2025, April 7-13

We had another eventful week with animal encounters, business travel, and birthday celebrations. 

The deer came out to play while Eliza was at BUH on Monday. 

The girls went over to Leslie's on Tuesday. Hallie visited with the animals while E got some riding time. Grandma met us there, but the pictures of her are on her phone. So we have to believe her when she says she held the baby goat and it fell asleep on her.

Landon had prom this week, and Mike had a job interview. This meant some new clothes. The girls helped Landon with his outfit and got Mike a couple of shirts. Below, Hallie is trying to help L believe that the outfit will come together with a tie. Eliza picked out the tie and was very proud of herself. Eliza really wanted to be part of the prom.

We're not going to grow a garden this year after several years of limited results. Hallie and Eliza sold some of the grow boxes and had to empty them out. 

Meanwhile, Mike headed up to Montana for a job interview. He got to visit the airport LEGO Store on the way up. 

Missoula is a lovely town. He stayed right on the river and had views of the local mountains. 

Mike appreciated how the University of Montana's College of Education is built as a courtyard that literally surrounds a school playground. Talk about student-centered!

Here's another view of the pedestrian bridge over the Clark Fork River looking toward Mount Sentinel.

Hallie wanted Mike to show her a pic of him dressed for his big day. Mike had a great experience getting to know potential work colleagues. Now it's a game of wait and see. 

Speaking of getting dressed up, Landon and Jocie had prom on Saturday. We made sure to get pictures. Lots of pictures! Kayla Lunt (Hallie's relative) took pictures for us. So, while we wait for their arrival you will have to settle for the shots from Mike. Hallie had to work at Starbucks and was sad she missed out on the fancy part of the prom. Earlier in the day Eliza and Hallie took the kids to the movies and lunch for their day date. Jocie's parents took care of the evening portion. We are so lucky that Landon has a great girlfriend, and her family is wonderful too.

Yes, this is Eliza hanging from the cherry tree so that petals could fall on the couple.

Mike celebrated his birthday on Sunday with many well-wishes and moments doing favorite things like lounging in bed with the family, flying his kite, cuddling with the cat, and going out for a Sunday drive. The boy has to get his driving hours sometime!

We also spent some time down by the creek, which has risen quite a bit with spring runoff. 

Living among the fields has its picturesque perks. 

Later in the day, we got some Japanese food from Taichi Bubble Tea, and Landon got some night driving in. All in all, Mike had a great day and feels blessed to have had so many happy returns of the day. Hallie worked at Starbucks and was grateful that they got the food to go so she could try some of the tasty things that they had told her about from the last time they went there.