Another Two Weeks in One Entry

Mike was out of town last Sunday, so this is another two-weeks-in-one entry.

May 6-13:

Mike spent the first four days of last week at a spring seminar for new faculty. He appreciates the level of thoughtfulness and support provided at the seminar, and we look forward to continued success from his efforts.

We had a gymnastics parent meeting on Monday with Eliza’s coaches. She’s continuing to grow in her skills, and she’ll work toward advancing to Level 3 over the summer.

Fergus has decided that outdoor living suits him. We have flea treated him, and we hope he keeps himself out of trouble. He seems to have no trouble finding food out in the wild, and near-daily “gifts” of gutted vermin provide endless morbid fascination for our and the neighbors’ kids. Mike has taken to calling Fergus a stone cold killer and Hallie to calling him a lion.

Mike paid Hallie a visit when she got her iron infusion. It's not so often we get a chance to just visit like that in the middle of the day. Too bad Hallie has yet to feel the energizing effects of that iron. 

Grandpa O. got the kids a magic wand for use with the TV. When Mike showed it off to the kids, they geeked out. They were so excited to try it out for themselves that Mike didn’t get much of a chance to show them how it works. Needless to say, the TV got turned off and on several times as they figured out other commands.

Landon got his eyes checked on Thursday. He’s a bit far-sighted, so he’ll be joining the rest of our bespeckled crew, at least for viewing TV and the whiteboard at school. Later he got a haircut. The boy’s going to look sharp! 

Later in the week he got his haircut.

Mike flew out Thursday afternoon to California for Cal Lutheran’s Grad School Commencement. He hooded his last two advisees and celebrated with the rest of the cohort. He also visited with former colleagues and enjoyed spending some time catching up with them.

He also had the chance to visit with the grandparents and Alie. Dwight and Marilyn will be moving up to Utah soon, and their recently sold home is starting to look more bare even than when Carly and Shad and the cousins moved.

After working in the morning on Saturday, Mike spent the rest of the weekend visiting with his parents and Alie. On Mother’s Day Sunday after church, Emily and her girls came to visit. This is the first time Mike has seen cute little Jocelyn. All three of Emily’s girls are bright, and Laura seems to be following right in Alie’s footsteps (quite literally – Alie took her out to play embracing her with an arm around the shoulder. So adorable!).  

Meanwhile, our kids at home gave Hallie a run for her money on Mother’s Day. Covering each other head to toe with marker is not quite as endearing as breakfast in bed. Hallie puts up with a lot with these two. Mike wishes upon them children just as full of spirit as they are (and he means it in the best sense possible. No, really!).

May 14-20:

Mike returned home, Hallie had her birthday, and Eliza had a meet. Plus, the cat brought home larger prey. Gross.

Monday – The three amigos headed off to school and work while Mike headed to the Burbank airport to head home.

Eliza and Hallie ditched school early to head to a doctor's appointment. On their way, they stopped at a yummy food truck called Porky's Poutine. Who doesn't need a little fries, gravy, and cheese for lunch? When the girls arrived at the doctor, they realized that they were actually 30 minutes late to their appointment. Oops!!! But being late sure was yummy!

The girls got home just in time to pick up Landon, get his stuff together for gymnastics, and go babysit Lily. It sounded like a good idea to go out to a park with Lily, but crazy winds came up and then rains came down. No park for Hallie and Lily. 

Eliza made Mike a fun welcome back card and drew him a picture of his arms. Maybe we have a budding heraldic artist in residence! 

She also wanted Mike to show off what he wears to graduations. Mike's not sure if she's ever seen him decked out in his regalia before. 

Tuesday – There is no adults to work the lunch room this week, so Hallie has put on her "old hat" and has started working in the lunch room again. Hallie will admit this is a lot easier than lunch duty in California, except for on days where taco meat or blueberries are served.

Today Hallie did something she had never done before, and that was to go to a high school in another city to present with a birth mom who she had never met before to students about adoption. The kids were super respectful, and the two ladies did awesome (or so said the lady who invited Hallie).

Both kids had gymnastics in the evening.

Wednesday – This day started out as a regular day. Regular meaning not full of activities that are over scheduled or are back to back. During work, one of the teachers was showing the kids in her class how to write an acrostic, and she used Hallie as an example, but Ms. McNab didn't want her picture taken.

Hallie thought it would be great to spend the afternoon getting Eliza ready for the upcoming gymnastics meet. Well, Hallie made the mistake of walking Landon into gymnastics. Once she walked in, she did not walk out for another four hours. Tonight she not only babysit Lily, but she also babysat three other kids. You know, at $2.50/hr per child sometimes babysitting is not on Hallie's list of things to do. But whatever. No one died, and we all made it to 7:30, barely.

Thursday – Today was the day Hallie chose to celebrate her birthday at work. There is an amazing lady at gymnastics who made cake pops for Hallie to hand out at school. After work Hallie spent a bit of time for herself with a pedicure. Then it was off to pick up Landon, so we could go and get his new glasses. The week before Landon got a flat top haircut, and he looks super sharp with the new glasses and the haircut. We headed home to get gymnastics gear ready for both kids, pick up Eliza, and then headed to gymnastics.

This evening Lily and Hallie joined Mike and many other faculty from the McKay School of Ed at a picnic at Kiwanis Park in Provo. It had rained on Hallie's way over, but thank goodness the rain stayed away. Lily was amazing, and the food was super yummy! We got back just in time to pick Eliza up from gymnastics. Early to bed for everyone as the next day was Eliza's state meet in Layton.

Friday – Eliza had a hair appointment for her meet and as usual looked cute as a button when she was finished. Okay, we just might be biased.

Eliza and Hallie picked up the boys and headed north to Layton for her State meet. The girls on her team try so hard and are so amazingly fearless as they do their best each time they go out. This meet was no different, but for whatever reason we had a few more stumbles than usual and a few more lower scores. But you know what? None of the girls care. They smiled and pranced around and just had a ton of fun, and that is all that matters when it comes down to it.

After the meet we ate at the Habit and did a bit of shopping at Trader Joe's. The kids played until way past dark. We love our neighbors.

Saturday – Mike and Hallie watched the Royal Wedding in bed via our tablet. Technology is amazing!!! We went back to sleep, and Hallie woke up just in time to get to her hair appointment. Hallie was running late enough that breakfast consisted of an amazing piece of birthday cake her friend Serena made. Lemon raspberry. What is there not to love? Then with her birthday money, she took her new shoes and new fitbit to the new recreation center and spent time on the elliptical machine. While she was out, one of our great neighbors invited the kids to go kayaking with their family, so Hallie got home just in time to slap the sunscreen on the kids and send them out the door with some snacks. The kids had a blast! When they came home, they played outside until dark, again. School gets out in one week and we have a feeling we won't see them very often with Utah’s long summer twilight.

Sunday – Play, church, choir, dinner, play/visit from a ward member and friend and bedtime. It is late and it all starts again in less than 12 hours. The cat brought home a dead pigeon. The kids wrote him a note in sidewalk chalk: “Fergus, No!!” Good night!!!!!

Even When There’s No Time Left, There’s Always Something to Do

We had a busy week full of school and gymnastics activities, plus Hallie's aunt and uncle came to visit!

Monday – After work, Hallie took Eliza for her first cavity filling at the dentist. It is crazy how brave this little nugget is, and we admire her for all of her courage.

After her filling, Eliza headed back to school so she could attend her last Art Club class. Whatever she created she did not bring home as it was left to dry. Mom and Dad can't wait to see what it is.

Hallie dropped Landon off at gymnastics with Eliza and picked up cute little Lily so the girls could go all the way to Saratoga Springs to pick up some cute shoes for Eliza. Lily fell asleep on the way home, and our little nugget was hungry, and everything is made better by In-N-Out.

The lake and mountains are pretty this time of year.

Tuesday – Everyone went to his or her respective schools. After Hallie went to work, she headed to Orem where Target resides. Errands done and things thrown into the spot where they belong, it was soon time to get the kids’ stuff ready for gymnastics and to pick them up from school. Hallie was going to leave soon after getting to gym so she could come home and clean a bit before our relatives were to come on Thursday evening, but – wouldn’t you know it – she never made it home. Oops!!! Mike had an orientation meeting in the evening with the newest cohort of EdD students and got home after we did. I

It's been a while since we've posted some of the kids' school work. They're still learning.

Wednesday – Mike spent time working from home and helping Hallie get the house ready for the relatives to come. Hallie was grateful to be able to spend a few hours at lunch with Jennifer and Katelyn Carney. It has been 18 months since she have seen Jen, and it was so fun! Time went by fast, and soon we had to go our separate ways.

Just a bit later Hallie had to pick up the kids from school. She dropped Eliza off at home and took Landon to gymnastics where she then picked up Lily. What a trooper Lily is to go on crazy errands with Hallie all of the time. She rarely makes a peep and always is so good! Hallie contacted her friend Serena from gymnastics to head to the Hobble Creek Boutique. We took Lily shopping with us and maybe even got her a little something for tagging along with us.

Thursday – May 3rd will always be a reason to celebrate in our family. 16 years ago, we went on Mike’s internship to Argentina. 10 years ago, Landon was sealed to us in the Salt Lake City temple. 2 years ago, Hallie had weight loss surgery that changed her life forever.

Today we experienced another first in our school district, a track meet. Landon ran the 50 meters and participated in the softball throw. There was no advancing for our athlete even though he finished 2nd in his heat. This was a great experience for both mom and son, as we have never done anything like this before. Landon was bummed a bit that he didn't get to advance but said he was glad he went and even participated. Hallie was allowed to take him home after he raced, and it was nice that mom and son spent a bit of time together.

While both of the kids spent time at gymnastics, Hallie watched two kids for a bit of time. Then Hallie and Lily headed to our house to play until Karen and Jerry Gonzales showed up. The 5 of us headed to pick up Eliza from gym and then ate dinner at Café Zupas in Spanish Fork. Yummy!!!! Hallie, Mike, Lily, and Eliza left so we could go back and get Landon from gym and to reunite Lily with her mom.

We then got the kids to bed later than usual, and the adults stayed up past their bedtime chatting and catching up. It has been 8 years since Hallie had seen her aunt and uncle.

Friday – We will deem this day as crazy. As we were getting ready for school and work Hallie got a call from her boss asking if she would be willing to teach Eliza's class at 9:00 a.m. Um.... sure. So away we went all of our separate ways, and Hallie did something she never had done before (substitute teach), and she said it went better than she thought it might have gone. It helped that the kids had an assembly to attend. Afterwards, Hallie went back to her regular work with Mr. Hall and then substituted again for Mrs. Johnson, who is one of Hallie's coworkers.

At 1:30 Hallie checked Eliza out of school, and we headed home so Adi could meet up with us and do Eliza's 'do. The hair looked amazing once again! Then we headed back to the school to pick up Landon (Hallie forgot to check him out at 1:30), and then we made our way north for Eliza's 2nd-to-last meet of the season.

Once again Eliza did great! Eliza even placed 1st on the uneven bars in her age group, and the cute little Level 2s placed 2nd overall. Next to come is her state meet on May 18 in Layton.

After Eliza's meet, we headed to Howdy's Homemade Ice Cream (which we adore) and then headed home. Of course, both kids were starving even after giant ice creams, so we ordered pizza and they watched Despicable Me 3 for pizza and a movie night. The adults spent the evening unwinding and chatting.

Saturday – Karen and Jerry left in the morning to head for home. We are sure glad they came to visit! Hopefully, next time we won't be so busy. For the first time in about 10 days we had a day to do nothing (AKA, choose your own adventure day). Landon played a lot, Mike put up our flag and flower hangers, Eliza played and watched some TV, and Hallie went and bought hanging flowers and shopped at the Beehive Bazzar, which has the greatest stuff!

The evening ended by watching Peter Rabbit, and the kids laughed their heads off. When we hear their genuine laughter it fills us with such joy.

Sunday – The weather has been amazing lately, and today was just like the others this week. The kids couldn't resist playing outside before getting ready for church. Hallie took a small nap before church, and Mike kept the chaos under control. Our church meetings were quite good today. We didn't spend our ward’s first break the fast with everyone, but in the spirit of the meal we had tacos too. Soon enough the kids were back outside with their friends, and with it staying light so late now we have to convince Eliza that it really is time to go to bed. Summer cannot come soon enough for the kids.

Semester’s End, Long Meet Day, and Kite Flying

Mike ended his second full semester working at the Y, Hallie spent all day Saturday working concessions at the meets held at Airtime, and we took advantage of the wind that kicked up Sunday to fly our kites.

On Monday, Landon made sure Eliza got to her after school Art Club. Such a helpful big brother! The Monday before Eliza said she didn't feel comfortable going so Mom and big brother decided to escort her and all things went well.

Mike had his school community council meeting Tuesday morning. It’s been rewarding to be part of that group and to feel like he’s making a contribution to the kids’ school with some of the ideas he teaches at the university.

As of Wednesday, winter semester was effectively done. Already the traffic patterns (and available parking spots) have improved. 

Hallie had her second dose of IV infusion, and Mike picked up the kids from school and then everyone met at gymnastics. 

She's learned to keep cozy by bringing along her Nova Scotia quilt. 

He and a group of faculty from his college met with school leaders at a local high school Thursday in the hopes of doing some research-practice partnerships, and afterwards he attended university commencement with faculty and students all “fussing and flapping in beastly black (and blue) like a murder of crows.” Along with speakers from the graduating students, former Governor Mike Leavitt and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland spoke. Mike appreciates the positive and hopeful tone of speeches given to graduates. There is so much potential for good in the world!

On Friday, Hallie took Eliza to a doctor’s appointment. Later, Mike and Hallie helped out in the kids’ classes as their teachers took a well-earned long lunch as part of teacher appreciation week. As a tech in the Special Education department Hallie has been included in the Teacher Appreciation lunches and gifts. The whole week was amazing done by the PTA. Then Mike met online with his current doctoral student. In the evening, we watched a movie as a family and Hallie did some prep for meet day the next day.

We've chosen to let Fergus have some roaming around outside time again. He seems happier, and he sticks around close to home. He has also resumed his hunting, having brought home a gopher and a vole so far. Our lawn-owning neighbors should rejoice.

Saturday was a long day for everyone. Hallie left before 7:00 am to buy things and start the set up for the concessions stand for the meet at our gym. While Hallie was busy doing that, Mike and the kids went to the home of some ward members to help lay sod. So many people showed up that it only took 30 minutes to do all of the work! Mike did a bit of work from home, and then at about 11:30 he dropped Landon off at the gym so he could spend some time doing concessions and earning money for future meets. At 1:30 Mike came back to the gym with Eliza so Adi could do her hair for the meet that started at 2:30. Eliza looked so great!!! Eliza did super at her meet and scored 3rd place All Around in her age group. Her team took 1st place which was a sweep for AirTime Training Center, as Levels 3 and 4 also took 1st.  Mike took the kids home after the meet while Hallie cleaned up concessions and then finally headed home.

The weather was a bit cooler Sunday than it has been the last couple of days and perfect weather for Hallie to take a nap after she had read a chapter of Fablehaven book 4 to Landon (She may have fallen asleep a time or two during the chapter). When she woke up, it was just about time to get ready for church. When Hallie came downstairs, she found the other three in the front yard flying kites.

After church and choir, Hallie returned home to see the family out flying kites again, and Eliza told Mike she had convinced Mom to come fly kites too. Begrudgingly, Mom did go fly kites and Eliza disappeared into the house. That stinker!

In the evening, we talked with Grandpa and Grandma O and Alie on the phone tonight, which is always fun.

Landon’s new primary teachers also stopped by and brought him a treat and a survey to fill out. We are quite excited for him to have them teach him next Sunday.