2023, January 9-15

We're fully back into the rhythms of school and work, just in time for a long weekend!

Mike caught this brilliant sunrise to start our day and week. 

Speaking of beautiful skies, Eliza and Mike had a sad but interesting experience taking Landon to school last week that we forgot to mention. As they were driving away from the school, Mike noticed a person lying on the street holding a cell phone. He thought it was strange, but he also thought maybe the person was a student lying on the road on purpose. Eliza saw the sun shining off the mountains out to the west and wanted Mike to stop so she could take a photo. As he turned back around, he rolled down the car window and called out to the person in the road. Good thing too, because it turned out the person was a parent who had slipped on the ice and was trying to call 911 because she had hurt her shoulder. Mike got on the phone with the dispatcher (who sent an ambulance), while he had Eliza run in to the office to get a nurse. Things sorted themselves pretty quickly from there, with the ambulance, the nurse, other school personnel, and the woman's father all showing up pretty quickly. She was in a lot of pain, and we hope everything worked out for her. 

Mike took some of his Christmas presents up to school, including this cool bee-themed thinking putty Hallie got for him. It has hexagonal glitter along with bees. Pretty wild! 

Landon went to the doctor for a follow up on his MRI. Fortunately, the injury isn't so severe that he needs more than to take it easy while the vertebra heals. 

Mike added a few more paper flakes to frames. Now to figure out the best time and place to sell them. He's thinking (due to booth rental costs) that going in with more than one winter-themed crafter with various offerings might be a better option than stockpiling a huge number of these. It's a hobby, not a money-making venture, after all. 

Landon returned to the dojang this week, taking it easy (relatively) and not sparring. 

Someone made Mike a banner of his arms in Minecraft. So many creative people out there! 

Eliza and Hallie drove up to Salt Lake so they could get the results of Eliza's sleep study. Unfortunately, we didn't learn anything beyond what we already know about her sleep habits and hygiene.

Fergus loves laps, as we know. Sometimes those laps have computer keyboards. He doesn't care. 

Here are Hallie's holiday nails. 

Hallie won a prize from a drawing at the Big Bratt Boutique: this tumbler with an embossed leather sleeve. 

Eliza enjoys caring for Nugget at Guide 'N' Gallop. The silly pony had gotten into some burrs which Eliza had to comb out. Nugget is a miniature horse that Eliza has been training. Eliza has really enjoyed training him.

Landon continues to draw just because now that the term is over. He's also decided that he wants to go by the nickname "Ace", which we had actually considered naming him (after his great grandfather Acel) before going for Acel and Lula's last name (Landon).  

Hallie and friends celebrated their friend Denise's birthday with sushi and ice cream. Those are some rather large sushi rolls! 

The kids at Hallie's preschool made snowflakes in keeping with the time of year. Cute, eh? This is Hallie's sad example. Hallie asked a high schooler to make an example that turned out a lot better.

Landon and his friends. So cool. He had four term finals on Thursday leading into the long weekend. He does not want to have to repeat that experience. 

More Eliza riding. It was cold out, but thank heavens the ground had hardened enough so that riding could happen. 

More Landon being cool. Like his hair? Mom thinks it needs a trim. Landon does not think he needs a haircut.

Landon decides every so often to be cuddly. His bony butt is painful though. Hallie is happy to be quick with the camera.

And his feet are stinky. The boys have quite a bit of fun that frequently centers on Landon finding ways to cause Mike discomfort and embarrassment. Almost like he's testing to see who's the alpha, eh? Teenagers. Good thing Mike is a benevolent paterfamilias. 

Ferg got caught blepping. Also, he knows his place (the real king lol). Hallie finds this picture to be so scary!

Here are Eliza's school pictures. Took a while for them to arrive, but isn't she adorable? She and Hallie went to visit Grandpa M. after he had some surgery. He's recovering well. 

Eliza started at Bridle Up Hope on Friday with an orientation and class. She'll be quite busy next week with yoga and other classes. Eliza got this neat denim bag from them that she personalized with iron-on patches. Eliza is great at getting Hallie to take her to the store when she is bored on the weekend. 

2023, January 2-8

The kids and Hallie returned to school this week, and we put up with more winter chill. Fortunately, the weekend turned out relatively nice. We dined out at several local restaurants this week, a bit of a splurge. 

Fergus doesn't like to be cold. He gravitates to anyone whose lap becomes available. 

We got quite a bit of snow on Monday, the last day of vacation. It's pretty through the window. 

Driving through the almost-tree tunnel we have on the way home is kind of fun with the branches laden with the white stuff. Unfortunately, several of these trees ended up with broken branches due to the heavy wet snow.  

After helping Gma and Gpa M. dig out of the snow at their house (Mike got to operate the gas powered snow blower!), we tried breakfast burritos at the Jurassic Street Tacos grand opening in Springville. Yummy! Turns out we were their very first drive-through customers. Instead of diced potatoes they put French fries in the burritos, a novel take on the potato-in-burrito idea.

We found Fergus looking out the window, longing to be outside and (we think) frustrated at the snow. 

Isn't he adorable?

Mike took another couple of pictures after shoveling. The snow kept coming down steadily all day, so he ended up shoveling the walk a few times. As we got a significant amount of overnight snow, a guy with a snowplow even came by to clear roads, alleys, and some sidewalks. Unfortunately, he kind of tore up part of our lawn and left a big ice pile that Hallie and Eliza ended up having to dig through.  

We've had a little issue with the air vent coming off the dryer. The humid air made the upstairs feel a bit sultry. 

Mike got it all taken care of with supplies Hallie grabbed over at the hardware store. The repair seems to have worked, and we're back to dry clothes and air. The boys were happy with the sushi Hallie brought home for dinner while out getting the repair items (thanks, Sam's Club).

Eliza wanted us to take a picture of her cuddling with the cat. She does love him so. 

Eliza is a huge fan of UNO, and she ended up spending some of her own at Smith's to grab a 1990s-themed version. As adults who lived in the '90s, Mom and Dad are kind of at a loss as to how the cards represent that decade. We have played with her several times and have had a lot of fun. 

Mike is looking into possibly selling framed versions of the snowflakes he has cut out. Anyone interested in supporting a newborn small business by offering feedback on what might sell? 

These are 12 x 12 frames, some matted down for 8-inch images. 

Additionally, he's looked into using smaller flakes in smaller frames. 

This week we were given the good news of Eliza being accepted at Bridle Up Hope. To celebrate, Eliza and Hallie got some boba tea from Boba Bee in Provo. The girls said it was really yummy but a little pricey, so it is definitely a celebratory type drink. We're excited for Eliza to have this opportunity! This means she will stop going to Guide 'N' Gallop at the end of the month. We're grateful for the chance she has had to learn with Afton and the horses there. 

For pizza and a movie night, we tried a new local New York style restaurant. Nice to be able to support another local business. We are not sure we will be ordering from them again, but it was worth a try. 

Eliza drew ink "tattoos" on Hallie's arm and foot. Overnight, the cow left another imprint on Hallie's arm. Perhaps this is why real tattoos go a bit deeper, eh, Eliza?

Mike took Landon to get a membership to the local rec center on Saturday morning, and and the boy spent a big chunk of the day there. Mike opted to go riding in the afternoon, where he captured the picture below of Buckley Mountain and its reflection in a flooded sheep pasture. Meanwhile, Hallie and Eliza went to the grand opening of Big Bratt Boutique, which sells cowgirl apparel.  

The girls had a bit of a day out on Sunday and stopped for an early dinner at another local restaurant in Orem called C.R.E.A.M. and Sugar Coffee. Eliza took down this entire BLT. Everything had great flavor, but Hallie (as usual) couldn't finish her whole meal. They had great service! 

Hallie enjoyed this panini and soup combo. 

We had another great meal of breakfast burritos bought Saturday from a small new to the area coffee company called Pueblo Coffee on Main Street. The burritos were very big, and Hallie really enjoyed her chorizo burrito. The gentleman at the drive thru was super nice and gave Eliza free hot chocolate which she thoroughly enjoyed. We love trying new and local eateries.