2021, September 6-12

Labor Day meant a welcome rest from the beginning of the school year, and we remembered the fallen during the 20th anniversary of 9/11. 

So, this is a little-known fact, but for decades Mike keeps running into this number at random. He might look at his alarm clock, 

or his phone, 

or a license plate,

and the number 622 (or 6/22 or 6:22) will be there. Maybe it's the Baader-Meinhof (AKA red car) phenomenon, but maybe it's something more. . . . Anyway, the brain is a mysterious organ. 

Fergus greeted Mike as is typical by smothering him in bed. Such a handsome little lion. 

Mike and Eliza took a nature walk, taking in the blooms (and their leftovers, in some cases).

Eliza has become a budding scientist, recording phenomena in a notebook for school. Here's a sample from this week.

For our date, we returned to Beehive Bazaar. Always something new, from Argentine sol de mayo peso rings to hand-painted bees. Lots of eye candy.  

 A bit of alpenglow off Mt. Timp and the other ranges. 

Mike and Eliza persuaded Fergus to join them in the office for school, and he took to his bed. 

The Sorento hit a minor milestone this week. Hard to believe we've had it for over eight years. 

Outside of Mike's building stood some of the many flags honoring the fallen on 9/11. It's sobering to consider that twenty years have passed since the tragedy. We pulled together in that time of sorrow, and we hope Americans can pull together again. 

While watching the movie Raising Arizona, Mike noticed that a certain actor looks remarkably similar to Uncle Shad. . . . Shad has a better 'stache though. We're thinking of him as he fights fires in Nor Cal. 

After participating in a service project for our neighbors, Hallie and Alicia went to the tailgate party before the Holy War game between BYU and the U of U. 

BYU pleasantly surprised us by winning for the first time in a long time. Go, Cougs! 

2021, August 30-September 5

Summer is passing into the fall as August passes into September. We took in a grand opening, some water sports, a festival latinoamericano, and party time with friends. 

Eliza had some blood work done at the doctor's office. We're trying to sort out what her potty issues might be. So far, Eliza has avoided getting a clear diagnosis. 

We went to Dutch Bros in Provo on the first of the month and got some fun stickers.  

Just a sampling of the many stickers DB has doled out to us over the last year or so. 

Eliza got hold of the camera and took another cameo. 

The garden has . . . kinda . . . yielded some fruit of the vine. We've had several tomatoes, a few cucumbers, a couple of peppers, and a bean or two. 

Landon has been practicing his drawing skills. He asked this week about why he isn't taking Spanish, and the plan is to have him take it from 9th grade forward. Depending on his schedule, this may be his last time to take drawing classes at school. We'll have to see. 

On Friday, Dutch Bros. opened a shop up in Pleasant Grove. Mike got to run over there for their unofficial cold open earlier in the week after work, and Landon joined Mom for a quick before-school jaunt. 

The minivan hit a milestone Friday afternoon, and now it's been recorded. 

On Saturday, Bold Gymnastics held an activity at Deer Creek Reservoir. Mike took both kids up while Hallie ran errands. 

Dad took the kids to the Festival Latinoamericano Provo downtown. Eliza especially enjoyed the different singing and dancing acts. 

(We also saw some bees feeding among the hibiscus blooms.)

Landon enjoyed trying elote (Mexican street corn) for the first time. Of course, eating corn on the cob is a bit of a challenge with braces.  

Fergus, ever the lap cat, was blissfully out for the count on Mike's lap. That is, he was until Hallie decided to snap a pic. The cat knows. 

We broke out the fire pit to join the neighbors and friend from gymnastics out back for smores, drinks, music, and chat. So much fun! We need more three day weekends. 

2021, August 23-29

First full week of school, BYU annual conference, and prepping for new flooring and paint occupied us this week. Also, we spent a lot of time with the cat.

Here is Eliza bothering loving on Fergus before taking a break from school. Hallie stayed home this week from work to do remote instruction with Eliza while Mike had meetings for University Conference. 

We are so glad Eliza makes it look like it was all fun and games during the week, but boy, the girls worked hard on school work, and before you know it, it was time to go get Landon from school and then take both of the kids to gymnastics.

Lily started her first day of kindergarten on Wednesday. The girls all got together at Zeppe's beforehand for some celebratory gelato. Where has time gone with these two?! Hallie checked in with Sarah (Lily's mom) after she dropped her off. The two moms commiserated, and Hallie may have cried just as much. 

As Mike went to pick up Landon from gym on Wednesday afternoon, he spied some glorious sun rays emanating through the clouds. This was our last day of clear skies before smoke rolled back in from California again. 

Fergus likes to keep Mike company as he works. Sometimes the cat flashes his delectable belly, which none of us can resist petting, even though we know it will result in an attack. Eliza did an Instagram Reel of her petting him, and within minutes it had over 100 likes, but because Eliza didn't aske if she could post it under Hallie's Instagram, the mean mom deleted it.

Eliza had a doctor's appointment Friday at the new hospital. Apparently they grow catnip (nepeta faasenii) out front for the bees. We'll have to get Fergus a sample next time we go.  

Last week, Landon kept his cool and helped out when a fellow student injured himself. He received this note from his principal. We appreciated her thoughtfulness. Things have been a bit challenging at home and at the gym, so it meant a lot. Thursday was a mental day at home for Landon, and he did not go to gym for two days. This mom and dad are a bit overwhelmed with teenage boy life.

In lieu of movie night on Friday, we had a family dinner at Cravings Bistro with the kids followed up with dessert at Blox Dessert Bars. Some of us had more fun than the other (hint, hint), but everything tasted great!

Look at these monsters! So tasty! We had to taste all the varieties they had, and there were a lot of favorites. It was great that they were so big that we could share.

As we removed items from downstairs in preparation for getting the walls painted and new floors put in, Fergus found a cat trap. Hopefully he moves soon. Otherwise his new home will be in the garage for the next bit.

On Saturday, we had pizza and a movie with pies from Mod and Via 313. Via 313 serves Detroit (AKA Sicilian) style pizza baked in a rectangular pan with the sauce above the cheese and toppings. Most of their stores are in Texas, but they recently opened in Orem. Hallie won a small pepperoni and a cinnamon bread. After she picked up the yummy pizza Hallie spun the wheel of prizes and won cheese bread for their next trip to Via 313.

This week Hallie saw on Instagram that if you are a teacher you could sign up for Buy One Get One Free Mod Pizza. So she signed up, and it came in the email, so we had lots of yummy pizza and finished the movie we started the week before for Mike's movie night, Race. It was about Jesse Owens, and the movie was good!

On Sunday morning Mike came downstairs to feed the cat, and he found the boy asleep still wearing his reading glasses (which probably meant he snuck downstairs to play Fortnite and get a bite to eat). He stayed napping on the couch until about noon. It is hard being thirteen.

Fergus was really in a mood to play fetch this morning, bringing his bracelet up and downstairs to find someone to play with. 

Mike indulged the kitty between sips of mate. They're buds, so how could he resist? 

Sunday evening we got Landon to move some more of the packed boxes to the garage for us, and we spent a bit of time chatting with our neighbor. It was a rough week emotionally for most of the family, so Sunday came as a nice day of rest which we all needed. We hope next week brings less doctor appointments and more time doing things for ourselves.