2022, March 21-27

Spring is here. Time for change. . . . 

Of course, in Mike's opinion, this should not mean changing flat tires and buying four new ones (anyone keeping track of the "emergency" expenditures we've been absorbing lately?), but life happens. Fortunately, his blowout on I-15 happened in light traffic and near an exit, was more of a rapid leak that allowed him to get over to a parking lot, and was easily remedied. Thanks again to Marilyn for being ready to come out and for our neighbor Matt who came out and got the spare filled. We can't express how grateful we are.  

Mike had the opportunity to give a couple of presentations about Argentina at Merit on Tuesday. In preparation, we of course had to get some tasty treats to give the students a full sensory experience. Hallie purchased empanadas and alfajores. Those Havannas are getting pretty pricey anymore! 

When Hallie got her nails done, she made a couple of new friends. 

Uncle Bryce graduated from training out in Georgia in preparation for his next move to Hawaii. They showed it online, so Hallie (and her ISS students) got to watch. 

After some precipitation last week, we had tons of sun this week, which meant clear skies and beautifully blanketed peak views at Creekside. Now that Sara's back from the UK, Eliza is back in the saddle. 

Hello, Loki. 

One of Mike's Discord heraldry friends made a surprise chibi family scene. Aren't we kawaii?!

Among Mike's artistic interests are Ukrainian pysanky. For those unfamiliar, pysanky are wax resist (AKA batik) dyed eggs in intricate patterns. Several years ago, he was able to participate in a workshop at Wayne State. By happenstance, he did a random Google search for "pysanky Utah" a couple of weeks back and found a class nearby up in American Fork at a new local boutique and art class venue called Beespoke scheduled for this weekend. With Hallie's encouragement, he enrolled the four of us. We had fun. Pysanky are hard to make! Also, we learned that the teacher, Chris Spencer, is someone whose work Mike has followed on social media. He posted about the class on his Instagram account, which shows a picture of some of his work. 

Here are some pictures of our own modest efforts. While it was challenging, it's always great to learn a new skill, appreciate others' talents, and spend time together as a family. Mike is grateful that we were able to spend the time together! 

Oh, and Fergus spent a lot of time napping on laps. Good kitty!

In other news, Eliza is still spitting up blood several times a week. After she called Hallie from school this last week, Hallie called the GI doctor, and they said they would scope her. First, they said April 29, and Hallie said that the doctors told her it would be easier to get her scoped than the first appointment we had. So, the scheduler said April 12. It is not ideal, but we will take and hope that a scope can tell us something.