We had a streak of super fun things right in a row during these months. I remember re-writing the wall calendar and just feeling so excited. We had spring break and Easter in March. Then I turned 40 the day after Easter! It was a pretty quiet day since we were getting ready to leave for LA but it was wonderful. I loved all the messages from family. Eve took a nice long nap for me. They all got me such sweet gifts and we got Cafe Rio together that night:
Of course we had brownie sundaes too.
The next day we left for LA! We flew out of Boise and got there in time to get our rental car and then swing back and get Lizzie who flew from Provo. We made it to our Airbnb that night. The kids were all really sweet and encouraging that night before bed. Unfortunately, I hardly slept that night. My mind just kept running through facts and fixating on things I couldn't remember. I was so afraid of not waking up with my alarm that I was constantly popping awake. I did get a little sleep finally. I had to wake up really early to get showered and ready. Then Joe woke up and drove me to the studio. It was so surreal! He dropped me off and I walked through a parking area to a blocked off part of the parking garage where I sat with other contestants in folding chairs and we hung our extra clothes on a rack. A nice guy was the first person I met and he was returning to the set so he helped me find where to go. He had been an extra during the last taping. I was able to figure out who the returning champ was when she talked to him. They all just looked like regular people you'd see anywhere. :)
We went through a metal detector and then we walked into the studio. We didn't really have any time to check out all the cool stuff displayed, like the Emmys, and Alex's podium, etc. They took us to the contestants room, which was actually quite small with all of us in there. It had snacks in the corner and two bathrooms connected to it, plus a make-up area. They had a producer come talk to us. We had to turn off our phones and couldn't get them out at all. They drilled in our heads that we shouldn't say a word to anyone about how the games go and we signed documents to that effect. They said they wanted to us all to take a test just for their training purposes, it didn't matter but it was just for fun. Of course we all treated it very seriously. I felt like I did pretty well on it but definitely didn't know all of them. After we turned them in we shared answers to try and figure out the ones that bugged us and I think it helped us warm up to each other more and talk. I thought everyone there was really friendly and humble and we bonded pretty quickly with nothing to do for hours but talk about our shared love of Jeopardy. Then, we had our practice games on the stage. That was such a crazy moment coming into the studio! The nerves ramped up for sure. They called us down three at a time to practice with the buzzer for a few questions. They'd stop us if we were late or early and help us adjust and then also tell us afterward what we could work on. I did pretty horribly in the practice round. Apparently I was too early. That didn't inspire too much confidence but I tried to shake it off.
After that we went back into the room and they randomly selected the two people who'd be going up against the champ, Alison, and they had to go into makeup to get ready. Will, my friend from the parking lot, was chosen (so maybe it wasn't completely random? I can't remember). Probably my favorite part was watching the games from the back room and yelling out answers with all the other contestants. I thought it was actually pretty amazing how open everyone was about the categories they were weak on, and how impressed they were when someone got a tough one. It was just a great, supportive atmosphere. We watched Will win that first game! I was happy for him. Then he won the next one too in a runaway. We were rooting so hard for one guy who was in the red and almost made it back for final but missed his last question. He left right after his game and I felt so bad for him. That was all of our worst-case scenario and it happened to him. I really thought he was one of the smartest guys there so it just went to show that it could happen to anyone. Then, they called my name and it was my turn in the 3rd game of the day. Getting my hair and make-up done was interesting. They didn't do much to my hair, just made it look a little neater. I was worried about all of the make-up but it was fine and they made me look nice. The make-up lady was really nice and it was fun hearing about how she ended up getting that job. Then, they took us into the studio for our game! I finally got to see Joe, Lizzie, and Natalie who came to watch. I only got 3 tickets so they were the lucky ones, especially since you had to be 13 and the girls like trivia. I wished the boys could have come, though. Eve was probably too young but they would have enjoyed it.
They got us on our podiums and then we had to shoot our opening scene where we smile at the camera and they say our name. Sometimes you'd have to re-do them but I didn't so I was happy. Then Ken came out! That was exciting too. He made one comment to me asking if I went to Washington. I said I did but it was an online program. He said his son goes there too and he's probably in class about the same amount. He was just so good at being clever and coming up with quips on the spot.
We took these pictures that they sent to me weeks later:
It all felt like it went so fast and suddenly we were playing! It felt really good to get my first question right. It was amazing that after the nerves were so crazy all morning, once I started playing they lessened a ton. That was a huge blessing. I was up against Will and Omar. Omar was a guy I liked that I'd been up against in practice. There were only a few of us with young kids and he was one. Will started really strong since he had experience and it was hard to overcome that but I was doing pretty good at the first break. Two moments were really cool--we had a category just called 'Eve'. I smiled knowing she would love that. Another question was about a book that I knew Lizzie had read and told me about but I could not think of the series name. I smiled then, too, knowing she knew it from the audience. It was all such a blur for me and when I finished, I honestly only remembered a few questions. Sadly, I missed a Daily Double that just didn't come to me. Then, I remember thinking in the second round that the Daily Double would probably be in an Asian Geography question so I picked there. I got a question about Marcos that I knew but my brain like glitched in the moment and I thought it was asking for the country instead because it wasn't in the question so I said the Philippines. Then, Will got it right and chose the next one in that category which was in the fact the Daily Double. He was aggressive, as he should have been since it wasn't too high of an amount, and wagered it all I think. It was a question about the 38th parallel and he hesitated for a long time trying to decided between Vietnam and Korea and then Ken asked him for an answer and he got it just barely in time. That was heartbreaking because I knew that one too. Then, it was out of reach and the rest didn't matter as much. For Final Jeopardy I decided to try and go for second place. It ended up being a tough question that none of us got. It was Canada Dry ginger ale! I love that stuff but can't say I looked at the can much. So, I ended up in 3rd sadly. It was disappointing in that I had probably been too aggressive and missed too many questions, but you really are just running on instinct out there. There is no time at all. Maybe if you win a few you'd start to settle in a bit but it was crazy.
After our round, it was time for lunch. They took us all to a cafeteria at the studio. I got to chat with Ken's brother and nephew who were visiting for the taping. He was really nice and we talked about Utah stuff since he lives there. Those of us that were still around ate together and we wished those who were still waiting luck. I decided to just leave then since the kids had wanted to try to get to a beach if we could. I'm glad that I did, although it was would have been fun to stay and watch too. Then, Joe picked me up and it was done!
Here's the few pictures we have that Joe and the girls got:
Apparently, Joe and the girls were looking up controversies about Ken in line and talking about and didn't realize they were right by his brother! Oops. He seemed fine though.
We drove home to the boys and had to tell them that I lost sadly. I was just so grateful for my family in that moment. They helped with the sting so much and we ended up having a great time at Santa Monica Beach:
Me with my makeup still on (until it washed off in the water):
We took some pictures of Natalie hoping some might work for senior pictures and I loved this one:
The older four kids and I all ended up playing in the waves together and I loved it so much. It was the best end to a pretty amazing day. We got some pretty good sea food and then headed back to the Airbnb.
The next day we had some time before our flights so we did some sightseeing. We went to Griffith Observatory. It was crowded but pretty fun to look around and we could see the Hollywood sign from there. Here's a couple cute ones of Natalie and I:
We got lunch at a really delicious dumpling place:
(Eve went under the table :)
A little happier now:
We saw the Walk of Fame:
Too soon, it was time to head to the airport. We said goodbye to Lizzie:
Then we all flew home. Our flight ended up being terrible. First, Eli got a really bad migraine and was pretty distraught. We gave him medicine and I sat next to him to trying to him help through it. I tried rubbing his head and seeing if anything helped. Then, the pilot warned us of some turbulence. That ended up being an understatement! It got really bad and was honestly terrifying. Eli had been laying his head in my lap and I think was maybe asleep but then it started and woke him up. It got worse and worse until a big jump that threw the guy in front of us into the aisle while he was holding his baby! Thankfully he protected the baby. That is why you wear your seatbelt. I just held onto Eli and braced myself hard against the seat in front of me. There was a lot of screaming and fear. I was doing OK during it but I did have the thought pop into my head: "we could die". Apparently that's all Joe was thinking about. Natalie was also upset but I guess Nate helped to calm her. Eve managed to sleep through the whole thing! Dad's lap is a safe place I guess. It finally subsided and we were all so grateful when we could see below the clouds in Boise. When we got off it was barely sprinkling there so it wasn't even much of a storm. That was definitely my scariest experience on a plane and we all talked about it walking out to our car. We got home at 2am and stumbled into bed. Eli and Joe got up for school and work. Nate had an xray scheduled so he didn't have to go and we found out his thumb was broken. Natalie had to get right back into classroom performances to prepare for district speech that weekend. It was in Hailey and Joe went as a judge since they needed people. He had to watch Panel which he hated :). I drove up to watch and she did great on her pieces. She had a Dramatic Interpretation piece about split personalities that was super creepy. She also had her Original Oratory that she wrote about book banning that was so good. She ended up getting first in OO and second in DI:
Love my talented actress:
I got to go to Eli's guitar concert and it was pretty awesome. They got to play Seven Nation Army which I thought was cool:
Eve took this funny shot of me trying to braid her hair:
So cute:
Eve had her check up and she was SO excited for it. She loved every minute and I think forgot about what shots were like. She did NOT like that part at all and it kind of soured it. I thought it was so funny who relaxed she was before though:
The weekend after was state speech and Jerome hosted this year! So much nicer for us but lots of pressure to win on their home floor. We traded off watching her compete and I took Eve outside to play at one point:
It was a roller coaster couple of days. Natalie was distraught after the first day thinking it was over for her and for the team. She had a bad score she didn't think she could come back from. Thankfully, she dove back in a gave it her all. She managed just barely making it into the semis. They would announce the results in a cool way--rolling down these posters:
We were all so thrilled she moved on! She made it to finals in both of her pieces and we have her a break from watching her to watch Duos. Then it was time to wait for the results.
Jerome pulled off another win!
And... Natalie won first in state in DI and second in OO!
It was such an awesome moment. We were so proud of all her hard work to get there. It is all so subjective but she definitely deserved it. She was an excellent leader to her team too.
Keeping Atkin cubed going:
Mr. Burton, who used to coach Joe too:
It was a great night.
A 70s themed choir concert:
Then came prom! Natalie went with her best friend Jaydon:
Sam went with Jensen, her other friend.
Nate competed in the state Science Olympiad and won first in Optics!
He had hardly prepared at all but he and his partner won! It was pretty awesome. Had to get a picture of the cast too. That put a damper on baseball this year.
Eve and I loved this blossoming tree at the library:
She managed to climb it pretty well:
Near the end of April, I got to get away for a girls weekend in Tahoe. Sadly, Katie wasn't able to make it but Kari and I had so much fun together. We went on a hike together:
We had to make peanut blossoms:
We also went to Jake's on the Lake for a yummy meal:
We also finished a puzzle:
Probably my favorite part was when Kari got out a jar of inside jokes I'd written on pieces of paper that I gave her as a gift. We read through them remembering and laughed so hard. I also just loved walking and catching up with her about life with Fred and everything going on in my life. It was just what I needed. On the drive home, I listened to spiritually uplifting things, belted music that made me cry and just felt really happy. I'm so grateful for good friends.
I loved this portrait of Natalie for Miss JHS:
Here was her sheet of encouragement:
She did a great job but sadly they didn't have her equipment set up right for her song while she played the piano. It also seemed a bit rigged since the daughter of the woman who put it on won it all. She did win some good gift cards though.
Her and her partner:
Natalie also won an award as a student athlete. Only two girls and two boys were chosen from the school and I guess speech and drama counted as the extracurriculars. We got to go to a dinner where she got the award:
Finally we'll finish with a mega sandwich Eve made of crackers, cheese and sausage:
It was an awesome month!