2023, January 23-29

We've racked up 950 posts in some 19-odd years. Both numbers are shocking, to be honest. Mike and Hallie have also been married for quite a while, and we celebrated our anniversary too! 

Hallie and Eliza went out to breakfast at Peace on Earth Coffee in Provo on Monday while they waited for a friend at a doctor's appointment. There is a great seating area at the coffee shop, and Eliza and Hallie played mean games of Uno and tic tac toe. After the appointment Hallie took the girls ice skating. This was Eliza's first time on skates, and she did so well! Eliza said she would like to go again some day.

Later at Bridle Up Hope, the girls saw some deer who had come down from the slopes. There wereclose to 15 deer, and Hallie acted like she had never seen deer. But hey, what makes you happy, take a picture of it.

The beautiful horses of Bridle Up Hope out for a turn in the pasture.

Meanwhile on Monday Mike took a group of his graduate students to a three-day secondary school administrator conference in St. George. 

Landon enjoys fish sticks. You think?

On Tuesday after their sessions, Mike took his group up to Red Hills Desert Garden north of town. 

Mike found a mountain scene reminiscent of the new proposed Utah flag. 

Lots of beautiful red rock scenery. 

The sexy best says, "Hi."

Mike and his group had a great time, but he was happy to get home. 

Eliza has gotten into the full swing of things at BUH. This week she participated in Yoga, Knitting, Sewing and cleaning stalls (Service). 

Landon continues to recuperate from his back injury. On Wednesday, he may have overdone things a bit, so he took a rest with Mr. Thorne. 

Hallie has been doing a dinosaur unit this week at the preschool. 

She had to take Eliza to the hospital for a scalp issue on Thursday. While there, the girls got a meal at the cafeteria. Hallie got Beef Stroganoff, and it reminded her of when her mom made it growing up. It was way too much food, so she shared it with Landon, and he seemed to like it as well. Good job, SF Hospital.

Here's the view of the snowy peaks east of the university campus. Chilly, but beautiful. 

Eliza is winding up her time at Guide 'N' Gallop. She's learned quite a bit about western style riding in a short time. Eliza is a bit sad to be leaving, and we hope to return in a bit. Below Eliza is training Dante. Eliza has loved being given the task of helping to train and work with the horses over the last five months. 

Afton's dog is very friendly. P.S., the dog did not kiss Hallie. If you know anything about Hallie, you know she would not have let that happen. 

The state legislature is moving the new flag legislation through. They made an amendment this week with the star under the beehive (which Mike still thinks should be a sego lily, but that ship has sailed), adjusting it from eight to five points. 

Mike actually saw (the old version of) the proposed flag flying from a nearby home as he went riding. Good to see other fans in the neighborhood!

We got snow on Sunday, which meant mostly staying in from the cold. Speaking of colds, Mike is fighting one that he probably got while traveling. Grr. 

 This last week while Mike was gone was incredibly busy, and Hallie is grateful that he is home.

2023, January 16-22

Winter continues to provide cold and flashes of beauty. The kids have settled into their new routines. We had some chances to be creative as well. 

As Mike was getting ready to donate plasma Monday morning, Eliza showed up downstairs. He sent her back to bed, saying, "My side of the bed is still warm if you want to go lie down with Mom." Zip! Off she went. Hallie sent this photo about an hour later. We cherish the small moments we share with our kids. 

Monday's MLK Holiday mostly meant people stayed at home. Fergus held Mike hostage. 

Landon went to the gym, where he spent close to eight hours hanging, er, working out. 

Mike eventually got Fergus to sleep on his own so he could go for a ride and run some errands with Hallie while Eliza participated in some classes at Bridle Up Hope. 

Tuesday was a pretty normal, if chilly, day. Eliza enjoyed putting Dante through his paces. Eliza has really grown to love some of the horses at Guide N Gallop. There are some sad feelings about leaving, but we hope to be back to visit and ride in the future.

 

We got some Instagram screen shots from Eliza's Monday cooking class at BUH. She got to learn how to use a wok to make stir fry bowls. The woman in the picture is a certified chef. Eliza is blessed to be able to be taught by professionals.

 

The road out to Payson for therapy was a little iffy due to a bit of weather we got in the evening. Mom and Dad made it, and it was a good session. Even though therapy can be hard at times, it is worth the work.

Landon likes to take selfies of himself from odd angles. Parenting a 15-year-old boy is a whole new ball game.

He's also letting his hair grow long. Hallie isn't a fan as he flips his head when he eats to get his hair out of his face when he eats. Landon loves to bug Mike, and Hallie finds it really funny. Landon is very funny and knows how to lift Hallie's spirits. 

Landon has decided that Spanish is hard. Verb conjugations kick his hiney, and stem changing verbs are even worse. Mike is sad because he thinks Spanish is pretty straightforward. Then again, Mike catches onto a lot of things of this sort and finds many things Landon finds easy to be quite challenging. 

In preparation for TKD on Wednesday, Landon put his hair up. Yes, it's that long. He asked Hallie to put it in a ponytail. Landon didn't know the difference Hallie put in pigtails. As soon as he looked in the mirror he quickly pulled them out. Meanwhile, Hallie was laughing so hard.

The morning sun played on the east side of Mt. Timpanogos on Thursday. This picture doesn't do the glow justice.

 

Eliza played with Nugget in the afternoon. After riding Nugget, Eliza thought Nuggets mane was covering her eyes too much, so a braided bun in the front was called for.

At her show-and-tell at Yates' Place, Eliza showed off pictures of photogenic Fergus. The kids went so far as to pick Fergus' dating profile. Poor kitty. But she sure does love him.

On Saturday, Mike and Hallie went out for an early anniversary date to the Featured Female Market and then to brunch to Communal in Provo. We shared brioche French toast and fish tacos, which were tasty. There are several other items we'd like to try in the future. 

Later in the day, Mike took Eliza to the Make-and-Take at Michael's in Orem. We had a little pyrography (wood burning) class where we drew on hardwood slices. 

Eliza also made a yarn-wrapped cardinal to brighten up the bleakness. 

Later on, Mike took a ride around the neighborhood. Here's a view of what he thinks is Loafer Mountain and Santaquin Peak due south of us. 

In the evening, Buckley Mountain was still quite visible after sunset with all the snow. 

On Sunday morning after about 9:00, we started getting snow that fell light but steady for the rest of the day.

 

Hallie let Eliza do her hair. This is the result. Hopefully, one day Eliza gets the hair styling thing down and Hallie can go out of the house with a decent 'do.

Mike watched the Orpheus Reed Trio perform at the Springville Art Museum in the afternoon. He appreciates that we have these kinds of events so close.