2023, January 30 - February 5

One month down, already? We said some goodbyes, shared some pics of hobbies, shoveled snow (again), and met some nice puppies. 

We got snow to start the week and to end the week. Mike shoveled the driveway when Hallie left, but by the end of the day, you wouldn't know it. Chill earlier in the week gave way to above-freezing temperatures later on. 

Hallie and Eliza met three Cavapoos this week. Hallie thinks it's a sign that we need to co-own one. Fergus may not agree. 

At the place where she gets her nails done, the couple has some pretty cool LEGO sets. Hallie mentioned that we also are LEGO enjoyers. 

Eliza isn't always a fan of just sitting around while Hallie chats with her manicurist. Good thing she has access to Mom's phone. 

At BUH, some elks came to visit. 

Mike helped Landon with his math homework. He has to admit that sometimes this is hard for Mike too. 

Landon had Kentucky Fried Chicken for what he thought was the first time tonight before TKD. He enjoyed it but found it a bit underwhelming. To be honest, Mike was too. Landon had gotten all excited about fried chicken as part of a writing assignment he has in English. 

Here are Hallie's heart arrow nails. So festive! 

Mike accidentally color coordinated the dishes as he was loading them. When he actually paid enough attention to look down, here's what he saw. 

Here's cavapoo #2 at Hallie's preschool. 

Eliza thought it was funny how zonked out Fergus was while he was sleeping on her while she and Dad did school. He was deep in Slumberland for sure, until he wasn't. 

Coming back from taking Landon to school, Mike and Eliza saw this city truck carrying something unusual in its bed. Can you tell what it is? 

Eliza had her last day (at least for now) at Guide 'N' Gallop. She framed this image she made as a gift for Afton. 

The snowy peaks from Mike's office window sure look majestic. Everyone else is sick of the snow, but Mike hasn't minded it (so far). He nearly slipped a couple of times this week, so winter's welcome may end sooner than later. 

Here's E on Dante at GNG. Dante and Nugget were Eliza's two favorite horses to help train at GNG. Eliza was very tender hearted leaving on Tuesday.

Besides puppies, the high-school-student teachers have brought other pets to the preschool to show the littles. 

For a while now, Mike has wanted to invite Hallie to lunch at the Pendulum Court Café on campus. It opened for the semester this week, so they had a lunch date! We had a French dip sandwich and BBQ chicken salad, which we took back to Mike's office. Hallie took pics of his display to show her manicurist. 

Landon went to TKD on Wednesday. As he is interested in Asian martial arts and philosophy (as far as a 15-year-old is interested in those things), he asked Mike to borrow The Art of War from the local library. On his walk around Costco while he waited to pick the boy up, Mike found this copy in the books section. Landon was impressed particularly by how it looked, suitable for display with his swords. 

Mike likes how the new Utah flag will be a meme magnet. 

Unfortunately for Landon, he again experienced back pain while at TKD, which means he's not taking it easy enough. Mr. Thorne basically told him not to come back for two weeks so he could rest up and heal. Fergus is holding the boy hostage. 

Hallie and the Springville JHS PTA prepared food for the faculty for parent-teacher conferences. Mike took Landon to visit his teachers. The kid is doing pretty well, all things considered. 

When Mike went to pick up Eliza from BUH, we came across a couple of stray deer. 

Look at the kitty! So peaceful. Earlier in the day, he took advantage of the relatively warmer weather to murder and eat two voles, whose guts he left for the hoomans to deal with on the doorstep. Thanks, Ferg! 

A gentleman in the community, Jerry Gardner, uses the ice that accumulates around his house to make colorful ice sculptures. Here's what he made this week. 

On Sunday afternoon, snow began to fall again. Before too long, it covered the streets and sidewalks. Time to stay in!

 

Hallie has worked several nights at the high school. It works out well most of the time. This week she took tickets for a dance show, basketball, and musical theater. Every so often folks from the community she has known come through the lines and it is exciting to reconnect if only for a minute with them. She also met her third cavapoo of the week at our neighbor's house. Maybe she and Eliza will get their fix by going over there to visit.