2020, August 31-September 6

2020 has officially moved into the -ber months. Four to go until we can look back with hindsight on the year. 

When Fergus is not outside hangin' with the other kitties all night long, he is in bed with one of us. This is a frequent morning greeting. Or leaving junk from the field in our bed.

"Hey, sexy! Gimme breakfast."

Online school for Eliza continues to present unique opportunities and challenges. We got her a new laptop desk and whiteboard for lessons. She had a full week (Monday-Thursday) of live online class sessions with both her main teacher (Mrs. Buchanan at Mt. Loafer) and resource (Mr. Makin at Sage Creek). Apparently we are no longer at Westside until such time as we return to in-person instruction. 

Until then, this is the view of the office from the couch where Mike and Eliza have their setups. 

'Yay. Woo hoo. So exciting."

For date night Tuesday, September 1, Mike and Hallie drove up to Dutch Bros in West Jordan. We wanted stickers (which they give out while supplies last) but got there too late. We got caramel-vanilla scented car fresheners instead. 

We also went to Beehive Bazaar in Provo, which has finally reopened after a Covid shutdown. So many cute handmade goods! 

Mike started his Fall Semester class teaching qualitative research methods. It's a small class, and the Zoom setup seems a pretty good fit. He took Eliza up with him, and she did school in his office. Hopefully this is a working arrangement we can keep doing through the semester. Hopefully the campus doesn't get shut down with all the undergrads partying like its not 2020. 

Hallie and her mom went to look at washers and dryers. Our machines may be a bit long in the tooth as is evidenced by the washer's increasingly loud spin cycles. The one pictured below is not the one we are getting but it sure was tempting.

When she went to pick up Landon from gym, she ran into a brush fire right off the freeway. It was a little nerve racking calling 911 and it took at least 10 minutes before the fire department showed up.

This is the look Mom sports at work. She sends Mike and Eliza pictures. Landon has started walking down from SJHS with Sully, Hallie's co-worker Mijken's son. Generally that works out pretty well. Landon thought Mike was going to pick him up one day this week, so he stayed up at the school, and Hallie had to come looking for him. All the moms were a bit worried when he didn't show up at school with Sully. 

Eliza's norm Monday horseback riding session switched to Friday, coupled with a class on horse foot care (and s'mores!). Hallie was a good sport to stay out in the hot outdoors even though she was very tired after a long week. Eliza had the opportunity to ride a new-to-her horse, Doc. When Trainer Sarah asked her if she was up for a challenge she immediately said, "Yes!" Eliza had a blast and wants to ride Doc again.

Landon seems to have managed to avoid getting his picture taken this week! On Saturday afternoon, he, Eliza, and Dad went up to Vivian Park along the Provo River for a Young Men's rafting activity. While the boys and their leaders drifted down the river, Eliza and Dad hung out enjoying the outdoor ambiance.

Eliza even manage to catch some dead fish that were caught up in the underwater plants (eww, gross).

In the mean time, Hallie got a pedicure and a manicure. Aren't her nails cute? It was supposed to be a relaxing time but Hallie came back with lots of stories, and none of them sounded relaxing.

For an afternoon activity Sunday to use up the zucchini, Hallie baked a tasty bundt cake. Zucchini are always better combined with chocolate and sugar. . . . and Landon ate two pieces!!! He hates zucchini.

2020, August 24-30

An eventful week, this one, with the first full week of school, many trips back and forth in and around town, BYU's annual all-university conference, and other notable activities. 

Mike and Hallie went to the Springville farmers market on Monday. We saw many local crafts and foodstuffs and even bought a few tasty treats.  

Eliza enjoys having Fergus as her fellow classmate. He usually sits next to her and even lets her comb his fur. 

As we were driving home from taking Landon to school, Eliza and Mike saw this cute ladybug car. Ladybugs are Eliza's favorite insect.

Mike "splurged" on a "tapestry." Online image-to-print is amazing and surprisingly affordable! 

He also got some fun pins for him and the kids to put on our backpacks.

And facemasks. 

To help with her fidgeting, Eliza had little tubs of thinking putty and Play-Doh. She challenges herself by making tall sculptures. 

For recess, we'll take rides along Hobble Creek. This week, Eliza would skate while Mike rode his bike. On Monday, we rode to the library and got some books and videos. We also rode through some rough burrs, and Mike's tire sprung a leak. He thought it was just a slow leak, as has happened with the kids' bike tires, and that generally worked. However, on Friday we discovered that if we take too much time riding around and enjoying the stream, the tire will go too flat to ride on. Fortunately, they were only about a mile away from home, so it wasn't a terrible walk. Eliza raced back to get the pump, but somehow we missed each other as she came back. Once Mike walked the bike home, he searched for her by car. An eventful early afternoon, for sure.  

We had a bit of excitement on Saturday afternoon when we saw black flames erupting from across the freeway. Turns out there was a fire at the Springville Transfer Station (the local dump). 

We have spent the last couple of weeks following along with Taika Waititi and friends as they read Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach (one of Mike's all-time favorite books from his childhood) for Partners in Health. We finished the series on Sunday, and now it's time to read the book (and watch the movie) again! 

We wished Diamond a happy birthday and visited some with her and Caleb in the afternoon. We then had dinner at G & G M's later. As we were leaving, we noticed that the van's tire had gone flat. Fortunately, it was a slow leak, and we were able to pump up the tire and drive home. It just means that next week already promises more of the unexpected. 

2020, August 17-23

The dog days of summer are in full swing. We had multiple 100+ degree days this week, and the heat is expected to continue. We started school, such as it is, and the kids got the all-clear to go back to gym. Woo hoo! 

Landon had a preview day on Monday, which involved shortened class periods, getting to know his new teachers, and reconnecting with friends, some of whom he hasn't seen since March! He said of some of them, "They're gorillas now." COVID summer growth spurts? Low voices?

Because he goes to gym, he doesn't have a PE class at school. This means he gets to start school late with Period 2. We waited a bit for 1st Period to end, and then the boy was on his own. Try as they might, social distancing was not happening among the kiddos. Masks were more common than not, though. 

Eliza earned an ice cream at Zeppe's after we tested her for Covid-19. In the end her results came back negative, and Eliza was a trooper at the test. We are so proud of her.

For date night, Mike and Hallie went to Spilled Milk, a cereal-themed ice cream truck in Orem. It was so hot that the ice cream was melting in the shop, and the poor servers had to bring in fans. We had tasty confections made with creative ingredients. Hallie drove and by the time date night was over most of Hallie's ice cream was a puddle, some of it even on the floor of the car.

We experienced a bit of drama with one of the couches in the evening. Some food had spilled on a couple of cushions, so we removed the slip covers, as we have done many a time before only to discover that the feathers had leaked (read, "exploded") from the top layer of the cushions. 

Unending carnage! Feathers everywhere! Eventually we did manage to get the cushions washed and restuffed (after a fashion). Hallie's got an excuse to go furniture shopping. We're eventually aiming for a beach cottage theme for the downstairs again. Mike is great at cleaning up the messes that appear around here. Hallie told the kids in the morning that Fergus attacked a chicken. There were even feathers all over the grass in the front yard.

Wednesday marked the first day of the new school year. This girl will do her schooling online with Dad (and Fergus)! 

And this boy will attend school in person (unless circumstances change).

Don't they look thrilled? 

The office has been repurposed as a classroom. Fergus sleeps all day, happy for the company and cuddles. 

We do fun things like blow bubbles and ride bikes and do home chores and cook for recess. 

Eliza does lessons on the Chromebook and a whiteboard with some live and some prerecorded lessons while Dad supervises and puts in his two cents. Here she's doing some brainstorming for a freewriting activity. 

The fires in California have led to strange sunsets. 

The girl gets hold of one of the parent's phones, and chaos ensues. Eliza loves the camera, and what can we say? The camera loves her too.

More silliness from the sweetie pie. 

The object of her inspiration. 

Portrait of the artiste as taken by her father. Earlier this week Hallie was looking for a hat and Eliza found a hat that used to fit Landon. For a while Hallie had a fancy for Goorin Bros. hats and here is one of their fine hats on Eliza. Eliza has worn it many days since finding it.

Hallie started her new job. It's definitely a departure from her old job at Westside. By the time Friday arrived Hallie was very tired for most of the weekend. Working with 7 severe special ed students is no job for the unfit. Hallie is hoping that this job kicks her health back in gear. 

More silly candids. Only Eliza can get stuck in parts of our vacuum.

Landon thought it was so funny to see Fergus covering his "private" parts today.

Mike carved out some time for a little art before the new semester starts with University Conference on Monday. 

In all, it's been an eventful week!