2022, October 17-23

We celebrated the boy turning 15 this week, and we hope we're not already going to have to trade the pleasant fall weather for winter's chill (although the rain is nice). 

Here we see Eliza modeling a shirt she got from our neighbor. The shirt has a rodeo theme, and that makes Eliza happy.

Here we see Eliza reading the book about horses Grandpa O. sent her. 

Here we see Eliza training the miniature horse at Guide 'N Gallop. 

And here we see Eliza picking a witch's nose at the Springville Museum of Art's Halloween party on Wednesday. She had a good time, but she may be outgrowing some of the little kid activities. 

Here we see Landon practicing Tae kwon do on Wednesday in Spanish Fork. The son of Hallie's coworker owns the studio, and Landon told Mom he may have found his new thing. 

Here we see Fergus sitting on Landon's lap. Landon specifically asked Mike to take the photo. Somehow documenting Fergus sittings matters now. 

Here we see Landon riding a tuxedoed flamingo. 'Tis the season for fun Halloween costumes. 

On Saturday morning, we awoke to dramatic skies to the east and the promise of rain. Sure enough, we got rain for most of the afternoon and evening. Eliza went to a horsemanship at Guide 'N Gallop where she learned about vaccinating horses. Eliza was able to vaccinate a horse named Sunny that also let her know that he didn't like the fact she gave him a vaccine. Do we say Eliza is a true horsewoman? Sunny kicked Eliza in the wrist. It is never a dull moment with this girl.

Here is a shameless plug for the TV series Andor. We're low-key Star Wars fans, and Mike particularly likes how well-written, acted, and done overall this show is. The others in the family don't (yet) fully appreciate what this series has done with the rich possibilities of its source material. They'll get there. This dude (Major Partagaz of the Imperial Security Bureau) shines.   

We celebrated Landon's birthday Sunday with bacon, eggs, orange rolls, and presents. The boy got his first electric razor. Fancy, fancy! We're currently on the hunt for photos where we catch our mercurial lad actually smiling. 

The razor was a bit more complicated than we might have expected initially. He'll get the hang of it. Also on display are a ramen bowl we got for him from Muddy Pants Pottery and a print of Venom and Peter Parker Eliza bought for him. 

Overnight, the rain became snow in the mountains. The weather got chillier as the day went on. 

We took Landon and a couple of friends out to a movie (Black Adam, which was pretty forgettable) and In-N-Out Burger.

By the end of the outing, Landon was a bit tired. 

The resemblance is definitely still there, but he's much less our baby boy than he used to be.