Happy Birthday Porgie!

It's great to be eight! Jorja turned EIGHT years old today! I can hardly believe it! We had a busy, fun filled day. While Jorja was at school, I baked her and Lincoln a cake. Lincoln (my nephew) turned FIVE today. How fun to have birthdays together.

Jorja ~ 8 years old

Jorja & Lincoln's cake

After school I took Jorja to the store and let her pick out a webkinz. She picked the fox that is on her lap in the picture below. She told me she was going to name it Socks, which I thought was great because it looks like he has black socks on her feet, but she ended up naming him Mozilla.

Preston, Jorja & Stockton

Jorja & Stockton

Jorja

After we opened a few presents, we went ice skating with Bubs & Ange. Lincoln takes ice skating lessons, so we met them there.

What's up with this picture?

That's better.....Stephanie & Jorja

The kids had a great time. Jorja said, "I wish I could ice skate everyday!" Preston went non-stop. He will sleep well tonight. He started on the ice before I had a chance to get my skates on. He's fearless.

Lincoln & Jorja

Jorja

Preston

Besides Bubs & his family, my dad & Max were there. Also Steve & Shannon and their family came. My kids were glad they came. They have fun with them. Today was a really great day. I think Jorja had a ton of fun. She deserves it. She is the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful little girl. For example, when I picked her up today from school, she showed me presents she had bought for each of the kids. She spent all her Grizzly bucks on them. She is so kind and giving. I am constantly amazed by her. I love you Porge! You are wonderful!

Sleepy Porge

Jorja had asked me several times for a pillow pet....specifically a frog (surprise, surprise). I never got her one. I never mentioned it to my dad either, but that is what he gave her for her birthday. She was thrilled.

SNOW!

We woke up to snow today. It's awesome. Now it is all gone, but soon it will be back!

High Dive

Stockton loves his diving class. Here is a video of his diving experiences this week....in no particular order. I can't wait to watch Maysen & Jorja dive with him! Preston's going to be rough....oh well. Stockton's teacher is pretty great. Notice when she is teaching Stockton how to do a back dive, she is stepping on his toes! I love it!

Oh Deer!

The absolutely coolest thing about staying where Mike grew up is the deer. They are always around. It is amazing! One day I ran downstairs and yelled, "Come see the deer!" Stockton replied, "Who cares. There's always deer in Utah." No Stockton, not everywhere....just here.



I can't remember if I ever wrote about when Mike tried to get "pet deer". One day we looked out back and two deer had wandered into the fenced garden. Obviously the door had been left open. Mike said he wanted pet deer, so he snuck up and shut the gate. Man did those deer go crazy! They started running back and forth trying to jump the fence. Mike snuck back up and opened the door then ran away like crazy. I wish I had that on video! Mike and I were watching, hoping that the deer would now see the door was opened, when we see Jorja walking up there from the other side of the house. Mike tears out of there to grab her...that was pretty scary.

Shannon & Branson's Wedding

My step-sister, Shannon, was married today. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple. The sealer did an incredible job. He was pretty funny, but he also talked about a lot of important, basic principles of the gospel. And some things I have never thought of before. He talked about the importance of saying prayers together morning & night....and then saying personal prayers. He talked about starting family home evenings, and suggested that they use this time before they have kids spending family home evenings really getting to know each other. Talking about things that you normally don't get around to talking about. One thing he said - that I know my sister-in-law also named Shannon would get a kick out of - He told Branson to find time today to give Shannon her first priesthood blessing from him. He also told her that he should never turn her down when she asks for a priesthood blessing. (I got quite a giggle out of that one . . . long story.)

After the wedding, we went to The Lion House for the wedding luncheon. I ate too much. Why do I do that? Oh, because food is delicious.

The reception was pretty fun. My kids were suppose to get presents and bus tables. Yeah, we didn't do that. We spent time eating ice cream. Seriously, they had an ice cream bar and it was delicious. I asked my dad if the kids could have seconds. He said, "They can have as much candy and ice cream as they want." I assumed that applied to me as well. Between candy and ice cream, how can you go wrong?

While I was busy talking to Kathy Leatherwood, Mike & Bubs found a door to an extra room to hang out in. Bubs watched the Yankees lose to the Rangers, Maysen & Stockton read books, Jorja, Ella & Lincoln drew on the white board, Mike & Preston played pool. Pretty fun. At the very end of the day, they handed out bubbles and everyone was told to go outside to blow bubbles as Shannon & Branson drove away. We were gathering up the kids in the back room when in walks Shannon. Mike said, "How nice of you to come to me so I can blow bubbles here." Then he started following her around blowing bubbles at her. I know I can't explain it right, but it was pretty funny.

Shannon & Branson Haacke

Mike, Steph, Preston, Stockton, Maysen & Jorja

Preston

Stockton & Jorja

Mike, Matt & Maysen...

not cooperating with my picture taking desires.

They had bags for everyone to fill up with candy...

The kids thought that was a great idea.

Jorja

Preston

Stockton & Maysen

Bubs enjoying the Yankees loss

Preston

Jorja

Ella, Maysen & Jorja

Mike blowing bubbles at Shannon

The other news of the day is, we had the house & pool inspected. The pool is in pretty good shape, but the house needs a lot of work. There doesn't seem to be major problems, just a lot of little things. The inspector said, "This house wore me out." We have some more things we need to check out now . . .

Ange

I had to pick up a package at the UPS store down by the airport. While I was down that direction, I thought I would stop by and visit Ange. That is the great thing about living by family, I can just pop by whenever I want. Although I don't know how Ange feels about that. Anyway, I hadn't seen Ange since I moved here, so that needed to be fixed. Ange was feeding lunch to Lincoln and Ella. I hadn't seen them either, so it was great. Ange and I talked and planned things for Jorja & Lincoln's birthday next week.

Later in the day, I took Maysen & Preston out to buy shoes. The store didn't have one item I needed/wanted, so they sent me to Jordan Landing. After quick directions, I thought I was all set. But, the directions were wrong and I had no idea where Jordan Landing was. After I finally managed to get there, I couldn't find the store. The place was huge. I drove around the various parking lots for at least 25 minutes. Needless to say, I was very frustrated and happy when I was finally home. Now I am going to bed.

Doing It Again

Stockton's diving classes are a month-to-month deal. He loves them. I just now signed him up for November. I decided to sign up Maysen & Jorja as well. I hope they like them as much as he does. The only problem with the diving is Stockton gets car sick on the way home. Weird. I open the car door as fast as I can and he books it to the shower. Usually he feels better once he's in the shower. Today he actually threw up. Don't worry, he opened the shower door and threw up on the floor so it wouldn't get on his feet.

Mallory Marie

She's FINALLY here! She's over a week late, and Cassie was in labor for over 13 hours...but she made it! John says she's "super cute." Who can doubt that. I can't wait to see pictures. Mallory weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and was 20 inches long. Cassie was lucky to have her mom with her when Mallory was born. Her father, step-dad and step-mom were also at the hospital. I think Mallory is getting spoiled already! Congratulations John! You are going to be a great dad!

Future Preston

Dear Future Preston,

I love you so much. I love it when you say, "I like you and I love you". I love how you always want to be with "Zorzha". I love how you like to play the computer with Stockton. I love how you like to 'knock Maysen down with a hug.' I love how you always want to be with me. I love your laugh, your smile, your hugs and kisses. I love everything about you. I am so happy you are in our family. There is one thing I would like you to know. Although we have moved you across the country, there are toilets here in Utah. They work just like the ones in Georgia did. I don't know why you refuse to understand that. I tried to reason with you today. I told you that soon you would grow out of your puppy underwear, so you might as well wear it now. Apparently that was not a good idea. Now you don't want to turn four because then you can't wear your puppy underwear. That was not the point. I want you to wear underwear. I think it would be great! I know one day you will wear underwear, but I'm wondering when. Preston, one more tidbit of advice. When Stockton tells you to look, don't look. He's just trying to steal your pizza rolls.

Love,
Mom

Parry Family Dinner

So.....the other day we put an offer on a house. Yesterday they countered and we accepted. I guess with all the excitement at Cornbellys, I forgot a little detail like this. Anyway, if all goes well, the closing date is November 15th. We have a little over a week for due diligence. Basically we can pull out of the contract if we don't like something, like the schools, wards, the inspection....whatever. Our family went to sacrament meeting at our ward here, then we took the kids home and Mike and I went to sacrament meeting at what might become our new ward. We thought we would just sneak in the back and check things out (see if there were kids). We had been sitting down for about one minute when we hear, "Mike?" There was Bryce Johnson. I didn't expect to see him of all people. We talked to him for a bit. We told him we had an offer down on a house on Rollingwood. He said, "Rollingwood? I live on Rollingwood." He lives across the street from the house we have the offer on. He said his 10 year old boy had been praying for another 10 year old boy to move in on the street. There were so many people from high school there. Mike & I haven't kept in contact with very many people, so it was a bit overwhelming....but in a good way.

Later in the day we had a Parry Family dinner, Utah style. We figured if they can do it in Arizona, we can do it here. It was so nice to have family over. Chad & Elisa came, Heather & Zac, Nathan & Bobby, Matt, Bubs, Dad & Cathy and lots and lots of kids. Ange and kids stayed home and had a throwing up party, my guess is that was not as fun. Matt, Zac, Maysen, Mike and I played Ticket to Ride. Zac pretty much dominated. Sorry Matt, but he did. I ended the day talking to Rachel on Skype. Family, family, family. It is so good to be home! Or have technology to enjoy those away.

Cornbellys

Fun, fun day! This morning we went to Sherry's house. I wish I had brought my camera! Sherry was watching a dog that looked exactly like Preston's dog Shiver. He thought that was great! He did not want to leave. Especially when he was driving around on the Powerwheel 4-wheeler.

This evening we went to Thanksgiving Point to the Cornbelly maze. It was fun....although Mike could barely breathe on the way home. Preston loved running around everywhere. He especially loved pushing the button to hear a chicken joke. He thought it was funny when we went in the little kid maze, but he took a shortcut and ended at the ending of the main maze. He talked about that for a long time!

Maysen loved burying herself in corn. Stockton loved the pumpkin dodgeball, and being the one to get tons of people to climb on top of this hay thing....

Maysen, Stockton, Jorja and I went through the haunted house maze. The best part was this tunnel that had spinning lights. It was so hard to walk across! I was proud of Jorja, they recommended being 10 to go through, but she did great and loved it. The weather was perfect, and we had a fun, fun day.

Stockton, Jorja, Mike, Stephanie, Preston, Maysen

Steve, Jacob, Weston, Erica, Brandon, Shannon
Erica, Weston, Jacob, Brandon, Maysen, Jorja

Maysen

Jorja & Weston

Stockton & Brandon

Preston

Stockton

Preston

Maysen

Recreation Day

K12 had a recreation day today. They invited K12 students and their siblings to a rec center. I was the only one who had to pay. I like that. I think it was the Holladay Lions rec center. Something like that. We just went swimming. There was a little kid slide/play area, zero entry, lazy river, and a big kid waterslide. Preston had so much fun. He thought he was invisible when he went under water. He kept going under then asking me if I saw him. I should play along, but I didn't. I kept explaining to him that you are NOT invisible when you are under water. He just didn't believe me.

Jorja loved the big kid waterslide. Maysen & Stockton had fun as well. Stockton spent one hour (not an exaggeration) playing under this small bucket drop thingy. The bucket would tip when it was full....about the size of a regular beach pail bucket. There were three of them. Stockton would wait for it to fall then pretend he was knocked completely over. Seriously, one hour. The great thing is we were able to count this towards school...now that's cool. The even greater thing is, I only had to keep my eyes on Preston. Life is so much easier as the kids get older. Hang in there Ange, Rachel, Christen & soon to be Cassie!

Diving Class

Here is some video clips of Stockton's diving class yesterday. I can't believe the battery ran out before the high dive. Just take our word for it...he was awesome.

Not the Smartest Cat

So, Preston was sick today. My only clue was he kept throwing up. He would act fine, play as normal, then BAM! As we were eating dinner, Preston started walking around the table when he started throwing up. I ran and grabbed his throw up bowl. He filled it half way. I put the bowl on the floor and stripped Preston so I could put him in the shower. Mike ran and got some towels to clean up the mess. As Mike was cleaning up Preston's mess, in walks the cat. He walks right up to Preston's bowl and starts to eat! Yuck! The cat isn't even suppose to be in. Oh boy.

Stockton had another diving lesson today. Mike videoed it. The camera ran out of batteries right as he was able to go on the high dive. Doh! Stockton did a flip off the high dive. What a nut.

Winter, the Artist

Every year,

overnight,

Winter paints the

world white.

He's in the clouds,

hidden from you,

no matter WHAT your

point of view.

If he can close

the schools, then he's

just created a

masterpiece!

--Stockton

Baptism Date

We have been trying to figure out when Jorja will be baptized. Her birthday is October 26. When we were in Georgia, we were going to do it on Halloween. Nice that it is on a Sunday. Now that we are in Utah, they won't let us choose our date. We have to do it with the Stake. The bummer is, Jorja will be baptized with people she doesn't know and people she will never see again. The wards in the stake rotate who is in charge of the program, so Jorja won't know any of the speakers. I have to say, Georgia baptisms are definitely the way to go. I guess I don't like letting go of control.

Anyway, the stake baptism day is the same weekend that my brother is blessing his baby in Ohio. We were hoping we could talk them into letting us do it on a different day, but no, they wouldn't budge. I asked Jorja about moving her baptism until December. She cried and cried. She said, "I already had to move it off Halloween, I'll move it to a different day in November, but I can't wait any longer....I have been waiting for so long!" Man! Killing me! Anyway, I talked to her about it again when I found out the baptism would be Saturday at 5. There was no way my dad would be able to go to both. She cried, then came up to me and said, "Tell Grandpa it's okay. I prayed about it and I can wait." She is so sweet. I told her that being baptized on 12-11-10 is much better than 11-13-10. Easier to remember. The only catch is we might be in a different ward then and need to learn their rules.

John and Cassie when you read this, don't feel bad about the blessing. I am so excited dad will be able to be there with you. I did not want our family to be the reason he missed this occasion. I am so excited for you and will feel so much better when I know your little girl is here safely! We love you!!!!

On a side note.....my house I grew up in was taken off the market today. Weird. I was actually leaning toward that one this morning. Wonder if they'll put it back up, or if they decided not to sell, or if someone put in an offer. At least I got to see it before it was gone.

Maysen's a Teenager!

Maysen turned 13 today. I wish it didn't come so fast. Jorja said yesterday, "It's Maysen's last day of being a child. Tomorrow she'll be a teenager, then she'll be an adult." Too fast.

Mike took the older three kids to church at the ward here while Preston and I went to see Heather's baby, Lily, be blessed. It was SO GOOD to see Heather! It has been ages and ages since I have actually seen her. I am so excited to live close to family!

Maysen had already received her biggest present. Lion King tickets. She also got a laptop battery that we gave her before the trip across the country. The biggest present she had left to open was a Quad. She really wanted one.

Maysen shares a birthday with her cousin Taylor. He turned 16 today. Maysen has always wanted to celebrate their birthdays together. Mike's family all came up today for cake. It was so nice! I loved it. Reminded me of old times. We also got to meet Melissa's fiance, Derek. I can't believe she's getting married! Melissa went out and picked apples in the dark with Maysen, Erica, Brandon, Jorja and Weston. The kids had a lot of fun with that. Taylor was funny and would just pick up Maysen and take her where ever he wanted to go. He liked to go cousin catching. I wish I had a picture when he came up the stairs with Jorja on his shoulder and Preston under his arm. Preston had a giant grin. Super cute! Have I mentioned I love being around family?

Maysen the Teenager

New Quad
Birthday Cake
Make a wish!
Maysen & Taylor

I don't think John & Cassie ended up giving Maysen her birthday present. We were hoping little Mallory would come today. I didn't hear, so I guess it never happened. Drat! I guess it works out for us. Stockton would have been really jealous if Maysen got to share her birthday with two cousins!

Columbine

Today we went house hunting again. The first house we saw was the house I grew up in. Here is a video of the way our house looks now. Mostly this is for Bubs, Brett, Mike & John.

We have been taking videos of all the houses we have gone through. That way we can review what we saw. Our memories aren't what they use to be. I am so confused on what we should do. It would be cool to buy my old house, even though it is different. It would be big enough for us, but not a great place to gather with other families. There are small rooms you can go in, but not one great gathering room. Still, it would be cool. Although the neighborhood is kind of scary now. Our street seems fine, but when you go down towards the school the houses look like they are falling apart. Was it like this when I was growing up? It didn't seem that way.

The other houses we looked at we could see ourselves in as well. They are more expensive, and some would need a lot of work. But, if we were to re-sell it later, it would probably hold its value more. The last house we saw was really nice, but at the top of our price range. It was up the street from Mike's work.....but we didn't like the yard. Decisions, decisions.......

Cousin Time

What a wonderful day. It was short day, so we got Jorja home early. Jorja and Preston went out and picked apples. Preston likes to dip his apples in Ranch dressing. Yuck!

Jorja

Preston

This afternoon, Erica and Brandon came over. After they were here for a couple of hours, Steve brought up Jacob, Weston & pizza. Mike didn't get home until 7. He went paintballing with some people from work. When he got home, we played Settlers of Catan. The cousins played and played. This is good for Stockton who is obsessed with his cousins. He wants to play with them all the time. Mike got everyone flashlights and they played outside for a long time. Mike gave the kids four wheeler rides in the dark, then they played in the playhouse. It was cute to see little lights shining all around up there. My kids were happy because they got to stay up late! Even Preston. Hopefully they won't be grouchy tomorrow!

Weird Day

What a morning! I was in such a rush to get the kids ready today. I really wanted everyone in the car when I took Jorja to school, that way we could go straight to Steve & Shannon's. I was throwing in things as fast as I could. Preston was stinky, but I decided to change him when we got there. Jorja was late and I felt terrible. As we were driving away, I was thinking to myself, "How could I let this happen? School starts so much later here then it did in Georgia." I thought about that for awhile. When I got to Wasatch Boulevard, I realized that Jorja's school didn't start until 9. It was 8:05. Her school in Georgia started at 8. The good thing was Jorja wasn't late. The bad thing was I had all the kids in the car (one of them stinky) an hour early. I decided to take them to the grocery store to get milk. As we were walking in the store, I noticed an old, black lady standing in her nightgown. She was holding jumper cables. I asked her if she needed any help. She said her car wouldn't start. I put the boys back in the car, Maysen and Jorja stayed with the lady. I pulled my car around to help her . . . hoping I will figure out what I am suppose to do as I go. I needn't have worried. I couldn't get very far because I couldn't figure out how to open the hood of my car. I know where the button thing-a-ma-jig was in my old car, but I couldn't find it in this one. I did manage to cause such a commotion that others came over to help. Soon someone volunteered to use his truck, so I was off the hook. I then gathered my kids to go in the store. I changed Preston, but couldn't find his clothes I thought I packed. I had some shorts and we put Maysen's jacket on him. We survived and were able to drop off Jorja on time for school. I stopped by the house and put the milk in the fridge and changed my shirt. (Preston was very stinky.) We left for Steve & Shannon's house. When we got to the freeway overpass where you leave Draper and enter Riverton, the entire road was closed. We were forced onto State Street. I was stuck in a huge traffic jam, and I wasn't really sure where to go. It took over 45 minutes to get to their house. All so I could use the Internet! Ahhhhhhh! Luckily Scoop and Cori came back today. Just for an hour. Mike was able to move the Internet router out of the locked office. Hopefully we won't have that problem again.

One other thing that happened today. When I went to pick up Jorja from school, the road was closed. They had repaved the road where you enter for the car riders. I wasn't sure what to do, so I parked in the parking lot and waited outside the second grade doors. Here, when the bell rings, all the kids run out. The Kindergartners are led by their teacher, but everyone else just goes. Nothing like Georgia. Anyway, I was waiting by the second grade door and Jorja was taking forever. I noticed others coming out with a math box that I knew she would be bringing home, so I just thought she was still decorating the box. I started thinking, "I'm glad I wasn't in the car rider lane today, everyone would be frustrated because she still isn't here." Awhile later I looked up and there she was crying. She couldn't find me. She didn't see me, so I called to her. She had been headed toward another adult, I overheard that adult say, "Boy, that was scary." Jorja was in music when school let out. Her class went out a different door. Jorja was following some people in her class, but they were walking home. She was lost. Luckily they helped her find the way back to the school. I wish someone would have helped her know where she should go from the beginning. I guess it was just a weird day.

First Day of Diving

What a crazy day. We did homeschool at Steve & Shannon's. Rushed back to pick up Jorja in the pooring rain. Picked up Mike and work and he went with me to Stockton's first diving class at the University of Utah. Stockton has been so excited about taking diving lessons. We were going to have him take them at Georgia Tech, but we moved. Today was his first lesson and he loved it. Especially free time. His teacher is named Monica and she is very nice. There are three other kids around Stockton's age, then four high-school girls. Stockton was so happy when we left, he gets to do this twice a week. As soon as we got home, Stockton threw up all over the kitchen floor. That boy gets car sick so easy!

We were home for about five minutes before it was time to take Maysen to Young Women's. She had a calendar that said it was a Broom Hockey activity. I took Maysen, but I didn't recognize anybody . . . neither did Maysen. We wandered around for about fifteen to twenty minutes. Maysen kept laughing at me because I HATE to talk to people. She kept saying, just ask someone. I couldn't even remember the name of our ward, so I was completely embarrassed. I finally asked someone, but they weren't in our ward. I asked if they knew what other wards were in this building . . . they didn't. I found that very odd. In Georgia, not only did we know the other ward names, but we knew/recognized most of the people in the other wards.

We were finally guided to someone in our new ward. They were playing volleyball. Maysen was less than thrilled. She doesn't enjoy volleyball. The other people were nice and tried to make Maysen feel welcomed, but it was nice to get home.

Hopefully tomorrow won't be as hectic. The worst part of the day was when I read a message from Stockton's teacher saying the scantron didn't transfer and he would need to take it again. I am so frustrated. I wish I would have stayed with GCA until we found a house and then put the kids in school. There is no reason to make him take that test again. The test is going to be exactly the same as the one he took in Georgia. It is a test that keeps going and going until you start getting most of your answers wrong. Stockton went way too far. He is such a good guesser, even when he doesn't know what the question is asking. I'm not going to have him do that again. I called Kathy at UTVA, who assured me several times that this transfer would be easy and that he wouldn't have to take the scantron over again.....she hasn't called me back. Well . . . at least diving was fun.

Internet Down

The Internet has gone down at Mike's house. Mike thinks he just needs to unplug it and plug it back in, but the box is in the office, the office door is locked, the key is with his dad and Cori, his dad and Cori are in St. George. See the problem? This would just be a minor inconvenience except for the fact that I homeschool Maysen & Stockton and I need the Internet for their lessons. I wasn't able to put in their attendance today, and they don't let you go back and put it in. Maysen and Stockton don't need any more missing days....especially when they worked until 3! Tomorrow we are hoping to do school at Steve & Shannon's.

I need something to work right for me. I know moving is stressful, but I need just one thing to be easy. Just one. And I need it to happen soon.

Redo

Today was our first full day of homeschool. We couldn't do all the courses. Several were new, so we don't have the books/supplies for them yet. Maysen got off easy today as I spent all my time with Stockton. For some reason, not all of his completed work transferred over. The only difference I can tell on his math & history is they are named differently. I have been having Stockton take the end of unit assessments in math, if he scores over 80% he can skip the unit. He was taking an assessment on multiplying and dividing fractions. There were 30 questions. After he answered question 30, there was no submit button. We couldn't figure out what to do. We knew it was just a glitch, but didn't know how to handle it. I ended up closing the lesson hoping to log back in and be able to continue where he left off. That didn't work. He had to start over. He had already taken this assessment in Georgia, so now he had to take it for a third time. He wasn't very happy about that. I helped him this time. Basically I helped him find his answers on his scratch piece of paper. He scored 100%, but never wants to take that test again.

Later in the day we moved on to history. Stockton was studying the Civil War in Georgia. Here that unit is at the end of the year. Luckily I saved all of his work, so I went through the end of the year units and marked them as complete. He had to take a couple of small assessments along the way. Then we studied for his unit assessment. It had been awhile since we started the unit, so we went through all of his papers. He found it pretty boring, but I find it fascinating.

It's nice to get back to work. We still have several kinks to work out, but hopefully we can get everything running smoothly soon.

Conference Weekend

We enjoyed listening to another session of conference. These pictures are from yesterday, but the kids all listened to both sessions today....except for Preston. He played downstairs and we didn't mind. I grew up playing conference bingo, and so have my kids. They love it. Although Stockton made this comment yesterday, "I could have had a triple bingo, but no....Jeffrey R. Holland had to go and say sacrament." He needed him to say music. Too bad.

Preston, Stockton, Maysen & Jorja

Stephanie ~ I love sewing during conference.

We had my dad, Cathy, Max and Matt up for dinner today. Mike made pork chops and they were very yummy. Mike put my dad to work after dinner making tapioca. I ate too much because I love tapioca . . . when will I learn?

After dinner, Maysen, Mike, Matt and my dad played Settlers of Catan. My dad won. He was very proud . . . especially winning Matt. After putting the kids to bed, Mike, Matt & I played Dominion. Of course Matt won.

Preston really wanted to sleep with Jorja, so Maysen is down with Stockton. Preston has been sick lately and has needed to sleep with us for a few nights. He sleeps sideways and it drives us crazy. When I went to kiss him and Jorja good-night, this is what I found.

Preston & Jorja

Still House Hunting

If only we could combine the awesome yard, with the awesome view, the great floor plan and the good location . . . then we would be in business. Too bad it would then be out of our price range. Mike, Maysen and I looked at 9 houses. Nothing perfect. We'll keep trying.

We enjoyed listening to the first session of conference. We had to record the second session. I loved President Uchtdorf's comment about 'how does this relate to flying an airplane?' Nice.

It's About Time!

Maysen and Stockton's homeschool classes finally were loaded around 9 pm today. Finally. I don't think they have the information from Georgia yet, hopefully that will come. They better not have to retake the scantron tests, that would just be dumb. I don't have the proper materials anymore, but at least I can get somewhere....and have their hours start adding up. In Georgia, Stockton only needed five hours a day. Here in Utah he needs 5 1/2. He's not going to like that. He's also not going to like the fact that I am going to make him start tomorrow.