Love from Khush

Jorja and I are back to the land with no water. It hasn't been too bad though. Luckily we can turn it on for short bursts of time when we need to. School is online until after Thanksgiving. Student government decided to dress up in Hawaiian for Packer. They thought he would like that, but Jorja said he just felt left out. They couldn't see anyone else because Packer doesn't use zoom, he uses canvas. Oh well... at least they tried.

Jorja

One thing Jorja is really good at is collecting friends. She loves meeting people and she keeps in contact with lots of them. When Jorja went to Washington this summer to buy the boat with Mike, she met this girl named Khush. She is the student body president at Inglemoor I think. They have bonded about how hard this year has been for student government. At least that is what I imagine they have bonded about. Anyway, Khush sent Jorja a package. She made Jorja a bracelet that said WA and UTAH. How cute is that!

Khush's bracelet

I talked to Rachel for a bit today. Marie had eye surgery! Rachel said it went really well. They have known for years that Marie would need this surgery, so it is nice to finally get this behind them. It is supposed to help with her double vision and hopefully make it so she doesn't need bifocals anymore. What a trouper Marie is! So glad the surgery went well.

Marie

I talked to Stockton today. Transfer calls were on Saturday. He is staying in Sierra Vista as the district leader. Only one more transfer left for that boy! Woohoo! Jorja went and grabbed some Swig to drop off to people in between her classes. She stopped and brought me home an açaí bowl, which was delicious. Our cups the kids designed came today. They look cute and are super light. I think this will be perfect, especially for the little kids at the cabin. I sent a message to my family asking if they would make some. Hopefully they will!

In other random news... this is how far I am on Rachel's stocking

Mike, Maysen and Preston came home today! They got here just in time to go to bed. Glad they made it safely! I sure love my family. I am so lucky.

Stockings Were Hung

Matt and Sam got to hold Kaylee today. Just for a few moments, but yay!

Rachel texted me pictures of the finished stockings. They look so good! I do not trust myself to put these stockings together. I'm glad Rachel has this talent. Eve had her stocking last year, so I only have pictures of the three other girls with their new stockings.

Marie

 Mina

 Grace

 Rachel made Brett's stocking. They look so good together! I'll get Rachel one for next year!

 Grace

I had my job interview this morning. It went well. We'll see if I get it. Who knows. Mike, Maysen and I went to the Bountiful Temple today. Mike's friend from work was taking his endowments out and asked Mike if he would like to come. Maysen and I tagged along. It was really nice. The Bountiful Temple is huge! I asked Mike if we could stop by the University of Utah hospital on the way home. Mike and Maysen waited in the car while I went up to see Kaylee. She is in the NICU. Matt met me and took me to see her. She has jaundice and needs help breathing, but other than that she is going great! Then Matt took me to see Sam. Sam talked about all the miracles that happened yesterday. One of the big ones was how little blood she lost. The doctor told her she would lose gallons of blood. They had a blood transfusion team standing by. Sam ended up losing less than a regular c-section. Incredible! They didn't let her hold or see Kaylee at all after she was born. They started her surgery right away, probably one of the reasons she lost so little blood.

Kaylee under lights

While we were gone, Jorja texted me a picture of Shiver. He has been lost for over a month. We have looked and looked for him. Preston has missed him. Mike had given Preston 'spare Shiver' and 'spare spare Shiver' but Preston wanted the ratty real thing. Jorja found him today! He had fallen behind her headboard and between her wall. The headboard goes all the way to the ground, so we couldn't see him when we looked under her bed. Preston slept in Jorja's bed one time when Maysen came home. Jorja hadn't moved back down from the guest room after having her wisdom teeth out. I told Jorja not to tell Preston and we should wrap Shiver up for Christmas. She texted me this picture and said, "Too late." Preston said that would have been mean because he would have thought we hid Shiver the entire time.

Preston & Shiver

Jorja had a gift exchange with a few of her friends. Hailey, Emily and Allison. Jorja made these blankets and little puzzle keychains. She found four interlocking pieces and painted them. She had a great time with these girls tonight.

Jorja

Maysen had the idea of giving gingerbread houses to the missionaries serving in our area. We haven't ever met them, but I texted them and asked if we could drop off a Christmas present at their house. I looked up their number on LDS Tools and was glad I did. That is how I discovered they were in a trio. Would have been sad to not have enough houses for them. I put together candy, frosting and got three houses. Mike and I dropped them off. They were excited. I hope they have fun doing them. I also dropped off a house to Yolanda Veerlander. I love her! She is so nice. She wants Jorja to do caroling at the pavilion next year for the fund raiser. She said she would help Jorja figure everything out. That would be cool! Hopefully Jorja is in student government next year and hopefully Packer will let them do something like that!

When Jorja came home we read a little of Christ's birth from the scriptures. We are having part one of Christmas tomorrow. Opening presents Mike doesn't want to bring to the cabin, or we want to be able to use at the cabin. Santa isn't coming, so they won't have their stockings tomorrow. I hope Stockton is happy. I hope he has a great Christmas this year. It is going to be so weird without him.

Stockings

Elizabeth and Audrey came with us to church again. That was great. It was the fifth Sunday, so the second hour we had a random combined lesson. It was on not falling for scams from others, especially church members. Just the kind of lesson you want to bring an investigator to.

Today was also Ian Valentine's mission farewell. He did a great job. He talked about prayer. That talk was perfect for Elizabeth. My favorite story he told was silly. He wanted to get Isaac Johnson a present for his 13th birthday, but he didn't have a lot of money. At the time Isaac loved Buster Posey, a baseball player for the San Francisco Giants. Ian bought a pack of baseball cards, then he went home and prayed that Buster Posey would be in that pack. When Isaac opened the present, the card on top was Buster Posey. Haha. That's so funny! I loved that.

Ian is also going to Arizona. Pheonix Arizona speaking Spanish. Another boy from our ward, Dylan Heaton is there. That would be cool if they were able to cross paths. Three missionaries from our ward are in Arizona right now. Julie is amazing and got Ian this crazy Arizona cake. Sorry Stockton that your mom doesn't pull things off like this!

Ian's cake ~ after

 Ian's cake ~ before

I spent a lot of time texting Rachel today. I have made stockings for three of her girls. She has had a hard time deciding which stocking to pick for Mina. I sent her several choices today. It's hard, because there are so many cool ones. And this is the last stocking. While I have been waiting for her decision, I have been working on Rachel's stocking. She bought a nativity stocking years ago, but never had the time to work on it. I told her I would do it for her. My dad brought the stocking back after he visited them for Mina's baptism. I'm hoping to get Mina's finished before Christmas. I can't stand the thought of all the kids having a stocking from me except her. It's not like she is a baby and has no idea. Anyway, this is how far I am on Rachel's stocking. I'm getting old. It is MUCH harder to see the fabric now! I always thought that was crazy when people couldn't see close up. Welp, I get it now and it is not fun.

I sent Rachel pictures of my family's stockings while she was trying to make a decision. I love them, so I'm going to put them on here. (Except I don't love Mike's. He likes it though, so I guess that is all that matters.)

 My stocking when I was growing up

 The stocking I made for my mom

 Mina's future stocking