2025, June 16-22

Summer has come to Springville. Time for a name change. Speaking of change, we had a few this week. 

Mike officially started as faculty at the University of Montana, teaching two classes for summer term leading into his full-time appointment. He even has a temporary website! 

Reminders of Japan continue to abound. We missed going to the Ryōan-ji Temple with its famous rock garden and iconic tsukubai (water basin). Fortunately, Mike stumbled on images of the temple from his trip ten years ago. The script on the well is a visual word play meaning "One already has all one needs." Mike has carried a keychain for the past decade with a representation of the basin on it as a reminder. 

Hallie got summer-themed nails done. Life is just a bowl of cherries! 

Eliza has enjoyed having her new-to-her smart phone (without phone plan, so it's basically an iPod Touch). Among other things, she took pics of baby Brooklyn. 

Mike saw a familiar sight from Jsapan at PACE. The owners have connections to Japan, so there are actually several Japanese souvenirs scattered around the school

Eliza changed to a brown belt at Rise. Congratulations!

Rain coat on a tsum tsum. Hallie got the poncho in a blind bag from the Disney Store in Tokyo. 

Our supply of Tokyo Bananas and other Japanese treats has started to dwindle. So very sad!

After doing quite a bit of research, Hallie found a car she liked, and we made a purchase. Our new-to-us car is a 2021 KIA Sorento. Yes, in the end we went with another KIA, and another Sorento, no less.  One of the salesman had fun legos on his desk. Hallie had to grab a picture.

Yup. It's a car. A fairly fancy one, but a car. Hallie will drive it for the next year or so, then Mike will inherit it once the rest of the crew move up to Montana. 

Here we are, signing our lives away at a big fancy touch screen desk. Dude, Mike! Where'd the hair on the top of your head go?!

Ferg found a comfy place to sleep on Eliza's bed. 

Saturday afternoon had excellent kite-flying and basking outdoors weather. Then the early evening suddenly got blustery. 

Kai and Fergus (along with our neighbor's kitty Pablo) hung out with Mike and people who stopped by to visit him. 

Hallie shared interior shots of the new car with Caleb on Sunday. It's a good looking car. 

Hallie's work friend made this lovely flower bouquet. 

Eliza joined Hallie at work in the afternoon, and she took this shot of her meal. The girls love a good grilled cheese and guacamole combo. The next time you have a grilled cheese add some guacamole. You will be glad you did.

We finally had the chance to have a Sunday social. Several neighbors came by to visit. Eliza thought she was a cat. Fergus has had quite the influence on his siblings. It was fun to have some new people come to our gathering. It got a little chilly after the sun went down but we all had a nice time.

 

2025, June 9-15

We tried to get back into the swing of American life this week. 

We've been fighting jet lag. Hallie says she did not sleep for over 24 hours as we traveled home from Las Vegas and tried to get everything unpacked and settled back in. Here are some car selfies from Monday morning. 

Fergus was thrilled to see us once we got home. We were thrilled to see him too. 

He was all cuddles. 

Even when he was asleep, he lay down next to one of us and purred away.

Mike hung out some festive koinobori. 

The thistles have come back out. 

Here are a few treasures Hallie got on our travels: A bracelet from Senso-ji in Asakusa, Tokyo.  

Bowls from the IKEA in Harajuku, Tokyo. 

Tsum Tsum from Tokyo Disneyland. 

It came in this cute little bag.

Landon was happy to rekindle his romance with Jocie after being away for so long. 

Jet lag continued to bother us throughout the week. Here is Eliza napping during the day. Ferg is about to fall off the couch. 

That's better.

Hallie made quiche. 

More napping with a kitty happy to see us home. 

Mike's tea cup from Tsukiji Outer Market, Tokyo. 

We saw this sign at Jaker's down the road. Good to see that others think that #NoKings should ruke over us. 

Fergus found his favorite perch and a way to stay cool as hot temps prevailed over the weekend.

Springville celebrated Art City Days this week, culminating in a parade among other activities on Saturday.  

We took advantage of umbrellas acquired on our trips to Japan to shade us from the worst of the sun's rays. 

Kai (who came back on Friday) joined us and found some shade behind the folding chairs. 

Eliza marched with other Bridle Up Hope participants. 

Hey there, cowgirl! 

Hallie brought some of the tea she had purchased at Starbucks in Tokyo to try out at work. The directions were a bit hard to decipher, even with Google Translate. 

They figured it out eventually though. 

On Father's Day, after going out for breakfast sandwiches and drinks, we visited with Gma and Gpa M. Kai always enjoys a windows-down car ride. 

Later, Hallie had to work, and Eliza joined her for a while. She and Landon had tried packing up some of their rooms, and chronically jetlagged Landon fell asleep.  Mike chatted with his parents, and then everyone finally woke up and made their way home by the bedtime.