2023, May 22-28

School's out for summer! 

Eliza had a photo shoot as part of her BUH experience. We are excited to see the photos with Eliza and the horse Mac. In the middle picture Eliza is wearing the spurs that once belonged to Hallie's grandpa. The story was told to us that he wore them as a cowboy in the 1930's in Idaho.

Hallie saw this bunny while walking around Bartholomew Park during Eliza's photo shoot.

On social media, we saw E in her BUH sewing class. 

Hallie got new spring-themed nails. 

Our neighbors are moving. We're sad. Hallie and the girls went out for a farewell dinner. The girls were most excited about the rainbow in the far back.

We've gotten some interesting spring weather with showers in the afternoons to keep things cool. Mike thinks 2023 has been the best year ever, weather-wise at least. The picture below is from Hallie waiting for Eliza to finish a class at Bridle Up Hope.

Eliza and Hallie went out to lunch with Julie after running some errands. 

Landon had his last week of school, which included yearbook (and apparently body) signing. What a goof ball!

Eliza had a special TKD class where she learned about knife defense and worked with the black belt students. 

Since Julie is moving, it means that we may end up not seeing Kai anymore. He's a good dog. 

E got on BUH's Insta later in the week.

She got a macrame cactus kit that she worked on completing on Saturday. Didn't turn out quite as expected. Eliza had a great Special Education teacher that lives in Cedar City, and they would work via Zoom. Her teacher would send fun gifts in the mail.

She may have stayed up late in the night, because she was tired Sunday morning and got crabby in the afternoon. 

Mike has taken advantage of the weather to go on bike rides through the neighborhood. As spring has warmed up, he's seen a variety of flowers and plants in bloom, from crocuses, daffodils, and tulips, to lilacs and forsythia, and now to wildflowers and "weeds" such as bindweed, whitetop, Spanish broom, Dalmatian toadflax, and wild roses. He even saw a mated pair of sandhill cranes with a juvenile in tow fishing for frogs in the flooded fields this week.  

Mike, Eliza, and Kai went for a bike ride and walk over to Wing Park. The pond could use some TLC. 

Later, Mike got some kite time in. Sunday was really nice. We had the neighborhood get-together to wind down the day. Sunday afternoon/evening wasn't quite so nice, weather-wise, but we enjoyed seeing our neighbors. Landon even brought his new girlfriend, Aislynn. 

 

2023, May 15-21

Spring has been just about perfect so far. We took advantage and took to the outdoors near home. 

Eliza and Hallie went over to BUH. In between a lesson and classes Eliza had a bit of a break, so the girls headed up Hobble Creek, had a little picnic, and took a little walk around the area where they stopped.

As you can see from these photos, the creek was running really high. 

Mike finished cleaning out his old office on campus. Fergus got curious about the open back hatch. He will sometimes approach the car as Mike leaves or comes home, but this is the first time he's jumped into the car. 

Eliza had her last days at Yates Place this week. We're not sure what all they did to wind up the year, but we did get to see some of the fruit of their labors on Friday (more to follow). 

Mike wakes up next to this sleeping beauty every day. Lucky guy! 

Landon was feeling blessed with the Fergus lap sit. 

Ferg even blepped for him. 

On Wednesday, Eliza advanced in TKD. Congratulations! She and the other students showed off their skills. 

Hallie has officially finished for the school year, but she went up to visit the high school student teachers and brought cupcakes for her birthday. She got gifts too! 

This birthday gift, a Mickey Mouse-themed ramen bowl, came from our neighbor Alicia. Mike and Hallie pooled their birthday money, and we got a new TV and sound bar. 

Eliza found this duckling while over at the creek by the field. We sometimes wish she wouldn't bring home these wee orphans, especially since they might not be orphans. 

As mentioned earlier, Eliza and the other Yates Place students had a talent show and other presentations. Here she is playing Red Riding Hood in a play that is based on a trial of the Big Bad Wolf. 

She also did a ballroom dance (Swing) to Sh-Boom by The Chords. 

Our niece won the Miss Calaveras County 2023 contest. Way to go, Lily! 

Eliza participated in a cooking class at BUH where she learned to make baked breaded chicken with roasted vegetables. 

We had a yard sale on Saturday. Here is Eliza helping out with one of the tables we used to display our wares. 

We had a soft breeze Friday afternoon, so Mike got a quick kite flight in. 

Eliza had several pictures on BUH Mapleton's Instagram feed this week. 

These spurs newly adorning Eliza's boots come from her Great Grandpa Ace (1930's) and were also worn by her Great Uncle Jerry as part of his work. Eliza was beaming when she was given them. Hallie wished she had gotten a picture of Eliza once she got all dressed up with her spurs on.

Mike got caught by Fergus Sunday morning. 

We had another neighborhood get together in the backyard. Before then, Mike and Hallie went on a mini-date to see some youth choir singers at the Museum of Art. Talented group! 

The weather cooperated for our get together, and we enjoyed visiting with our neighbors and getting to know them better.