Service on Order

This week we learned about different ways service can be rendered at church and by our local public safety officers. Sometimes it's the things we do, and sometimes it's the things others do for us in the line of duty. Either way, we appreciate service given and received this week. 

On Monday after gymnastics, Mike, Landon, and Eliza went camping at Grandma and Grandpa’s. The kids sure enjoy sleeping out of doors! Hallie is starting to adjust to the alone time. The kids are wild at home, but then when they are gone it is too quiet. The nurse for Hallie’s options class told them about an ice cream called Halo Top. The unique thing about this ice cream is that it is low in calories and has a bit of extra protein. On Monday night Hallie finally found some at Whole Foods and has been enjoying small servings of the ice cream all week. Yum!

On Tuesday morning, Hallie came up to Simi and traded Mike places visiting with everyone while Mike went back home to get ready to go on a temple trip with some members of our ward. He enjoyed getting to know new people from the new ward and from the stake whom he had not met before. He got home in time to set to work for the rest of the day and into the night. Classes that run from 7:00-10:00 pm can be a little much, but when they give him the chance to use the daylight hours in ways he otherwise might not, he won’t complain.

The trio made sure to stop at Aldi and Fire Island Grill on the way home from Simi Valley to Camarillo. They made it just in time to attend the Pampered Chef Party at the Cox’s. The kids had so much fun playing with the other kids in attendance and Hallie had fun chatting with the other ladies and sampling some yummy fajitas that they made.

Eliza enjoyed treats at the party! 

On Wednesday morning Hallie met with Jessica her trainer, and they did all kinds of fun things to Hallie on her road to good health. Weight-wise Hallie stayed the same this week, and she is handling it a lot better than the first plateau she encountered back in May (Mike says she’s building muscle).

For some reason walking Roxy slipped Hallie’s mind, and thank heavens her gracious owner Mian let us skip the day. We picked Roxy up on Friday a little more like usual.

Landon got a fun summer haircut. 

Thursday started early with a trip to Dr. Mick’s today with Eliza, and we all learned how to help her when she has trouble handling her strong emotions. The rest of the day was mundane as we did school work like most days this summer and tried to get the house cleaned up. In the evening, Mike taught at the CLU Oxnard Center, and Hallie, her mom, and the kids went shopping at IKEA. We needed more storage for all those LEGO bricks. Hmm. 

Friday Landon had gymnastics in the morning, and Eliza came with to give Dad time at home to do some work. The girls ran a few errands and then ended up in Thousand Oaks visiting Aunt Carly, Cru, and Sawyer.

Cru read a story to the girls. What a good guy! 

Eliza and Hallie ended up back at gymnastics right before it ended. Pizza and a movie night was really popcorn, watermelon, and a movie night. Hallie learned the hard way that popcorn is no longer her friend.

On Saturday morning, Hallie participated in the Relief Society Day of Service. She originally was just going to drop in real quickly and then run some errands, but she thought it was so cool that she stayed for the whole event! Last Sunday Hallie had signed up to help set up the breakfast, but by the time she got there it was done. Marsha Pyne quickly put Hallie to work separating items for the hygiene kits and then put Hallie in charge of the Hygiene work station. What a rush it was to work with so many enthusiastic and hard-working sisters from our stake! When we ran out of items it was great to see women willing to go and buy more items so we could finish the kits. At least 200 kits were put together by the end of the service activity.

Blurry flurry of activity! 

While Hallie was out (getting her hair done after the service activity), Mike took the kids to Coppers and Choppers at the Camarillo Airport. This year, the kids had the opportunity add their well wishes to a couple of large thank you cards made for our local law enforcement and public safety officers. These are trying times, and we want foster in our kids a healthy attitude about the many jobs the police, fire, and other public safety service officers do for our community.

After Mom got home, she cleaned up the house while Dad took the kids to the pool. Didn't want to mess up her new 'do! 

At the pool, Eliza especially likes being thrown into the air and landing in the water with a big splash. Landon likes using the pool noodles as water cannons. Mike prefers not to think about the chemical swill they're all swimming in. 

In the evening Hallie headed to Sam’s Club to pick up a few things with their coupons before they expired today. Landon has taken a real liking to the Chobani flips that Hallie has been eating for breakfast in the morning, so that was a must on Hallie’s list.

On Sunday, Hallie had a lot of kids in her Primary class. 

Aww, they're all so cute! 

Note Eliza in the patriotic bowtie.

Hallie's getting to be quite the hottie. . . .

Eliza has taken to hiding out and scaring people. Landon has other ideas. 

Fizzled Fireworks, Beach Bliss, and Pancakes

We started the week by celebrating Independence Day with a flag ceremony and pancakes, took a trip to the beach later in the week, and finished up with chocolate chip pancakes. Everything is better with chocolate!

Mike and the kids got up bright and early on Monday to help set up chairs outside of church for the annual flag ceremony and pancake breakfast. Brother Lassen, our stake patriarch, gave a speech about patriotic symbols and sacrifice, and we sang patriotic tunes before digging into our meal. The weather this month so far has been quite mild (not that we’d want to jinx it, not having air conditioning and all), and we actually had overcast skies until right before we left.

We spent much of the rest of the morning watching Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. One of the cartoons had a patriotic theme. Remember Porky Pig in “Old Glory”?

We did go out later during the day to have a water balloon fight. Hallie bought some amazing self-closing water balloons attached to a mass of plastic straws. While our experience with the balloons wasn’t perfect, we did have fun, and it was a lot less tedious than filling each balloon individually.

In the evening, Grandma and Grandpa O. and Alie came over, and then we all went down to the empty lot next to Dave Maddox’s palm tree farm for tri tip barbecue and pot luck before watching fireworks. Or at least that was the plan. As the sun set and it got dark and no fireworks could be seen, the crowd started getting restless. Children (including Eliza) started falling asleep, and families (including Gma and Gpa and Alie) started heading for the exit gate. When the floodlights at the high school turned on, we finally had to admit defeat: No fireworks this 4th. Hallie is not a big fan of fireworks, so she didn’t care. More than anything, she was thrilled to have time with friends!

On Tuesday morning, we went to see Finding Dory at the movie theater. After it ended, Hallie said it was the best movie she had seen in a long time! Then she let on that she fell asleep about 10 minutes into the movie and woke up shortly before it ended. Best movie, indeed. The kids earned free meals to some local restaurants, so we headed to Johnny Rocket’s for lunch. We had a great server who made sure we were well taken care of during our lunch. Unfortunately, Hallie overindulged on small amounts of the yummy popcorn and other food and felt very ill by the end of the day. This new baby stomach is still a learning process for her.

While walking Roxy on Wednesday the trio ran into Levi and Mian (Roxy’s owners) who were visiting a lemonade stand. What a fun treat to have on our walk. Grandma M., Cru, and Sawyer met Hallie and the kids at a park close to where Roxy lives. Everyone had a great time playing until Sawyer fell. She was crying, which was to be understood. But no one realized she broke her arm until the next morning when Aunt Carly took her to the doctor.  Poor little cutie pie!

It’s been a week or so since Hallie went to the gym, and Thursday morning she met her trainer Jessica, and they worked out hard and quick. Before working out Jessica weighed Hallie, and she is close to the milestone of 65 lbs. How exciting to see an average loss of 2.5 lbs since January 7! Right soon after Hallie headed to Bandit’s Barbecue with the Lunch Bunch. Hallie had been really looking forward to BBQ food for nearly a week but was sorely disappointed when her kid’s meal order came. There was no overeating at this meal.

Mike took Eliza walking Roxy on Friday. Mian tells us that Roxy knows when we’re about to arrive and gets all excited for her walk.

Hallie took Landon to gymnastics early so levels 4 and 5 could play games before gymnastics started. Hallie headed out a little after 9 and eventually ended up at Grandpa and Grandma M’s, where they visited for a bit. Close to 11:00 Hallie headed back to Victory to watch Landon, and then they ran errands when they were done.

It was supposed to be pizza and a movie night on Friday night, so we were going to make our own pita pizzas. The kids wanted to play outside instead, so that is what they did while Mike taught online and Hallie ate her pizza.

While Hallie got her nails done on Saturday by Seaward Beach in Ventura, Mike took the kids down for some time on the sand. We came home a little sunkissed. Well, maybe a little more than a little. Mike’s a bit of a redneck now, and his calves got a little toasty, and as Landon took a shower before bed, Mike saw that Landon is going to tan up really nicely. That is if he doesn’t peel. Mike did warn the boy to wear his rash guard. Eliza, the other hand, benefitted both from having worn her rash guard and from having a complexion that takes the sun in stride, getting a lovely tan for her time outdoors.

The afternoon was topped off with some yummy fish tacos from Seaward Fish and Chips. Hallie spent time in the afternoon cleaning up Eliza’s room and our room. The kids spent time riding bikes the rest of the day, playing at the park, eating watermelon, and watching more Looney Tunes.

Sunday, Mike spent time teaching the kids how to play UNO. Bless his soul. It helped that the kids were quick studies! We spent time at church in the afternoon, and we are still getting to know many people in our ward.

Camping, Suburban Style

The kids were beyond excited at the prospect of going camping in Grandma and Grandpa O’s. It’s all Eliza could talk or write about.

Well, that and these peculiar people with big bloodshot eyes. Creepy! 

More heat on Monday meant that Roxy was walked in the morning and that Mom and Eliza went to Target while Landon worked out.

Fashionista! 

Tuesday brought our semi-annual trip to the dentist in Westwood. Everyone for the most part had a clean bill of health. Eliza has a tooth that has been slowly dying. Several years ago Eliza hit her tooth, and the injury has lain dormant for a while. When the dentist told her that her tooth was dying, Eliza made sure to remember all that was said and remind us for several days after our dentist visit that it is dying. Kids are very funny. The family spent a short amount of time at the Los Angeles Temple Visitors Center and distribution store so Hallie could get a few items she needed. No trip to the dentist is complete without a trip to Diddy Reese. Hallie had her first taste of regular ice cream, and her tummy was very happy with it and the bit of cookie she had to go with it.

On Wednesday Hallie and the kids walked Roxy. Landon learned the hard way at the end of the walk why we don’t walk Roxy and rollerblade at the same time. Hallie had told Landon to be careful because there were dogs that like to bark at Roxy at one of the houses along their route. Little did anyone know a cat would startle Roxy and that she would chase after it while pulling Landon along the ground. Landon, eventually was able to let go of the leash, and Hallie retrieved Roxy and the walk ended slightly less uneventful. Hallie likes uneventful.

The missionaries came by in the early afternoon, and it was nice having them over. They encouraged us to commit random acts of kindness this week.

The kids had gymnastics at the regular time and really enjoyed it. During the two hours Hallie and Eliza wait for Landon, they went to visit the Maygren/Hopkins families. How fun it is to be able to be close to our families!

In the evening we attended a going away party for our friends the Fairbourns. Everyone met over at the military housing, and the kids had so much fun playing for a few hours. The parents enjoyed talking with each other. The party ended with our kids full of mud and Landon crying for the loss of his friends who are moving across the country.

Everyone left the house at the same time on Friday morning with Landon and Hallie going to gymnastics and Mike and Eliza heading to walk Roxy and to visit at our friends the Berros. At gymnastics this morning the other two boys on Landon’s team did not show up so Landon practiced with the level 5 boys. Coach Shane said Landon held his own and did a great job.

Friday afternoon Dad and the kids, car packed, drove out to Simi, leaving Mom with some (too much?) quiet time at home.

Once in Simi, Grandpa brought out a badminton set and had bought both kids a game called Scrabble Twist. Afternoon entertainment, secured!

We wound down the night with glow sticks and s’mores ‘round the fire pit.

The artificial turf made for a very soft and smooth bed. Perfect for games and quiet contemplation. 

The following morning, they had some Saturday morning cartoons with breakfast. 

Grandpa and Mike recharged the A/C system in the Olds, now dubbed by Eliza as the “Mo-mobile.” That’s as good a nickname as any! 

In the afternoon, we watched a little boy named Jacksen and all went down to the pool. The water felt wonderfully warm!

Sunday brought a nice testimony meeting at church. Eliza fell asleep in sacrament with about 10 minutes to go and slept nearly another two hours. Going to the grandparents must have really tired her out! Hallie taught her Primary class of 6/7 year olds. Today she had 1 girl and 5 boys. After church she reported all the boys were full of energy and she missed her co-teacher today who was out of town.

The afternoon was spent watching Looney Tunes (Grandpa and Grandma let us borrow the set after they proved so popular the day before). Both Landon and Eliza are in love with them. Eliza laughing out loud and yelling at the TV just at the right time. Thanks for the laughs! Mike loves watching the cartoons for the soundtrack and for the clever in-jokes. Eliza did some more notebook writing and teaching Fergus how to make words.