2026, May 11-17

We spent a harried week packing up the house and ending school and jobs. The grand finale was a birthday celebrations! 

Mike got to fly down from Missoula. While he arrived in Springville at about the same time as he would have by driving, with car rental and fuel prices as they are lately, it actually made flying the cheaper option. Here you see a view out toward the runway and mountains.  

This was Hallie's last week working at the preschool. Her school had a number of outdoor events, including drawing on the sidewalks and a field day. She received a stellar evaluation from her principal. Working at the preschool has been such a positive experience overall, and she has appreciated working with her teacher, her colleagues, and her students. 

For the last several days, cattle have hung out at the local pasture. Late in the week, a couple got out and wandered around the northwest end of the neighborhood. Eliza offered her services to the Springville PD to help wrangle one of the wayward cows, but the officers declined. 

We had beautiful weather for kite flying a few days this week. It's a shame Mike's kite is in Missoula. The evening skies showed off spectacularly mid-week.

Oops.

We have spent much of the week packing up bedrooms and other living spaces. It's been a bit stressful to distinguish between "We're still using this" and "This can be packed." In particular, Landon has had to make a lot of choices about what stays and what goes as he continued scrambling to figure out his post-move living situation. 

Mike checked in on the Missoula osprey cam, and discovered that Fergus suddenly wanted to watch TV. Every time Isis or her mate would chirp or make some movement on their nest, Fergus's ears perked up, and he started making his own actions in response. He even tried climbing up to see if he could get into the nest, walking around behind the TV. "How do I get in there?"

We've been sweating this last semester with Landon and graduation (mostly based on (lack of) attendance). But he made it! He brought home his diploma on Thursday, and he walks next Tuesday. 

We're sorting through clothes and other items in an attempt to get everything packed and moved downstairs and into the garage prior to the move. This includes discovering some clothing items of Hallie's that either got stored in the linen closet or in Eliza's bedroom. All of us (save for Landon) have been living out of our suitcases for the last several days. Landon has been living out of piles.

Hello, moo cow! As suddenly as they arrived, the cattle disappeared by the end of the week. 

The bell with Mike's department emblem showed up this week. Imagine passing your master's culminating presentation or your dissertation defense and getting to ring out to everyone, "Hey! I made it!"

At BUH this week, she made some floriculture projects, including this tiara. 

She also got to hang out with friends. Later sunsets and warm evenings make hanging out outdoors at night a delight. This is Eliza doing a handstand on an ice cream cone. Why? Why not? 

She and Hallie spent a little time with friend Lexi and her family. 

The next day, Gma M. even got into the floral crown act. Very Springtimey! 

With the sink installation came the problem of old sink disposal. For some strange reason, we all basically forgot that the old sink was basically a cracked piece of ceramic and could be further broken down. Anyway, Mike thought to split the double sink into two for easier transportation, and Hallie then realized that we could just keep hammering away. So that's exactly what Mike and Eliza did. Soon what used to be a cracked sink was a pile of glass shards suitable for disposal. 

Prior to Hallie and Kenyon's party at his farm in Lake Shore, we had to pay the farm a visit to scout out where we were going to set up tables and chairs. This also meant getting to see the farm in operation. Keynon raises pigs and cows for Ballerina Farms, and his extended family have pens, paddocks, and other enclosures for a menagerie of horses, goats, and birds. 

Oh, and llamas. This dark one kept giving Mike the side eye and making the cutest menacing chirps. Mike took the hint and avoided getting spit at. 

Eliza claims that Kai is Hallie's dog. Photos like these would suggest that the story is a bit more complex. 

Fast-forward from Saturday to Sunday. What promised to be merely cloudy and perhaps drizzly weather for the party turned into a full-blown windstorm. Hallie caught this pick of Mike attempting to hang the party balloons outdoors. She commented later that he looked like Carl from the movie Up about ready to get carried off. Mike felt like it was a very unpleasant kite wrangle. Not to say he felt uplifted by the experience, but it would have only taken a few more to get him airborne. 

We moved the party indoors to Kenyon's as-yet-unfinished house, next to the pig barn. One advantage of the wind: we did not smell the pigs as much as we might have otherwise. For those who have never seen pent-up swine up close, they have a pungency that's unmistakable for anything other than pig. Those in attendance at the party had the chance to see newborn piglets suckling, newborn foals hanging out with their mama mares, and other signs of spring.  

But before moving back to the animals, let's get to the reason why we were at the farm: Happy Birthday, Hallie and Kenyon! While conditions were chilly, we felt the warmhearted embrace of friends and family who braved the elements to show their love. Thanks for the present of your presence! 

What's a Sunday Social without a fire pit? 

Happy birthday! 

OK, back to the animals. 

Eliza found this nest of gravel-colored eggs right in the middle of everything. Turns out there's a killdeer who hasn't yet learned how to hide her nest in plain sight without it getting trampled. 

For context, here's the drama playing out with nest (the slightly lighter area stage right) and the angry mom chirping away furiously (upstage left near the huge dirt pile) after Mike persuaded Eliza (who wanted to incubate the eggs she found) to put them back. 

2026, May 4-10

This is the last full week that Mike will be apart from the rest of the family! UM had finals week and graduation, and the fam in Springville had preparations of their own. 

Monday meant a new tattoo for Hallie. A cartoon version of Kai!!!

Mike made a couple of old pictures into stickers while he updated his YouTube music playlist after work (Listen on shuffle. The list is hardly comprehensive, and he's on a Magnetic Fields binge since watching that Argentinian series he mentioned a little while back. He's open to suggestions for essential music to add. If it makes him move or if it moves him, he might add it!). AI seems to like to give cheekbones and jawlines that never existed in real life. 

He then took advantage of the windy conditions to go fly his kite on the UM Oval. He actually got to fly his kite two days this week! 

On Monday, he caught glowing clouds with the setting sun. He also took an accidental selfie. The nail is a makeshift screwdriver he used to get into the battery pack of his Galaxy's Edge lightsaber. It being May the Fourth, supposedly there was going to be a Star Wars-themed activity on the Oval that seemed to have not happened. 

These are shots from the overpass over the Clark Fork River. 

Iris the Osprey laid an egg this week! 

The lilacs are really coming into bloom as the other flowering trees lose their blossoms. 

Hallie got to look after Brooklyn this week while Alicia was away. 

Hallie also got to make dinosaurs with the preschoolers. Miss Kelly, noticing Hallie's excitement at art projects, has now started making extras for the grownups to make "as examples."

Hello, girlie!

Jocie made it onto Springville High School's social media. 

Eliza spent some time at Leslie's looking after the ponies. 

She also got to hold newborn bunnies. 

As this week was Teacher Appreciation Week at the preschool, Hallie got this bracelet. 

Her new frame toppers for her glasses also came in. The future is bright.  

Now that the house has been sold, the stager removed the fancy furnishings. Here are Landon and a friend resting after a hard day at school before the removal.  

Bridle Up Hope had its annual Open House on Friday. Eliza got to be a flag bearer in the riding ring and show off Big Mack. 

Hallie was able to remove the second skin over her tattoo. Now she'll have Kai with her always. 

Mike started his graduation day Saturday walking past some of the young deer on his way to campus. 

We had a reception in the morning before going over to the Adams Center. Mike caught a pic of a ladybug that came in with the processional and alighted on the wall above the corridor to the arena floor. 

The EDLD faculty gave our new pins to the graduates and wore them as medallions on our regalia. Mike thinks he looks better in this getup in a beard. All the pomp and circumstance is goofy, but it's fun too. 

Congratulations, graduates! Cue the bubbles. 

Sometime during the week, Iris laid another egg! Mike finally saw it on the webcam. His mom would have been entertained. 

After all the receptions and ceremonies, UM campus emptied out. Mike was practically the only one there, so he wandered around campus, climbing exterior stairs to get in the movement he didn't get while sitting. Here's a view of the M from the back side stairs on Main Hall.  

In Utah, Hallie got new birthday-themed nails. 

Eliza and Hallie attended our friend Amada's birthday party on Saturday. Unfortunately, Hallie didn’t get pictures at the party. Amanda’s sister Sara hosted family and friends for a great celebration of Amanda. It was fun to meet and see Amanda’s friends that Hallie has heard so much about. On the way home from Saratoga Springs, she and Eliza took the “long” way around the west side of Utah Lake. Eliza had the time of her life by hanging her head out the window most of the way home. 

Mother's Day dawned without a meowing cat and with breakfast in bed. Good job, Eliza! Looks tasty. The fam had a dinner made from our frozen foodstuffs. Time to clean things out before the big move. We love you, Hallie, and we love our moms and grandmas and birthmoms near and far and no longer with us. You rock!