2024, October 14-20

Rain and other weather added spice to the skies this week. Pumpkin spice, maybe, in keeping with the season? 

Hallie participated in a school field trip to the BYU preschool lab. Hallie thought this board was cute.

Mike took this very flattering picture of himself after an eye appointment this week. He had his eyes dilated, and Eliza thought they looked amusing. His vision has not changed (much) since his last appointment. This was in service of a medical exam he'll take next week as part of the TSO qualification. 

Hallie and some of her coworkers had a celebration for her supervisor for Boss's Day. They put everything together on a blanket while waiting for Landon to get out of school.

On Tuesday evening, the last one that was clear this week, Mike went out to the west field to see if he could see Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS). It was really hard to spot with his naked eye, but he could distinguish a smear in the heavens and pointed his phone there. Sure enough, there the comet was! 

We also had a (near) full moon. 

Halloween has come to Starbucks. This means braaaaaaaains! 

We got more dramatic weather on Wednesday. Kai came back too. 

Spooky skies!

Hallie is a boorista for the rest of the month. 

Our election ballots came in the mail, and we voted. The artwork for this sticker was made by a student from here in the county. 

Hi, bloppy Kai! 

Leaves have faded in the mountains but are beginning to brighten the valleys. 

We are feeling the chill. Eliza got this new blanket from our friend Amanda along with some new clothes. Well, maybe Eliza will be sharing a new blanket with Fergus. 

We had Fall Break on Thursday and Friday. Mike took the Melos to the airport so they could fly back to Chile for a visit with family for a few weeks. We hope they'll have a great time while they're there! Mike brought some Jack in the Box back home, much to Hallie's delight. He ended up driving in the rain most of the time. With the rain in the valleys came snow in the mountains. Unlike September's snow, we expect this will stick around. 

(More snow on Mt. Timp in the background.)

The boys got haircuts on Friday. Mike is gearing up for an important job interview on Monday. The stakes are high, so we hope he will make a favorable impression! Speaking of favorable impressions, check out this picture perfect iced caramel macchiato Hallie made. 

On Saturday evening, Jaker's Jack O'Lanterns had a drone show above the site. Mike caught images from one side, . . .

. . . and Hallie (who was working) caught images from another. 

The drones not only changed shapes, but some were animated. The eye kept peering left and right at the crowd below. 

Pets keep a body toasty warm. 

This drink that Hallie got Sunday morning has all the sprinkles! Her boorista friends love her so. Their love language is sprinkles. 

Eliza asked if we'd like to do some drawing with her. Hallie tried her luck at drawing Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

While we had rain during the day, the weather cleared up nicely for our Sunday Social. Tonight we celebrated Matt, Hannah and Landon's birthday. Mike made a very yummy s'more for Hallie. It is nice to rest after Hallie sold coffee for five hours. A person doesn't realize how tired their body is until they sit down.

2024, October 7-15

It still does not feel like fall. Here are some things we did. 

On Tuesday Eliza took our neighbor to school before she went to Yates Place. 

Hallie got her nails done in a Halloween motif. 

Later in the day, Eliza joined Kohar and her kids down at Rowley's Red Barn for its harvest activities. 

Mike was due to start his new remote job on Wednesday, but some unexpected delays have arisen. He has his equipment, so that’s something. But the actual start date has been postponed. Being that he has opted not to take the seasonal UPS offer, we're hoping foregoing the less schedule-friendly in-person job for the more schedule-friendly remote one isn't a mistake. 

Eliza sometimes like to push limits as far as how she dresses for school. Here she is being mad at Dad for him verifying with Mom that this outfit is school-suitable. Parents! What're ya gonna do? 

Hallie got this new tumbler from school. She's getting it engraved with the phrase "Preschool Princess."

Some celestial events took place this week, but because of where we live, we couldn't see them. Mike tried to get a picture of the aurora borealis with no success. We also couldn't see the comet in the evening sky later in the week. Bummer. 

On Saturday, we went to Gma and Gpa M's house to celebrate her birthday. 

Eliza took some glamor shots on Mom's phone Sunday. The necklace is a gift from Grandma that she got on their cruise through Atlantic Canada and New England. 

We also did some seasonal decorating. We're being fairly low key this year. 

 

2024, September 30-October 6

Hello, October! We've entered the last quarter of the year. We keep on keepin' on!

Fall means going out to see the leaves, and that's just what Hallie and Eliza did. Eliza took pics while Hallie drove. 

They saw some cows too. Actually quite a few cows. Hallie said she had to stop and shy hi to all of them.

October also brought a new Dutch Bros sticker. 

It brought kids wearing their Halloween gear to school too. Mike found this Hello Kitty Frankenstein's monster particularly fun. 

Eliza drew a charcoal pumpkin at BUH. 

Landon can turn into a funny fellow around bedtime. He turns on all the charm just as Mom and Dad are trying to settle down for bed. We love him for it even if it delays our bedtime on occasion. 

Hallie and a couple of coworkers from Starbucks went to Rockwell for its special October flavors. She even brought Mike home some. Hallie enjoys having coworkers 25 years younger than her. Laughs abound when work is to be done.

Check out this fancy dish! 

The kids love their pets, and every so often we get a picture of them from the kids' perspective. This was from Landon.

Hallie made an interesting concoction while at work: Dr. Pepper, vanilla syrup, and vanilla sweet cream cold foam.

Mike's long-time friend made the assertion that cats are unworthy of being pets. Mike objected. We love our anxious puppy, clearly. 

But we also love our mouse murderer. 

Landon went on a date Saturday, and said date in part involved using his swords to play Fruit Ninja with some pumpkins on the front lawn. On Sunday morning, he, Eliza, and Dad played with the leftover chunks.

At work, Hallie asked Mike to come to the rescue to put up some new hooks in the closet where the employees hang their aprons and jackets.