Sunday, November 26, 2017

In Everything We Give Thanks

We celebrated our first Thanksgiving in our new home just the four of us. That, decorating, and gymnastics occupied most of the week.

Eliza got her new glasses on Monday. Cutie!

Later, Landon woke up in the middle of the night with an earache. With a blessing and some pain reliever, we were able to get him down for the remainder of the evening. He missed another day of school, had a doctor appointment, and now gets to take antibiotics for the next couple of weeks. Hallie at some point had pulled a muscle in her neck and found a chiropractor to go to for relief. She is not sure if she will go back a second time, but by Saturday it had started feeling somewhat better.

On Tuesday, Hallie and Eliza caught Santa Claus making his rounds doing some last-minute list-checking. The kids better watch out!

The kids had Wednesday through Friday off from school. Landon still had his workouts, but in the morning. While he was at the gym on Wednesday with Mom, Eliza and Dad went up to Dad’s work to help decorate the office reception area.

Landon practiced close to five hours today, and after Eliza ventured up to work with Mike, she came back for her own three hours of practice. At the end of Landon’s practice, his coach invited Hallie on the floor so he could show his mom some of the skills he practiced during his one-hour private lesson.


On Thanksgiving, we enjoyed a relaxing morning followed by turkey dinner. Eliza is really in the mood to get some Christmas decorations up, so Dad indulged her by pulling out the tree to see where it would fit. With each new house we have lived in, we have had to figure out where to use the decorations we have, and we have decided that in this new house our best choice is to move furniture around and put the tree in the corner by the window. This tree has been a good sport. It is nearly 18 years old and has served us very well. By the end of the day we realized at least 5 or 6 of the neighbor kids had been in and out of our house playing chess (some for the first time), playing Zingo, watching Boss Baby, and eating popcorn. The kids went out for a ride toward sunset, and we received this beautiful treat. 


Part of our decorations include LEGO sets (of course). As an early Christmas present, the rest of the gang got Dad a train station. Our winter village is turning into a minor suburb. . . .

Friday morning Eliza got Dad up to start decorating the house in earnest while Mom took Landon to the gym and ran a couple of errands, and then when she came back one of the coaches invited Hallie to watch on the floor. What a treat that was! It is so marvelous to be able to see what your kids can do up close and personal. Later, we went to the movie theater to see Coco and then had CafĂ© Rio for dinner. We attempted to go by Temple Square to see the lights. Got a preview, and we’ll have to come back when everyone’s dressed for the weather. It was the first night of lights and there were a lot of people out and about – how fun! We stopped by U-Swirl/Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Draper for some sweet treats on the way home.

Forgot to mention that by the time we were ready to head to the movies, a neighbor girl wanted to do Eliza’s hair and make-up. We forgot to take pictures of the fancy do and face paint, but she sure had fun spending time with her friend.

Mike got a chance to see Landon practice on Saturday morning (make-up for Thursday afternoon) while Hallie and Eliza ran a few errands. The kids at Landon’s level do amazing work! As soon as we arrived home, Landon headed out with a neighbor, and we did not see him at home again until dinnertime. What a great neighborhood we have with boys and girls our kids’ ages! Fergus likes to escape with the kids running in and out, but it means we have plenty of small people to corral him and bring him back in. He spent the afternoon in his favorite indoor spot, sunning himself on the bed in the office/guest room.  

We finished most of the decorating in the early evening and watched A Christmas Story to kick off the holiday festivities.  


We spent Sunday at home and at church enjoying the decorations and some Sound of Music in the evening. 

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Two Weeks’ Worth of Memories in One Entry

We didn’t get to the blog last Sunday as we were having too much fun with extended family! So you get a two weeks in one entry. Wish we could say that meant more photos and stories, but it doesn’t. Anyway, here’s our past fortnight in 1,000 words or less.

Week ending 11/12:
Mike has done a lot of traveling the last few weeks. Good thing he has a rewards number. He was in California to start the week, flying back on Monday. Hallie was sure happy to have another adult at home again! As far as the rest of Mike’s week was concerned, it was pretty routine. More meetings are filling up his days.

Eliza made a small drum in her Monday after-school music enrichment class. Both she and Landon had school. Landon, however, ended up spending a couple of days home sick with whatever Hallie had contracted the weekend before.

We got Eliza’s score back from her meet. She placed first overall with consistent second place finishes in all her events.  Go, girl!

We had intended to go down to Cedar City over the weekend for the temple open house, but we had to change plans at the last minute. Instead, on Friday night we watched Cars 3 after Landon got home from gymnastics.

On Sunday at church, Mike got called to co-teach with Hallie. That means the four of us are in Primary now! In the evening, we got together with Hallie’s local-area cousins in Orem for a big holiday dinner. There were around 15 kids in attendance, and they all got along pretty darn well for most of them just meeting. Everyone pitched in with food, and it was sure good to the taste buds. It was fun seeing some cousins we haven’t seen in close to seven years.

Week ending 11/19:
On Monday, Eliza went to the eye doctor, and now she will wear glasses full-time. She found some really cute ones!

Eliza also finished up her music enrichment classes this week. She made a guitar from a cereal box. This same day Eliza had an eye appointment. Signs have been blurry to her and so we thought it may be time to move from readers to something else. The eye doctor confirmed our suspicions and any day her new glasses will be ready to wear.

Hallie and Eliza spent time at the end of last week and for a lot of the time on Monday evening gathering names for our Butter Braid fundraiser with Airtime Training Center. Mom is in charge of the fundraising, and Eliza wanted to earn money to help pay for expensive sport. Landon was not interested in earning money, so he did not go out, and so Mom made sure Eliza got all of the money. Eliza was brave and did a majority of the talking at all of the doors we went to, most of which belonged to homes of people she had never met.

Tuesday evening Hallie had a fundraising meeting at Airtime and then came home to pick up Mike and dinner. We then headed back to Airtime to pick up the kids a bit early from practice so we could head off to a concert. Last year Marilyn and Dwight had told us what an amazing concert the Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, and Jordan Smith concert was. So, when Hallie heard they were coming to town and she found a good deal on Groupon we decided we all should go. It took a bit of time to get into the venue, and thank heavens they postponed the concert until a lot of people got into the venue. Landon loved the full orchestra, and Hallie loved all the singing of songs both old and new.



Mike and Eliza went to the kick-off of Westside Elementary's WatchDOGS program, Dads and Donuts.

On Thursday nights Hallie babysits at gymnastics. The kids are becoming more used to her and a lot less crying is happening which makes for a better night for everyone. Phew! But when Mike travels we all get home very late, which means homework does not usually get done, and it is hard to get the kids up the next morning. Hopefully with Thanksgiving this week we can get back on to a bit of a schedule.

Fergus thinks he needs a seat at the table.

Hallie and the kids watched the Emoji movie and had pizza which is our normal Friday routine. It was supposed to snow in the valleys three inches, but we did not see one flake. You can see it all over the mountains. It will be here soon enough. The kids can’t wait! 

Landon has just three weeks before his first meet of the season. It is called Cold Turkey, and it will be in Woods Cross, UT. He knows it is coming up, but is already quite nervous.

A bit of cleaning happened while Mike was in Denver at a conference from Thursday through Saturday. The kids are never quite fond of helping Hallie with the chores, but Eliza jumped up and was super willing to help where needed.
FYI, Santa has been spotted at Denver's City and County Building. 

The crispness  in the air tells us that fall is waning and winter is approaching. Makes for pleasant Sunday walks to and from church. Mike likes teaching with Hallie!

Sunday, November 05, 2017

While Dad’s Away, Mom Gets Sick

This last weekend wasn’t the greatest for Hallie with Mike gone. She was feeling under the weather while Mike was out in California enjoying a bit of warm weather.

Hallie and the kids returned Monday from visiting family. Mike picked them up after work. He didn’t get to visit for long (just that night and the morning) before it was time for him to make his own trips.

Mike traveled to California not once, but twice this week, first to Oakland for a conference, then to SoCal for some advising and visiting with family.

This meant that he missed Halloween fun with the rest of the gang. The use of that word may depend on your perspective. While the kids had fun, Hallie didn’t quite feel the same way. The kids participated in parties and a parade at school before going trick-or-treating around the neighborhood in the evening (gymnastics got canceled).




Mike returned home on Wednesday night, got some shut-eye, and then went up to BYU for meetings and other work before heading back to the airport some 20 hours later for his second flight.

Hallie got to spend even more time with the kids as the single caregiver for the rest of the weekend. She’ll need a vacation once Mike gets home!

On Saturday, Eliza had her second meet of the season. She did quite well, improving on her performance overall from her last meet. Proud of you, Girlie-O!



Hallie started feeling ill after eating some sweet treats from a local bakery, but she wasn’t sure if it was the food or something else. Landon started showing signs of illness Sunday night. Let's hope Eliza doesn't follow suit.

This weekend marked the 50th anniversary of the Simi Valley LDS Stake, so it was a bit of old home with visitors coming back to town to remember and celebrate. As Mike’s mom is involved in family history, she was asked to help set up a display recounting temple and family history work in the stake. Several rooms in the stake center had similar displays with photos and artifacts recounting the history of church programs and activities over the last half century. Mike kept his mom company while people walked in and visited as they toured the exhibits. In the evening, the stake held a fireside where former and current leaders reminisced about all has transpired as residents of the Simi Stake have striven to build a Zion community.