Heading to Virginia

I spent most of my day getting ready for Virginia. I exercised, cleaned my bathroom, did more laundry, finished packing. . . all while there was more snow outside. Silly Utah.

I dropped off Stockton and Preston at diving and then went and picked up Jorja. She stayed after for a WEB meeting. I think this meeting was to train the new WEB leaders. I went straight from Lone Peak, to Alta, to University of Utah to Indian Hills. That's a lot of schools! Anyways, I hurried and ate and gathered up the last of my things. I drove Mike to get the boys. Mike had to leave work while something was broken and he was trying to fix it. We were late getting the boys and they were waiting for us on the side of the road. They dropped me off at the airport. I was there super early.

The flight to Denver went fine until we wanted to get off the plane. We had to sit on the runway for about forty minutes because another plane was at the terminal. Not a problem except when you are hoping to catch a connecting flight. I had nine minutes to get to the next terminal. Good thing there were 21 people on my flight that were trying to catch that plane. I arrived at the terminal with two minutes to spare. The doors were closed and the flight status said 'on time'. Turns out it wasn't on time, it was an hour late. I sat on the plane for another hour before it took off. After I boarded, there was 'a spill' at the front of the plane they had to clean up before anyone else could board. It took them an hour. I think someone threw up, which made me very grateful to be sitting all the way in the back. I would hate to have to smell that all night. The flight itself was fine. I was able to sleep a little. It is much easier flying without little kids.

Scouts, Softball, Food Bank and Chinese

Preston had piano and scouts after school. Jorja had a softball game. It's probably the last one I'll see of this season. Boo. She has loved this year. She pitched and played catcher. I get too nervous when she pitches, but I love watching her play catch. It is great that she stepped up and became a decent pitcher. Sometimes they will put Jorja in as pitcher when the bases are loaded. They have a lot of confidence in her. She has improved so much this year. Her coach was talking about trying to get a team for a summer league. They toyed with the idea of a competition team, but that is a lot of money. Jorja would love to play with these girls during the summer. Stockton went to the food bank. The downside of softball is Jorja misses every youth activity. I'm sure Stockton would have loved to have Jorja there. Mike took Jorja to Mulan's again after her game. Here is a video he took while he was there. It is a little hard to hear with the background noise, but you get the idea. Jorja asked the boy what he was doing. He told her his numbers. Jorja said he would count for a bit, then mumble, then shout 100! So cute!

Jorja made the most delicious brownies. The brownies are good and she added a chocolate frosting creation she made up on top. Super rich and totally delicious. How can I resist these?

Biology Begins

The start of another week! We are hoping that now AP tests are over things won't be so hectic for Stockton. Although he already has a huge project in his AP US Government class, let's hope that all of his AP classes don't give him giant projects. Especially since his biology class started today. Yikes! I dropped the ball and didn't get him his biology book. Totally forgot about that with the stress of AP. I texted my neighbor Kristin to see if she had the book. She does, but she won't get back into town until Friday. Hopefully Stockton doesn't fall too far behind! Not a great way to start the semester.

Stockton did get to relax at diving. He had a fun day. This was the only video I took. I wanted to edit some of the first part out, but I couldn't figure out how. So you lucky people get to watch it all . . . if you want.

Mother's Day

Mike, Preston and I played a game of Contagion. It was fun. We are the disease and we are trying to infect to world. Preston won, of course. Mike was getting anxious because he wanted to make sugar cookies for his primary class. The men are teaching because it's Mother's Day. I made the cookies for him. He worked on making a turkey for dinner. Yum. Mike's class was about Bishop Partridge. He was tarred and feathered. Mike had the kids tar and feather a picture of Bishop Waddoups with molasses and feathers. He also had them tar and feather a sugar cookie with frosting and sprinkles. Jorja brought home a picture of her and Mike from the daddy-daughter dance.

Jorja & Mike

Mike, Preston and I played two more games of Contagion. Preston won them both. It's so frustrating that we can't beat a ten year old! We had a delicious turkey dinner followed by presents from Mike and the kids. Mike gave me a cooking thermometer. That will be great for making yogurt! I'll have to try fudge again too. Bubs says it is easier to cook the fudge using a cooking thermometer than using the soft ball method. Maysen gave me scissors that cut food. That's hard to explain, but it is pretty cool. Stockton gave me a heating pad for my back, which is ALWAYS sore! Jorja gave me a pouch like I used to have, except this one looks better and will fit my big phone. Preston gave me an angry mom to clean the microwave. We tried Preston's present out. It worked great, but smelled awful! I also got the kids to watch an episode of Dr. Who with me. It was the one with Agatha Christie and the giant wasp. Haha. That was weird. Although the next episode will introduce us to River Song. I love her! Not really in that episode, but she is one of my favorites. That's about it for Mother's Day. The only thing I didn't do that I really wanted to do was to put the pinwheels on my mom's grave. Oh well.

Mike's 43rd Birthday

I dropped Maysen off at Sam's so she could take her down to Provo for the Storymakers conference. That is so nice of Sam! It sure made my day a lot easier. Today is Mike's 43rd birthday. Mike, Preston and I have been playing this game called Seafall. It takes awhile to figure out, but then it is fun. We have been playing it for a few months now. Well, Preston didn't adhere to birthday rules and he stomped us today. He also managed to get himself crowned Emperor which triggered a whole different set of rules. We'll have to figure out how to play that now. Jorja made Mike Churro French Toast while we were playing. Shea came over this morning before softball practice. I picked up Jorja from practice and we stopped at a game store called Mystic that is by our house. Jorja was a little creeped out. Lots of people were in the back playing Dungeons and Dragons. Some were painting little figurines or building their worlds. We did find two games that we think Mike will like. Actually there were a lot of games we thought he would like, but we limited ourselves to two. That gift is going to be from the kids.

Preston had a piano recital today. He did great. I recorded his last song. He is so cute!

Preston

The piano kids. The Christensens are next to Preston. I see the Halls and the Willes. Audrey is wearing the hat. Sister Newman is their teacher.

 I like Preston and Ava in this picture.

We made it back home and I had just enough time to finish Mike's cake before it was time to pick up Maysen. Sam was super, super, super nice and drove Maysen home when she was finished. Then Sam went back to Provo for the dinner she needed to attend. Talk about going above and beyond in helping me out! Once Maysen was home it was present time! Not a lot of presents, but still fun.

Mike ~ 43 years old

 Gifts from the kids

 I got Mike an air fryer. I hope he likes it and I hope it works!

 Mike's beautiful cake. Lemon everything.

 Stockton looks concerned about the way Mike is blowing out his candles.

We went out to eat at Mulan's. It is a small Chinese restaurant near Jordan High School. We were the only ones in there for awhile. The people working had two small children. The mom was trying to help her young son learn to count. She kept saying, "Eleven, twelve . . ." Jorja could understand her when she talked to her boy in Chinese. Jorja whispered to us saying, "She's telling him he can get a treat if he says his numbers." How cool is that? I begged Jorja to come with me and talk to the lady in Chinese. She doesn't get a lot of practice outside of the classroom. Jorja did not want to go, but she did anyway. She spoke in Chinese to tell the lady her food was very good. They had a conversation in Chinese, which I didn't understand at all. I loved it though. The mom called the little boy over. Jorja said, in Chinese, "Your English is very well." Or something like that. The little kids eyes about popped out of his head. It was almost like he was thinking, "How do you know our secret language?" So fun!

Mike got a birthday card from his dad with a gift card inside. The gift card was to Chuck-E-Cheese. We laughed and laughed. That was fun to tease him about. We used to go to Chuck-E-Cheese a lot when our kids were little. We haven't been there for years. Although I bet Preston would love to go there sometime. Too bad the Chuck-E-Cheese by our house closed a few years ago. I wonder where one is. Surely they still exist or they wouldn't be selling gift cards.

We came home from dinner and played a few rounds of Code Names Pictures. That was fun. I hope Mike had a great birthday. At least I hope it was nice. Or okay. I don't think it was horrible, so that's good.

Lotts, Lagoon and Storymakers

We left early this morning. I dropped Stockton off at school. He is going on a field trip to Lagoon today. I dropped Maysen off at Sam's house. She is going to the LDS Storymakers conference. I took Jorja and Preston to the dentist. No cavities. Eric, the dentist, and I went to high school together. He was Mike's best friend growing up. We were talking about high school and he asked if I knew that Heather Elkington died. Hahaha! I don't keep in contact with many people from high school, but I do keep in contact with Heather. I started laughing at Eric and told him she was still alive and kicking. He was relieved. I had fun texting Heather today and telling her that I will miss her! She wrote back, "Someone will be so disappointed!" I love Heather.

Stockton posted this picture on Instagram. It made me laugh.

Stockton didn't have the best time at Lagoon. He was hanging out with his friend Acea. Little did Stockton realize that Acea has a girlfriend who was there. Acea also met up with some friends from his old school. A couple. Stockton ended up being the fifth wheel. Not very fun at Lagoon.

Janet and Tracy from Georgia came and had dinner with us today. Well, we knew them in Georgia, but they live in California now. We had a great time. I love being around people where it seems like no time has passed since we last saw each other. Tracy told Jorja there was no way he would recognize her now. Preston looks exactly like Stockton did when we lived in Georgia. Stockton they would have recognized, he is just a lot bigger now. Tracy and Janet are in town for Josh Doan's wedding. I can't believe Josh is getting married! I remember him in primary!

Janet & Stephanie

 Tracy, Janet, Mike, Stephanie

 One with Tracy's eye's open

Tracy would fit in so well here. He loves riding bikes. It seems like everyone around us rides bikes. Tracy is still recovering from a horrible bike accident he had a year ago. Makes me not want to ride a bike.

Stockton and Jorja went to a multi-stake Young Men/Young Women movie night. They plugged the address into Stockton's phone. I told them that was not the right place. They were in a hurry and didn't want to listen to me. They said they would be fine. I went back into the house and told Tracy and Janet that they were going to an activity, but there was no way they were heading to the right place . . . at least they'll have an adventure together. Jorja called us about fifteen minutes later. Mike directed them on the phone where they were supposed to be. The one problem with having so many LDS churches nearby.

Later tonight I was reading the kids some weird things posted on Facebooks and their replies. For some reason I couldn't stop laughing. I was crying. I don't know why I thought it was so funny. Two of my favorites were: The sun has fallen out of orbit and is about to collide with the earth. Your only hope to survive is to take cover in a bomb shelter. There are two shelters left with one space in each; A) Shelter full of Call of Duty players B) Shelter full of Halo players Which shelter do you choose to save your life?

One person had a super long answer; I laughed so hard! This was the answer: ....this is literally the most stupid premise I have ever heard for an apocalypse scenario. First of all, "The sun has fallen out of orbit"? Are we talking about some sort of pre-Galileo cosmic death here? The Earth orbits the Sun, not the other way around. Second of all, I would like to shake the hand of the man that can invent a bomb shelter that can withstand the FREAKING SUN crashing into the Earth.

Third of all. I'm assuming these Call of Duty and/or Halo players are as annoying, vulgar, foul mouthed twelve-year-olds, so I would definitely prefer to stand out in the open with arms outstretched waiting for the Sun to destroy me rather than live out the rest of my days with people like that.

Hahaha! I thought it was so funny. That and the post that said, "I couldn't possibly be happier right now. For the first time in my life, a girl told me that she loves me." The first comment said, "Aren't moms great?" Jorja, Preston and I then spent the next several minutes jumping on beanbags and laughing our heads off. Mike came down towards the end, but he was too tired and didn't last long. Preston decided he wanted to sleep on the beanbag tonight.

Anyways, Maysen got back super late today. It was so nice of Sam to take her! It sounded like she enjoyed her day at the Storymakers conference. She even accidently had to pitch a book to someone. Great experience. She will get to sleep for a few hours before she is back at it again tomorrow. Starting her summer off right!

Stockton's AP Career is Over

Yes! Yes! Yes! Stockton had his last AP test today. AP stats. He is finished! FOREVER! He isn't taking any AP tests next year. This has been a long, hard two weeks for him. I'm glad he is now passed the finish line! Stockton didn't finish until an hour after school was out. He said that when they met to take the test, the other test hadn't finished. I think World History was taking their test this morning. They sent the kids away for about a half hour and told them to come back. Stockton peaked into his theater class, which is where he would have been without the test. The teacher was taking roll. She couldn't see him, but the rest of the class could. When she called Stockton's name answered from behind her. That startled her a bit. Stockton said this test was really easy. Even easier than psychology. How awesome to end on a high note! I took him to get an Arctic Circle milkshake to celebrate. They had awesome Dunford Donut milkshakes awhile ago, but they don't have them anymore. Boo.

Maysen went to a reading conference today. LDS Storymakers. It was up in Provo. Thursday was extra classes. She signed up for magic systems and plot chat. She found the magic systems helpful, but was a little disappointed with plot chat. I dropped Jorja off for her softball game and then went to pick up Maysen from her conference. I was disappointed I missed Jorja's game. Mike said Jorja almost made a diving catch. She was playing catcher when a high foul ball was hit. She ripped off her helmet and dove for the ball. Flat out on her belly. It hit the tip of her mit. DRAT! Mike said it was awesome and everyone cheered for her. On both teams. The other coach then turned to his catcher and said, "Did you see that? That is what I want you to do!" I really wish we would have discovered her love of softball earlier.

I brought up a copy of Maysen's report card when I went to pick her up. She wanted to get Krispy Kreme's for her As. There is a Krispy Kreme in Provo. Well . . . there was. It is being remodeled and is closed. We have no idea where another one is. We looked Krispy Kreme up in the GPS, but it turned out to only be a Maverick gas station. Maysen got one of those vending machine milkshakes instead. We stopped and got Little Caesars on the way home. Stockton asked for that.

Stockton done with AP tests FOREVER!

 Stockton and Preston

Before bed we were all sitting in the computer room and Stockton was talking about the AP Calculus test and how there was a weird question about figuring out the temperature of a potato. Because that is a lot easier than using a thermometer. Anyways, Stockton started showing us AP testing memes. We were laughing so hard. One of my favorites said, "A list of things that went better than the APPhysicsC exam: JFK's 1963 trip to Houston, The Black Plague, The Third Reich, The Berlin Wall." Another said, "For those of you curious about how the ap physics c test went, it feels like getting mugged one autumn day on the New York subway and barely walking away with your life and then seeing your attacker twenty years later in the window of a Starbucks on a date with your mom." I took pictures of a few others. So glad this week is over!

There was an essay question on artifice on Stockton's AP Language exam. I thought this google search was super funny.

Have I mentioned I'm glad that AP testing is over? Next year we will only have one AP test in our house. Jorja with AP Chinese. I'm glad she decided not to take AP Human Geography. Chinese will be enough to deal with!

AP Language

Stockton took the AP Language test today. He texted me when he finished. He said it didn't go as well as he hoped, but still good. Multiple choice was hard for everyone but he felt good on the essays. Wow. He was always confident on the multiple choice during he practices. Still, he thinks he passed. Just not completely confident he pulled a five. Only need a three on this one. Three and five are exactly the same. I told Stockton the two tests he really needs to pass are the English language and the US History because they both give him six credits. The others only give him three, so they will be easier to make up if he needs to. Obviously every college does the AP credits differently, but we are only concerned with Salt Lake Community College because that is the college he can earn his associates with.

Maysen stayed up with Stockton quizzing him on Statistics. Last AP test tomorrow! Yay! Yay! Yay!

Greg Didn't Like It

Maysen and I took my dad out to lunch today. We love The Original Pancake House. They have delicious crepes. There is one so close to my dad's house, but he has never been. We told him when Maysen moved back we wanted to go there with him. We did today and it was delicious. We also dropped off Maysen's text books while we were out. Good-bye Spring semester!

Maysen, Dad

Maysen and I stopped by the store to pick up a few groceries. Look what delicious goodness we found!

 These oreos were so good! I'm not a big oreo fan, but I loved these!

Sam and I took Gregory to get his handprints today. He did not like them. Sorry Greg, you will like them later! Well, at least your mom will like them!

Sam, Gregory and Sherry

Jorja had a softball game tonight. She is doing so well. I love watching her play! She is getting better at pitching, which is wonderful; but I love watching her play catcher best. Probably because I know she loves it. She did get hit in the face with a bat today. The girl let go of the bat after she swung. Ummm, I don't like that part of her catching. Thank goodness for face masks!

Jorja

Jorja's frog Horizon died a few days ago. Mike and Jorja weren't able to bury him until today. Her last frog. Jorja's not nearly as devastated as she would have been a few years ago. She's not obsessed with frogs anymore. I kind of miss that.

Physics Train

Stockton had his Physics with Calculus AP test today. I started a fast after dinner yesterday and ended it around 6:30 tonight. Stockton had an afternoon test and I was praying for him like crazy while he was taking it. Stockton has worked so hard, but he has really struggled with this class. I know without a shadow of a doubt that he would have understood the concepts, passed this test and still have his 4.0 if he had Mr. Leininger. He was such an amazing teacher. He is also the teacher we thought we were signing up under. Stockton's physics teacher has been awful. He is a first year teacher. He is really smart and understands physics, he just doesn't do a great job teaching. At all. I can't believe he came in here and ruined everyone's gpas. It was like he was holding their gpas hostage. I'll give you your 4.0 back if you get a 5 on the test. Except I won't help you get there. I'll only give you super hard questions that are ridiculous and other physics teachers won't be able to figure them out and make you feel totally inadequate. I won't teach you building blocks so you can understand what you need to do. ---Anyway, although we would love for Stockton to get a 5 on the test so he can get his 4.0 back, we are really hoping that he passes. Stockton can fail one of his AP tests and still graduate with his associates, it just would be easier and nicer if he passed them all. While Stockton was taking his physics test I was working on this puzzle while praying for a miracle. We know if he did get a 5 on this test it would be a miracle. Of course if this is a lesson that would help Stockton, like teaching him he doesn't need to be perfect, I understand. But, if it doesn't matter at all in the grand scheme of things, could he just have this miracle?

One annoying thing about this test is they made it harder a couple of years ago. The problem is, they didn't make the test any longer. Stockton is a slow test taker. These kids have only a little bit more than a minute to solve the multiple choice problems. They aren't given the formula they need to use, so if they pick the wrong formula the first time, it really hurts. The statistics test Stockton will take later in the week is tons easier and the test is 45 minutes longer. Stockton finished his test and was able to stop by his history class to pick up the project that was handed out while he was taking the test and he still made the bus. That means this test was even shorter than psychology last week. So weird! Stockton said the test was awful. It was hard for everyone. Man, am I glad this test is over for him. Hopefully he will sleep well tonight! 

Mike has been having fun working on his dinner train again. Preston is always the most excited about his dad's crazy ideas.

Preston, Jorja, Maysen

 Preston, Mike, Jorja, Maysen

 Maysen & Stockton

(I have no idea what they are laughing at, but I love seeing them together again.)

 Preston, Jorja, Maysen

 Preston is so much like his dad. I love it!

Spaghetti

Mike made home made spaghetti for Sunday dinner. He had the spaghetti strung like this during church. He makes me laugh.

I finished my book review of Mind Games yesterday and sent it in. I was talking to Sam about it today. I told her I really liked the book and there were surprisingly few mistakes. Usually the books I review at this stage have a ton of spelling/grammar mistakes. Sam said that she was one of their cleanest authors. (Cleanest meaning fewest mistakes.) I laughed and said, "Do you know what I put on the author question? A question mark! I have no idea who the author is." Sam told me it is Stephanie Black. No wonder I liked the book. Maysen had some interaction with Stephanie Black during her internship with Sam a few summers ago. She was impressed with her. I read the books Maysen recommended to me and enjoyed them as well. I'm glad I liked this one too!

Stockton and Jorja hopped the fence to get a treat from the Bradley's today. Seth has been sending out Book of Mormon challenge questions to all the youth. The first girl and boy that answer correctly get a treat. The Bradley's always make yummy desserts. Stockton or Jorja get a treat almost every week. This time Seth said, "Anyone who has read (a certain chapter in the Book of Mormon that I can't remember right now) can come to my front porch and get a treat. Stockton and Jorja hopped the fence. That is how the Bradley girls used to come to my house for Young Womens. Anyways, they knocked on the back door and no one answered. They went inside and found them outside their front door. Stockton tapped Seth's shoulder from behind to spook him.

Stockton is going to have a super stressful week. Three AP tests, the scariest one being physics with calculus. Mike gave him a father's blessing before he went to bed. That kid works so hard. It will be nice when this week is over for him. Stockton bore his testimony in church today. He talked about how he was blessed 17 years ago today. He had asked Mike what he said in the blessing. Mike told him. Stockton talked about how he could see a lot of things he was blessed with had happened. Zach and Sunni blessed their baby Mona today. Stockton said he was touched by their blessing and challenged them to remember what was said to her and watch it come to pass. It was really sweet.

Daniels' Wedding

We watched Bubs' kids today for a couple of hours so Bubs could ref. Preston had fun playing with them. Mike and I went to Annalise Daniels wedding reception today. Annalise's dad, Allan, is Mike's cousin. The wedding was in the Wasatch Room at the Joseph Smith Memorial building. It was beautiful. I remember when Steve and Shannon had their wedding reception in the very same room. Mike was on his mission and I didn't really know anyone there. I spent the time playing with Holly and Josh's kids. I think they were around 3 and 5. I played with Jake and Brady for at least an hour. Now Brady is married. Wow, that was a long time ago. Anyways, Crazy Aunt Mona was there. She was happy we made it. She introduced us to everyone. She's such a good hostess. Mike and I were about to leave when Allan started his toast. I loved listening to it and hearing his version of Annie and Dallen. Then Dallen's dad gave a toast. Also good. Then Annie's best friend gave a toast. It was . . . long. Really long. Even though she started out the toast saying she would be "shortish because she knows how much they hate these things". Maybe the definition of shortish is super, super, super long and rambly. Anyways, I think she travelled from New Jersey to be there, so she deserved to give a long speech.

Carnival History

Stockton had his AP US History test today. He texted me when he was finished and said he felt it was pretty easy. Yay! Two tests down, three to go.

Maysen took Preston to his school carnival. Preston was so excited to go, and extra excited to go with Maysen. These are a few pictures Maysen texted me while she was there.

Preston

The kids were teasing Mike that they have never eaten a pizza that was delivered. Mike fixed that. We then played games. The two we played earlier, except this time with Maysen. First we played Wits & Wagers. Hailey was over and played with us. Jorja and Hailey wanted to do their own thing during Zero though.

Settling In

Mike worked a lot on getting Maysen her own space today. We were hoping to have her computer desk set up by the time she got home, but when we moved the day to pick her up earlier, that became impossible. No worries though. It looks great now. Mike hung a curtain rod and curtains in her room. He wants to make more curtains out of material that matches the bedspread. This is his bedspread from growing up. His mom made it and the pillows. She had extra fabric and we ended up with it. I wish I were as talented as she was.

Mike has had the 3D printer set up in Maysen's computer space. Today he cleared off his desk, where we had just stacked things. He moved the 3D printer and got a nice spot for it.

Mike got Maysen's computer and scanner all hooked up. She is ready to be back to normal here at home. It is great to have her back! I love it!

I took Stockton and Preston to diving, then hurried to Jorja's softball game. I was able to work on reading the book for Covenant while I was there. That worked out nicely. Jorja did great at her game. This was the closest game they had. The other team got ahead of them, they came from behind and ended up one point short. This is rec, so they end it at a time limit, which is a huge disadvantage for the home team. Jorja's team was home. They were up with a runner on first and third, I think. The ump called 'last batter'! The last batter walked. I had joked with Mike that all the other team would need to do to win the game was walk the batter. That is what happened.

Jorja

Jorja dove for the ball and tossed it to first. Mike didn't get Jorja diving because he was watching the play, but it was really cool.

One of Jorja's strikes. She is getting better at pitching, although it still makes me really nervous.

Bluebird with Maysen

Mike and I worked hard today! We worked on the downstairs and figured out how we wanted the couch. I think we will keep it like this.

 We (Mike) worked on the guest room. It looks fun!

Mike and I left about 11:00 to head up to Logan to get MAYSEN! Yay! We brought a steamer and a cooler. We helped Maysen with her packing. Mostly loaded up the car and Mike took apart her computer and printer. We helped Maysen clean until her 2:15 time slot came up. I have always wanted to go to the Bluebird restaurant so that is where we headed when we finished. Mike was a little skeptical that they served Chinese food, but he ordered steak, mashed potatoes and sweet & sour chicken. The food was yummy. The drive home was long. It is nice to have all my kids home. I love it. I will enjoy the next few months. On a side note, Maysen did great this semester. All As. That's my girl!

Missed E-Mail

This morning I got an email saying that diving was going to be Tuesday/Thursday this week at the U. Things are crazy with the BYU pool closed for construction. I had plans on both Tuesday (today) and Thursday. I called Maysen to see if we could check her out of her apartment tomorrow instead of Thursday. Luckily she was able to switch that. I was planning to go to the temple with Shannon today. It is Shannon's 50th birthday. Mike agreed to drive Stockton to diving and I would be there in plenty of time to pick him up.

Except . . .

As I was leaving the temple I could feel my phone vibrating. I pulled it out and saw that it was Stockton calling. He asked if he really had diving today because no one was there. I told him he did, I just saw the email this morning. I pulled into a parking lot so I could look at the email in case the time was different. That is when I saw another email that had been sent hours after the first one. It said that diving would be cancelled today because Laurel fell down the stairs and had to go to the doctors and Tyce was in a meeting hoping to find a pool we can use. I called Stockton back and told him I would get there as soon as I could. Shannon and I were at the Oquirrah Mountain Temple. I dropped Shannon off at her house and hurried to the U. I got there right when his class would normally end. Stockton just had to sit there. During AP testing week when he has a ton to do. He also had Young Mens tonight. I always sit through diving with him. The one day that I am unable to do that this happens? Frustrating.

Jorja had a softball game tonight. The orange team. Jorja's team dominated. Every inning ended because of the 7 run rule. I didn't think the other team scored any points. Jorja told me later they got one run. Still.

Mike worked a lot on getting the guest room ready for Maysen. She will probably stay there when she comes home. She doesn't need to get up as early as Jorja and she has enjoyed having her own room. It is looking pretty good so far. I will need to take some pictures.

Psychology

And so it begins . . . Stockton had his AP psychology test today. The first AP test of five. Stockton said this test was really easy. I'm glad he was able to start this crazy two weeks with an easy one! Mike took the week off. This is going to be great! Yesterday Mike and Stockton moved the old couch upstairs, today I helped Mike move this one downstairs. We aren't sure where we are going to put it yet. We spent most of the day today cleaning out the two game closets. Mike is determined to take back the house!

I was able to alter Jorja's schedule today. I needed to move things around. Hopefully she's happy. She couldn't get everything she wanted, because of when the classes were scheduled. She ended up not being able to take ballroom. She is taking foods instead. She will have Chinese, Honors math, Honors English, biology, seminary, geography, foods, digital photo, woodworking, psychology and theater. We ended up dropping AP geography and signed her up for a half year geography class. She has AP Chinese this year and she wanted to ease more into high school. We have no idea what to expect with the Chinese. We did find out that the Chinese teacher at the other high school is going to be at Alta on A days and Corner Canyon on B days. Mrs. Chung says she is a great teacher. Relieved about that!

Stockton didn't have diving today because of the travel meet last weekend. It was nice for him to just be able to relax after his first AP test. We played two new games for family home evening. They were Hodson games and we loved them. One was called Zero, it is the opposite of Family Feud. You want to guess what people would answer, but you want the lowest possible answer. Preston won that game. The other game was Wits & Wagers. It was fun as well. It is a betting game and Jorja was surprisingly good at it. I can't wait until Maysen comes home and we can play these games with the entire family!

I got another book to review from Covenant. I haven't had one in awhile. It is a RUSH job, so I need to have it finished by Monday. Mike is taking the week off, so I feel bad that I will need to spend some time reading. Although, I'm excited to use the money I'll make off of this review to buy him a birthday present. Rush reviews get a little extra money. Yay!