2024, July 1-7

The year is already half-way gone! We're doing our best to squeeze the most out of summer. 

Eliza had a couple of fun projects at BUH that she completed this week. This is a beach bag made with screen material. She said it took a lot of effort to fold over and sew on the striping. 

We took Kai back to his other family on Tuesday and got him back on Thursday. He got to visit with Grandma M. as she and the girls ran some errands. Here he is on Monday just enjoying a trip in the car. 

We celebrated Canada Day on Monday, and the Canadian national soccer team also just so happened to beat Chile to advance in the Copa America. They play Argentina in the semi-finals next week. No, we are not a house divided. 

On Monday evening, we got a two-for-one light show from Mother Nature. First, we saw a double rainbow during a late afternoon sunshower. 

The alpenglow made the mountains glow orange as well. 

Then we were treated to a beautiful sunset, again while a light shower fell. 

It made for a pretty dramatic end of the day. 

On Tuesday, Mike had the chance to start volunteering again at Tabitha's Way. It's been a while since he's had the chance to help out, and things always seem to change. Still, it was good to be back for the next few weeks. 

He's been out in the sun, catching some rays as he walks and rides around the neighborhood. Hallie thought his farmer's tan was super sexy and had to get a pic. 

Here is another project Eliza completed at BUH. She plans to enter it in the Utah County Fair with some other items along with some things Mike has made this year. 

On his rounds walking Kai, Mike found several bumblebees harvesting pollen and nectar from some hollyhocks. 

He and Kai also visited Murphy's foal. 

On Independence Day, we went up to visit Gma and Gpa M for dinner and fireworks. Eliza brought her beads, and she and Dad made some bracelets. 

We enjoyed some delicious strawberry shortcake prior to the light show. 

We have enjoyed a relatively mild July for our part of Utah. This has meant spending time out on the front porch. Fergus enjoyed the company while Eliza made beaded jewelry and Mike read. Lately he's been working his way through The Pursuit of Happiness. 

Eliza likes taking awkward closeups of Fergus. The cat is not always amused or accommodating. 

Some yellow jackets get a little too close for comfort as they harvest wood from our front columns for their nests. They've helpfully pollenated our garden, and Hallie has harvested some squash and zucchini so far. 

As we walked Kai and our neighbor's dog Reuben. Eliza seems to have decided Dad's backside was worth photographing. 

Meanwhile, Mike photographed panoramas and local fauna. 

Still later in the day, Hallie caught this family of quail crossing the road to get some fresh water. Aren't these chicks adorable? We saw them again during the Sunday social. 

Mike took a stylish pic of one of the early sunflowers. We see more each day as the thistles die down. 

Sunday morning meant another visit to Murphy. 

Eliza got inspired to draw horses. Here are her and Dad's efforts. 

She wanted Dad to get a picture of her crazy hair. Mike thought this was a rather artistic shot of Girl with Dog. 

Girl does not appear amused. She did ask for the picture, though. 

About midday, Eliza. Mom, and Dad took Kai to the dog park in Spanish Fork. We met some other nice families, one of whom owned a Welsh corgi puppy, and the other of whom played lots of fetch with Kai and their golden retriever. Kai and the corgi ran and played with abandon. The retriever, not so much. 

After getting home. Mike went for a walk and bike ride, and then he and Eliza spent some time outside. Mike got out his kite, and Eliza played card games with the neighbors. Landon has taken full advantage of his summer time and new unemployment status to sleep in and hang out with friends. Unfortunately, this means he has made himself scarce for much of the days sleeping in and then disappearing on his bike.  

After a fairly windy afternoon, we had the Sunday social with our friends and neighbors. A relaxing time was had by all. We managed to get a picture of the boy once he came home. Rest assured! He lives!