2026, October 12-18

Eliza won a riding competition on Saturday. She and Hallie had a couple of days off from school late in the week. Mike continues to be a man on the go, spending time in-state in Billings and Browning this week. 

Monday dawned with a dusting of snow on the local mountains. 

This is Eliza's normal school day with her study buddy. Mike had Indigenous Peoples' Day off from classes, but he was on campus nonetheless. Both Eliza and Hallie had Thursday and Friday off for MCPS professional development. Most states call it Fall Break.

Once the snow melted, full fall colors really began to show themselves on campus and around town. 

Speaking of professional development, Mike and his department chair John drove out to Billings on Wednesday to participate in the annual Montana Conference of Educational Leadership (MCEL). Here's the view from his hotel window. 

While Mike's away, the girls will abuse the cat, er, play. Yeah, that's it. 

Poor kitty. Poor, poor kitty. 

Hallie asked Mike for a pic. Mike obliged. Hallie thinks Mike looked handsome for his dinner.

Hallie really appreciates the kind people at Starbucks.

Fergus really appreciates a warm lap, even if that means trapping the person owning it. 

Hallie and Eliza went for a bra fitting at the local Dillard's on Friday. Wacoal sponsored the event, and the girls had a good time.

Mike and John drove back from Billings and got back in time for Mike and Eliza to take a walk up around the UM Oval. Look at those brightly colored maples and oaks!

Saturday morning dawned chilly and foggy. That didn't stop the gang from heading out to Big Sky Horse Park for a jumping derby. Eliza and Squirt faced off against 24 competitors, and Eliza won first place! 

Squirt had a roll in the dirt to finish out his day. Somehow, Drue kept asking Hallie to hold the horses. Drue is either trying to get Hallie in the horse business, or she really doesn't know how scared Hallie is of horses.

Later, Eliza and Mike went to participate in the Missoula No Kings rally. Unfortunately, they were late to the party. However, they did see some updated art under the Madison Street bridge. 

We did manage to see a couple of leftover signs from the rally at Caras Park. 

That's the place where Mike and Eliza parted ways. On his return home, he saw some Halloween art. 

"Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the . . . ."

Happiness is a sleeping kitty. 

Eliza is working off some of the cost of her riding lessons by helping out around Drue's. Hallie helped out on Saturday afternoon. Drue uses old fire hoses as part of her irrigation system. Watering is done for the year, so it was time to roll up the hoses. The girls have respect for Uncle Shad. It took a lot of muscle to get these rolled up. 

On Sunday, Mike and a group of faculty and staff from UM went up to Browning to participate in a tour of tribal colleges. Montana has a few colleges on the different reservations around the state, including Blackfeet Community College up past Glacier National Park on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The group was able to stop off in Polson to eat at Richwine's Burgerville before continuing on along the eastern shore of Flathead Lake and skirting Glacier National Park on their way to Browning.  

Katara is sleeping pretty regularly and outgrowing her clothes. Landon is not sleeping regularly and may be outgrowing his clothes. We know about his sleep because of the messages we receive at odd hours; we don't know about his clothes because he hasn't sent pictures in said messages. We miss being able to see Katara and her parents. They will be coming for Christmas, and we are so excited! Hopefully we can get Landon to join us as well.