2025, February 17-23

What all went on this week? We had a holiday and then spent a lot of time working and some time playing. 

On Monday, the weather was pleasant enough that Eliza decided to go draw outside. She persuaded the rest of us to join her, and we had a pleasant, if crisp, early outdoor spring preview. 

The preschool had a dinosaur setup. Hallie has great high schoolers. A fun senior created a little version of Jurassic Park this week. The kids loved it!

Ty made Hallie this adorable drawing.

Later in the week, Hallie showed off where it sits in her car. 

Eliza saw this car while out driving with Mom. She sent Dad the image with the caption "Ewwwwwwww !!!!!!!!"

Landon has gotten a few shifts at Jimmy John's. Mom drove by to get an order, and the boy was there at the drive thru window. 

The deer were out in force at BUH. 

E decided she wanted to spend her birthday money from Grandpa and Grandma O. So, Hallie and Eliza headed up to Bridle Up Hope in Alpine to go shopping. A new hat was on the agenda unknowingly to Hallie. Eliza as you can see in the second photo ended up with the second hat. 

She settled on this pink one. 

We got some snow on Wednesday and Thursday. This is what Hallie had to contend with as she picked up the preschoolers. 

Fergus has cozied up to everyone in an effort to keep warm. Hallie even caught him blepping. 

Hallie got some fun new stickers from Dutch Bros. 

Eliza had fun at Yates Place doing science with lemons and electricity. 

The hidden deer kind of peeked their way out through the snow at BUH while Hallie waited for Eliza during E's riding lesson. 

We enjoyed actually seeing each other off and on over the weekend. After doing a teacher collaboration meeting at PACE, Mike subbed for an art class at a local elementary school on Friday. Hallie had shifts at Starbucks all three days, so she got visits from family members for moral support. Warmer weather on Saturday and Sunday meant Mike could take Kai on longer walks and even throw the ball around. 

Landon and his friend Zeke palled around with light sabers to round out the evening on Sunday. 

2025, February 10-16

Getting the shingles vaccine booster felt kind of surreal. Lots of surreal events going on lately. 

Eliza baked Valentine's Day sugar cookies at BUH on Monday. 

While there, Hallie caught sight of another camouflaged deer. 

At another BUH class, Eliza used paint and resin to make this lidded box. 

With Valentine's Day on the horizon, Hallie and company made new drinks. Of course, one should never scrimp on the sprinkles. 

Hallie received gifts from coworkers and students. 

Kai came back after a bit of a weather-related delay on Thursday. 

Fergus chose a stool for a perch because apparently one of his seats was taken. Who can tell?

Hallie took Kai out for a V-Day treat. 

Mike received an email from Springville City regarding one of his flag design contest submissions. Fingers crossed he makes it to the top 5! We are so excited to hear what happens next.

Speaking of flags, Canada celebrated the 60th anniversary of adopting its iconic flag. We flew ours in solidarity with our northern neighbor (or is that neighbour?). 

While V-Day has passed, the fun drinks have not. There will be a new cherry flavor coming out at Starbucks, so Hallie attempted to make a cherry chocolate chip frappuccino. It was better than her coworker thought it would be. Not often does Hallie play scientist. When the drink turns out yummy, Hallie is happy with herself.

Mike got his shingles vaccine booster on Saturday. He's happy for the vaccine but could do without the side effects. He was wiped out most of Sunday. Good thing we have a day off tomorrow. 

And finally, news of the stupid. Seriously, those of you who voted for this, why? Cheap eggs? Scary immigrants? To own the libs? Seriously? How's that working out for you? Unforgivable.

2025, February 3-9

From Groundhog Day to the Super Bowl and a birthday, we had plenty to keep us entertained this week. 

Monday marked Mike's first full day at the new job. It's a split schedule, which means he starts early and gets home late with a large chunk of time in between. He opted to stay at PACE this week during the time between classes so he could try to get his feet under him. 

Hallie got chosen by both pets as she took a break to rest after working at the preschool. 

As Mike and Hallie took Kai on a morning walk, we saw Fergus hanging out at someone's house around the corner. Mike is solidifying his argument that Fergus really does have a second family. Too funny!

Sunset near home was pretty spectacular.

Ferg experienced a post-breakfast blep Tuesday morning as he visited with Mike. 

Later in the day, he warmed up to Hallie. The kitty is not a fan of how cold we keep the house.

Mike's new job keeps him on his feet several hours a day. He did manage to make some time to get creative. 

Eliza accompanied Hallie to the high school while Hallie worked the ticket booth. The girl really had a lot of fun watching the different teams play. At SHS the students sections have themes for the games and everyone really gets into the spirit of the game. It didn't hurt that the Red Devils won.

Mike caught Landon and Kai watching a Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes video after he got home from work. 

We try to get Eliza to do her schoolwork on the days she's not at Yates Place. Sometimes we can, and sometimes she manages to fall asleep. Hallie was successful in getting Eliza to finish schoolwork after she woke up.

Mike feels very fortunate to have Scera Park and a quiet residential neighborhood right next to work. He took advantage so that he could get his daily step count up in preparation for Japan. We hear that people walk upwards of 15-20,000 steps a day while they're there. 

Landon started his new job at Jimmy John's this week. He likes the many food-related perks that come with his employment. 

We had some interesting weather this week, with wind and unseasonably warm temperatures into Friday. Eliza ended up riding indoors on Friday due to a return to rain and snow. 

Mike and Eliza shared a sample of one of the new fruit-and-cream-flavored drinks Hallie is making at Starbucks. Go and try a Midnight Drink with Vanilla Sweet Cream. It is yummy!

Several months ago, Mike got a LEGO yellow delivery truck set at Costco as a goal gift for when he got a new job. He feels grateful that he got to put it together this week.  

Eliza and the happy students at Yates Place have been involved with several projects this year. In history class, she presented a report on Rosa Parks, whom she remembered from our time in Detroit. 

We celebrated Eliza's birthday this week. Hard to believe where the years have gone! Landon toiled into the wee hours making her this paper flower-filled pot. 

Earlier in the day, she and Hallie went thrifting, and Eliza got some new clothes. In the evening, we went over to Gma & Gpa M's to watch the Super Bowl and share some cake. Eliza wore one of the outfits she got. She did not want to have us sing to her, but don't take her face here to mean she felt unhappy. 

Hallie has cut her hours at Starbucks to be home with the kids in the afternoons. She is looking forward to spending more time with them again. 

2025, January 27-February 2

We are adjusting to some aspects of the new normal with more to follow. 

On Monday, Mike subbed at a school and then shadowed a fellow teacher in the evening class he thought he would be assigned to at PACE (more on that later). He felt a bit overwhelmed by the time he got home. 

Many teachers post inspirational posters and theme their rooms, which Mike appreciates and uses as his own inspiration both personally and for his own potential classrooms.   

Landon woke up with a severely swollen upper lip Tuesday morning. We kept him home from school and grilled him about his "extracurricular" activities the day before. 

Hallie and Mike were both quite tired by end of day Tuesday. Landon got this shot of his mama who was trying to keep warm while watching JoJo Rabbit as part of Landon's history class at school. Perfect satire for the times we're living in. We remember when people knew how to identify and repudiate fascism when they saw it. 

Hallie and her coworkers have had to deal with a chronic water leak and other issues at Starbucks which were finally resolved this week.  

Speaking of resolved issues, after a few days of taking antibiotics and rest, a trimmer Fergus has finally gotten his appetite and energy back. He's gone back to hunting and/or visiting his other family too (we don't really know if there's another family he visits. Mike just feels suspicious, and maybe a little jealous?).

Hallie got Mike the LEGO Tranquil Garden as a "just because" gift that she gave hime right before our anniversary. He decided to build it this week in celebration both of the new job and our upcoming trip to Tokyo and Kyoto. 

Hallie and her Starbucks coworkers found this customer's haircut to be quite amusing. Upon viewing the the photo, Mike wondered whether it might have a practical purpose, like maybe the dude wears a hat or helmet at work. Who really knows? No one asked the guy. 

Hallie has had to endure some pretty cold mornings this week bringing in her students from the cold. She and Mrs. Kelly have a student teacher helping out this semester. 

Mike taught his night classes this week and will start his morning classes next week. His supervisor Sofia asked him if he was willing/able to make a change, so he will switch the intermediate vocabulary-intensive night class he was teaching for an advanced grammar-intensive class starting next week. It's been an interesting week, to say the least. Mike appreciates the setting and nature of the work he's doing. His colleagues and students seem like great people so far. We're working with many immigrants from a variety of backgrounds. They are required to have student or other immigrant visas, but even so, many feel apprehensive about new of ICE activities in the state. Sofia shared a resource, Red Cards issued by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, that works not only for them but serves as a reminder that "all people in the United States, regardless of immigration status, have certain rights and protections under the U.S. Constitution" (despite the current administration and its supporters' actions to the contrary). 

Kai came back on Monday, and we'll have him through most of next week. He's such a cuddle bug! 

On Saturday morning, Hallie, Eliza, and Amanda did a girls' morning out at Rockwell Ice Cream, where they had ice cream for breakfast on National Ice Cream for Breakfast Day. They brought home some breakfast-themed pints of the yummy stuff for the boys to sample as well.  

In-shop, they shared a donut sundae made with French Toast-flavored ice cream. 

We love our Canadian and Mexican family and friends, and we don't think that good neighbors start trade wars with each other. To quote the late Ronald Reagan: "Our peaceful trading partners are not our enemies; they are our allies. We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends—weakening our economy, our national security, and the entire free world—all while cynically waving the American flag." 

We have only 110 days left until we drive to Vegas for the first lego of our Japan trip. Coincidentally, we'll be going by way of Vancouver (hopefully -- assuming this trumped-up trade war doesn't turn into something more serious before then). 

Zeke came over on Sunday afternoon, and it turned into a cook-fest. The boys made nachos, and the nachos were delicious. 

With Mike's new schedule, Hallie's schedule at Starbucks has been reduced a bit so she can be home with the kids. We are all going to be adjusting to the new new. Hallie will hopefully be able to pick up a few extra hours in the floral depart as Valentine's Day quickly approaches. Landon starts orientation at Jimmy John's this next week, and we hope he will enjoy himself.