2021, August 23-29

First full week of school, BYU annual conference, and prepping for new flooring and paint occupied us this week. Also, we spent a lot of time with the cat.

Here is Eliza bothering loving on Fergus before taking a break from school. Hallie stayed home this week from work to do remote instruction with Eliza while Mike had meetings for University Conference. 

We are so glad Eliza makes it look like it was all fun and games during the week, but boy, the girls worked hard on school work, and before you know it, it was time to go get Landon from school and then take both of the kids to gymnastics.

Lily started her first day of kindergarten on Wednesday. The girls all got together at Zeppe's beforehand for some celebratory gelato. Where has time gone with these two?! Hallie checked in with Sarah (Lily's mom) after she dropped her off. The two moms commiserated, and Hallie may have cried just as much. 

As Mike went to pick up Landon from gym on Wednesday afternoon, he spied some glorious sun rays emanating through the clouds. This was our last day of clear skies before smoke rolled back in from California again. 

Fergus likes to keep Mike company as he works. Sometimes the cat flashes his delectable belly, which none of us can resist petting, even though we know it will result in an attack. Eliza did an Instagram Reel of her petting him, and within minutes it had over 100 likes, but because Eliza didn't aske if she could post it under Hallie's Instagram, the mean mom deleted it.

Eliza had a doctor's appointment Friday at the new hospital. Apparently they grow catnip (nepeta faasenii) out front for the bees. We'll have to get Fergus a sample next time we go.  

Last week, Landon kept his cool and helped out when a fellow student injured himself. He received this note from his principal. We appreciated her thoughtfulness. Things have been a bit challenging at home and at the gym, so it meant a lot. Thursday was a mental day at home for Landon, and he did not go to gym for two days. This mom and dad are a bit overwhelmed with teenage boy life.

In lieu of movie night on Friday, we had a family dinner at Cravings Bistro with the kids followed up with dessert at Blox Dessert Bars. Some of us had more fun than the other (hint, hint), but everything tasted great!

Look at these monsters! So tasty! We had to taste all the varieties they had, and there were a lot of favorites. It was great that they were so big that we could share.

As we removed items from downstairs in preparation for getting the walls painted and new floors put in, Fergus found a cat trap. Hopefully he moves soon. Otherwise his new home will be in the garage for the next bit.

On Saturday, we had pizza and a movie with pies from Mod and Via 313. Via 313 serves Detroit (AKA Sicilian) style pizza baked in a rectangular pan with the sauce above the cheese and toppings. Most of their stores are in Texas, but they recently opened in Orem. Hallie won a small pepperoni and a cinnamon bread. After she picked up the yummy pizza Hallie spun the wheel of prizes and won cheese bread for their next trip to Via 313.

This week Hallie saw on Instagram that if you are a teacher you could sign up for Buy One Get One Free Mod Pizza. So she signed up, and it came in the email, so we had lots of yummy pizza and finished the movie we started the week before for Mike's movie night, Race. It was about Jesse Owens, and the movie was good!

On Sunday morning Mike came downstairs to feed the cat, and he found the boy asleep still wearing his reading glasses (which probably meant he snuck downstairs to play Fortnite and get a bite to eat). He stayed napping on the couch until about noon. It is hard being thirteen.

Fergus was really in a mood to play fetch this morning, bringing his bracelet up and downstairs to find someone to play with. 

Mike indulged the kitty between sips of mate. They're buds, so how could he resist? 

Sunday evening we got Landon to move some more of the packed boxes to the garage for us, and we spent a bit of time chatting with our neighbor. It was a rough week emotionally for most of the family, so Sunday came as a nice day of rest which we all needed. We hope next week brings less doctor appointments and more time doing things for ourselves.

2021, August 16-22

Summer vacation ended, and a new school year began. We had a visit to urgent care and with Landon's birth mom and brother. The weather is hinting at fall, but there's plenty of heat to be had.  

On Monday, Eliza had gymnastics at 7:30 in the morning. These early practices were hard for the parents maybe more than the child, but Eliza is happy and we are taking gymnastics day by day at the new gym she has decided to attend. She exchanged gifts as part of a "secret sister" activity. 

Landon and Hallie picked up Eliza and then headed to Landon's 8th grade open house. Not sure if it is because none of Landon's friends are in his classes this year or because he is 13 and is just moody, but Landon does not want to go to school. He attends and is not a problem to his teachers. After having him unenthusiastically meet each of his teachers the three of us headed to Bold to drop Landon off at gym.

From Bold Hallie and Eliza headed to Eliza's open house. Eliza is doing school online this year, but she will have a teacher dedicated to her grade level from our district. Her teacher was a teacher she knew through her online learning last year. After meeting her teacher we headed over to the office of Special Ed, and we met Mrs. Daniels who will be teaching Eliza reading online. During our time with Mrs. Daniels the teacher and Hallie put together that Mrs. Daniels helped Mike and Hallie with the adoption process of Eliza nearly 11 years ago. What?! How crazy is that? As we left Eliza said, "Mom, my cheeks hurt so much from smiling."

We quickly headed to horseback riding where Eliza was making up a lesson from the previous week. We were running a bit late, but everyone waited for Eliza. After her lesson and on our way home Eliza told Hallie that the horse she was helping her friend get ready stepped on her foot. Hallie thought it must not have been that bad if she didn't tell her for nearly two hours and she never told her trainer. By about 9:00 p.m. it was time for Eliza to be asleep, and we heard her crying saying her foot hurt. Sure enough, it was a bit swollen and not her normal skin color. 

Tuesday started off with a bit of worry when Eliza's foot looked and felt worse than the day before. Hallie took Eliza to gymnastics for her coaches to look at her foot. After a few minutes Hallie and the coaches decided to take her to the urgent care and to have her foot x-rayed. The urgent care is part of the new hospital in Spanish Fork, and they took great care of us. In the end we found out that Eliza's foot was just really bruised. Thank heavens for it not being broken! Back to gymnastics she went with her foot lightly wrapped to remember not to use it very much for the next week. The pain has been off and on, but by Friday she was finally feeling a lot better!

As a last hurrah before school starts, we got peach floats from Burgess Orchards up in Alpine. We got rained on pretty hard, but we had fun. 

Gymnastics was cancelled for Landon on Tuesday and Wednesday. We had a very bored child on our hands. 

On Wednesday everyone started a new school year! Eliza started 5th grade with Mike as her own private teacher, Hallie took Landon to 8th grade on her way to her job for year #2 as a special ed technician in a mild-to-moderate special ed class. After school Mike took the kids to Twisted Sugar, a local sugar cookie/soda shop that had a fun back to school arch and yummy special sugar cookies for back to school. After the kids were sugared up Mike dropped Eliza off at gymnastics and Hallie met them there. It rained a ton today, and after being at gym for a few hours Eliza's foot was hurting her and it was time to go home. 

Thursday dawned with more clouds and bluster. Fergus joined Mike and Eliza for their morning reading activity. He's such a love.  

Mike did the after-school pick up this week, and after dropping Landon off at gym, he got reminded that Landon had a physical therapy appointment. What should have been a 15 minute trip dragged on for over 30 as stop signs, trains, and a school bus's flashing red lights thwarted their movement through Provo. After getting frustrated at first, we had to just shrug it off and have a laugh. We got to the therapist late, but it all worked out, and maybe we avoided some unknown hazard en route. 

Mike and Hallie were scheduled to do date night in the evening, but Eliza was acting up by the end of the day, so we opted to hold off. Instead, Hallie and Alicia went to Quiero Mas for quesadillas and luchadores.

By the time Friday hit, we were ready for summer to be back! After dropping the kids off at gym, Hallie met Mike up in Pleasant Grove for a French Dip sandwich and smothered French fries at Cravings Bistro.  We got some tasty cookies too.

On the way home, Mike stopped to pick up a pizza order for the kids at Hungry Howie's, a chain we used to frequent in Michigan. Sadly, he had a bad experience here. After arriving, he was told by the kids working their that first they couldn't find the order and that next it was coming up. Some 40 minutes after his arrival, one of the kids found the pizza in a warming oven waiting for pickup. Grr! 

Saturday was pretty low-key for Mike and the kids. Landon got up early but fell asleep watching TV. 

Eliza did a bunch of work cleaning her room. 

Hallie got her hair done. After she came home, all of us did a deep clean of the house's toilets based on a YouTube video Mike found. The sparkly commodes gleamed after not too long an effort.  

On Sunday, we spent time with Landon's birthmom and brother up at Wheeler Farm. Afterward, we went to Natalie's work, KOU (Korean BBQ of Utah) for some more together time. 

2021, August 9-15

The kids spent most of the week at gyms of one sort or another. A highlight was the three days they spent at a camp up at USA Gymnastics World. 

On Wednesday Hallie, Eliza, Lily, and Sarah spent time outdoors at the splash pad and having lunch. In the four years Hallie has been babysitting Lily this is one of the few times the four girls have hung out together, and it was a nice time. Too bad it had to end quickly and real life had to kick back into high gear.

Hallie spent her last few days of the summer babysitting these lovelies and some of their siblings. It is so fun to watch them have a good time together and laughing.

Mike discovered that the local Smith's has had this huge mural for four years now. You think you know a place. . . .

Hallie and Eliza went to the eye doctors to get Eliza's glasses fixed, and Eliza overheard one of the employees offer some kids a toy, so we asked for a toy for Eliza. Lo and behold, she got a groovy glow-in-the-blue light pen, and Mike had to try it out. 

Here is Lily sporting her free time at the splash pad. Eliza took Lily's favorite food/snack and turned it into a bit of outdoor spa time. 

Mike took Landon to physical therapy and for haircuts, and Landon took pictures. He enjoys his new-to-him phone (sans cell service) for its camera and media player functions.

 

(Dad deliberately made faces to ruin L's pics)

Landon has helped out with coaching at gym this summer he will be able to continue a bit into the school year. Hopefully this experience will give him a sense of whether coaching might be a career option. 

Madison, Chloe, and Owen have helped keep Hallie company on and off over the last four years. It has been fun to see their family grow and the kids change each summer.

On Thursday-Saturday, Hallie took the kids and some others from the gym to a gymnastics camp at USA Gymnastics World in Bountiful. Can you recognize some of these faces from the pictures below or have you heard of these awesome athletes?

*Alec Yoder

*Devy Dyson

*Kyle Khou

*Milan Clausi

*Jose Lopez

*Kim Tessen

*Jimmy Pratt

*Maile Okeefe

*Jake Dalton

*Carly Patterson

*Danell Leyva

*Travis Rainer

*John Robinson

*Nicolle Ford

Fergus and Mike held the fort/graded papers at home. 

Mike's work backpack has a fair amount of bling. 

Oh! And we got a physical photo of the kids when they went to the aquarium a little while back.