2023, March 6-12

March has come in a bit like a lion. Signs of spring are in the air and soil. The kids are taking on new pastimes, and the grown-ups just try to keep up! 

Girls just wanna have fun! Hallie and Eliza taking pictures and videos to send to Diamond.

We think Fergus must be the most-photographed member of the household lately.

Eliza took in some riding time on Monday at BUH. 

She also has decided to start TKD. Everyone in the class was kind to teach Eliza what to do. Eliza went back again Thursday.

Mike saw pretty mountain views at 6:22.  

Landon had a unit in geometry this week, which included a test. Mom thinks it's a riot watching the boys hammer their way through the work and assessments. Mike is a champion for doing 9th grade math every day with Landon.

Mike has gotten inspired to do some artwork lately. Here's a piece done by tracing parts of an original work by Scottish artist and Canadian herald R. Gordon Macpherson. 

He also did an original piece inspired by Malibu or talavera Mexican-style tiles. 

Our local ice artist did a couple of designs this week. Unfortunately, the leprechaun and rainbow melted in the rain before we could get a good picture. 

We had some interesting weather during the week, ranging from chilly sun to snow to rain. Here is Mike's car in the Costco parking lot on Wednesday a half hour after he went in to do a little shopping while Landon was at TKD. 

The house got covered by snow coming in almost horizontally from the north. 

Landon found his frosty windows to be particularly fascinating. 

Hallie liked the snowy trees we saw the next day on her way to work.

Here is Eliza with kitty during her reading class on Thursday. 

Landon likes cereal. He really, really likes cereal. Many nights Landon looks for chocolate. Hallie suggested he eat cereal. He did eat cereal.

Grandpa sent Fergus a catnip toy, and the cat was in hog heaven. He went after that bird like it was alive. Here he is coming down from his nip-induced high. 

Isn't she a cutie? When she uses someone's phone? 

On his way to work Saturday, Mike saw some pretty mountain views reflected in the spring runoff on the local fields. 

After work, he brought home sushi from Sam's. It's not like the restaurant in Ogden or in Tokyo, but it'll do. 

Dad, Mom, and Eliza ran an errand to Target Saturday night and got some Bahama Bucks on the way home. Landon, who opted to play on his laptop, missed out. 

   Eliza cuddled with her buddy and Mom on a rainy Sunday morning. 

Hallie caught a glimpse of some deer in a field near the house while she was out. There haven't been many times we have seen the deer so close to our house.

Mike got Hallie flowers (of the LEGO variety) on his Costco run. Hallie spent the next few days putting them together, and now she has a beautiful bouquet that won't rot away! Hallie is happy to know that the flowers will not die.

Landon, Corbin, and Mike went driving in the afternoon Sunday, but not before the boy and his sister practiced some sword play.  

2023, February 27-March 5

Signs of spring have started in the garden in spite of recent snows. The boys took a trip up north while the girls tooled around near home. 

After school on Monday, Eliza hopped on the computer for some free time. Fergus took it as his invitation to sit on a warm body. 

Here she is at Yates Places doing art inspired by the Ottoman Sultans. Eliza's nickname at school is Squeakie.

We got some pretty alpenglow off Buckley Mountain. 

Landon has moved on to geometry, which he seems to like more than algebra (just wait, boy).

At BUH, the wildlife was out for a visit on Wednesday evening. Hallie was over the moon at seeing the deer so close to the car.

Something sus was on display for our local snow sculpture. 

Landon graduated to his next level (yellow belt) in TKD, this despite resting his injured back. Good job! 

Eliza sure loves her brother. She drew this symbol from the cartoon Naruto on the driveway for him.

Grandma O. sent some photos of snow visible from Simi. 

Here's another image from Santa Monica looking inland. Apparently it's chilly down there by California standards. 

The Utah State Legislature passed the bill for the new flag. People are making some funny memes, but Mike thinks the design is nice and will be positive overall. 

Landon got his Herbst device removed and braces put back on. Hallie was trying to get a smile before, but he was not having it.

He and Mike went up to Ogden that night in preparation to volunteer at a state-wide LEGO competition Hallie found out about online. The boys went to a local sushi restaurant named Hanamaru that they quite enjoyed. Landon chose to eat through the pain. 

They stayed at a local Hampton Inn that was once the historic Eccles Building. It was near several local attractions and restaurants. 

The girls looked after the kitty at home. Doesn't he look content? Hallie thinks Fergus was really saying, Where is Mike?

Landon enjoyed an extravagant breakfast of blueberry waffles with whipped cream and chocolate sauce along with other soft cool foods. We also had a couple of servings of Menchie's frozen yogurt. When we have waffles, Landon doesn't eat much. But every time we stay at a hotel, he goes nuts on the waffles. Funny kid.

Unfortunately, the volunteer experience was kind of a bust. We were pretty much redundant because we really didn't know what we were doing so couldn't really contribute. Thus, we learned a good lesson: volunteer for things you know about or for things you can get better at as you volunteer over a period of time. Maybe we can help out earlier next year. 

Despite there being snow the driveway was clear enough after the sun came out that Eliza drew a chalk tulip on the driveway.

Hallie got her hair done on Saturday morning while the boys were out. Eliza tagged along and had a lot of fun on Hallie's phone during Hallie's pampering time. 

Eliza attends Bridle Up Hope on Wednesday nights during Young Women. This last week the young women made 72-hour kits, and someone was kind enough to make Eliza one. Eliza had a lot of fun going through it, and Hallie wrote everything down so we know what is in it.

We woke up Sunday morning to this. 

Mike kept working on his A-Frame set. 

We got some signs of spring in the garden beds. The tulips are starting to sprout! The little red dots are the tulips, and Hallie is over the moon! We planted close to 100 bulbs and are excited to see what happens.

By the afternoon, a lot of the snow had melted (and Mike had shoveled the walk). By the evening, cloudy skies had reappeared. We think snow is coming again tonight. Some in the family are doing well with all the snow (cough! Mike). Some in the family are not so fond (cough! Hallie). Spring can't come soon enough.