1973 Was a Great Vintage

Mike turned the grand old age of 38 this week (go ahead and bring on the wise cracks—I’ve heard them already). We celebrated all week long!

On Monday, we went shopping for glasses at SEE Eyewear. Hallie got a sweet Groupon deal, and it was time for us to get our new glasses, so we opted to go (more or less) retro. Mike and Hallie didn’t get to go full-on 1960’style, but they got something a bit more fun than usual. Landon even got to help them choose. He wanted to know when he’d get glasses. “Hopefully never,” we replied.

Hallie and Landon went to the Fresh Farms Market with the Mom’s Club. We like their New York style pizzas, and Landon learned how to make his own pizza. Larry, the market’s owner, took them on a tour where they met all of the people in all the departments. For lunch at 10:30, they had burgers at Tom’s Hog and Dog (Wait. They made pizza and then went out for burgers? What gives?!). They were nice enough to bring Mike back some pizza to take with him up to work.

Wednesday was Mike’s birthday, and the weather cooperated nicely. Landon was so cute! Mike had been up with Eliza for a chunk of the night, so he ended up downstairs, and Landon came down in the morning singing Happy Birthday to You. His big birthday present for the year (a little cute bundle of joy by the name of Eliza) came earlier, so we kept things pretty simple. We went out to breakfast at the Breakfast Club in Madison Heights and then Hallie took Mike to buy some Birkenstocks at Footprints in Royal Oak. Mike would never go and get fancy shoes like that (his knock-off sandals came from Wal-mart and did him pretty well until last summer). However, Hallie thought that if Mike’s old knock-offs had lasted over a decade, maybe the real deal would last him even longer (Mike is into things that last, so it’s an investment!). Mike had work on campus, so that ended our celebrations for the day. Hallie got him a yummy ice cream treat when he got home.

On Thursday, we took Eliza for her two-month well visit at the baby doctor. She’s really growing up! Our little girl now weighs 10 pounds 1 ounce and is 21 inches long. She also had her first shots since the time she was born. She cried really hard for just a couple of minutes, and then she settled down as if nothing had happened. The doctor commented on how strong she was. Both Landon and Eliza have been small but strong. Feisty! In the evening, Mike was able to get quite a bit of work done. Hallie and Diamond got free passes to see a movie, and the kiddies stayed nestled in their beds. Should being left alone count as a birthday gift? Not always, but Mike needed this little bit of intense time, so he considered it one rather than wishing he was at the movies, just this time.

"Ay mi morena, de mi corazón"

On Friday, Hallie and several Relief Society sisters went to the Charles H. Wright Museum while Mike looked after the kids and worked from the home office. On Saturday, Mom, Diamond, and Landon headed off to Jungle Java and Morley’s to go find the Easter Bunny while In the evening, Diamond looked after the kiddies while Mike and Hallie went with their friends Ivan and Amberly to the Detroit Masonic Temple to watch the Wulin Hanyun Kungfu Troupe and Chinese Folk Music Performance, sponsored by Wayne State’s Confucius Institute.

If you did the math, you would see that Mike is now twice as old as he was when he was called to serve his mission to Buenos Aires, Argentina. For a few years now, he has toyed with the idea of digitally archiving his mission pictures. When we went to California over Christmas break, he went through the photo albums and retrieved the negatives. Then this last week, he was contacted by Ricardo Navarro, one of his former missionary companions, who started a mission group in Facebook. Ricardo posted some pictures that sent Mike down Memory Lane, so Mike found a website that makes digital scans of negatives and finally set the wheels in motion. Once they come back, you may even get to see some!  

Mike on the day before entering the MTC, back in 1992 (Remember when the floor map at the Salt Lake Airport wasn't covered with TSA security barriers?) 

Landon gave his first talk in Primary today on the perfect example of Jesus Christ. That kid is growing up so fast! Next thing we know, he’ll be the one sending mission pictures. . . .

We took about a dozen of these . . . 

to get this. Hmph.