2026, February 23-March 1

We had a pretty uneventful week. Nice to see signs of spring as we move into March. 

Hallie got to help the preschoolers learn some of the alphabet this week. She even colored a cat that resembled Fergus. 

She and the kids have been cleaning the house and getting items sorted for staging purposes. 

Mike had some shifting weather this week. On Tuesday, he woke up to a dusting of snow. 

Fergus appreciates it when Hallie picks him up to get on the bed. It's tough getting old.

Mike's snowflake-bedecked windows became an object of interest to the LAB preschoolers. They're the only ones that have anything on them. 

The stager came over later in the week, and Alicia helped Hallie set some things ready. This meant sweet Brooklyn got to come over to visit while Eliza did school. 

Spring seems to have made a tentative start in Springville. While sitting outside with the girls, Hallie spied this ladybug on her blanket.

As Mike walked back to his apartment, he caught fully half a dozen young deer from the herd taking an afternoon meal. 

Hallie decided on the spur of the moment that it was time to get another tattoo. She's known what design she has wanted for a while. 

She went to Spencer Cox, an artist we have known since he was a kid in Camarillo. Nice result! The real deal will look a bit different after it heals. 

The weekend in Missoula was absolutely spring-like. So gorgeous! Mike spent some time outside taking in the sun rays. He had a little friend come check out what he was up to (and maybe see if he had a snack to share. Maybe next time).  

The sunsets and rolling clouds generally have created quite the palette of colors overhead. 

(This wasn't Mike's picture but it was from Missoula this week.)

On Saturday, Hallie, Eliza, and Amanda went to a bracelet-making activity at a local bookstore in town called The Pumpkin Cottage. 

Eliza and Hallie have been looking after the neighbors' dogs this week. Val is always so full of energy! 

On Sunday, Mike took in a short novel anthology on the Oval along with the other sunbathers. It contained Asimov's Profession and Campbell's Who Goes There? (both of which inspired some well-known sci-fi movies). This collection also has Longyear's Enemy Mine (inspiration for the great 1985 movie of the same name with Louis Gossett, Jr. and Dennis Quaid), which he read earlier in the week.