Sunday, September 14, 2025

2025, September 8-14

We had an eventful week between Eliza getting into a new program, Landon attending HoCo, and the parents (Hallie especially) just trying to keep up.

On the way to ALA on Monday, the girls spied this rainbow in Spanish Fork. 


Riley sent Hallie an Instagram reel from the Dugout, a local convenience store, about amazing cinnamon rolls. They did not disappoint.  Hallie had to see if the ladies claims were true.


Landon came home from school and fell asleep on the couch. Ferg took advantage of the warm body. It is hard being a teenager. He slept for most of the afternoon.


On Wednesday morning, Landon mentioned to Hallie that Eliza was sleeping outside Hallie's bedroom. Eliza said she was trying to make it to Hallie's bed but just didn't make it. 


Here is Mike at his office with his new 'do. Hallie likes it when she sees selfies of Mike, especially with his great smile.


He got a standing desk. 


We took Eliza to do an assessment at Summit Counseling Solutions on Wednesday.  Eliza will now be attending this Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) for the next few months. Later in the day, she graduated to a senior brown belt in Taekwondo. 





As of Thursday, Landon was fully insured and can now drive himself to school. He took the Ghost, which is now his car apparently. Landon was so excited to drive the first day he left the house an hour early to get to school. Hallie can't usually get him out of bed. Day two wasn't as exciting; he didn't get out of bed.


After doing part of her day at Summit on Thursday, Eliza went to take care of Leslie's horses.  


Fergus chose Hallie not once, but twice. 


Hallie and Eliza went to the Hobble Creek Barn Boutique. They had some yummy Dubai Chocolate Strawberries.

Landon got his senior pictures. They actually look decent! We may actually buy some this year.


Up at UM, Big Dipper had an ice cream social at the Lodge. Mike indulged in some huckleberry ice cream and scored some stickers too!


Later, he set to work on the dinosaur-themed LEGO set he brought up from Utah. 


From Thursday-Saturday, UM had a Military Reunion, and the Grizzlies played the Military Appreciation Game against North Dakota. As part of the celebration, a Black Hawk helicopter landed on the Oval on Saturday morning. Mike went down to take a look. 








Later, he attended the first Viva Montana Latin Heritage Festival. 


The festival was a little slow getting started, so he went walking around the farmers markets and to the Missoula Art Museum.
   





Landon and Jocie went to Homecoming on Saturday. Eliza went with Hallie to get the corsage and boutonniere at a place called Foxglove Flowers in Provo. The store had a pretty kitty.   



When Mike got back to Viva Montana, the festivities had gotten quite a bit more lively.



On his way over and the football game was getting ready to start, a couple of Warthogs flew over.  


At the festival, he had to make sure to see that Argentina was represented. 


After a while of listening to music, he went back to campus to see if he could catch any of the game. The Grizzlies were losing for most of it but kept fighting and came back to lead with less than two minutes remaining. They went on to win, and the crowd went wild! 

After going for a bike ride, Mike went back one more time to listen to more entertainment as the sun went down.
 

Beautiful sunset skies over the Clark Fork River. 



Here are the fancy flowers Landon and Jocie got for HoCo. 



While driving, Hallie got some of her own dramatic skies. Second rainbow in a week! 


Here is the happy couple getting ready for the dance. Later, Landon reported that he was underwhelmed by the dance but they otherwise had a good time.  




On Sunday, Mike finished his set and took it to the office. 



Later, he attended the Grizzlies Fight Back Rally. The photo below belies the healthy attendance for the event once people came up to the stage area. 


While we haven't shied away from politics on the blog, we typically have avoided writing about violence done either at schools or for political reasons here. We condemn violence done in schools or other public venues regardless of target. Right now, someone is sitting vigil and planning a funeral that should never have happened. Unless we wake up and demand better, someone else will be doing the same for similar reasons all too soon.  

The neighbors had the Sunday Social in the back alley, but someone forgot that the fire pit should not be set over tinder-dry grass. 🫢 We are always glad when Lisa comes to our Sunday Social but even more so tonight. Lisa put her Girl Scout knowledge to the test when she used a 2x4 to pat out the fire. Good thing grass grows back! 


Priscilla sent Mike this picture of Ferg chilling out in the aftermath. 


Sunday, September 07, 2025

2025, September 1-7

Mike got to stay with us a couple more days before heading back north, Landon got his drivers license (you've been warned), and the kids witnessed inspiration in the midst of tragedy. 

Hallie seriously cannot get enough of Brooklyn. Can you blame her? 


Tuesday came too quickly. After taking care of some chores and errands over the weekend, Mike had to head back up to Missoula, his car full of little luxuries he didn't have for the last couple of weeks. He won't be back south for a few weeks, so he needed to make sure to say goodbye to Ferg. After some nine hours on the road taking a scenic route through Idaho and Montana's Bitterroot Valley, he made it back in time to put his boxes in his office and his apartment. 


We didn't realize it, but Kai came only minutes after Mike left. Boo! Well, at least the two didn't have to fight over Mike's side of the bed. Kai is always happy to be reunited with his favorite toys. 


Eliza came back on Monday evening from the residential care facility. We're still in a quandary about what our next steps are, and we had another couple of hiccups with tech and honesty during the week, but we hope we're making at least a little progress.

On Tuesday Eliza worked nearly five hours at Creekside. She rode three different horses and did a lot of cleaning. Echo (the white pony) is one Eliza has ridden in the past, and she did quite well with him.


Landon passed his driving test and is now licensed. However, he will need to wait some more before getting insured and being able to drive. Once he turns 18, he'll have even more privileges and headaches that come with driving. 


Jocie, already an accomplished musician, likes Landon's guitar. He's learning new tunes to accompany her. 


Eliza is using her phone to make new and interesting selfies and collages. 


Here's an update of Mike's office with some of the knickknacks from his travels. 


Hallie was thrilled to be chosen by Fergus yet again this week! 


While Eliza was at taekwondo Hallie went to Poppy Books. Hallie enjoyed her time. 


Partway through the week while Landon was at work, he witnessed and helped detain an individual who hit and killed a young newlywed, Matthew Daines, who courageously got his wife out of harm's way. Local news crews interviewed Landon and a co-worker who also provided aid. Landon noted that he found Mr. Daines' actions inspirational. 





Later in the day, he, Jocie, Amanda, and Hallie hung out at Starbucks and ate Reece's peanut butter flavored Oreo cookies, which Landon did not enjoy. Later Hallie found the package empty. I guess they weren’t so bad after all.


Alicia asked if Hallie could watch Brooklyn for a bit. Twist her arm! 

The kids got together for a little bit to play some music together. Hopefully this can become a regular thing. 



In Missoula, the fist Friday of each month brings out several arts-related activities. Earlier in the week, he got notice that he won an "ultimate accessories bundle" for use with Cricut and other like devices. Hopefully he can make some time to explore some options at the UC and the Missoula Public Library maker spaces. In the meantime, he enjoyed First Friday Activities comprising the Fáilte Montana Irish Festival at Caras Park, a visit to the Montana Museum of Art and Culture, and the UM School of Music's Faculty Showcase.  









Fergus loves making biscuits. 

Here are a couple of Eliza's collages. 


Eliza loves it when people play games with her, so we broke out the Bridgewater-opoly game we got from Gma and Gpa Dorey. Fun! Eliza won!


Landon invited Jocie to Homecoming (Hoco), which will be this coming Saturday. She said yes!  



Coming home Saturday from his errands about town, Mike startled the little herd of neighborhood deer. They stayed in the yard, and he got to sit quietly while they grazed for a bit. 



Hallie loves seeing Kai cuddle with his toys.


Among his errands, Mike got a flu shot. He wasn't feeling so great by day's end and went to bed early to sleep it off. Prior to that, he started on a LEGO set, which he finished on Sunday. This Evolution of STEM set has all sorts of Easter eggs. 


While out on a bike ride, Eliza came across some horses that appeared to be neglected. She got quite upset about it. Eliza has such a caring heart and deep passion for those things that matter to her. Sometimes seeing her struggle with waiting for grownups to take action can be a challenge.