2022, November 28-December 4

Another week down as we settle into the last month of the year. 

Hallie came home from California on Monday. She enjoyed warmer weather that still felt like fall before returning to and having to drive through snow to get home. It was fun to notice the fall colors while in California.

Hallie bought a gift card off of Elise and let her know it came in handy while biding her time at the Sacramento Airport.

We were happy to have her home, even Fergus. 

The kitty always needs a lap now that chilly weather has set in. 

On Monday, Eliza shivered through her work. Tuesday brought cold temperatures as she rode.  Hallie shivers to the bone unwilling to layer up for an hour, while Eliza goes out with barely a coat on.

Mike came up to an office covered in snowflakes, many of them his from years past. 

Very festive!

He also had a visit from old friends Aaron and Ron from his undergraduate years (emphasis on old, lol). 

Landon continues learning how to spar in TKD. He will move on to his next belt next week. 

We had a pretty sunrise on Thursday. 

Landon did not recognize the person in the picture below from a Spanish verb conjugation assignment. One of his friends thought it was a reindeer. (In case you don't know either, it's Frida Kahlo.)

On Saturday, we attended a Korean street food event sponsored by Cupbop. Learning about Korean culture has taken on a bit more meaning now that Landon is doing TKD, and we appreciated the tasty street foods and activities. Eliza showed off her hula hooping abilities with four hoops and came in second place once again. Eliza was excited to compete again and sat up right in the front during all of the demonstrations. It is great to know that we can learn in different ways.

The US and Argentina teams each played their round of 16 games in the World Cup. Sadly, the US squad lost, but we celebrated as the Albiceleste won its game and got a quarter final berth. Since we were in Salt Lake, Mike and Landon went by Argentina's Best for some empanadas to go. 

After our time in Salt Lake (and a brief attempt to stop in at the Christkindlmarkt--you should have seen the line of cars! No thanks. Maybe next year), we drove down to Provo and went to the Christmas Market at Pioneer Park. Look! Landon smiled in two photos!  

As we left, Mike noticed this Provo Indian War monument, which we've passed many times in the past. On the monument, Mike noticed a name from our family history, his ancestor James C. Owens, who was a captain in Sevier and Millard Counties. Whether the individual on this monument is the same, he can't say. 

On Sunday, Hallie read to us from this Anne of Green Gables-themed picture book she bought on her trip at Books on Main in Murphys. 

Ferg was feeling a bit under the weather, and he sat under the tree while we read, played with Legos, and visited with Grandma, Grandpa, and Alie on the Echo. 

 

2022, November 21-27

We had Thanksgiving at home, and Hallie went out to California to visit family. 

Landon only had taekwondo on Monday, and he earned a second stripe for perfecting some punch-kick combos. Here he is playing a "last man standing" exercise involving sparing weapons. Landon won the third round by basically holding back and letting the others tag each other out! 

With the Thanksgiving holiday, Fergus had more of us at home. He's a people kitty and enjoys the company. Part of that has been sitting by as other family members (cough! Mike) watch the opening games of the World Cup. Argentina's loss against Saudi Arabia was offset by its win against Mexico, and the US is still in the hunt with a tie against England. 

Landon had an appointment at the doctor on Wednesday. He's in good health, and still won't take a normal picture. :D

We got a yummy Dutch apple pie from Grapefruit and Thyme at Lemon and Sage Market on Wednesday in preparation for Thanksgiving (this is our bid at supporting local businesses, and the pie was pretty good! We'll have to try some of their other offerings). The day itself was a mostly quiet one spent at home. 

On Friday, Hallie flew out to California to visit with her brother Bryce and his family for a few days. Mike held the fort at home with the kids. He purchased these boots for Eliza and joked with Hallie that he'd spent twice what he was supposed to. Got Hallie worried there for a second! 

Hallie had to take her car to the shop before continuing on to the airport for her afternoon flight. Here she is saying goodbye as she gets ready to depart. 

They had pretty sun and clouds out west. The warmer weather was nice too. 

They enjoyed a yummy breakfast at V Restaurant, Bistro, and Bar up in Murphys.  

Mike helped Eliza set up the Christmas tree and do some more holiday decorating on Saturday. No one wanted to go out. In fact, all the kids seemed to want to do this weekend was play on the computer. Mike's going to have to get more creative about alternative activities. 

At cousin Lily's high school, they raise funds by kids being able to pay to paint their parking spaces. Here she is in hers. 

A few months back, we got some ornaments from Farm and Hive before they moved up to Idaho. We promptly forgot them until Hallie found them among the honey sticks she had bought and then took with her to give to Bryce and fam. 

Even though the kids didn't want to go out, Mike had to get out of the house on Saturday, so he went to the Christmas Gift and Craft Show down in Spanish Fork. He got a traditional pysanka from Wax On Wax Off that had an interesting rose pattern and mottled blue background. 

Ferg had gotten into a tussle the night before Thanksgiving (we think) and spent most of the day sleeping it off. Fortunately, he was back to his old self by Friday and blepping by Sunday. 

Landon thought he was particularly adorable under a blanket on his bed.

One more shot of the tree. Eliza is proud of her work. 

When not decorating, she spent a lot of time like this. Both kids did manage to get their rooms clean and laundry done before we took in Wakanda Forever at the movies. We look forward to Mom getting home tomorrow!

 

2022, November 14-20

Where'd fall go? Where'd the week go? We did so much in such a hurry that we forgot to get photos of it all.

Mike and Hallie have taken to doing a date while Eliza is working at horseback riding. This week's date was to head to Target to pick up an order Hallie had placed for the ward service project. Everything went well and uneventfully. Mike took Landon to taekwondo, and Hallie picked up Eliza at the barn. Hallie had to cut the date short early to go get a mammogram.

Tuesday morning, however, Hallie realized not all of our order was in our bags. After several attempts at contacting Target with no luck, Hallie and Eliza headed back to Target to go get the rest of the order. On the way back, a giant rock hit the windshield. Thank heavens it was only chip, something we can get repaired for half of what we paid for the service project items. The girls got what they needed from Target and headed back to Springville to pick up Landon from school. Later in the evening Hallie had two cavities filled. She was numbed all the way to her eyelid. Definitely a weird sensation, Hallie reports.

Wednesday was back to back work and errands, and no one was happier to be home by the end of the day than Hallie. 

Here are some pics of Landon sparring at taekwondo, He's enjoying it all, and he's already learning that you can't judge an opponent by his belt color.

Fergus and Eliza have taken to using a portable space heater downstairs. Mom put the nix on it when Eliza started using it in place of wearing warm clothing.

About a month ago, Mike woke up unable to close his jaw fully after sleeping hard on his face (maybe?). When he went to the dentist a couple of weeks later, he was referred to a maxillofacial surgeon for a consult. Here's the view from the office. Not bad! 

Turns out that due to TMJ inflammation, he needs to go on a soft foods regimen so that the inflammation can go down and the joints can realign. For a month. Right before Thanksgiving. Sigh.  

"Feeling cute, might delete l8r."

Eliza did some more dissections for science this week. 

Fergus likes laps, just in case you haven't noticed. 

On Thursday, Hallie worked and helped put on the SEP dinner for Landon's school. The PTA feeds the teachers and staff so they don't need to leave in the brief amount of the time from the end of the school day until conferences start. Since Mike is the book smart parent in the family, Dad and Landon attended Landon's SEPs. We have (mostly) dialed in what he needs to do to succeed at school. 

Meanwhile, after Eliza's riding practice, there was an accident with a system to keep the water troughs from icing over, and Afton's horse Chase passed away. Eliza was there along with some of the other riders, and it was pretty upsetting for everyone involved. On Saturday, Afton held a memorial for Chase, which Eliza attended with the other girls and their families. 

On Friday, everyone had places to be in the morning and afternoon. Mike was nice enough to pick up Eliza and her fellow carpool friends while Hallie headed to a podiatry appointment. Eliza went to her friend Lexi's (new) house for a few hours, and they had a lot of fun! Once Hallie was finished with her appointment, which included a new pair of orthotics (2 weeks seems long), the four of us drove to Salem to eat yummy ramen (Fatty Tuna food truck) and breakfast burrito/tacos (Street Tacos Tarricaso). Food from both trucks was really yummy. Hallie chickened out of waiting for the rest of the family for their food--it was cold!

On Sunday, Mike attended a concert at the Springville Museum of Art by a new group called the Copper Kettle Band, formed (at least in part) by (some former) members of the BYU Mountain Strings. We're grateful for local opportunities to participate in culture.