she would take a picture when they set it up. Jorja wasn't sure where Luke lived. She asked a lot of people for his address. Riley didn't know it, but found it out for her. He also let her know that Luke was going to be at a family dinner until 9:00. Luke's mom texted Riley when they were home and Riley texted Jorja. When Jorja and the girls went to put this on their front porch they could see everyone sitting at the table. Luke's mom knew they were coming so she distracted Riley while they were outside. Nice. Although Jorja felt a little self conscious, so this was the best picture she was able to get me of her poster.

 Luckily Luke took a better one.

Wow! That was a busy day!

Veterans Assembly

I was a little frustrated with Jorja this morning. I looked through her texts and it dawned on me that when she was with Traven, she was most likely driving. She knows she is not allowed to drive people for six months. Granted, I think that is a stupid rule. I would be okay with three months, but six months is annoying. Most people just ignore this rule. I can't do it. I hate the rule, but I can't ignore it. Mike and I went downstairs to talk to her. She admitted that she did drive Traven. I know she was in an awkward position. She didn't realized that she was going to be driving when she agreed to help him. I'm not sure how she didn't realize it. She is now not going to be allowed to drive by herself for awhile. About a week is what we are thinking. Hopefully she won't do this again.

Jorja asked Matt if he would come to the Veterans assembly Alta puts on. They have a breakfast first. Too bad I didn't realize he could have family with him. I totally would have come to that. Instead he was there by himself talking to strangers. I'm sure he loved that. It was so nice of him to do this for Jorja. I came for the assembly. Luckily I walked in the school and the first person I saw was Matt. I sat with him and the other veterans. I thought it was funny, but those were the worst seats in the house. It was hard to see anything. It was okay though. They introduced all the veterans. When they were at the Army they said Don Millburn. What? I looked at Jorja and she shrugged. We were so confused. Then they said Matt Millburn towards the end. Either there is two Millburns, or there is a cousin Don around. Jorja was able to introduce two different things and she did a great job. One of the speakers fought in World War II for the Germans. That was interesting. He said, "I fought for the losing team and then switched to the winning team." Haha.

Jorja and Matt

I spent the day making rolls and cream puffs. I am so tired of cooking! It is definitely not my favorite thing to do. Jorja was excused for the entire day. She had to be at school at 6:30 in the morning. After cleaning up, student government went to lunch at Harmons. Jorja came home in the middle of eight period. She had already talked to her chemistry teacher about missing and she was exhausted. Jorja is so much fun to be around. She kept me company while I finished baking. She spent the time signing me up for snapchat. Haha. At least she will send me pictures. Hopefully they are all of her and not of weird things like walls.

Jorja

Jorja took a good nap and then I dropped her off at work. Mike and I had dinner group tonight. Our ward has people sign up if they want to have a dinner with other members. They are randomly assigned. Mike and I ended up in a group with David and Julia Bird as the host family. The other people were Doug and Rose-Marie Henderson, Terry & Marilyn Rich, Bev Mortensen and Anna Jean Christensen. Mike and I were the youngest by FAR. It was awesome. We loved it. The food was delicious and we had such a good time talking with everyone. It was a perfect night.

Painting in the Bird's house that reminded me of Steve and Sharon

Julia makes AMAZING quilts. This is the one she is making for one of her grand babies right now. It's the coolest thing I have ever seen!