We have had our fair share of snowstorms and canceled school days since living in Colorado Springs.  But, it is rare to get a snowstorm so big that everything in the city shuts down.  Today's storm is a storm to rule them all.  With winds that could approach close to 70mph and snow that just keeps on coming...most everything along the front range in Colorado from here to Denver has been shut down.  Airports, school districts, shopping, freeways...most didn't even open up today and some closed down as the weather got worse.  The kids were so shocked to see how bad it was outside when we opened our front door.  Everyone braved the outside for just a few minutes to grab a few fun shots before rushing back inside.  The wind was so strong that a ton of snow flew into the house and the ice had stacked up against the rubber stoppers around the doorframe so we couldn't shut the door all the way.  It took some scrapping but we finally got the door to shut all the way.

Mike had to head down to Ft. Carson to see morning clinic and waited for the hospital administrators to tell everyone to go home.  The hospital at Ft. Carson has NEVER been good about shutting down in these types of situations.  Good thing Mike left when he did because waiting too much longer would've put him in a real bind to get home.  He stopped at Costco on the way home and bought the very last generator.  That was something we had been meaning to do for quite some time.  It was the floor model so we got a nice discount.  As we wound his way closer to home the visibility basically became nonexistent.  He drove pretty much blind the last 2 miles home.  It's been a crazy day but we are just super grateful to be inside a nice warm home, eating fresh banana bread and watching our favorite shows!

Emma, Peter, and Andrew swam in their second meet of the club season at the CMA Valentines meet at Cheyenne Mountain High School.  Since Emma turned 13 last month she was bumped up to swim with the older kids this time.  One of the things about the older kids events are the elimination of many of the smaller 50 yd events.  There weren't too many options in the 100yd events for today and so Emma only swam in the 100 freestyle race.  She was way more confident during this meet than she was during the last meet.  She did well, swimming the first 50 yards extremely well.  Her second 50 yards was a bit slower because she swallowed some water on the second lap.  Still, she was able to knock out a time of 1:35.73.  Way to go Emma!

Peter swam the 100 butterfly and the 100 freestyle.  He went out too fast for the first lap and ended up losing a bit of steam on the second lap.  That's usually how it goes with the butterfly.  It's just a tough event.  His time was 1:15.31.  He did really well, however, on his 100 freestyle.  He got a new PR with a time of 1:05.21.  It was so fun to see Peter PR in the freestyle and to also try the butterfly event.  Most kids don't volunteer to swim in that event. 

Andrew swam the 100 freestyle and the 200 breaststroke.  He wasn't feeling well at all today and his back was bothering him. His times were still decent though.  He swam the 100 freestyle in 58.81 and the 200 breaststroke in 2:54.83.  I'm so proud of Andrew for pushing through it.

This year Emma decided that she wanted me to make her a fancy cake like I did for Madeline's birthday.  She looked at a couple of ideas and came up with a Paris themed cake.  I went to work trying to figure out what I would need and spent 2 days prepping and decorating the cake.  It definitely was a team effort to make this cake.  I did all the prep work and when it was time to finally decorate the cake, Mike helped with the actual drawing on the fondant pieces.  We all think it turned out so cute.  It was not just a cute cake but it was also extremely delicious.  Everyone just loves the marshmallow fondant. The kids finished the cake by the next day. Wow!

For gifts Emma wanted some more clothes as well as a yoga mat and weights.  I found some adorable new outfits for her Emma at Athleta this year.  She got a new pair of black warm up pants, two fun shirts, and a cozy sweatshirt.  I also found an adorable necklace with a little runner girl.  She LOVED that. From her grandparents she got a reversable yoga mat and weights.  She was beyond thrilled with all of her fun gifts.  Even though it was only a family birthday this year Emma got some fun things from some of her best friends.  Natalie gave her a pink fuzzy pillow and Ava gave her a cute little dog stuffed animal.  Emma is so lucky to have such nice friends.

I am so excited to be teaching the adult Sunday school class again this year.  This year we are studying the New Testament.  I found this amazing study guide that really helps me understand the different gospels.  I have learned so much already.

It's very rare in the winter time to get some warmer days on the weekends.  Today was the perfect running weather.  I met Dionne and Harley at Red Rocks and we did a big loop all the way around Red Rocks with a little jet into Section 16.  It was a fabulous run.  So grateful for great friends to run with.

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I knew the good weather was too good to be true.  It snowed a ton today.  I really do like how peaceful the snow makes everything.  I even like going for a run in it.  The only thing I don't like is the mess it makes on my car and in my garage when everything finally starts to melt.  Oh winter...

Andrew and I went to Flying Horse to go for a swim.  I convinced him to come with me so that he could help me with my swimming form.  He had some great pointers to give me.  It was just fun to be in the pool with Andrew.  Afterwards we treated ourselves by going out to lunch at the new Ramen restaurant at the Promenade Shops.  It did not disappoint!  We were both transported back to the time we lived in Japan.  It brought back such great memories for both of us.

Mike and I both got new bike trainers for each other for Christmas and we finally set them up in the garage.  Now we can bike together on Zwift during the week.  I can't wait...I'm so excited to spend some time with Mike working out together!

It has been so much fun to help Mike set up his new office for his private practice.  I dusted off my mat cutter and cut mats for his medical posters so that we could hang them up in his clinic rooms.  They really make the room look professional and nice.

Madeline has lots of favorite things but one of those is probably bath time.  She is ALWAYS excited to take a bath after dinner.  She loves to play with her foam letters, plastic cups and animals.  She really loves it when we put bubbles in the bath.  

Another one of Madeline's favorite things is her pretend camera.  She loves to tell me to sit in the chair and smile.  Then she pretends to take my picture.  After she is satisfied then she makes me take her picture.  It is adorable.

Every once in awhile my running group runs with the CRUD (Colorado Runners Ultra Distance) group and does the Cheyenne Canyon run.  Today the Sunrise Striders were actually doing a different workout but some of us decided it would be more fun to do the CRUD run.  It is 4.5 miles completely uphill and then we take the trails on the way back down.  The total mileage is 9 miles.  It is such a great run but you have to be prepared for a long uphill climb.  Today the road going up wasn't that clear.  There was still plenty of snow patches and ice.  It made for a tricky climb.  The trails were mostly clear and very runeable on the way back down.  Caryn, Harley, Dionne and I ran into Dave near the top and ran down with him.  The sunrise was spectacular as we made our way back down.  Even though the road conditions weren't ideal....it was still a really fun run.

Both of the boys actually went in to get their braces off today.  Andrew had the bottom 6 braces put back on to fix a popped out tooth.  He only had to wear them for 5 months.  Peter was finally get his full set of braces off.  With 2 rounds of braces, once at 12 years old and this last time, he was ready to be done with it all.  Oh happy day!

Madeline loves books.  She especially likes it when someone reads to her but today she loved looking at and reading her small board books to herself.  It was so fun to watch her recite what she remembered from each book.  

The kids have all been swimming with the Rapids Swim Club since the early fall and this was the first meet that I was able to sign them up to participate in.  The girls were a little nervous as this was their first real big swim meet.  The boys were anxious to see what they could swim at this point in their pre-season to their HS swim team season.  I was so incredibly impressed with how well everyone did today and how they cheered for and encouraged each other in their individual events.  

​Andrew's times were already so much better than the last two seasons of HS swim.  He swam in the 50 freestyle, 100 breast, and the 100 freestyle events. He PR'd in 100 breaststroke and swam it in 1:16.17.  His previous best time was his sophomore year at 1:18.42 since he didn't swim it his junior year.  His 50 free time was outstanding for the pre-season at 26.00.  His fastest time was during the Eagle Invite his sophomore year at 25.29.  Last year he swam a 25.60 during State and that was after a season of an injured hand.  Andrew's 100 free time today was 58.00 which was his best solo 100 freestyle not in a relay.  His previous 100 free style record was 1:00.73 last season.  His overall best 100 freestyle distance was 56.12 in the 400 freestyle relay his sophomore year.  After such a successful meet for Andrew he and I both realized his potential.  He hasn't been making it to all the club practices and still swam a great meet which only means that with a lot of hard work from here until the HS season starts and through the season, he could potentially make State with an individual event this year.  It will be fun to see how far he can come this year by working hard and swimming the events he is strongest in.  

Peter PR'd in every event he swam today. He swam in the 500 freestyle, 200 freestyle, and the 100 freestyle events.  Peter's 500 freestyle time was 6:28.00 which was 12 seconds faster than last year's best time of 6:42.98.  Peter's 200 freestyle time today was 2:27.00 which was one second faster than last year's best time and his 100 freestyle was 1:05.00 which knocked his previous best tie of 1:11.89 out of the park.  Unlike Andrew, Peter has been more diligent about going to practice and his hard work is already starting to show.  He is so competitive with Andrew and I know that with some more hard work Peter will get the times that he is working towards this year.  So proud of this kid.

Emma swam in two events today.  She swam in the 50 breaststroke and 50 freestyle events.  As she was getting ready for her 50 breaststroke she accidentally missed her heat.  She got confused because some other kid was on her block.  There were a few tears since this was her favorite event.  Coach Brody stepped in and got her in the next heat which was awesome.  That is the nice thing about the 12&under competition...they are a little bit more lenient.  Needless to say, she swam well being a little frazzled.  Still, according to Emma, this was not her best time and didn't glide as much as she should have but she was happy to be able to swim in the event.  She swam the 50 breaststroke in 43.00.  Emma's next event was the 50 freestyle and she swan that in 41.47.  Again, not her best time from practice but still a great starting time for her.  I was so proud of her for pushing herself even when she was nervous and frazzled.  This was a great experience for her.

Abby was a little unsure about swimming in such a big meet but she put on her brave face and went with the flow today.  She swam in both the 50 butterfly and 100 freestyle events.  She swam her 50 butterfly which was the very first event in 1:03.99 and was 4th in her heat.  She was so happy with that.  Then she waited until the end of the meet to swim in the 100 freestyle.  She was so nervous about doing flip turns and being disqualified.  Ramon and I tried to encourage her to just try them but in the end she just touched the wall.  Still, with her nerves I was just so proud of her for getting up on that swim block and racing.  She did the 100 freestyle in 2:06.00.  I couldn't have been more pleased with her efforts.  

January 20

Since Mike was tired today I was able to go out with all the kids to ski while he stayed back with Madeline.  We left a little earlier than we did the day before and made our way across the mountainside all the way over to the Two Elks Lodge area and down Poppyfields so that we could show Andrew and Abby how cool skiing is at the Blue Sky Basin.  We were so happy that we didn't have to wait in a long line at the Skyline Express Lift today.  Once we got to the top at Belle's Camp we got some water and went to the bathroom.  Then we headed once again to the Big Rock Park run and were somewhat disappointed that they had groomed the bottom half of the run.  The day before it was so powdery which made it so much fun.  No big deal...we headed up Pete's Express Lift so that we could ski the runs over there.  Since we had Abby, we let the boys go off and do the Revolution run while the girls tried the Star run and had the best time skiing through the BEST powder in and out of the trees.  It turns out that this was the coolest place to ski.  Being able to ski in the trees but then pop out onto a wider trail anytime we wanted was so much fun.  The girls had fun following me in and out of the trees.  Even Abby was able to keep up with me and Emma.  After doing that run several times and meeting the boys at the bottom of the lift we decided to take Abby on the black Revolution run.  She did really well but there were still tears since the small steep section scared her.  We had fun anyways and decided to head all the way back down to the Skyline Express Lift so that we could go eat lunch at Belle's Camp.  There were SO MANY PEOPLE at the top and it was hard to find a place to eat even though there was a ton of places to eat outside.  The weather was actually quite warm today and so it wasn't too cold to sit outside.  The boys opted to sit in the snowbanks on the outskirts of Belle's Camp while the girls and I found a few open spots at the end of one of the tables.  We didn't spend too long eating but nevertheless, we enjoyed our sandwiches, chips and hot chocolate.  After a decent amount of time resting and filling up our tummies, we headed out again to ski Big Rock Park and then headed over to the lifts we had been doing all morning.  We did one more run with Abby through the trees on the Star run but quickly realized that she was worn out and was starting to fall apart emotionally.  After quite a frustrating and slow run I left her at the Dawg Haus eating area at the bottom of Pete's Express Lift with some money for a treat and my cell phone so that she could rest while we did a few more runs.  Emma and I joined the boys and decided to go down Revolution.  It was as good as the day before but we were even more confident this time.  The second time going down it Emma and I even tried going in some of the trees on the steep sections and then I took pictures of the kids going off the jump at the bottom of the steep section.  It was a fantastic way to end our awesome day at Blue Sky Basin.  After picking up Abby we all headed back to the Tea Cup Express Lift so that we could head back to Lionshead Village.  On the way down the least little section I got ahead of Abby and right after I turned the corner onto the catwalk she fell.  I had the sense to stop at the curve and wait but was getting worried when I didn't see her after 5 min had passed.  Luckily another guy had helped her with her binding which had apparently been a little messed up.  The line at the lift was a zoo by the time we got there as everyone else was heading back to the front side of the mountain.  We took our usual route back to the village and when we finally made it back we couldn't find Peter until we saw him talking to one of the Ski Patrol guys.  Apparently he was going too fast down the already steep and icy bottom section and got a warning.  The patrol guy was nice, according to Peter, and there wasn't a fine so we just laughed about it and reminded Peter to be more careful in the slow zones at the bottom.   

January 21st

Today was our last day in Vail and it was another beautiful morning. Peter and Abby stayed behind to rest and help me pack up the car while Mike took Andrew and Emma out skiing in the morning. They went up the normal route from Lionshead Village and skied down Hunky Dory, which they LOVED.  They said it was the best run of the day since they had just groomed it.  They did Northstar before heading to the back side of the mountain.  Northstar apparently was not good because the moguls were deep and ice.  Once they were on the back side of the mountain and into the Blue Sky Basin, they skied down the Grand Review run and LOVED it.  They also skied down the Slot run and the black Hornsilver run before heading back to meet us at Vail Village.  Overall, they had a great morning and by the time we all met at 11:30 we were all ready to head home.  
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​January 19th

After a snowy start to our ski vacation we were all eager to get up this morning to hit the slopes with fresh powder.  Since Andrew wasn't feeling well and Abby was too tired to ski, we left them back at the room with Madeline.  Mike, Emma, Peter, and I headed to the Gondola at Lionshead Village and made our way towards the Blue Sky Basin which Mike and my favorite place to ski when we were here a few years ago.  From the top of the Gondola we headed down the Game trail to take the Game Creek Express Lift up.  Since Vail is such a big mountain it took us a little while to get all the way over to the east side of the mountain before dipping into the back side.  First we took Hunky Dory down to the Mountaintop Express Lift.  This was such a cool run with the freshest powder we have ever skied in.  It was a nice treat after walking on mostly flat terrain for 5 minutes from the top of the lift to the top of this run.  Peter, Emma, and I took a short mogul run off of the main trail and met up with Mike at the bottom and then headed down to our next lift.  From the top of Mountaintop Express Lift we took the Timberline Catwalk all the way to the Sourdough Express Lift.  This is probably one of the only catwalk trails that is actually fun to ride.  It is nestled between a wall of trees on both sides.  With the trees covered in all white it was quite a site to behold.  Finally, at the top of the Sourdough Lift we were able to pop on over to the backside of the mountain.  We took the Poppyfields run all the way down to the Skyline Express Lift which takes you up to the top of the Blue Sky Basin.  It took us about 1 hour from the start of our day to get to the top of Blue Sky Basin and it was TOTALLY WORTH IT...even with the 15-20 min it took to get on the Skyline Express Lift up to Belles Camp.  We took the kids down a little bit of Cloud 9 until we reached Pete's Bowl and skied down Big Rock Park.  This run is like zigging and zagging in and out of beautiful giant trees.  It is a hoot of a run to ski.  After getting to the bottom we spent the majority of our morning going up Pete's Express Lift to ski Resolution which was the coolest black between Big Rock Park and Grand Preview.  Emma and I were a little nervous at first but it turned out to be very doable, especially with lots of great powder.  It was so fun to be able to ski where there weren't a lot of people and to try and perfect our skills of getting in and around powdery moguls.  We spent most of our morning in this area of the mountain before heading back up the Skyline Express Lift to Belles Camp to eat lunch.  We said goodbye to Mike while he headed back to see if the other two kids want to go out and ski.  Peter, Emma, and I had lunch at the hut at the top of Belle's Camp.  We split a sandwich, chips, hot chocolate and a treat and after that we were ready to hit the slopes again.  We spent another 2 hours doing more of the same runs before making our long trek back to Lionshead Village.  It was such a fabulous ski day with the most perfect weather conditions and lots of powder to ski on. 

Ever since the older kids have been swimming with the Rapids Swim Club back in the fall, Madeline has been obsessed with being just like the big kids.  We found an old pair of pink swim goggles and gave them to her to play with so that she would stop getting into the kids swim bags and stealing their goggles.  She loves to wear them ALL THE TIME.  What's even more hilarious is when she gets down on the floor and pretends to swim.  She somehow manages to scoot herself around on the wood floor while telling us that she is swimming.  She even does it in the bath.  I love how much she wants to be like her siblings.  I see a swimmer in her future!

It has snowed a ton this season already and that has made the kids extremely happy.  The girls still love playing in the snow in the backyard after every snowstorm.  Madeline is finally old enough to be able to join in on the fun with her older sisters.  This afternoon was especially fun for Madeline as Emma and Abby built the coolest snow fort and snowman with her.  They had snowball fights and pulled each other in the sled.  It was mostly Madeline who got pulled in the sled because every time either Abby or Emma tried to get in the sled Madeline got a little upset.  Everyone always wants to make Madeline happy so they were happy to let her get pulled around in the sled.  Madeline just loved playing in the snow with the best older sisters a little girl could have. 

​Skin on! Today we got to ski with the cousins. Jake and Josh came with us up to Park City.  Mike was able to get them a military discount, so the lift tickets were more reasonable.  We cruised some blues at first, then Andrew, Peter, Jake and I headed up to the double blacks again. It was just as much fun this time as it was the first time.  Peter and I were a little more confident this time.  Mike, Josh, and the girls explored every run they could find on the mountain.  They had a ton of fun.  Their favorite run was definitely Assessment. It was long, flowy, and the snow was great.  The worst was Parley’s Park which was a total sheet of ice.  We all met up for lunch at Miner’s Cabin again. Everyone had sandwiches and of course a brownie which was really, really good.  Then off for an afternoon of hitting it hard.  I think the favorite run was the black run which was moguls, but just right (Sampson).  Too bad the lift that services it was so slow.  At the end of the day, Mike found these great hand made doughnuts that you dip in chocolate and then add your own toppings….they were possibly the best doughnuts of all time.  It might have been the best way to end a great day.  We were so grateful to be able to ski and to be together as a family.  Families that ski together, stay together…or at least meet at the bottom of the run at some point.

DAY 3

​​Happy New Year! Today we took a ​rest day! We spent the day recovering from skiing mostly because it was far too cold to actually go skiing today.  Mike took the girls to the Provo Rec Center and they had a great time in the pool.  They even saw Adam from Studio C running around the track.  He has terrible form. Jake and Josh came over for dinner.  It was fun to see the cousins.  We had totally forgotten that Josh was at BYU, so when he walked in, it was kind of a fun surprise.  ​

​Since Mike had to work the week after Christmas, we left on Sunday to go to Utah to go skiing. We were able to get really good deals on the Epic pass this year and so it seemed like a good idea to just go try Park City out.  The drive going to Utah took a little longer than usual because Madeline had a case of the poops.  Suddenly there was a tart smell in the back of the car, then you had find a place to stop. Fortunately, she did well during the great stretch of nothingness from the Colorado boarder to Provo.  It’s the little things in life that you have to be grateful for.  We arrived in Provo to a wonderful dinner prepared by Sara’s mom.  The Kelschs are always such gracious hosts.
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What better way to spend New Year’s Eve than skiing!  We woke up and drove up to Park City while Anne and Franz watched Madeline. It’s so much easier to ski when you don’t have a 2 year old to swap out watching.  We explored a good part of the mountain and even ventured over to the Canyons, which was a total waste because we didn’t make it over to the good skiing, rather we got stuck in all the rich people houses.  The only good part was watching Mike eat it and slide down a silly mogul run.  Jerry of the day for sure.  It was really pretty and fun to see where the 0.1% live, but the better stuff was on the Park City side.  We had lunch at the top of the mountain in a very crowded mountain hut.  We bought hot chocolate and ate our homemade sandwiches. Even though we are cold weather people and live at high elevation in Colorado, it was COLD at Park City.  We headed down the mountain early.  The amazing thing about skiing in Utah is that it only takes 30 minutes to get home.  It’s hard to know what to do with all that free time and how to act when you aren’t all stressed out from driving back from the Colorado resorts.

​Christmas Day is a blast.  In our house, people get up early on Christmas.  The boys slept up in the loft because all of our guests were sleeping down in the basement. We all gathered up at the top of the stairs in our Christmas jammies and took our traditional stairs photos.  Then we turned on the Christmas music and let the kids run down the stairs to the presents!  The kids were super excited.  Madeline immediately went to her new dollhouse and started playing.  She loved every part of it.  The dollhouse was definitely a work of love as parts of it were painted white to make it look a little cuter than the way it came out of the box.  Abby got her Ukulele and a great case to go with it.  Emma made out with a white Razor moped type scooter that was a lot faster than we expected. Peter got an electric Segway scooter that was even faster and likely more dangerous.  Andrew got a Nintendo Switch, which is what he wanted.  Mike and Sara both got the new KICKR snap bike trainer.  It was fun to see the kids playing and enjoying each other.  It was fun to see them get excited about all the other presents as well.  The favorites this year were definitely the various sushi and pizza socks.  That was all Mike's idea.  He is so clever.  Mike and Sara got a hefty check from Grandma and Grandpa.  The check was wrapped up in a play doh can and on the outside it said, "We thought you could use some extra "dough" around the holidays.."  It was such a generous gift and very much appreciated.  I was ecstatic to finally get a Garmin triathlon watch, the Fenix 5S plus.  I had been eyeing that watch for quite some time.  Mike finally got winterized mats for his truck and his traditional lego set.  Maybe he will end up putting together before December of next year. The best present by far, though, was when Ruby announced that she was expecting another baby, which was super fun.  In all, it was a great time to be together.  Once the morning festivities were over and the wrapping paper was all cleaned up, we took everyone to see the new Mary Poppins movie.  This was Madeline's first time at the movies and she did really well considering the fact that she is 2 years old.  It was really good and the kids enjoyed a ton of popcorn.  After that, we headed back home to be lazy.  There really are few days better than Christmas day.  
 

Christmas Eve is always such an exciting day.  Most of the day was just spent hanging out and enjoying each other.  Some worked on finishing the second puzzle while others played games.  In between all of that there was some cooking going on for our big Christmas Eve dinner of ham, rolls, sour cream potatoes, jello, stuffing, and pie.  It was a fabulous meal.  Everyone got on some nicer clothes for our dinner and when Peter came upstairs in his suit we all just laughed.  He, of course, did that as a joke but then kept it on during dinner.  After stuffing our faces we got on our coats and jumped in the car to go see the neighborhood lights.  We went and saw the ridiculous house over in Pine Creek that resembled that of the house from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  Lights were on every inch of that house and every piece of land they owned.  It was so bright and crazy.  Our favorite house, however, was the one that had synced music on the radio with a cool light show in front of their house.  We stayed and watched for a couple of songs before heading over to another section next to Pine Creek with an entire coldesac of decorated houses.  They had stringed lights between the houses and Santa on his sleigh riding between the houses.  It was pretty cool.  After we got home we got dressed up in our Christmas pjs and read from the scriptures.  It turned out that Greg, Ruby, and Noble totally matched our family's pjs this year.  The kids laid out the plate of cookies for Santa and the kids headed to bed while the grownups prepared for the next day.