2023, January 16-22

Winter continues to provide cold and flashes of beauty. The kids have settled into their new routines. We had some chances to be creative as well. 

As Mike was getting ready to donate plasma Monday morning, Eliza showed up downstairs. He sent her back to bed, saying, "My side of the bed is still warm if you want to go lie down with Mom." Zip! Off she went. Hallie sent this photo about an hour later. We cherish the small moments we share with our kids. 

Monday's MLK Holiday mostly meant people stayed at home. Fergus held Mike hostage. 

Landon went to the gym, where he spent close to eight hours hanging, er, working out. 

Mike eventually got Fergus to sleep on his own so he could go for a ride and run some errands with Hallie while Eliza participated in some classes at Bridle Up Hope. 

Tuesday was a pretty normal, if chilly, day. Eliza enjoyed putting Dante through his paces. Eliza has really grown to love some of the horses at Guide N Gallop. There are some sad feelings about leaving, but we hope to be back to visit and ride in the future.

 

We got some Instagram screen shots from Eliza's Monday cooking class at BUH. She got to learn how to use a wok to make stir fry bowls. The woman in the picture is a certified chef. Eliza is blessed to be able to be taught by professionals.

 

The road out to Payson for therapy was a little iffy due to a bit of weather we got in the evening. Mom and Dad made it, and it was a good session. Even though therapy can be hard at times, it is worth the work.

Landon likes to take selfies of himself from odd angles. Parenting a 15-year-old boy is a whole new ball game.

He's also letting his hair grow long. Hallie isn't a fan as he flips his head when he eats to get his hair out of his face when he eats. Landon loves to bug Mike, and Hallie finds it really funny. Landon is very funny and knows how to lift Hallie's spirits. 

Landon has decided that Spanish is hard. Verb conjugations kick his hiney, and stem changing verbs are even worse. Mike is sad because he thinks Spanish is pretty straightforward. Then again, Mike catches onto a lot of things of this sort and finds many things Landon finds easy to be quite challenging. 

In preparation for TKD on Wednesday, Landon put his hair up. Yes, it's that long. He asked Hallie to put it in a ponytail. Landon didn't know the difference Hallie put in pigtails. As soon as he looked in the mirror he quickly pulled them out. Meanwhile, Hallie was laughing so hard.

The morning sun played on the east side of Mt. Timpanogos on Thursday. This picture doesn't do the glow justice.

 

Eliza played with Nugget in the afternoon. After riding Nugget, Eliza thought Nuggets mane was covering her eyes too much, so a braided bun in the front was called for.

At her show-and-tell at Yates' Place, Eliza showed off pictures of photogenic Fergus. The kids went so far as to pick Fergus' dating profile. Poor kitty. But she sure does love him.

On Saturday, Mike and Hallie went out for an early anniversary date to the Featured Female Market and then to brunch to Communal in Provo. We shared brioche French toast and fish tacos, which were tasty. There are several other items we'd like to try in the future. 

Later in the day, Mike took Eliza to the Make-and-Take at Michael's in Orem. We had a little pyrography (wood burning) class where we drew on hardwood slices. 

Eliza also made a yarn-wrapped cardinal to brighten up the bleakness. 

Later on, Mike took a ride around the neighborhood. Here's a view of what he thinks is Loafer Mountain and Santaquin Peak due south of us. 

In the evening, Buckley Mountain was still quite visible after sunset with all the snow. 

On Sunday morning after about 9:00, we started getting snow that fell light but steady for the rest of the day.

 

Hallie let Eliza do her hair. This is the result. Hopefully, one day Eliza gets the hair styling thing down and Hallie can go out of the house with a decent 'do.

Mike watched the Orpheus Reed Trio perform at the Springville Art Museum in the afternoon. He appreciates that we have these kinds of events so close.