2026, July 20-26

Another week where some of us are away from home while others hold the fort. Landon and Jocie made their way back to Utah, Mike and Eliza went down to Simi to help out Papa O. and Alie, and Hallie and the pets welcomed Amanda and Frankie for a few days. 

We really enjoyed having Landon and Jocie come up and were sad that they had to return to life back in Utah, but so it goes. Bye, Kai! Until next time! 

We are now fully and officially Montana residents, down to our car. For those who don't know, Moatana's Motor Vehicles Division has an incredibly wide variety of themed license plate for drivers to choose from. We chose this one from the Montana Food Bank Network because of the cool bear.  

Post Malone and Jelly Roll came to Washington-Grizzly Stadium for a concert on Tuesday. Prior to their arrival, a whole crew with several trucks came to town, taking up lots of parking space and snarling traffic patterns. As Mike and Hallie took Kai for a walk, they took pictures. Hallie would have loved to have gone, but those ticket prices were way too spendy.

Mike caught sight of the bucks as he was throwing cardboard boxes away. They're not quite as skittish as the fawns. 

On Tuesday, he and Eliza flew out from Missoula to LA to spend a couple of weeks in Simi helping out Papa and Alie. As they waited for the plane, Eliza and Dad did some drawing. Mike thinks the bee he drew didn't turn out too badly. Eliza also made woven bracelets as she waited. 

Off we go into the wild blue yonder!  

6th Street traffic was pretty miserable on concert day. There was a lady sitting checking every car that went to the end of the street. Once Hallie got to Starbucks, she didn't leave the neighborhood by car the rest of the day.

Dad and E patiently waited for the Van Nuys FlyAway bus before getting picked up by Mike's sister Emily and going to Mercado Buenos Aires in the Valley. Words fail to express how yummy the alfajores, facturas, and empanadas tasted! There's just nothing like the real deal from people who know what they're doing. 

Of course, the trip to California was more of a work trip than a vacation, and work started as soon as we got into town with loading items from Amber's garage into Papa's truck for Emily to take up to her new house. 

Meanwhile, now it was just Hallie and the pets at home. She saw the fauns on her and Kai's afternoon walk. 

Mike went nonstop on Wednesday, starting with a morning walk to clear his head before launching into cleaning and organizing. 

He rounded a corner and encountered this little guy, who gave him a start before he realized it wasn't real. 

He and Eliza took a break to get some Tommy's. Hallie was jealous from a far.

They packed a box truck with more items to take up to Emily's and then drove up to Palmdale, unloaded the truck, visited with the cousins, and headed back to Simi. 

Among the items were old videos and a few of Alison’s Authors’ Faire books from her Vista school days. 

Hallie and the UM Starbucks staff had their daily visit, and Kai even got a pup cup. 

Hallie ran a few errands before Amanda showed up. She saw these fun banners at Target for the UM students. 

Hallie made sure that Ferg said hi to Mike. He seems fully recovered from his injuries. 

Amanda showed up late in the evening. The girls stayed up quite late chatting. Hallie and Amanda found some fun Disney-themed merchandise. They are going to WDW at the end of October, and this bubble wand will be going with them on their trip. Who said adults can't have bubble wands?

They celebrated Pioneer Day with (pizza) pie and (root) beer (of course!) at a local restaurant, MacKenzie River Pizza, Grill & Pub.

Mike and Eliza got Dutch apple pie and root beer to share in Simi. 

The ladies in Missoula also did a painting project on sneakers. They needed saddle shoes, so why not DIY them?

Hallie had gotten a blind box, and inside she found a rare Nightmare Before Christmas snow globe. The first Halloween decoration is out on a shelf.

Mike found sunflowers on his Saturday morning walk. 

Hallie and Amanda spent their Saturday morning up in Polson at the Flathead Cherry Festival. Check out the size of this chicken sandwich! 

They took the puppies, who seemed to enjoy themselves. 

And the ladies enjoyed local fresh cherries. They may not last until Mike and Eliza get back. Hallie said, "Probably not."

Hallie got other goodies, including Huckleberry Banana bread and a map to log our travels as we embark on new road trips. 

Mike and Eliza went over to Carly and Shad's on Saturday afternoon so the girls could visit and play in the pool. 

Mike and Carly supervised Shad as he worked on a home improvement project. 

Sunday morning Amanda and Frankie had to return to Utah, but not before breakfast at the River City Grill near Bonner. Check out this massive cinnamon roll.  

Mike keeps whittling away at whatever his dad lets him take on. It's a pretty monumental task. 

Eliza has been a great help, and both are taking breaks as they can. Eliza went on a walk down to the Arroyo Simi and caught a view of this egret.