Temple, Diving, Softball, Birthday

Today was crazy busy. Maysen and I started out by taking Jorja and her friends to the temple. Mike works in the baptistry every Thursday. Evan brought names for everyone to do. President Back was there. Everything went well, except I think Maysen hit Drew in the head with the car door as he was getting out of the car. We aren't sure how that happened though.

Isaac, Evan, Jorja, Drew

 Maysen

We went to Kneaders after the temple. Maysen and I sat and chatted at a different table. No idea what was going on here.

Jorja, Isaac, Evan, Drew

Brett left a little after we did and went mountain biking with some friends. Josh Elsmore and one of his old roommates that I don't think I've ever met. We were probably in the temple behind him while this picture was taken. Pretty cool.

Brett

Stockton and Preston had diving today. I liked this video. Stockton is going a straight back flip on the one as Preston is doing a back jump on the three.

Abby had dance, but we couldn't figure out how to get her to class, so she missed it. Jorja had her last softball game. It was at the same time as the dance class, but far away from the class. Jorja got to catch for Zilla, the new picture. They lost the game, but Jorja had a great time. She sure has loved this team.

Jorja arriving at the game

Jorja ~ I think the sky looks amazing

 It was perfect weather for a ball game, except it was a tad bit windy.

 Because it was the last game, we got some team pictures before we had to turn in the uniforms.

Emilee, Marty (coach), Mollie, Betsey, Raina, Shyanne, Tayleigh, Makenna, Kamryn, Emma, Jana (coach)

Shay, Cynthia, Kira, Zilla

Jorja

 Oakley, the coach's daughter, joined in the fun

 Jorja got dumped

 Final bow

Jorja, Kira, Emilee, Mollie, Shay, Shyanne, Tayleigh, Raina, Betsy, Cynthia, Kamryn, Zilla, Emma, Makenna

 The girls trying to do fun jumps and showing why they are softball players and not dancers.

Jorja, Shay, Raina, Tayleigh

 Take two

 Chicken fight: Jorja & Tayleigh, Shay & Raina

 Not a great picture of Jorja, but I can't stop laughing at the look on Shay's face!

 Jorja & Shay

 Jorja & Zilla

We came home to a house full of people and fun. Today is Matt's birthday. Sam made hamburgers and a delicious cake. For Matt's birthday I stomped him in Dominion. Well, I didn't stomp him, but I did defeat him when he didn't see it coming. Awesome. Today was a fun day.

Stockton & Greg

New Pitcher

I was planning on taking the boys to Kearns for platforms, but it was windy and cold when we woke up. It looked like it would be super miserable. We decided to dive indoors tomorrow instead.

Matt came up and Brett, Matt and I played Dominion. The kids also swam today. They were thrilled to get in the pool. Brett and Rachel had a barbecue at Josh's house tonight.

Jorja had softball practice at Jordan High School. A new pitcher was there, her name is Tristan with Zilla as a nickname. Jorja got to catch for her. The girl is fast and young. Her dad taught Jorja signs to give Tristan. Jorja had the best time and was so happy. She also found out she gets to catch the entire game tomorrow. She is thrilled.

Lincoln came home from scout camp today. He seemed to have a great time. It is nice to have that over with though.

Three Triples

I got Lincoln ready for scout camp early this morning. He is sleeping over tonight. I didn't sleep well last night. I kept waking up every half hour worried that I missed waking up Lincoln. One time I bolted upright remembering things I took out of his scout bag yesterday that he didn't need, but he would need today. I was so tired after he left.

Matt brought his kids up and we played with Brett. We managed to get a few games of Dominion in despite all the chaos going around us. Jorja went to see Spiderman with a few of her friends. Isaac, Evan, Drew and Alison. Evan's mom drove them both ways. She also got them In-N-Out on the way home. Jorja was pretty happy about that.

Stockton had bowling today. He has been loving that class. Brett left and took Marie and Grace up to Bountiful to go to a barbecue with Rachel's cousins. Grace, Amelia and Anne have had a blast together. Jorja had softball and Ella had dance. That was crazy. I dropped Jorja off at softball at 6:30, drove straight to Taylorsville and dropped Ella off. I came home and ate dinner, then went back to pick up Ella. When I came home for dinner I realized I needed to pick up Jorja and Ella at the same time. Mike was at a late meeting. Stockton was at young mens. Matt ended up picking her up at Buttercup. Jorja had no idea Matt was coming and it freaked her out a bit until she realized who it was. Wow. I'm so tired.

Stockton had a great time at young mens. It was a combined activity at the pool. He was frustrated at first, because people were just talking in the wading pool. Stockton tried to get people to come on the diving board with him, but he got no takers. He started diving for awhile by himself. He said he started to feel like he was showing off. Luckily Zach Zufelt, one of the leaders, got someone to hold his baby Mona. He came into the pool and started diving with Stockton. Soon some of the other leaders started diving with him too. Seth Bradley, Burke Staker and Nate Sharp. Stockton tried to teach them how to do the hurdle that the divers use now. They couldn't figure it out and decided they would just prance to the end of the board. That would have been a sight to see. Later the Maxfield's came. Mike Maxfield was a diver in high school, so that was fun. His boys, Landon and Teegan, were also diving. Stockton ended up having a lot of fun. I'm so glad Zach got in because Stockton said he was close to leaving. Instead he had a great time. He was even encouraged to try a triple. The first one he tried he landed on his back a bit, but he still landed it. He did two more after that. I wish I could have seen it! I would have loved seeing him try that for the first time.

Brett's Here

I woke up Lincoln early to get him ready for scout camp. His scout leader came all the way out here to pick him up. That was awesome. He came to my house with a separate back pack packed with all the stuff for scout camp. Again, awesome. I loved how I didn't need to figure out what he would need. Lincoln came home super happy. He had a great time.

Stockton had diving today. I left Maysen and Jorja in charge. I dropped Stockton off at SLCC for his film class before coming home. When I arrived Maysen and Jorja were just cleaning up the kitchen. They had made the kids macaroni for lunch, then helped them make sugar cookies. There were three plates of frosted sugar cookies on the counter. Maysen said it was great because it kept them entertained for about three hours.

Matt came over with his kids. Anne had fun playing with Amelia. We were waiting for Brett to come. We knew it would be around dinner. It kept being pushed back. He was coming from Boise and it took him longer to leave than he thought. I was keeping the kids up so they could see Marie when she got here. Finally I decided to get them to bed. Except I had to leave to get Stockton. Mike is on call and was dealing with a crisis. I asked Ella if she could get Millie in jammies. It took me a long time to figure out where to pick up Stockton. They went to a movie theater for part of class. Stockton thought they would come back to their class, but the kid he got a ride with didn't want to drive back there. He brought Stockton to his apartment. The address Stockton texted me was not in the gps. It is a pretty new place. I had Mike on the phone directing me where to go. It ended up being by the Quarry Bend Walmart.

Jorja had softball practice today. Right as I was going to take her it started pouring rain. She called her friend who was already at practice and was told they were going to wait it out. I texted her coach and asked if she could text me when they were starting. I told her I had too many kids here that I couldn't wait in a car for an undetermined time. The coach had her phone in the car, so she never received that text until it was too late. It stopped raining after awhile and I tried to convince Jorja to go. She didn't want to. I was so confused because she loves softball. I had Mike come down to her room to talk to her with me. While we were talking to her she had a panic attack. It was weird. She started hyperventilating. In between gasps she got out the words, "I . . . don't . . . know . . . what's . . . happening . . . " I was so glad Mike was there. He was able to get her calmed down, but it was super scary. This isn't her first panic attack and I'm not sure what is going on here. I don't know if it is a medical thing, like low blood sugar, or if it is an emotional thing. I have no idea what to do to prevent future panic attacks. I hope they don't come back.

My kids slept out in the motorhome tonight, they will sleep there all week. We have Bubs kids in the boys' room. Brett brought Marie and Grace with him. They are in the girls' room. Rachel is staying with a friend in Bountiful with Mina and Eve.

I'm pretty sure Matt, Brett and I played Dominion. I probably won. I need to stop getting behind on my blog!

Church

We had a lot of kids with us at church. They were great though. Amelia sat next to me. She fell sound asleep. It was adorable. Lincoln, Ella and Abby all went to their correct classes. I had Amelia go with me. There was also two other kids. The class went okay, but not the best. It's hard when I can't be around a table, it really changes the dynamic.

Before bed we watched the 1979 version of The Muppet Movie. Everyone watched except Maysen. It was fun to hear the kids giggle to the silly jokes. They all liked the show, but thought it was weird. They didn't get why the set fell down at the end. I don't get it either.

Wet and Happy

We are starting an adventure this week! Bubs and Ange dropped their kids for us to watch this week. They are going on a church history tour with my dad. Last year they did the first part of the tour, this week they are doing the second part. Nauvoo, Carthage, Kansas City, Far West . . . things like that. It was cool, when they dropped them off they brought in a ton of food and milk. I thought that was really nice.

We taught them Colt Express. They loved it! I expect many games of Colt Express and Werewolf this week!

Abby, Amelia, Preston, Ella, Lincoln, Mike

Stockton and Jorja got back from youth conference tonight. Stockton got home about an hour and a half earlier than Jorja. He came home with the Masters and Ron Covington. They didn't stop anywhere to eat. Stockton didn't mind. Jorja came home with Tom Perry and Ebony. I know there were others in the car. Jorja and Ebony were so spazzy. It sounds like they both had a great time. Stockton threw lots of people in the water. His favorite was when he tried to photo bomb Jacqui while she was taking a selfie with Michael. He dove at her and took her down. (Her phone was in a water proof case.) He also loved the cliff diving. He named the different ledges 5,7,and 10. He said they were about that height. I can't remember everything, but I know he did a double (while wearing a life jacket!) off the 7 and some reverses off the 10. He hit the bottom twice going off the 10. Luckily the life jacket slows him down and luckily it was just his feet. He does miss landing on his head when he does cliff jumping though. I'm thankful that the kids came back smiling and in one piece.

Ebony, Michael, Stockton, Jorja

Tiny Handprints

Early this morning I drove to Sherry's house to pick up Greg's handprints. Sherry was at a hair appointment, but she had left Greg's handprints wrapped in bubble wrap in a box in her front porch. I stopped by Matt and Sam's on the way back to drop it off. I wish I would have had my dad's pillow with me that he left at the cabin. Oh well. I love how this one turned out!

My brothers and I played Beat the Streak in One Day. At one point I was in 3,631st place. I ended the game in 218th place. I was quite proud of myself. If only I had gotten the last 14 right! John and Matt were frustrated because for some reason they weren't able to submit their choices. It takes longer than you think to do this, so that would be annoying. This time I actually checked the lineups to make sure all my choices were playing. The Indians and the As submitted their lineup about five minutes before 5:00. One of my guys wasn't playing and I was able to get someone in fast before the game locked. Anyways, it was pretty fun. I got 43 correct. If I had gotten one more correct I would have been in the top 100 and made it on the leaderboard.

Brad is at the cabin today with some of the youth from his ward. I hope everything works out for them. On Monday Brad texted me this message: "Stephanie - my kids floated the river this weekend and stayed at Steve & Sharon's cabin. We came up and brought them lunch. I drove past the cabin and see that the tree in the front has split and needs to be removed. Is this something we can do as a service for the young men when we go up this Friday?"

Wow! This was my reply: "Oh my gosh! That would be amazing! We were hoping to get that done while we were there, but found out the lid to the septic tank was missing. That occupied the rest of Mike's time. The septic tank has now been pumped and the lid secured, but the tree is still a mess. I would just cry from happiness if you guys were able to do that. Thank you! Don't feel like you need to finish the entire project, but anything you can do would be appreciated."

Hopefully it's not too big of a job. I thought it was super nice of Brad to ask.

Off to Youth Conference

Stockton and Jorja left for youth conference this morning. They are river rafting down the Green River. Hopefully they will be safe. Steve just did that a few weeks ago and was pulled under with his life jacket. Let's hope nothing like that happens on this trip.

Stockton & Jorja

Mike and I went to David Yauney's wedding. They were married in the temple earlier today, but we were able to go to the ring ceremony and reception. It was beautiful and the food was great. They had registered on Amazon and they actually picked One Night Ultimate Werewolf. That is what I got for them. Perfect since Stockton and Josh (David's brother) learned about this game together.

In other news, Preston has had this taped up by our doorbell for awhile. Is this why we have no friends? :)

It's Tomorrow

Stockton and Preston had diving at the platforms today. It is so fun to watch them.

Stockton

 Preston & Stockton

 Preston

Stockton 1 1/2 off 7

Preston off 7

I was telling Stockton's coach that he most likely won't be at diving tomorrow. He has youth conference, but I have no idea what time they are leaving or if Stockton is even going. Stockton said, "Wait? Youth conference is tomorrow?" Yep! That is why I keep asking you if you can go! Jorja really wanted Stockton to go, so he stayed up and finished his film write-ups and took a biology quiz. He will miss bowling, but I think you can miss two bowling classes. He will have to just bowl for fun. We'll have to twist his arm on that one!

Hailey and Drew came over to hang out with Jorja today. Drew and Jorja wrote letters to Miss Falk. The same Miss Falk that hated Stockton. She loved Jorja. She got married over the weekend in Oregon and her name is now Mrs. Taylor, I think. Anyways, they are a bunch of weirdos.

Free Food Day

Jorja and I dropped Stockton off at his bowling class. We then went shopping at Seagull book for a new journal and scripture markers. We also stopped at Michaels to pick up some white t-shirts. We colored cow spots on them before we hurried to pick up Stockton from bowling. Shey came with us. Chick-Fil-A gives a free entree or kids meal if you come dressed like a cow on 'cow appreciation day'. We went to the Chick-Fil-A on State Street, but their power was out. We headed to Draper. The line was enormous! It went pretty fast though. After Chick-Fil-A we stopped at 7-11 to get a free slurpee. Weird that both of these are on the same day.

Stockton, Preston, Jorja, Shey

I dropped Jorja and Shey off at softball practice then headed over to Laura's house. I haven't been to her house since she moved. It is awesome! Beautiful inside and what a fun backyard! Leslie and I played pickle ball against Laura and Angie (John's wife). It was really fun. This is mostly a shot of the backyard. Leslie, John and Phil are at the table. Julie is running in the background.

 Playhouse

It was really fun to hang out with the Leatherwoods. Leslie was here from Tennessee and Julie was here from Colorado. I miss them!

Laura, Julie, Stephanie, Leslie

Leslie's daughter wanted us to make a silly face.

Laura, Julie, Stephanie, Caroline, Leslie

I got back pretty late, but it was really fun to hang out with these guys for a few hours!

Mr. X Strikes Again

Well, Mr. X called Jorja nine times in a two hour period. Considering that she talked to him three of those times, I find this excessive. He also texted her a ton. He was trying to get Jorja back together with him. I went downstairs to get Jorja and I heard her laughing on the phone. She had been talking to her softball friend Shey. She got off the phone and told me Mr. X called her. When she told me he was trying to get back together with her I rolled my eyes and said, "Jorja, don't!" She looked down at her phone and said, "Oh, he called me four times while I was talking to Shey." He then called again while I was standing right there. I whispered to her to pretend Stockton was sitting right next to her. There is no way Stockton would let her have anything to do with Mr. X if he could help it. (Jorja did not want to get back together with Mr. X, but I worried anyway because she hates it when people are sad - Mr. X has figured out how to manipulate her.) Anyways, I went downstairs about ten minutes later because now it was time to go to softball. Jorja was really upset. I told her she needed to say goodbye and go to practice. We ended up leaving about fifteen minutes late and Jorja had tears in her eyes the entire way. This is another example of why I shouldn't get so behind in my blog. I can't remember what made her so upset. I know one of the text said something like "everybody would be better off without me". I quizzed Jorja on this to find out what he meant. She didn't think it was a suicide reference, which is what I was worried about. He did tell Jorja that his parents found the texts and were really mad. He said that they were going to pull him out of all of the classes he has with her. I raised my arms up in celebration when she said that. Jorja was not happy. She looked down and said, "I still want to be his friend." Anyways, I talked to Mike about how we should handle this. I do not like how often Mr. X was calling/texting her. We decided that we would ground Mr. X from Jorja's phone. Basically, we would block Mr. X's number for two weeks. We talked to Jorja about this after softball. Jorja did not like this plan. She was worried she would lose her other friends, specifically Isaac and Evan. I told her Isaac would be high-fiving me for blocking Mr. X's number. He has seen how poorly he has treated Jorja. I also said, "Do you think Isaac's mom would let a girl text Isaac this much? You know she wouldn't. He would understand your parents blocking you from that much contact from a boy." I told her it was either that or we would call Mr. X's parents and talk to them again.

I left and went to pick up Stockton from film class. Mike started handling the Jorja situation. Jorja also called Isaac and Evan, they were together. They liked the blocking plan. That gave Jorja some comfort knowing she wouldn't lose their friendship. Mr. X kept texting Jorja asking who she liked, even a little. Mike helped her answer something like, "I don't think it is a good idea for me to like anyone right now." Mike wanted her to say until she was 16, or after she graduated, or after a mission, but Jorja kept it vague. Anyways, that seemed to do the trick. Mike said it sounded like he was worried Jorja liked someone else. Hopefully things will calm down without us having to block Mr. X's number. Jorja is going to go to Youth Conference later this week. They will be river rafting down the Green River. I don't think there is cell service out there. Hallelujah!

Backs are Back

Church was a little crazy today. The Back's had their homecoming. President Back was the mission president of a mission in Sydney Australia. We got there early and were able to get a seat. It was crowded! All the way back to the stage and people on the stage. There were a lot of missionaries there. We had our regular spot at the front left of the chapel. That was nice. Jorja was a claustrophobic though. There were a lot of people and it made the chapel hot. We also squished into one bench and it was pretty tight. Jorja started feeling lightheaded and nauseous. She asked if she could go home after sacrament meeting. Then she started feeling worse and we decided she needed to go home after the sacrament. The sacrament took a long time and she was worried. Once they finished Mike walked her home. Jorja was embarrassed to have to walk past everyone in order to leave, but she would have been more embarrassed if she passed out or threw up. Mike said she looked awful. Mike missed Sister Back's talk but got back in time to hear President Back's. I wish Jorja would have felt better because they are both such great speakers. I have been hoping for a long time that they will call President Back to be the Young Mens President. Seth has been in there for about three years now. President Back was the Scout Master before he left to Australia. He got so many of the boys to get their Eagles before they were 14. These boys love him. Now, a lot of them are seniors in high school and will be preparing to go on their own missions. How cool would it be if President Back were to help them get prepared?

Primary was a bit chaotic. I think with all the people there it just had an air of excitement and the kids had a hard time settling down. Natalie took my phone and took a few pictures. My tiny little class is adorable.

Alex

 Andi

We watched The Sixth Sense today as a family. Even though the movie moves kind of slow I think the kids liked it. Mike explained the movie to Preston while they were playing ping pong.

He PASSED!

Stockton's AP results came in today. He passed physics! Stockton was so excited he couldn't believe it! He got a 3 on the test. Stockton had previously been hoping for a 2 because he thought a 1 would be super embarrassing. He also got a 3 on AP US History, that won confused him. He thought the test was easy and had been scoring a 5 on the practice tests and super high on the essays leading up to the test. Josh also got a 3. Stockton didn't care though because he passed physics! Stockton also scored a 4 on AP Language and 5's on AP Psychology and AP Statistics. He really wanted a 5 on AP Stats, so he was happy with that. The rest of the day Stockton was walking on air. We now know he will be able to graduate from high school with his college associate degree. He still has classes to take, but it doesn't depend on one test anymore. He is also excited because we thought he would need to take either a physics or a chemistry night class during fall semester. With passing the AP Physics test he now doesn't need to. It is also great that he was able to get something out of taking that horrible class that made for a miserable year.

Mike's dad turned 78 today. We didn't get to see him, but Mike was able to talk to him. Mike and I spent most of the day cleaning our bedroom. We had a lot of things to go through and it was so nice to finally have time to do it. Jorja went to Natalie's house and watched Catching Fire with Natalie and Isaac. I worked on my primary lesson. Nothing too exciting.

Lehi

The power kept going off today for half of the house. Well, it went off twice. That was annoying. I drove Jorja to Lehi to hang out with two of her efy friends, Maggie and Brooklyn. I dropped her off at one of their houses. Later, Mike and I came back to pick her up, but she was now at the other house. I had texted her to let her know we were on our way, but she didn't think to let me know she was not at the same house I had dropped her off. We were able to find her about ten minutes later. Silly Porge.

Square Icecream

We left the cabin early this morning. Well, by 8:00. The septic tank was being pumped at 9:30 and we wanted to be long gone by then. I also wanted to drive when it wasn't super hot, since we don't have air-conditioning right now. Plus, Stockton had his bowling class at 2:00. All those reasons. I spoiled the kids and stopped to get square ice-cream cones. They love that.

Maysen, Preston, Jorja, Stockton

There was a lot of construction on the way home. I was worried we wouldn't make it, but we got home in time. We were home for about five minutes before Stockton needed to go to his class. I did laundry for the rest of the day. 

Mike sent me these pictures of the septic tank being pumped. He said this guy was super nice even though he has such a crappy job.

They found the lid at the bottom of the tank. Mike found a post hole digger that he used to pull it up. Then the guy grabbed it with his gloves. He had to struggle to get it out, but he managed. I'm glad they found the lid so we were able to get the hole closed up today. I'm also glad we just needed to have it pumped and not replaced. Thank goodness!

Mike buried the lid and this is what the spot looks like now

Hopefully we don't have to deal with that again for another forty years at least!

RIP Alf Mug

Years and years ago, probably around 28 years ago, all of the cousins made these mugs for the cabin. I'm pretty sure I was in 8th grade. We loved these mugs. John's just had scribbles on his. His mug died last year and he was so sad. It looks like Brett's is pretty much gone now too. I wish they still made mugs like this. The company has changed the way they put the mugs together. I ordered some a few years ago and most of the mugs didn't last more than a year.

My dad left early this morning with Max. Max was so anxious to leave he didn't even want to stay for breakfast. Rachel had the pancakes on the griddle. We forced them to eat pancakes before they headed out.

I took Mike out to see where Marie found the hole. Mike found a long pole and stirred it around some. We weren't sure what it was. It wasn't horribly smelly. Brett was brave and smelled the end of the pole while Mike was holding it. Now that is a lot of faith he had that Mike wouldn't shove it in his face. Mike saw noodles and he thought toilet paper. He pulled out the stick and a used condom was on it, so that was gross. Kind of confirmed that it was the septic tank though. (That should not be flushed down the toilet!) Anyways, Mike found a board to put atop the tank until we can figure out what to do. He has a guy coming tomorrow at 9:30 to pump the tank, then we'll go from there. I'm so worried that after he pumps the tank he will say something like, "It looks like there is a crack in the tank and it needs to be replaced. The code is different now, so you'll need to put in a huge drainage system....that will be $30,000." Let's hope it doesn't come to that!

I played frisbee golf with Matt and Brett. I'm an awful frisbee golfer. We played games and ended up playing Speak Out into the night. Preston loved it. He didn't think he could play because he wouldn't be able to get the thing in his mouth. Mike helped him at the end and he had a great time. He was pretty good too.

Matt, Preston, Mike

 Mike

 Mike, Brett, Preston

 Preston, Jorja

 Preston, Stockton

 Back of Matt's head, Bottom of Mike's head, Preston, Brett with eyes closed

I went to bed after this game. It was after midnight and I need to drive home tomorrow. Preston stayed up and played Dominion with Matt and Brett. Preston is pretty good at Dominion, although I think Brett won the game.