2020, July 20-26

We had relatives come to visit as part of Grandma and Grandpa M.'s 50th anniversary, which happens to coincide with Pioneer Day and the Utah Valley Parade of Homes. 

On Monday, most of the extended family went up to ride the Heber Valley Railroad. They got gorgeous mountain views and had a good time hanging out. 

Hallie has a lot of selfies with her brother Riley, and it is fun to look back and relive the memories.

We wish Mike could have come with us, but BYU has him teaching all day on Mondays. :(

The kids enjoyed getting reacquainted with their cousins, aunts, and uncles.  

We had a few friendly neighbors come to visit. 

Mike's car reached a milestone this week. Strange to think we've had the Sorento for over 7 years! 

Some of the grands' neighbors own a Polaris, and they took all the kids on a ride in the hills. 

Toward evening, storm clouds rolled in, bringing dramatic skies. 

Eliza came close to communing with a few bucks who ventured (kind of) close. Eliza is quite adventurous, and everyone thought we were letting her do this, but no. She had already gotten quite close before we realized. Thank heavens no bucks charged this little cutie pie.

In the equestrian world, Eliza took on a few new skills. Eliza had an early morning makeup lesson on Friday, and while we were waiting for things to start she thought it was fun to put Rue in Hallie's bubble of comfort.

This is what our Pioneer Day looked like. Gorgeous! 

All too soon, the reason for this year's party arrived: Dwight and Marilyn's 50th Anniversary. Here they are with the grandchildren. 

It's a bit like wrangling cats sometimes, . . . 

. . . and it's especially funny to watch the parents do the wrangling. :) 

We gave the celebrants an intimate dinner. 

Afterwards, a toast! 

A last bit of time on the trampoline, and then off to bed! 

Aww! Such cuties. . . . One last picture before the majority of the party had to head back home.

2020, July 13-19

Our new refrigerator arrived on Monday. Eliza had equestrian-related goings-on. Family from out of state came to visit the grandparents this week. 

New fridge. Woo hoo! 

Mike got a great plague doctor mask from Hallie’s co-worker. If we’re going to need to wear them, we may as well have fun with it! 

As long as we’re doing selfies, here’s one sans masque.

Eliza had fun with Lily during the week. 

She continues developing her skills, both in the gym and with the horses. 

2020, July 6-12

We didn't really have a whole lot go on this week. It was hot out (hello, summer), and our 12-year-old refrigerator decided to die on us this weekend. 

Both kids had gymnastics this week. Eliza worked super hard for her coaches, and we are so proud of her good attitude and hard work. Landon said he has been learning some new skills, and we can't wait to see them soon!

Hallie still has been tending to her garden. This week she picked cherry tomatoes, a few Big Boys and two zucchini that she shared with the neighbors. As the week neared an end some Roma tomatoes  would be ready, along with two more zucchini and cherry tomatoes. Hopefully, the peppers will turn fun colors next week.

Eliza rode horses, and both kids went to the gym. This picture doesn't do her riding at the end of practice justice. Here Eliza is riding bare back and through a big sprinkler. Eliza loved it, and so did her horse Rue. We recently switched stables, and Eliza is so happy! Hallie likes taking a flavored water and sitting in the shad to enjoy Eliza's happiness.

Fergus spent more time indoors or in the bushes near the front door. Eliza loves seeing Fergus asleep like this so whether he knew it or not he was modeling for the camera.

Eliza played a lot on Hallie's phone. Playing on Hallie's phone is how we keep Eliza busy in the car while Hallie takes her to horse back riding or any number of errands.

She also helped babysit Chloe. The last two times the girls have babysat Chloe, Eliza held her nearly the whole time. Chloe still does not like leaving her mom but sitting outside helps a bit. This nap below was all of 15 minutes.

We watched the movie Midway on Friday after going to the food truck roundup in Spanish Fork. Eliza doesn't like the crusts of her pizzas, so she ended up with this. . . . Thanks, Fiore Pizza!

As we were getting ready for bed, Hallie noticed that something wasn't right with the freezer. Sure enough, it had stopped working. So, we weighed our options the next morning and decided it was time to get a new one. We have heard some stories about how it can be hard to find appliances lately. We got a good-enough fridge from a local retailer. Man, they can be expensive! Hallie and Eliza had gone to Draper to Horse Crazy to find riding pants, and on their way home they stopped at Home Depot and R.C. Willey. Eventually, after consultation with Mike the girls picked a fridge that will be delivered Monday. Otherwise, we would have to wait until sometime mid- to end-of-August. Yikes!

2020, June 29-July 5

We transitioned into the second half of the year this week. The days are getting warmer if marginally shorter. Three fires in the valley remind us how dry the weather has been. We celebrated Independence Day with barbecue and fireworks. 

Eliza continues enjoying her time with the horses.

We saw Eliza's friend from the gym, Morgan, quite a bit this week. Eliza went over to Morgan's house on a couple of days, and Morgan came over on others. 

One day while tending to the garden, the girls saw a big ol' dragonfly on the sidewalk. They were most impressed. 

A little while back, Hallie had bought Eliza and Lily matching dresses. Lily loves wearing hers, while Eliza seems somewhat less enthusiastic about being a twinner. 

Hallie, Hallie, quite the gal-ie, how does your garden grow? With bright green bells . . .

and Roma tomatelles . . . 

and little gourds all in four rows. The garden keeps growing. We have drilled holes in the bottom of our containers with the hope that they'll drain a bit more, and we've asked the neighbors to refrain from giving them extra water. 

We decorated the door with a summery wreath. 

The girls earned candy at gym. 

Plus Eliza earned a Barbie. 

And Morgan and Eliza made their 3rd event, the beam.

Low flying copters were doing who-knows-what. There was a long line hanging down and it was quite mysterious in Spanish Fork so Hallie made her sidekick Eliza take the picture.

Mike added new emblazons to stick onto the things he owns. 

He continues refining his Adobe Illustrator skills. This particular emblazon features a hanging beehive and has a hidden M-A-O. 

A new Italian ice store opened up. Clearly, there may be a reason COVID-19 cases are rising in the state. 

Glorious sun rays graced us on Friday. 

On July 4, after hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, we went to G&G Maygren's to watch the fireworks and eat s'mores by the fire pit. Yumm-O!