Take Me Out

We had phenomenal spring weather this week, so of course we had to get out. We’re still getting over the allergies from last week (Mike has sinusitis—yuk), but the sun kept calling us to come out and play.

On Monday, Hallie, Priscilia, and Sara took the kids to Macy’s 2nd Monday celebrating spring at Greenfield Village.

Tuesday afternoon saw Landon venturing out of the garage wrangling the “big boy” bike he received from Bryan last year. While it’s heavier than he’s used to, he got right on and took right off.

Eliza went to the doctor for her well visit on Wednesday, and we are pleased to report that she is at the 50th percentile for her height and weight. She was a trooper when she received two inoculations. Hallie gave her a bottle right after, so that seemed to help settle her right down. Hallie and the kids ran some errands before going to Landon’s gymnastics class. The boy continues to amaze with his feats of strength and daring. Mike met everyone else there and joined them for dinner. He felt really under the weather afterwards, so he also went to the doctor and received his diagnosis. Daughter hit the sack soon after arriving home, but Daddy did not, because we had a temple preparation class with Priscilia. We have enjoyed having her over and renewing our own commitment to attend the temple.

Landon has been practicing his writing skills at therapy. He successfully wrote his name, the capital letters, and several numbers. He has also learned his street address and phone number by heart. Priscilia watched Eliza in the mean time, which was helpful when Hallie ended up getting mixed up and heading to Pontiac instead of home. Hallie quickly dropped Landon off at home before rushing back out to get her nails done. The rest of us spent a lot of afternoon time in the backyard on Thursday playing with a bubble machine Hallie found and purchased at Sam’s Club.

Hallie celebrated her birthday over the weekend, starting on Friday with lemon cake in the morning followed with a trip to the Titanic Artifact Exhibition at The Henry Ford. The exhibition puts on display over 300 items recovered from the ill-fated luxury liner and provides a historical context for the artifacts, the voyage, and the recovery. Photographers also take your picture so you can pretend you are Jack and Rose.

We each received a boarding pass with the name and background of a passenger. Mike’s didn’t make it, but Hallie’s did. Mike was pretty sure his passenger was going to bite the big one when the extra little biographical tidbit noted that the family dog, who never paid my passenger any attention before, suddenly started barking, carrying on, and following my passenger’s vehicle as he left home to board the ship. On the centennial of its sinking, maybe it continues to hold fascination because of the many human stories that give us a glimpse into our complex human nature. After all, what would you do if you knew you only had two hours to live?

Later in the day, Hallie treated herself to a massage at A Healing Touch. In the evening, we attended the Metropolitan Detroit Bureau of School Studies’ Annual Dinner Meeting at the Detroit Athletic Club. It’s a beautiful historic building in the heart of downtown. We had an elegant multi-course formal dinner in one of the private dining rooms, and Mike did a little networking. The parking garage looks out on center field at Comerica Park.

We finished the meeting just in time to watch Justin Verlander come achingly close to a perfect game against the Pirates.

Hallie went to a mom-to-mom sale on Saturday morning while Mike and the kids helped clean the church. Later, Hallie and Landon went over to the Spring Festival at St. Joan of Arc in St. Clair Shores.

We hoped Eliza might start her nap early so she and Mike could go, but that didn’t happen. She did wake up in time for us all to go to the Tigers game with Vivi’s Friends.

Interestingly, our seats in the stadium were only a little better than our view from the DAC parking structure.

Unfortunately, the game did not turn out the same as that of the previous evening. Oh, well. We had fun. The kids lasted a couple of innings before Mike took them down to the carousel and Ferris wheel. 

By the time they came back, Hallie had come down from the stands, which by that point were baking in the afternoon sun. OK, we’ve been out long enough. Time to come in!

A Cold? Allergies? Whatever It Is, We're All Miserable

We’ve been under the weather this week, so we didn’t do a whole lot. We’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Monday daytime: 

The future's so bright, she's gotta [insert 80's music reference here].

You can't tell from the photo, but Landon has now learned to stop closing the van's sliding door.

Monday night:

Mike attended Wayne State's commencement exercises at Ford Field. Here's the view from the visiting team's tunnel as we began the processional. 

 

Proud students, their families and professors, with some of us right on the 50 yard line!

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Saturday morning:

Saturday evening:

Grosse Pointe Clampets with popsicles after a BBQ.

Sunday, Mother's Day:

We bought this cement stepping stone last year. Only took us 12 months to do something with it. . . .

Sweet angel! 

Hungry helper!

We love our moms and grandmas so much! Thank you for all you have done and continue to do to help us grow.

Fun Finds on the West Side of Town

After much deliberation, we decided to enroll Landon in the half-day kindergarten program offered at our school district for the coming fall. He’ll be an “early 5” with his birthday so late in the year, but we figure if he needs another year we can place him in the full-day program next year. We have given serious thought to options ranging from home school to virtual school to private school, and we’re still not settled on which direction we’ll finally take. It will all depend on what we feel is best for him and Eliza down the road.

On Wednesday, Hallie took the kids out to the TreeHouse in Chelsea.

Thursday brought a treat in the mail. Kira had gone to Europe and brought the kids a couple of T-shirts from her travels:  

French Kiss from Eliza

Our little Dutch Boy

On Friday, Hallie and Jen attended the Michigan International Women’s Show at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi. She brought home lots of goodies. Meanwhile, Priscilia helped out around the house while Mike worked. When he came home for lunch, he, Landon, and Priscilia played Wii Bowling. In a nail-biter of a finish that came down to the very last frame, . . .

Landon won. Again. In fact, he now holds the high score in our home. Priscilia put it best when she reminded Mike that between adults and a four-year-old it should never have been close. However, he did set the record, and 180 is hard for even an adult to reach. Mike chalks it up to the child’s prodigious athletic skills.

The children put their skills on display earlier in the week when both showed the grown-ups how to do flips and cartwheels.

Like Landon, Eliza appears to have no fear of heights or movement. The two of them ride, slide, and swing like little monkeys at the local school’s playground.

Cinco de Mayo Saturday started early with Mariachi and Tejano music on the radio and a bit of LEGO tightrope walking courtesy of a book we received a little while back from Grandpa O.

We improvised with the materials we had on hand. If you look closely at the minifig, you may notice he looks like someone you might know.

Following our contraption adventure, we went to music class at the MSU Detroit Center. Here’s a taste of what goes on during our hour there:

"We are piRATES! We are piRATES! We are piRATES! ARR!"

Dancing a salsa for Cinco de Mayo

Waiting their turn to strum the guitar

We then headed out to Northville to the Guernsey Farms Dairy for some light lunch and homemade ice cream. Mom had a scoop of Mackinac peanut butter fudge, Landon and Eliza shared a dirt pile (chocolate ice cream, gummy worm, Oreo cookie crumbs, and crushed M&M's), and Dad indulged in some McGuire's Irish mint cream.

M'mm! Dirt!

We ended our day out with the coin operated oddities at Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum in Farmington Hills.

The museum is listed in the World Almanac’s 100 most unusual museums in the US. To say the place is a trip would be putting it mildly.

The owner, Marvin Yagoda, cites P. T. Barnum and Walt Disney as sources of inspiration.

Landon has done a great job at therapy this week, so he earned himself a surprise:

In our house, the handsome princes work for a living. Time to slay dragons and rescue damsels! 

Make Sis. Evans' Day: Send Her Mail!

Some of our favorite memories as missionaries were receiving mail. Now that Sister Evans is in the Missionary Training Center, we're sure she would appreciate hearing from you. If you know her, you can catch her up on all your activities. If you don't know her, you can strike up a friendship with a remarkable young lady. You never know what you might gain from the experience!

Mike has many memories of sharing his mission with family and friends. His mom would write about the antics of the house pets and people in his home town, and Mike would share his observations and growing appreciation for Argentina. Her witty observations and anecdotes were a big hit both with him and his roommates in the missionfield. Mike's sister Emily mentioned to the grandma of another student in her class at school that her brother was serving his mission far away. She gave this nice lady Mike's mission address, and for the next two years Mike and Mrs. Williams (who, incidentally, is not a member of our faith--you don't have to be a member to write a missionary) shared a long-distance correspondence that Mike will always remember. Hallie enjoyed getting to know members of her congregation who helped keep her motivated while she served in Atlantic Canada.

If you have ever wondered what it's like to be a missionary from the missionary's perspective, now's your chance. If you feel like lending someone far from home and family some moral support, here's your opportunity!

You can reach Sis. Evans at the following addresses:

While she's at the MTC (May 2-May 22)
Sister Diamond Lacrista Evans
MTC Mailbox #146
DC-South 0523
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

In the missionfield (May 23, 2012-November 23, 2013)
Sister Diamond Lacrista Evans
Washington DC South Mission
5242 Lyngate Ct
Burke, VA 22015

By email: diamond.evans(at)myldsmail.net