2023, February 20-26

We had a bit of wild weather mid-week and otherwise did most of the week's routines because we're just cool snow bunnies like that. 

On Monday, Eliza took her friend Lexi to their nails done. This was how Eliza chose to spend her birthday even if it was a week or two later. The girls picked some fun designs. Hannah, our nail lady, has three very fun dogs named Winston, Nico, and Penny.

Wednesday brought snow, and then more snow, and then more snow. Eliza measured 8 inches at one point. She and Hallie got school canceled. Landon had a two-hour delayed start. Mike had meetings at home and opted to do his Thursday class online. After being in winters in so many different parts of North America, Hallie finds local drivers who are not as well equipped for this type of driving a bit annoying, probably because she almost got stuck on a hill when someone in front of her couldn't quite make the grade (so to speak).

Nothing will stop working with horses, and Bridle Up Hope was still in session. As she and Mike left BUH, we saw a couple of deer treading through the snow. The following day, as they came back from taking Landon to school, another deer bounded across Center Street right in front of them a few blocks east of Main. He's had fun talking to Eliza about the drivers who do crazy fishtails on the black ice and then doing a couple of his own to bring the point home. 

Landon started back up at TKD on Wednesday too. He said he needs to workout more. Taking close to three weeks off puts your body in spot that it does not like.

Eliza made bracelets at BUH, and we saw her on Instagram. Hallie gets excited when she finds her on IG and is always ready to snap a screenshot.

Who can resist taking a picture of this sleeping beau? 

Hey! Eliza was on another BUH post. At Bridle Up Hope for every ten hours of service or classes you take you will earn a free ride. Eliza has been working hard to achieve this! So far, she's earned enough service hours at this point to get three riding lessons, and she is well on her way to a fourth. 

Here she is riding Harvey on Friday. By looking at this picture of the girl just in a T-shirt, you would not know it was super cold outside. Well, maybe the snow might give it away. But Hallie is not happy Eliza is not wearing the coat or gloves Hallie sent her with. 

Mike taught class on campus Friday night and Saturday. On Saturday, Hallie took Landon to The Fellas Chop Shop for a far-overdue haircut. Up until we left, Landon said he wanted his hair long, so Hallie believed she was taking him for a trim and to clean up his side burns and neck. Much to her surprise, on the quick five-minute drive he asked about getting his hair cut like Ted from the TV show Schitt's Creek. Hallie whole heartedly believed he could pull it off. Landon found a picture on his phone and showed Jesse the barber. The first picture below is what he wanted.

Jesse went to work. 

(If looks could kill. To be honest, this is more Landon's resting serious face than any particular emotion.)

GQ, he's ready for his close-up. Hallie is quite proud of her photography skills. 

Later, Landon hung out with friends. We are so glad that the Blas/Drew family are our friends!

Hallie's Valentine's Day gift to Mike arrived in the mail. Woo hoo! 

"What're you lookin' at?"

Eliza wondered why we didn't want her going out in this outfit. We were able to convince her to change her shoes. Ha! Ha! Ha!

Ferg got trapped in the box the A Frame came in. Poor kitty. 

We started building on Sunday and are going to take a few days to savor the experience and the tiny details like squirrel-hidden acorns below the foundation and in the rafters. Mike was awesome to let Hallie take on some of the building while he took the boys out driving. Landon and Corbin took Mike's car out on the neighborhood roads and even got up to 30 mph. It is fun and a bit crazy to see the boys growing up so fast.

Ferg found a warm lap and did not want to let Eliza go. 

Eliza is quite busy and is not fond of these more relaxing weekends. However, Hallie and Mike really enjoy the less hectic life of the weekends as of late. This coming week will be quite busy, but we are excited to see everything that the week will hold for us.

2023, February 13 -19

We're seeing it get lighter earlier and later. This means we can stay out later and enjoy the beautiful (if chilly) scenery.  

Fergus keeps wanting to stay out overnight. Then he comes home cold and sleeps bundled up in blankets with whichever warm body is nearby. 

Eliza continues working on her knitting. We hope she is enjoying learning this skill. She has not made anything yet, but she seems to like what she's doing. 

Landon keeps working on his math. He'll need to choose classes for high school next week. He likes the social side of high school, but he's not as keen on the academic side. 

On Tuesday, Mom got the rest of us huge Valentine's Day cards. 

Eliza's friend Dayton invited her to Coin Crazy. They had a lot of fun and gave each other Valentines.

At BUH, Eliza did some painting. 

Here's Eliza with kids at school during a Valentine's party.

Fergus had a wee tiny blep and just wanted Mike to sit down so he could have a warm lap. 

On Friday, Hallie took Mike over to Dutch Bros for some Dutch love. The servers there were lots of fun and full of enthusiasm! 

On Saturday, Mike took Eliza to Michael's for their art activity. It was supposed to be related to Black History month, but the assistant didn't really seem interested in the theme. So we painted our own thing. 

Hallie and Alicia ran some errands in the morning, and later Hallie and Cristy went on a jaunt up to Midway to see what there was to see. They found some yummy food! Thank you Hidden Peak Provisions for an amazing lunch! We will definitely be back. It was a beautiful day and worth the 45 minute drive each way.

Mike took Landon and Corbin out driving on Sunday. As you can see, they all survived. Here's a before and after. The boys said they had fun. 

2023, February 6 - 12

Everything is super-duper at the Owens house. We now have a twelve-year-old to join our full-blown teen. 

To start the week, Eliza, Noelle, and Hallie took a trip around Provo to look at the murals and to collect fun stuff from gumball machines. The girls favorite was the stickers at Peace On Earth Coffee.

Fergus decided Eliza's doll bed would make a good perch. Landon wanted to take his picture. That's when things started getting weird. 

This is a separate weird pic of the cat. 

Eliza went all camo on Tuesday. Hallie tried to convince her to change one of the camos, but that was a no from the girl.

 

The snow sculpture maker updated his work. 

At BUH, Eliza made a zipper pouch. 

 

Wednesday morning, the kids noticed Fergus was acting strangely, chittering and staring at the wall. Turns out, he spied a spider. Was it a bold jumping spider? Who can tell? Anyway, the cat managed to avoid knocking over Mike's LEGOs and did not kill the spider, who crawled over to the door and presumably into the cold.

  

At BUH, some wild turkeys crossed Hallie and Eliza's path. Thanks to Google, the girls figured out what the birds were. Otherwise they would have had no idea.

Another weird blepping Fergus pic. 

For her birthday, our friend Julie made Eliza this horse-and-cowgirl-themed caramel layer cake. Eliza and Julie consulted and it was very yummy! Thank you Julie!

Eliza had fun making some impromptu art.

 

Hallie took Eliza out for a trip to the BUH shop in Alpine. Eliza had a lot of fun spending her own money and was very careful trying not to spend over her limit. Customer Service was top notch, and we even were given a tour of the barn and met all the horses!

 

Nice view!

Here is the girl with her gear and her cake prior to us going out to eat at Texas Roadhouse, where the wait staff gave her a big ol' Yee Haw!

  

Back at home, we sang, ate cake, and watched E unwrap presents. 

Landon likes giving Fergus boops and has decided to nickname him "Booper".

At BUH, Eliza got some horse time. Fridays are her favorite day of the week. Here she is learning ground work that they use on bigger horses.

Hallie worked the basketball game Friday and left the people at home to fend for ourselves. Mike made the frozen pizza she left because somehow Landon has yet to learn how an oven works. The pizza box came with a wearable mustache. Mike sent this picture to Hallie and it made her not so exciting night funny.

Saturday morning dawned with colorful skies. The day did not end in fowl weather. Mike worked in the afternoon while everyone else chilled out. 

Part of chilling out included drawing. The kids had a fun time bantering back and forth about drawing. Hallie had to capture something that doesn't happen often.

Eliza got cards and gifts from family. She was thrilled! 

Fergus chose to bless Hallie with his presence on her lap. It doesn't happen often.

We went over to Gma and Gpa's to watch a pretty entertaining Super Bowl. Eliza showed off her gear and goofed around with Gramps. To Eliza it is warm outside. The rest of us (as Grandpa is showing you) feel that it is quite a bit cooler than she may let on.