Mike and I snuck away for one night and headed up to Denver to stay at the Ritz Carlton to just relax and enjoy some alone time without the kids. We ate at Elways for dinner and it did not disappoint. We were upgraded to a wonderful suite (thank you Platinum American Express) and just loved being together. 

Andrew finally got his acceptance letter to University of Utah. This letter was very exciting as he also got a 4-year partial scholarship. This was just what he needed to give him the confidence boost to finish his senior year strong. So now the question is, does he choose BYU-Idaho or University of Utah?

Having Madeline by my side every day is the best thing ever. She is such a little lovey and I enjoy her company so much. And, her crazy curly hair just makes me smile!

It was such a wonderful surprise to see one of my running friends, Emily, working at the PT place I was going to. Emily and I used to run together a lot with the Sunrise Striders but then her school and work schedule made it hard for her to meet on those running days. I was so excited that I would get to see her over the next month or so of going to PT.

After 5 years of listening to our old refrigerator make loud noises we decided it was finally time to purchase something new. It was quite the ordeal to get it into the house. The boys had to take the front door off and the handles off the new fridge but with a couple of guys from the ward we were able to get it in the house. So thankful for friends to help.

Every once in awhile I will get random photos from Andrew at school. Today was a fun photo of him before a dissection in class. Andrew loves being in the science lab at school. 

After too many school delays and snow days in a row we decided that we all needed to get out of the house and so we headed to the theatre to go and watch Toy Story 4 together. 

The girls love playing with Natalie and Noelle on snow days. They went over to the reservoir behind our house to go sledding.

While everyone was home on this snow day Mike still had to go into work.  He is such a hard worker and really good at what he does. We are so grateful for all the sacrifices he makes for our family.

I have been running non stop this month in preparation for my race next month. I have loved running with the Sunrise Striders twice and week and running with my Cordera friends twice a week. We even managed to fit in a day up at the Incline. 

Many years ago Mike found the most amazing deep dish pizza recipe and he has been making this pizza ever since. It is one of our family's favorite recipes. 

What can I say about Madeline this month other than she is a delight and she definitely keeps us entertained. She loves to play with all the older toys that the older kids played with when they were younger. Her latest favorite toy is definitely the Little People. She loves the town with the moving road and will place as many animals and people on there and just watch them spin around. She also loves to play with all the dress ups and will usually ask us to put on a variety of the dresses for her. She doesn't just love dresses though. She loves to wear shoes from my closet or the girls closet. Her favorites are my low boots and my colorful flats and the girls low boots and slippers. She can often be seen walking around in a variety of shoes from all over the house. Madeline is getting to the point where she can sit still long enough for me to do something fun in her hair. We have been trying a few new hairdos and she just loves them. 

Abby absolutely loves her 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Lynch.  She has so much fun learning in her class and it’s pretty great that she gets to be in the same class as 3 of her best friends. Outside of the classroom they have been able to venture on some really cool field trips.  One of her favorite field trips was to the Denver Science Museum where they got to dissect lamb hearts. It was a messy affair, but she loved it. 

Peter is finally an EAGLE Scout!!! We are so proud of him and all he accomplished to get to this point. He worked extremely hard to earn all his merit badges and complete his Eagle project. Peter really enjoyed the things he learned during the scouting program.  More than anything, he became a great outdoorsmen, a great leader, and gained a love of the outdoors and hiking. I don’t think there is anything this kid can’t do. 

After an exciting 5 days of adventuring from Reykjavik to the Golden Circle and across the southern island of Iceland, we were all ready to head home.  There is nothing worse than having to rush to the airport so we were delighted when Mike told us that he booked us an afternoon flight back home.  We slept in, cleaned up the cabin, packed up the van, and said goodbye to our cute little cabin and treacherous snowy road we parked on the last few days.  Before heading to the airport we made one last stop to the Blue Lagoon for some much needed relaxation time.  The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa located near Grindavik on the Reykjanes Peninsula pretty close to the airport.  We got on our swimming suits, rinsed our bodies and put on the required conditioner in our hair, and headed to the warm water blue lagoon.  The story of how they discovered this silica based water is quite fascinating and dates back to 1976 when they were drilling down into the lava fields to find hot water to pump into their mills to produce electricity when they discovered this light blue like water.  After realizing that the white in the water was coating their machines and ruining them, they quickly deposited the water in a nearby lava field.  At the time no one dared touch the water except for one man who had bad psoriasis and noticed a change in his skin after working with the water and steam at the plant. After asking many times he was finally given permission to bathe in the waters and it was then that he discovered that they were truly healing waters.  Many people on the island starting bathing in its waters. Still, it wasn't all that safe with the rough lava floors and nothing to control the heat.  So in 1992 the Blue Lagoon company was formed.  People from all over the world come here to soak in the healing waters.  One of the fun parts about being here was that you were able to get a silica or algae mask for free.  Mike and some of the kids enjoyed that.  There was also an in-water bar where each of us got a free drink. The kids loved walking around the warm waters sipping on their fruit smoothies.  There were definitely warmer parts of the lagoon than others.  We explored as much of the lagoon as we could and even Madeline, who up to this point wouldn't get in a hot tub, enjoyed the warm soothing waters.  After spending a good 2 hours in the water just relaxing, we got cleaned up and headed to the airport all rested up.  I wish every end of a vacation could end with a trip to the Blue Lagoon.

There were just a few more things that we wanted to see before our trip was over.  Iceland is known not only for its amazing glaciers but also for its amazing waterfalls.  There were so many cool waterfalls to choose from but since this trip was all about exploring the southern island, we choose two that were the most conveniently located from the main highway...Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss.  The weather was kind of yucky today with overcast skies and intermittent rain but we didn't care because the days we really needed sun we had it. So we set off on another somewhat long drive but not as long as the day before.  It was about 1.5 hours to Seljalandsfoss Waterfall. This is a unique waterfall where you can take a path to walk behind the waterfall.  When we got there it had temporarily stopped raining which was good.  The closer we got to the waterfall the more we were grateful that we had on our rain-gear because the mist from the waterfall was pretty strong.  We braved the platform in front of the waterfall to get a family photo before stepping over the TRAIL CLOSED sign like all the other tourists to walk behind the waterfall.  It was SO WET.  At first I had my big camera out, constantly wiping the lens until I gave up, put it away, and just enjoyed the experience because let's face it...when do you ever get to walk behind a waterfall in Iceland??? I probably spent more time behind the waterfall than everyone else.  Madeline wasn't a huge fan of all the water mist in her face so she and Mike went ahead.  Peter and Emma stayed behind with me to grab some photos with the GoPro...what an ingenious camera that one is.  

After this interesting experience I'm not sure the kids were really up for more waterfalls as we were all a bit cold but we got back in the car to warm up and eat snacks on our way to Skogafoss Waterfall. Skogafoss Waterfall is one of the largest and most elegant waterfalls in Iceland. Luckily, it is also one of the waterfalls that can be accessed even in the wintertime. This waterfall is situated along the Skoga River at the cliffs of the former coastline. It was fun to walk along the snowy, and sometimes slippery, path along the river to get to the base of the waterfall.  The kids had just as much fun skipping rocks in the river as they did enjoying the beauty of the waterfall.  We could've spent more time there as well but the weather was kind of rainy and cold so we only stayed for about an hour.  The trail you can take to get a view from the top was closed and dangerous this time of year so we stayed at the base of the waterfall to enjoy its beauty.  ​

Today started out with lots of excitement for our adventure across the southern part of Iceland all the way over to Jokulsarlon Lagoon and the Ice Caves, bordering Vatnajokull National Park.  However, after only 20 minutes on our journey we realized that the heater wasn't working.  After all the mess of getting a working van the day before it turned out that this van also had similar problems.  We stopped at the nearest gas station to fill the radiator fluid compartment with a little bit of water.  Hoping that would be a temporary solution we continued on our journey since we had a reservation for the Ice Caves at 1:00pm.  However, that did not solve the problem, so we stopped again at another gas station and got radiator fluid this time.  Well, that seemed to do it.  It seemed that the radiator compartment had a small crack and was leaking fluid.  As long as we continued to top it off we would be ok.  So that is what we did the remainder of the day.  The rest of the drive, with heat, was a pretty great drive.  Most everything was still covered in snow.  Both the mountains on one side and the land heading out to sea on the other side were just breathtaking. We really lucked out with the weather again today as it was sunny and not too windy.  

We made it to the lagoon an hour before our tour so we ate lunch and then headed down to the water's edge to see the spectacular icebergs that had broken off from the nearby Breidamerkurjokull Glacier (part of the larger Vatnajokull Glacier) floating in the lagoon.  It was quite a site to behold and nothing like any of us had ever seen.  The Jokulsarlon Lagoon flows through a short waterway into the Atlantic Ocean, leaving chunks of ice on a black sand beach.  We stayed in the lagoon area and had fun exploring.  As we walked closer to the Glacier we saw a wedding couple getting photographed.  Brrrr but also so very cool.  Time flew by so fast that hour and before we knew it the big kids and I were grabbing our crampons and heading into the giant glacier truck to head onto the glacier for our ice caving tour.  It was really sweet of Mike to stay behind with Madeline during our tour.  

It was about a 30 minute drive through extremely off road terrain before making it onto the glacier.  It felt like we were driving on Mars.  Our tour guide and driver was hilarious and reminded us of the guy from the boat in the movie "Secret Life of Walter Mitty."  His demeanor was super chill but he also took the time to tell us cool facts about what we were seeing along the way.  Once on the glacier we made our first stop at an above ground ice cave.  We all got out, climbed up a small hill with the help of ropes, and explored in and around the sheets of ice left over from an above ground crevasse. The kids LOVED this part of the tour.  We could have played there for hours.  I gave Andrew the GoPro and let him go off and explore at the top to get a great video of the panoramic view we saw.  Then it was back in the truck for one more stop before the caves.  Since there wasn't too much wind on the glacier today we got to do a small glacier hike down to another open crevasse.  The walk along the various glacier sections was SO COOL.  It reminded me of hiking Mt. Rainier.  We had to be careful to follow our tour guide exactly so we wouldn't fall through any weak sections of the glacier.  It wasn't surprising to me that my kids were the first ones right behind the guide.  I love that my kids are so adventurous.  It is the one thing that gives life so much flavor.  I hope they never lose their love for adventure.  After walking for about 15-20 minutes on the glacier we came to a roped section and had to take turns heading downhill to the bottom where we were able to walk right up to an above ground open crevasse.  The crevasse was roped off inside so you could only go in so far to see the amazing blue colors reflecting off the sheets of ice.  It was spectacular.  We didn't spend too long here, only long enough for everyone to have a turn peeking into the crevasse before heading back to the truck.  Our last stop was at the actual ice cave open to the public through this tour.  It was a wet trek through the cave and it was fairly dark so we took advantage of the lights on our helmets.  There were only a few sections where you could see the spectacular blue sheets of ice by looking up.  The amazing blue color can only be seen when the layer between the ice and the sky isn't so thick.  I had researched how to take pictures of the ice but it was way more difficult than I had expected.  Trying to set up a tripod in a river of flowing water and trying to take a photo when everyone didn't have their lights on was almost impossible.  I took only a few photos down a small cavern before heading back to the group.  The main area of the cave was much better for photo taking.  All the pictures I had seen online had clearly been on photography only tours on the eastern side of the Island in caves that were much larger than this one.  Someday I will go on one of those tours.  Still, we were in awe of the sheets of ice that permeated most of the cave.  It's a good thing it was a pretty short cave because after walking in the frozen water, even with our good waterproof boots, we were all getting a bit cold.  We climbed out of the cave and were back in the truck heading back to the lagoon.  By the time we got back we were starving and were super happy that Mike had fish and chips waiting for us to eat. You would have thought we hadn't eaten in days the way we stuffed our faces.  ​

We were up by 7:00am to get ready for our first day in the Golden Circle.  Mike went out and tested the car, which started with a little love and prayer. We left it running while everyone ate breakfast, got ready, and headed out for the Silfra fissure. The sky was clear when we left, but in typical Iceland fashion, it started to snow like crazy as we got near Thingvellir National Park. As we got closer to the park, we could see the giant lake and it was really pretty. We got to the parking lot and walked over to the snorkeling adventure where Mike and the boys got suited up for an exciting swim down the Silfra fissure.  In the 45 minutes it took to get everyone in their group all ready to go it was blizzard, sunny and nice, and back to snow and blizzard by the time the girls and I headed back to the car to wait for the boys to finish up with their excursion.  After getting the girls warmed up in the car, I headed back over to the snorkeling area to see if I could see the boys floating between the tectonic plates. They weren't at the beginning so I walked along the beautiful trail down to the end and waited where I eventually saw them finish their incredible journey along the Silfra fissure.  I was surprised when I didn't see Peter come out of the water.  The poor kid had gotten sick at the beginning and ended up not being able to go.  We think his suit had gotten too tight around his neck.  Oh well.  There was definitely more to see in Iceland so all was not lost.  

After gathering everyone back at the van, we decided to head up the snowy trail to go on the Almannagja Ravine Walk.  After scrambling up the somewhat slippery trail we finally made it to the walk that led us up in between the North American and European plates.  We walked around up on top, looked at the beautiful view of Thingvellir National Park, took a picture next to the Iceland flag, and headed back down the trail. When we got back to our car, the rental car company was already there with someone to swap our van for another one. Hopefully this van wouldn't give us too many problems. We hopped into the new van, which was essentially the same van, and headed to see the Oxararfoss Waterfall. This was one of the coolest waterfalls we have ever seen.  It was such a fascinating waterfall with tons of rock boulders at the bottom.  The kids had fun enjoying its beauty and playing in the little nook they found near the waterfall. Mike had written Iceland in the snow and we took pictures of the kids next to it.  As we were leaving we noticed that all the other tourists did the same.  It was kind of funny what we started.  
​

Due to the high winds, the whale watching tour was cancelled, so we had the morning to relax. We got up around 8:30am….having slept about 10 hours, and meandered downstairs to the hotel restaurant where we had a big buffet breakfast.  It reminded us of the buffet we had at the Hilton in London…so delicious….so expensive, but in the end free thanks to the beauty of the Gold Membership. After stuffing ourselves with good food, we loaded up the van and headed to Costco to get food for our trip. After ogling at all the stuff, we grabbed essentials like bread, milk, and of course 50 American Pancakes.  We then headed next door to the Bonus store and grabbed the rest of the stuff we needed. The Bonus store was quite something with its pink pig mascot, yellow bags, and big refrigerator section with European meats and cheeses.  
 
After getting our food, we got gas (which is cheaper at Costco) and then headed out in the wilderness of Iceland. And when I say wilderness, I mean the great frozen tundra. The wind and snow was ridiculous and visibility was minimal at best. Mike followed the Volkswagen in front of him and tried to keep in between the yellow signs on the side of the road.  It was the most insane driving ever.  Then suddenly, the sky would clear up and it would be sunny, and then back into the blizzard.

For one of Andrew’s graduation gifts I decided to put together a t-shirt quilt for him with all the shirts that I have been collecting since he was in elementary school in Japan.  It was so much fun to look at all the shirts and remember all the memories of him wearing them. I was a little nervous to cut them up but, in the end, I knew that having them displayed somewhere cool would be a fun way to preserve those memories. I wanted Andrew to have something that reminded him of his childhood and home when he goes to college.  All I had to do was sew all the shirts together and then I took it into a lady to have it quilted.  

After a week of three snow days and two canceled meets, the boys were finally ready to compete in their first swim meet against Palmer HS. They knew there wasn't much competition agains Palmer but they were still pumped to swim their hardest. Peter swam in the 200 medley relay (butterfly), 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, and the 400 freestyle relay. He swam strong in all his events but his 500 freestyle was his best event of the day, landing him a new PR of 6:14.56. This is the event Peter will focus on this season to try and get as close as he can to the state qualifying time.

200 medley relay - no individual time.  Team time of 2:45.01
200 freestyle - 2:23.48
500 freestyle - 6:14.56
400 freestyle relay - 31.49, 35.51

Andrew also had a pretty good meet.  He swam in the 200 medley relay (breaststroke), 50 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay, and the 100 breastroke.  With only 1 sec away from his best time in both the 50 freestyle and the 100 breastroke he did well for his first meet. His 200 freestyle relay team actually got a State qualifying time so that is exciting! After this meet Andrew is even more determined to work hard on breastroke this season so that he can try and get a state qualifying time. 

200 medley relay (breaststroke) - no individual time. Team time of 1:56.82
50 freestyle - 26.45
200 freestyle relay - 26.31
100 breastroke - 1:17.16

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 he 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!