Together Forever Wherever

Here we are in 2019 along with the rest of the world. With the new church schedule, we also seem to have just a bit more afternoon/evening time to blog a bit. Here are the last couple of weeks in a nutshell.

On New Year's Day, we went with our neighbors to see Mary Poppins Returns. Quite the fun movie! It kind of grew on us for the next several days, and we have listened to the soundtrack several times already.

All too soon, the kids were back in school. They still had fun playing with their Christmas toys.

Landon had his first meet of the year up at USA Gymnastics World. He medaled in a couple of events. There is more work to do, but he'll get there.

We were thrilled that Natalie (Landon's birth mom) and her son were able to come up and see him too!

Mike is now one of Eliza's primary teachers! Her class is a high-energy group. He and his co-teacher have their work cut out for themselves.

Mike conferred the Aaronic Priesthood on Landon and ordained him to the office of Deacon on Sunday, January 6. This was all so sudden! up to a few short weeks ago, we thought we had until November to think about him having the priesthood, but no. Landon invited his coach Sam stood in the circle with Grandpa M. We have always been blessed to have good men in Landon's gymnastics life.

Camera filters. Fun! Someone was supposed to be getting ready for bed, but she begged her mom to play with camera filters and mom obliged.

We love the kids' teachers! Mrs. Haymond has been an awesome champion of Eliza, and we appreciate her support. Hallie went into the classroom to collect one of the students she works with and noticed Eliza helping her classmate. It was cute to be watching two Special Ed students working together.

Eliza got to share her ukulele skills at school for show and tell this week. She has three or four songs on her list already.

Hallie and the kids went to Colorado Springs for Landon's second meet of the season. Mike babysat the cat, taught his class (he highly recommends Religion of a Different Color by Paul Reeve. Mike attended Dr. Reeve's talk at BYU when he received the 2018 Kennedy Center Book of the Year Award, and he knew it would make a great fit for his class. Based on the quality of conversation he and his students had about the book, he was right), and helped out with fundraising at a meet at Airtime.

Hallie and the kids flew out with some of Landon's teammates.

The trio did not get to sit together but was pretty close. Decent flight for the price. Glad everyone got there safely.

They goofed around the Denver and Colorado Springs areas. If you look closely the 4 gymnast were up in a tree. Some of the parents were slightly nervous to see their boys up that high. Hallie just laughed.

Landon did his thing at the meet.

Former Victory Gymnastics Academy teammate Brandon Bzoskie competes for the Air Force Academy. Hallie was looking up at the right time and saw Brandon working out and invited him to watch his High Bar routine. Landon was shy to talk to Brandon, Hallie did most of the talking. Landon did say however that seeing Brandon made the night of not medaling a lot better.

Hotel pool is a requirement! Glad Hallie was able to get the kids having fun together on video.

Before coming home, they went to the Olympic Training Center. It was free to walk around the Visitors Center, so they did.

Life goals. There were some great quotes posted by Olympians. The one below was posted by a woman, and Hallie thought it was a great quote.

Hallie thought it was a bit comical that the bathroom sign had the gymnastics logo on it.

Then they took a tour of Hammond's Candies. Yummy! Another great place to go for free. Not a huge tour but it was interesting to see the people really making the candy canes that we then bought in the next room at the gift shop.

Not spelled exactly the same but you know we had to buy it for Eliza.

All too soon, it was back to the airport and home. They hung around a bit.

They got home really, really late after everyone had such a long Saturday! Sunday was a welcome break from the grind. Hallie was released from her calling and she was not extended a new calling yet. With all the traveling that will be happening over the next month or so, it will be a good thing to not have to find a sub.

If we don’t write down the little things we do, we forget. So, that is why you have more pictures as of late then the actual things we did.

Week of November 12 - 18

Monday was a pretty normal day, which we like. Hallie did not have to babysit Lily as her grandma was in town. Hallie loved spending the time watching both kids.

Tuesday Hallie found a great deal on Facebook for a baptism dress for Eliza. After work Hallie headed to Orem to pick up the dress and it will fit Eliza perfectly by the time she is baptized. Yeah for a good deal!

Hallie did end up babysitting Lily on Tuesday night instead of Monday and we stuck around the house for the most part which is a nice change.

Wednesday was a little crazy busy, but that is normal. Kids had school, Hallie worked and then treated herself to a pedicure via a gift card she received many months ago from the owners of AirTime. There was no one else getting a pedicure so it was a very nice relaxing hour. Hallie and Lily spent the evening with Grandma M going to a boutique in another city and to Target. Mike taught and had meetings. Both kids had gymnastics. When bedtime came everyone was wiped out!

Thursday started out pretty normal until Eliza decided to stay home sick from school. Hallie came home and spent some time with her as Mike left for Salt Lake International Airport to head to a conference in Houston, Texas. Hallie had got tickets to go see the new Fantastic Beasts movie early with the kids and friends from gymnastics but with Eliza being sick Hallie was able to get Grandpa M to take Landon and Wyatt, a friend from gymnastics to the theatre. Before the movie Hallie grabbed the kids Wendy’s and off the boys went to the movie. While at the movie Coach Isaac filled the boys up with all kinds of snacks and drinks. After the movie Grandpa M. dropped the boys off at our house until Wyatt’s dad picked him up. A good time was had by everyone.

Friday the three of us woke up and the good time that was had by all started fizzle away when Landon said his stomach hurt. Hallie thought it wasn’t much and sent him off to school anyway. Landon had a field trip to the Discovery Gateway in Salt Lake that day and she was to chaperone. Hallie thought she was supposed to drive herself and so she sent the kids off to school with the neighbors and Hallie headed north to do a few errands on the way to downtown. About 45 minutes after Hallie had left she got a phone call from Landon’s teacher saying he had thrown up on the bus. The bus driver had pulled over and a very nice teacher had helped clean everything up and the bus continued on its journey where Hallie met them in Salt Lake. Landon got into the car and they turned around and went home without going on the field trip. No gym for Landon and it was a day spent resting on the couch. Hallie’s fun ideas of taking them to the movies may need to be rethought the next time an idea like this presents itself. Hallie was supposed to babysit a cutie named Owen and gymnastics but she had to cancel as we didn’t know at the time why Landon had thrown up and didn’t want to get Owen or Coach Alison sick. Thank heavens dad came home that night.

Saturday took us different directions in the morning. Hallie cleaned the church, Landon went to a make up gymnastics class, and Mike and Eliza went to her first Ukulele lesson. Just about 9 months ago Eliza received a Ukulele for her birthday from Grandpa and Grandma O. Mike and Eliza have used it a little bit but Hallie decided it was finally time to do something with it and asked for recommendations and it sounds like she found a great teacher for Eliza. Mike and Eliza got to the church just as Hallie was heading out the door to go home. In the afternoon we had tithing settlement at church. We had a good experience with the bishop and our family.

Afterwards Hallie and the neighbor ran to the mall and to Sam’s Club. We brought home fun and yummy things.

In the evening Hallie spent a few hours with her mom who was not feeling well.

Week of November 19 - 25

Mike had an eye dr appointment, Eliza and Hallie went to the chiropractor, and Hallie babysat 2 kids on Monday night. Of course work and gymnastics for everyone was in there too.

Nothing really of note happened on Tuesday.

Wednesday everyone had off for Thanksgiving break. So, Hallie babysat Lily in the morning and the girls went to Salt Lake so Hallie could go to the dentist, Lily slept the whole way there and then after the dentist Lily and Hallie ended up at Ikea where they had yummy breakfast, played with some display items and bought a few items for Christmas. After a break Hallie babysat Lily again in the afternoon. Both kids had gymnastics in the morning.

Thanksgiving Day brought about some relaxing time for the family which is a nice treat. At 10:00 Hallie, Landon, ELiza, Lincoln, Lisa, Karli, Ashley, and Lexi went to the Ashford Assisted Living Center to do a bit of service for those folks who did not have the opportunity to see family. The kids did great and it was fun to go.

In the afternoon Hallie’s parents came to dinner. They were supposed to be at Riley’s but Grandma M. had been in the hospital and the doctor had told her no driving. It was nice having more than just the 4 of us for dinner.

Friday morning started early with both kids back to the grind of gymnastics. Eliza at 8 and Landon at 9. Hallie did not participate in Black Friday this year as many of the things we need/want are not on a Black Friday sale or the Internet has had the items we needed and we shipped things right to the house.

Saturday morning was a bit busy. Eliza had her 2nd ukelele lesson, then Mike and the kids went to Home Depot to do a project. While they were gone Hallie went to a friend’s Mary Kay party and left her baby blanket with a friend in the ward who was going to spif it up abit.

Like most Sundays we didn’t do a ton in the morning, followed by church, choir for Hallie and then dinner.

Week of November 26 - December 2

Monday was a “normal” day. Work, school, gymnastics and babysitting. The dumb thing is little things happen that are funny, sad, interesting or whatever but because I don’t write them down they don’t make it on the blog. I do remember however that Landon read the most in the school over Thanksgiving Break. He got a certificate that invited him to watch Home Alone at the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake but he never brought home the certificate until after the date they showed the movie.

Tuesday took Mike to Park City to work with the Nebo School District. Hallie and the kids did their regular school and gymnastics routine with Karli tutoring on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We are grateful for Karli’s fun personality and willingness to be so patient with Eliza.

Wednesday the adults worked, the kids went to school, both kids had gymnastics and for some reason unknown to our brains we don’t think Hallie babysat Lily this night. Super uneventful day even though most days don’t seem that way.

Looking back at the calendar Thursday seems quite a bit busier. Work, school, meetings, errands, and eating at Culvers to support a friend from gymanstics baseball team. Every time you blink you could be donating to a fundraiser, including our own.

For a while we have had tickets to what BYU called a Luau. Hallie has never been to a “real” luau and she is pretty convinced this was not a “real” luau it was a good way to cap off our night. Earlier in the day we had work, school, gymnastics and even a little time to run to the Beehive Bazaar which is a favorite place of Hallie’s to shop when it pops up every several months. It was fun to watch all of the different islands dance and represent their culture. One of Mike’s students as in the program and Hallie had quite a few questions afterwards. Not sure if the kids loved it but hopefully they at least learned something.

As December starts to roll in there are so many things happening in the local areas, at BYU, and in our lives that you really have to pick and choose what you want to do because there is no way everything is going to fit in.

Saturday we started with 3 baptisms from our ward, all of which were girls and 2 of the 3 have been in Eliza’s classes at school. Our whole family went to support our friends and so Eliza can get some more exposure to what will be happening to her come June. Mike and Eliza left a bit early do to ukelele lessons. Landon and mom headed home after the baptisms were done. Hallie had a nail appointment just after lunch in Salem. After her appointment she went by Siro’s to bring home Argentine empanadas for a late lunch early dinner. The adults both agree they are not the best empanadas we have ever had.

December 2nd is the anniversary of when Eliza was sealed to our family in the Los Angeles Temple. We used to do a bit more than we do now for the kids but with time being short these days and the kids not talking about their adoptions as much the thought of celebrating has fallen a bit to the back of the mind. We did however give her a blanket made by our friend Cara Briscoe. Eliza loves ladybugs just like Zoraida and Eliza’s favorite color is red. Hallie had a ladybug blanket with red backing made for Eliza and placed it on her in the night as she slept to surprise her in the morning. The kids love both of the blankets Cara has made them.

We still had church and choir today.

Week of December 3 - December 9

Work, school, meetings, and errands took us away from the house during the day on Monday. After school the kids had gymnastics as usual and Hallie watched Lily. The last couple of Mondays Lily has fallen asleep in Hallie’s arms while we sit in her mom’s office at the gym. Now if Hallie could relax enough to get some rest too. Halie had to leave babysitting Lily early tonight due to Mike’s work Christmas party. Weird that it was on a Monday night, but whatever. Our amazing neighbor Julie Bridges picked the kids up from gymnastics and took everyone to Alpine to see a live Nativity. We heard it was quite cold but the kids seemed to enjoy it and they love hanging out with the Bridges.