Jorja's Chinese Program

Jorja had her Chinese celebration today.  She has been very excited about this.  I was excited to see her because she wouldn't sing her songs for me.  She said she wanted it to be a surprise.  Mike, Preston and I were able to come watch her.  Stockton had a youth service activity (cleaning up Larkin cemetery and putting flags on all the Veterans graves) and Maysen had pottery.  Luckily Mike was able to drive her down and get back just after the performance started.  Jorja's grade was last so he didn't miss her at all.

Ms. Wu and Jorja

The video is a little shaky, especially at first.  We were in the second row, but still had to try not to get the kids heads in front of us.  The kids made up a song inspired by the book, "I Love You: A Rebus Poem"  They rhymed in "ao" in Chinese, so the English doesn't rhyme.

Jorja's translation:

Every leaf loves to fall.

Every cat loves to run.

Every girl loves to scream.

And I love you.

Every rabbit loves to jump.

Every tiger loves to grab people and eat them.

Every person loves a hamburger.

And I love you.

Every monkey loves a big scream.

Every Michael Jackson loves an OW!

Every foot loves to run.

And I love you.

Every leaf loves to fall.

Every cat loves to run.

Every girl loves to scream.

And I love you.

Coconut

I was not aware that real coconut tastes nothing like the flakes.  I have always been anti-coconut on the grounds that it is disgusting.  Maybe it is the artificial flavor and texture that I hate . . .  I think I need to go to Hawaii and investigate.

10 Days

I'm a little disappointed that the picture below is blurry.  Oh well.  I got a new camera in the mail today.  I ordered it from groupon almost a month ago.  I wanted a camera I could just stick in my pocket, although now that it is finally here I might not need it.  Mike ordered me a new phone that will come tomorrow.  It is suppose to have a really good camera on it.  I probably will never figure out how to work the camera on the phone anyway . . . .

Maysen has been asking about getting a phone.  She agreed to pay us $10/month.  We are giving her my current phone and Mike ordered a new phone for me.  It will be nice when she is babysitting she can send us texts saying things like, "everyone is in bed".  I hope this is a good decision, I have many worries about phones in general; but Maysen is such a responsible, good kid.

We didn't have our youth activities tonight, so we were all able to go to Preston's t-ball game to cheer him on.  He loved having us watch him. He sure is cute out there.  The other kids were a little cold, so Mike brought out sleeping bags we had in our car.  When I asked Stockton to watch Preston he said, "He is just spinning out there."  Haha!  Yes he was.  Especially after he would swing the bat he would spin around a couple of times.  I thought it was funny.

Preston

In other news, we have ten days of school left.  I hope we can make it. Specifically I hope Stockton can make it.  Mike and I decided that we need to start Boredom Tolerance Training with him.  Not sure exactly how to do that.  Mike told him that he is planning on drawing a circle on the floor so Stockton can sit in it.  I don't think Stockton thought it was as funny as we did.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Today is my Grandma Millburn's 95th birthday.  Wow!  I hope I make it that long!  Preston and I went to visit her this afternoon.  We stopped by Kneaders and got several treats for her.  I stayed a couple of hours and Preston was great the entire time.

Preston with his Great-Grandma

 Grandma Millburn

I love this picture of my Grandma & Grandpa.  Grandma has this framed on her table.  Someone took a picture of them and then asked if they could use it in a magazine.  I think that was the story.  Anyway, they sent my grandparents the picture.  That was really nice because it is such a beautiful picture.  I miss my grandpa, he was so funny!

Grandpa & Grandma Millburn

I hope Grandma had a great birthday.  I know my dad was going to see her and I know Jennie called her.  Also, the California cousins played with her all last week.  She loved that and had such a great time.

Stockton's First Talk

Stockton gave his first talk in Sacrament meeting today.  He did a great job.  He wrote the talk with little help and wasn't nervous at all when he was up there.  He spoke clear and was just perfect.  This is his talk:

Hello, my name is Stockton Smith, and I've been asked to give a talk on the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood.  Shortly after Jesus Christ died, the Priesthood was taken away from the earth.  In our time, the Priesthood has been restored to the earth again.

In Joseph Smith History, Chapter 1, verses 68 & 69, we read about how this happened.  It says:

"We still continued the work of translation, when, in the ensuing month (May, 1829), we on a certain day went into the woods to pray and inquire of the Lord respecting baptism for the remission of sins, that we found mentioned in the translation of the plates.  While we were thus employed, praying and calling upon the Lord, a messenger from heaven descended in a cloud of light, and having laid his hands upon us, he ordained us, saying:

Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness."

This tells us that we'll always have the Priesthood with us and that we'll never lost it again.  It's comforting to know that, because the Priesthood is a great thing.  But when you receive the Priesthood, what do you do with it?

I received the Aaronic Priesthood the day I turned twelve.  When you receive the priesthood, you do various services for the church, such as passing the sacrament, collecting fast offerings, and doing baptisms for the dead.  Whenever I do these services, I feel good inside.  It makes me feel happy to know that I can help serve others with this special priesthood authority.

I know that the priesthood was restored again to the earth in our day through the prophet Joseph Smith.  The priesthood authority is one of the things that sets the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints apart from all other churches.  I am thankful to be able to have this special blessing in my life.  I feel that it is a special privilege to be able to serve God with it.

And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The other even we had today was celebrating my mom.  She died 16 years ago today.  We celebrated by having funeral potatoes for dinner. (Thanks for giving them to us Bubs.)  We also picked some flowers from our yard and put them on her grave.

Jorja

 Stephanie trying to clean her mom's grave.

Stockton, Maysen, Jorja, Stephanie, Preston

 Flowers from our yard.  Kind of sad looking . . . oh well.

 Mom

I would like it noted that I hate cancer.  That is all . . . . . 

Snerd

My dad's cousins were all in town to celebrate my Grandma's 95th birthday.  How nice is that!  We had brunch at my house.  Waffles, scones and omelets.  Yummy!  My dad was excited to show them a Mortimer Snerd cartoon he had found.  I guess he and Sally would fight over who was Mortimer Snerd.  They each wanted to be him.  My dad also wrote letters to the cousins and signed them Mortimer Snerd.  I guess he was aiming high!  My dad and his cousins watched the cartoons for over an hour.  The funny thing was, for some reason we couldn't get it to show without the colors being inverted.  They watched the entire thing like that!  They said that after awhile you didn't even notice it, but it gave me a headache!

Solo Abbs

Bubs and Ange had a wedding for Ange's cousin to go to today.  My dad went and picked up Ella and Abby early this morning and brought them to my house.  He stayed for awhile so I wouldn't have to load up all the kids when it was time to take Maysen and Stockton to school.  On the way to school I asked Stockton if he had his social studies homework. He did not.  We decided that I would bring Stockton his homework after math class at 10:30.  I needed to pick up Lincoln at 11, so it was actually perfect.

I loaded up all the kids and went to the middle school.  I thought I was late and missed them.  Josh's mom is carpool this week and I thought I saw her drive away.  I followed the car several streets until I realized it was not them.  Luckily I didn't honk like I was planning.  Anyway, I went back to the middle school and Josh and Stockton were standing in the pouring rain.  They climbed into the car to wait.  We waited a little more than ten minutes.  No one came for the boys.  I told Stockton I had to go, I did not want Lincoln to have to wait for me in the rain! Especially since Bubs told him if I wasn't there to wait under the tree in their front yard.

Anyway, I ended up taking the boys with me.  I didn't have my cell phone and was so worried that Josh's mom would be freaking out.  I couldn't take the boys to school until after I picked up Lincoln - Lincoln was about 25 minutes away.  I got to the cross walk about one minute before Lincoln arrived.  Thank heavens!  I then took Josh to his school and told him to call his mom right away.  I dropped off Stockton and came home to hear the phone ringing.  It was Josh's mom.  Luckily she had completely forgotten about the boys!  She hasn't forgotten all year long, but she did today.  It was actually the best case scenario, that way no one was wondering where they were . . . and I happened to be there to take care of them.  I was so relieved that I didn't give her a heart attack!

I had fun with Bubs' kids today.  Ella and Abbs were playing outside.  I brought Abbs in because the swing Ella was playing on would not be a good idea for her.  She didn't see it that way.  She was mad at me!  She cried until I started taking her picture.  Soon she was smiling away.  So cute!

Abigail

By the way, Ella cut Abby's hair.  I asked Ella what her mom thought about it.  Ella said, "She thought it was beautiful!"

Abby

Ella and Abby had fun riding the toys.  Ella showed Abby how to drive by herself.  She thought she was hot stuff!  I ran up and down the lawn taking pictures and turning/straightening Abby.  She rode it until it ran out of batteries.  Ella kept asking if she could ride.  Abby would turn around her and pat the seat.  Not what Ella was hoping for, but it was adorable!

Ella & Abigail

 Abby riding solo!

 Ella & Lincoln - you can see why I wouldn't let Abby try.

After the Bubs and Ange came and took the kids away, Jorja, Stockton and I read books in my bed.  It was great!  They usually don't like to read with me . . . although we were each reading our own book, but I still loved it.  Later we watched a movie.  We watched The Muppets.  Mike ordered it off Amazon and streamed it to our movie room.  It didn't work out so well.  It was okay, but would stop every so often to load.  Preston thought that was so funny!  It was fun to watch with the kids.  Mike and I loved the modem joke, but the kids didn't understand it at all.

Text

While I was at Maysen's pottery class I received a text from Mike.  It said, "Stockton has to give a talk on Sunday.  Maysen is lucky - Bro. Willes asked for her first."  Nice.  I'm excited to listen to Stockton.  This will be his first talk in Sacrament meeting (not counting any from primary programs).  I tried to talk him into doing the entire talk in rhyme, but he wouldn't go for it.  If it was me, I wouldn't go for it either.

Almost There

14 days left of school!  We can make it . . . .

Coach Pitch

At Preston's t-ball game, he got a chance to hit without the tee.  The last time Preston was up, he got a great hit on the first pitch.  I wish I could have seen it!  He told me all about it when I got home.  He was so excited.

Preston

I took Maysen and Stockton to a combined activity tonight.  We had a tour of the conference center.  That place is beautiful!  I came home and told Mike I wanted a fountain on our roof.  He wasn't amused.

Double

Stockton was working with Jessica today, she is the coach on the left in the pictures.  She asked Stockton if there were any dives he wanted to learn.  He told her he wanted to learn how to do a double.  She said that they would start working on that on Wednesday and that he could do free dives.  Stockton went on the board and did a double.  I couldn't believe it!  Everyone started cheering for him. It was quite awesome.  He did them several more times.  I was so glad I had my camera with me!

Stockton's Double

Happy Birthday Happy Mother's Day

Today is Mike's 38th birthday.  He's now as old as I am!

Last night was rough.  Stockton had a hard time sleeping, due to the fact that he slept almost the entire way home from Boise.  He crawled in to bed with us, but tossed and turned for a long time.  He is not use to being unable to sleep.  Sleeping quickly is usually his superpower.  Boy did he miss it last night. Mike finally got up and went to sleep in the guest bed.  Stockton woke up around 5:10.  I know this because I checked the time for him.  Luckily I was able to fall back asleep.  Jorja came in at 5:20 with breakfast in bed.  She made me oatmeal.  She brought Mike froot loops.

The primary sung in church today.  Stockton was very pleased that he didn't have to go up there.  He had fun watching Josh sing.  I told Preston several times that for my mother's day present I wanted him to use the stairs when he was finished singing.  He didn't like that idea.  I also should have asked him to not pick his nose.  He also just opened and closed his mouth over and over.  I know he thought he was very clever.  He thought everyone would think he was singing, but it was incredibly obvious.  Crazy boy.

Jorja gave me a really cute book that is written in English and Chinese. I'll have to put that up here another day.  My present from the family was an Article of Faith wheel.  We had one of these in Georgia, but we gave it away when we moved.  (Someone asked for it and I thought I would make another one right away . . . well, a year and a half later . . .) We use to spin this wheel every morning and say the Article of Faith the spinner landed on.  Our kids knew them so well, especially Stockton.  I want to get back to doing that again.

Stephanie and Mike

 Maysen & Stockton & my lovely wrapping job.

For mother's day I asked Maysen to smile all day.  She was awesome.  I should have asked for a week at least.

Maysen

Jorja wore this skirt to church.  Then she thought it looked beautiful to wear as a shawl.  She wore it all day long.

Jorja

I wanted a picture of my gorgeous children.  Stockton loved making faces and Preston loved closing his eyes.  Over and over.  Don't they realize they will be done much faster if we can get it right the first time?

Maysen, Preston, Jorja, Stockton

 My favorite people in the world.

Maysen, Preston, Mike, Jorja, Stockton

 Present time!  Mike got a present from Tec the Robot.

 Mike's present was a snow cone maker, flavors, cups, straws . . .

Jorja and the Machine

 Our first batch of snow cones.

 Mike

 Jorja: banana, Steph: root beer, Stockton: lemon-lime

Maysen: plain, Preston: strawberry, Mike: cherry

I wanted a picture with the kids too.  They have to humor me because it's Mother's Day.

Maysen, Preston, Stephanie, Jorja, Stockton

 Does this picture of Preston remind you of anyone?

The answer is Stockton in our last Millburn family picture.

I told Mike I was getting him a cold stone cake.  I can never get a cold stone cake for my birthday because I am always at our cabin - which is a wonderful trade off.  Plus my sister-in-laws always do a great job making me cakes on my birthday.  But, since it was Mother's Day I wanted one of these cakes.  We compromised on the flavoring (Mike is not a big chocolate fan), but it turned our delicious.  Yellow cake, mint ice cream, cookie dough, oreo and fudge mixed in.  Yummy.

 Jorja now wearing her skirt/shawl over her pjs.

Mike and I put the kids to bed then finished up the cake outside by the pool.  What a perfect day!  (Except Jorja won the Dominion game and not me.  Stockton came in second, but I was third!)