2022, May 23-29

The last week of school has officially come and gone. Now for summertime for reals! 

Eliza and Lily found this little bird who had fallen out of its nest. We tried to get it back to its parents, but Mike fears it was injured and possibly beyond hope. Sad! 

Landon got a massive rip on his right hand. It's healing up fine, but it looked nasty when he first got it. Here it is under wraps. 

Eliza found yet another critter down by the stream on the property next to Reagan Elementary, this gopher snake. She was encouraged to let it go back into the wild. 

E also took a trip to the pool with the Crossettes. Summer fun has begun! We got a couple of hot days this week before the rain and colder temperatures returned for the weekend.

These are beans. Hallie thought she bought squash. Hallie has the little stake with the name to prove she tried to buy zucchini. So, instead of moving these little snots (or giving them away, really), who needs 4 pole beans? I guess we do. Hallie went out and bought zucchini and gave it its very own home below the beans.

Mike got a haircut. He doesn't like it. We took a picture to show his mom! Hallie told his mom that he was looking snappy. Here Mike was snapping to look snappy.

Eliza got a unicorn dress for her horseback riding show later this summer. She also said she doesn't like it, or rather, she said it is not her. However, it moves well and hopefully will accomplish the task of winning some ribbons. Or, as Eliza likes to say, "You have to spend money to win money." We think she likes it well enough. 

As part of last days of school, Landon became a yearbook when he ran out of room in his paper one. We were told that his friend asked to sign his abs, and then some girls asked to sign his abs. It's only just begun. 

We found a ladybug at the splash pad when we were with two sets of fun friends. Eliza likes ladybugs because her birth mom likes ladybugs. So it is fun when we see these fun little insects.

Diamond gave Hallie a beautiful bracelet for Mother's Day. Diamond is a great gift giver. Thank you, Diamond!!!

Coach Allison is leaving Bold for another coaching role. She brought cupcakes, and we celebrated some with her. Leave it to Landon not to smile. We love Coach Allison and wish her well on her new role and adventure. 

Mike made some linocut stamps with the kit Hallie got him for Christmas, including a new badge he made to go along with his arms. 

Here is a fancy digitally-drawn version. 

We had a backyard get together on Saturday with s'mores around the fire. 

These girls from the neighborhood came by to deliver something to Hallie. We think they may have also had a motive to see the boy. Landon brought down his swords to share. They were impressed. 

We all had a long night. Only Fergus got to sleep in. 

 

2022, May 16-22

You can tell the end of school is near. 

Apparently Eliza had her last real week of school last week. Eliza got a message from her teacher on Monday letting her know that, because of end-of-year testing (which Eliza didn't take), this week was for testing and catching up on assignments. So, Mike had Eliza finish up a couple of assignments we had let slide, and Mike had Eliza do some grade-level social studies and skills review. This coming week, she might have a couple of sessions with her resource teachers, but for all intents and purposes, her school year is done. She's thrilled, but Dad's not so keen on it. As parents we feel deeply about the parts of Eliza's education where she is lacking. Possibly, our expectations are high; Eliza definitely learns in a different way than a majority of us.

Landon had his last regular week of school, and we spent some time catching up on missing work and beefing up his grades. His big deal was getting his summer job and dealing with the accompanying paperwork (which Mom mostly helped make happen).

We have nasty grubs in the lawn. They must die. Hallie has been told we get to take care of them before the HOA is going to get around to taking care of them. So, Hallie went and got some stuff at Walmart and this week. Now that Hallie is not working anymore for the school year, she will get to spraying the lawns. 

The neighborhood ponies have enjoyed having green grass to graze upon. Eliza likes visiting with them. Eliza believes one of them has a hurt hoof. Hallie has spent some time on Facebook trying to find out who they belong to. Hallie received a good lead and sent a message to the person but has yet to hear back from the person.

E also likes collecting things. This snake she found ended getting lost downstairs for a few days. Our neighbor Lily found it again in the pantry, and Eliza let it back into the wild. Hallie was very unhappy with the knowledge the snake has been in the house. Ugh!!! 

Eliza had a couple of beautiful days riding. She spent time out in the sun on one day and indoors due to wind on another. 

We celebrated Hallie's birthday with fancy cupcakes, thanks to Cravings Cupcakes. They were yummy!

She's four . . . decades . . . and some other years . . . old. 

Here the girl goes riding again! 

On one of her days this week, Eliza had a guest come visit! Mrs. Haymond is the best! Mrs. Haymond was Eliza's 2nd grade teacher. Mrs. Haymond had a wonderful time with the horses and watching Eliza. We are so grateful for those that love Eliza!  

Mike caught some glorious sun rays coming home from plasma donation Friday morning. You had to be there. 

Hallie and Eliza ran several errands before and after a doctor's visit. They had a lot of fun together, just the girls. The girls had a great experience at the Lego Store at Fashion Place Mall and then had a delightful lunch at Olive Garden. Eliza ate a lot of soup. 

We all went to the Spanish Fork food trucks, getting shave ice, BBQ, and ramen. Afterwards, we had a parent meeting with Landon's Coach Sam. 

Here is the boy getting some job-related paperwork done. Soon we'll have another employed person under our roof. He's already counting his chickens. . . .

Mike and a few have created a roll of arms for their online heraldry community. It's been interesting to learn about wiki editing and so on. Plus seeing the badges other people have made has inspired him to make a new badge to go with his arms.  

We had some variable weather this week. Sunday was delightful overall. Mike got some kite time in while Eliza whittled. Not long after this shot (after Mike had reeled in the kite), the wind picked up in earnest before settling down for the evening. 

After we came in, the four of us spent time talking to Alie, Grandpa, and Grandma Owens on the Amazon Echo, and later the kids played Minecraft with Caleb (our son in law) on a server he has created and with the use of the Echo. We all had some good laughs. It was fun to see Caleb and Landon laugh genuinely. Mike made yummy flautas from Every Plate.    

2022, May 9-15

We went from snowy weather to nearly summer this week. Eliza spent time with horses, and Landon got in a couple of sword fights.

Monday morning, we awoke to snowfall on the grass and cars. Our little garden had a couple of casualties.  

By mid-morning, the snow had melted off the grass, and the air felt pleasantly warm. So we spent some time outside -- Eliza whittling, and Mike flying his kite. 

We had an OK wind at first, but then Mike noticed just in time that the wind was dying down. He avoided getting it stuck on a neighbor's roof, but the string snagged a tree branch. 

Eliza scrambled up to see if she could get it, but Mike managed to get it loose before Eliza needed to go out on a limb, so to speak. 

That evening, Mike went for a neighborhood walk. 

Fergus decided to join him, as he is sometimes wont to do lately. 

He spied this robin-red-breast and tried to snag him. 

Alas, the bird was faster than our hunter. 

Better luck next time, killer.

Eliza had her last days at Yates' Place for the school year this week. On Wednesday, they had a gift exchange. Here Eliza is preparing her gifts. 

Hallie had bought some paint pens, and Mike and Eliza painted a couple of the trays we use when eating and watching TV. 

After Yates' Place and schoolwork at the Payson Library on Wednesday, Eliza had her horseback riding session. We had pleasant spring weather, and Mike thought the girls were going outside. They did, eventually. 

Here is Loki. He and Mike got off to a bit of a bitey start when they first met many moons ago, but now we're friends. 

Thursday started off drizzly. Mike and Eliza walked down to see the ponies in the pasture west of our subdivision. 

On our walk back, we were treated to dramatic skies. 

Fergus spends many days snoozing in Eliza's room. Here he is blepping. 

On her afternoon ride, Eliza showed off her developing skills on Echo. 

Fergus spends many evenings snoozing with people on the couch. No blep to be seen this time. 

Hallie bought Eliza a long pillow to replace one Landon had damaged. Fergus took it over, of course.

Because Eliza had a last day of school party on Friday, Mike and Hallie had time for a lunchtime date. We went walking over by Hobble Creek. As we did so, Hallie thought she saw a twig on the path. As she started to step over it, it moved! Yup, it was a little snake, and it promptly slithered off the path, much to Hallie's relief. 

In addition to using the paint pens for drawing on her food tray, Eliza used it to draw little hearts on herself. 

For a school task, she needed to do a scavenger hunt for items having specific geometric shapes. This puff ball is pretty spherical, right? 

On Saturday, Landon participated in an all day gymnastics seminar from Complete Performance Coaching. While he was one of the few boys in attendance, the advice worked equally well for girls, boys, women, and men alike. Pictured below is Chellsie Memmel, an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2005 world all-around champion and the 2003 world champion on the uneven bars. She was a member of the United States women's gymnastics team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.

He also had a job interview for a summer job at Splash Summit. We don't know what the result will be, but he felt pretty confident. As his parents we hope he gets the job but it is also a great opportunity for practice.

 

Once he got back home, he got right back with the seminar. Technology is amazing in that he was able to keep participating in the car to and from the interview and not miss much of the all-day proceedings. 

We had another backyard get together. We were far fewer in number but had no less fun. Fergus even joined us, and he was kind enough to bring his own vittles. 

On Sunday while she was playing, Eliza ran into a bumblebee (we think). She got stung, and she was a trooper while Mike tended to her.  

Landon's new friend Marshall came over as well. Here the boys are sparring on the front lawn. Landon broke a wooden sword, got a sunburn, and a splinter as it should be. 

Eliza enjoyed watching from the sidelines. 

The week ended with weather at 85 degrees. Hallie and Mike spent a bit of time clearing out the garage so we can get stuff donated, put away, or thrown away. Had to try to get some work done before it got too hot. Hopefully, the parents will keep up the organization trend over the next week and Hallie will be able to get her car back in the garage.