December is Done!

With this post, 2019 is done. We had lots of late fall/early winter chill along with snow both natural and paper-cut.

Many of Mike's paper snowflakes graced his department's office foyer.

Eliza was feeling lonely at school early this month, but a surprise visit from Coach Sarah and Lily brought some fun and cheer.

Mike kept experimenting with new techniques.

Eliza got silly with Hallie's camera and Coach Morgan!

Eliza also had the opportunity to earn a little cash by babysitting our neighbor's sweet little doggies. She was super responsible, and everyone had a good time. It gave her the experience of dog ownership without all the responsibility.

Speaking of pet ownership responsibilities, Fergus was a bit of a pill this month. Here he is showing off his cat belly. Later in the month, he has a well-visit, where he ended up getting immunization shots and eye drops. Then on the morning of Christmas Eve, he came home with some bloody bites and scratches. Fortunately, the vet was able to see him that day, so he got more shots and meds and seems to be recovering well. We love him, even when he gives us scares.

Some mornings you need a Fa La La La Latte.

Have we ever mentioned that the kids are super strong? Here is Eliza doing finger hold pull ups.

Mike decorated his office complete with lights, his stocking from when he was a boy, and wood elf Boris.

The kids' meet season began with a couple of events midway into the month on the same Saturday. In the morning, Eliza and her teammates competed up in Bountiful at the Judges' Cup. She did well, and we look forward to great things from her this season.

From there we raced back to Springville, where Landon and Hallie got dropped off at AirTime so he could prep for his meet while Mike and Eliza went to her horseback riding party. Here Eliza is with her coach, Makaila, and Santa Horse. After the party, we joined Hallie and Landon at his meet. We look forward to great things from him as well!

Lily is such a cutie pie! Here she is at the girls' holiday party at AirTime.

Eliza and Mike had a bit of daddy-daughter time, and Eliza introduced Mike to papercraft masks. We had fun. The kids have really embraced their dad's artistic hobbies, coming up with many creations of their own.

Mike took Hallie on a date to the Skyroom Restaurant on the university's campus. On Mondays this semester they have a Canadian-themed menu, complete with poutine (or something that tries to be poutine). The perogies were on point!

Sunpro had Santa over for a visit, so we went down to get pictures.

Fergus has discovered the heat vent (inconveniently) placed right under Hallie's sink in the master bathroom.

We have had some beautiful sunrises and sunsets to close out the year. Here is an example of a late autumn morning.

Mike had iron-on patches made of his arms. Kind of neat to see them on his backpack!

For the last three years, Mike and the department secretaries have gotten together for brunch, gifts, and paper snowflakes. Here is this year's crop.

To wind up the year, Mike and Hallie helped out in Landon's classroom. They made paper snowflakes and cards for their families, played games, and sang songs.

With the coming of winter, the deer have come to visit Grandma and Grandpa M.'s house. We managed to catch a few.

Mike took Landon to the university bookstore for some last minute gift shopping. The boy caught a ride with Santa and Cosmo.

All too soon, Christmas Eve arrived! The kids got each other new plush animals. So cute!

Santa arrived right on schedule.

Eliza woke up at somewhere around 2:00 a.m. (oh, help!) We managed to get her back to bed, but not before she got a preview of what Santa brought her.

We began Christmas morning with stockings in bed. Landon was soooo happy to be awake.

Annual stair shot in brand new PJs.

Hallie got Mike a gift of sugar skull-themed origami/kirigami. He had all sorts of fun cutting skulls and Christmas-themed kirigami

Landon was thrilled with his Lincoln Logs. This may be the last year for a while he takes in these simple joys. He also got new games for his Switch, and now that the den/man cave/guest room is more open, he spent a fair amount of his vacation honing his screen skills.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! On a flake!

The boy also got a new vest to add to his Nerf arsenal. When the cousins came up to visit Grandma and Grandpa M., the kids and Mike had a couple of great battles down in the basement.

Mike typically only cuts paper snowflakes during the Holidays. By the time the end of the month rolls around, he's explored all sorts of variations, including ones that hearken back to those found in nature.

Papa M. celebrated his birthday with the gang, getting waders and boots to go fly fishing.

Grandma and Grandpa Dorey sent gifts from Nova Scotia including homemade rocky road, Amos Pewter, Frenchies finds, and these matching knitted caps! Lady bugs for the win!

We closed out the new year playing Exploding Kittens and dining on veggies and molasses cookies. Before the kids got too goofy, we headed home.

Goodbye, 2019 and the 2010s! Greetings to a new year and a new decade!

November Nonsense

November sailed by as fall moved into winter and Halloween transitioned into Thanksgiving and from there to the Yuletide. 

We celebrated Día de los Muertos at the university's museum of people and cultures with friends Alexia and Sonny by decorating cookies and painting faces. 

Eliza got her hair cut even shorter. Looking good! Eliza loves the shorter 'do, but putting it up in a ponytail for gym is tricky. Leave it to Eliza she has found a way. Two ponytails! One on top like a Troll and the other on the bottom for all the little hairs.

We were a bit late with our Jack O'Lantern carving this year with the early hard freeze ruining the pumpkins we had planned to carve. Eliza still got her chance though, thanks to Provo Center St who handed out free pumpkins.

Birthday wishes continued to roll in for Landon from Grandma and Grandpa Dorey. Landon is looking handsome and old at 12.

Eliza took up a new activity: Horseback riding a couple of times per month. Taylor Ranch is doing a great job, and Eliza really is enjoying Trainer Mikayla.

Lincoln and the kids have enjoyed creative projects both inside and out of the house. Here they are making . . . something . . . out of boxes. Hallie says it is a house for Fergus.

Fergus was feeling under the weather (worms, probably), so Mike had to take him to the vet. Eliza provided some comfort.

Here she is, looking like a regular cowgirl. Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Owens for an early Christmas presents of cowgirl boots. The ladies at Reams in Provo were an awesome help to Eliza and Hallie who know nothing about buying cowgirl boots. Eliza loves the cowgirl boots. She has warn them several times to school and finds them quite comfortable.

The university's Dunk Team came to the kids' school to show off and reward the kids for their excellent behavior. In turn, our kids did their own showing off in the push up competition. Both Landon and Eliza rocked it, and even though we don't have a picture, Landon, Cosmo, and the athletes from the university did back flaps in unison.

One of Mike's students has connections with the university's athletics programs, so he and Hallie got to go to the university's last home game and see the team get ready right on the stadium field.

We got to see Cosmo, . . .

. . . and we had seats right on the 50 yard line! BYU won handily, so we got to sing the fight song a lot and overall had a great time. Go, Cougars! P.S., getting yummy food and having a great babysitter for the kids makes for a great afternoon for the adults.

Eliza got her competition leo. Ready to do her best! December 14th is the beginning of the craziest time of the year for us. All the girls on team looked amazing in their new leotards.

Lily has enjoyed accompanying Hallie on her errands, including doing some Christmas shopping. The Holy Cow Boutique in Lindon, Utah, is one of Hallie's favorite, and why not share it with the cutest 3-year-old on the planet.

Mike had a pre-Thanksgiving work trip to New Orleans. Always fun to go to the French Quarter. He wants Hallie to come with next time.

While Mike was gone, AirTime hosted a clinic for all the competitive teams. Here are two boys from Level 8 and two boys from Level 6.

After Mike got back, we did a little cleaning up around the house. This included burning old documents. Why burn them? Because we could.

Lily makes herself right at home. We love it! It is really fun to watch Landon play with Lily, and when he talks to her he talks in a much higher pitch. Quite cute.

We had a fun Thanksgiving at home this year. Thanksgiving is kind of a peculiar holiday for us. We have often either been away from extended family or traveling or otherwise occupied on the actual day. This year was no exception. We sent an RSVP to the neighborhood inviting anyone who didn't have a place to go for Thanksgiving to hang out with us, kind of like we had enjoyed doing in Detroit. As of Wednesday, we had no takers, so Mike more or less flippantly suggested we do pizza and ice cream for our meal. Hallie ran with the idea, and we got custom Papa Murphy's take-and-bake and fancy Rockwell flavors. Thanksgiving morning, we had a family take us up on our offer, so we enjoyed their company in the afternoon. Low key and very cool!

Earlier in the week, Eliza decided to re-pierce her ears with a mechanical pencil at school. Why? Because she could. Of course, her newly reopened holes got infected. Fortunately, Nurse Julie gave Hallie sound advice to go get Eliza's ears checked on Thanksgiving night. Who knew that the doctor's office would be open? Eliza decided to make a bed out of the fall decorations boxes and watch t.v. Fergus thought he should join her and was a great sport.

We got our first real snow over the weekend -- enough for snowmen and forts. Good job, Eliza!

Eliza showed off her finger strength, doing pull ups while holding herself up by her fingertips. Eliza is just as strong as Landon, and it is fun to watch the sibling competition.

With the passing of Thanksgiving, it was time to step into Christmas! Mike set up the tree and decorated the house, . . .

. . . and Hallie went shopping! Alicia and Hallie stopped by Pebbles in My Pocket and made some Make and Take cards. The roads were clear, and the trees were beautiful. The ladies ended all the way up in Heber, and they had a lot of fun!

Eliza met Santa at the Riverwoods in Provo, and she told Santa that for Christmas she wanted her family to be happy. She can be the cutest! A little tidbit, the jacket she is wearing in the picture Hallie bought in Michigan from another mom years ago. It now finally fits her great.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a great month!