ANDREW'S MISSION WEEKS 22-23 (MARCH 4) - not yet posted
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PETER'S PPA SWIM MEET (MARCH 13) 

SNOWPOCALYPSE (MARCH 14) 

SNOWSHOEING AND SNOW FUN (MARCH 15) 

BUBBLES AND BATH BOMS (MARCH 18)
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DISNEY TRIP DAY 1 . TRAVELING (MARCH 20) 

DISNEY TRIP DAY 2 . ANIMAL KINGDOM (MARCH 21) 

DISNEY TRIP DAY 3 . MAGIC KINGDOM (MARCH 22) 

DISNEY TRIP DAY 4 . HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS (MARCH 23) 

DISNEY TRIP DAY 5 . UNIVERSAL STUDIOS (MARCH 24) 

DISNEY TRIP DAY 6 . UNIVERSAL STUDIOS (MARCH 25) 

DISNEY TRIP DAT 7 . MAGIC KINGDOM (MARCH 26) 

EXERCISE IN MARCH (MARCH 29) 

SLICES OF LIFE (MARCH 31)

I love my short hair and as many times as I try to grow it out, I just can't do it. So I opted for another option to be able to have long hair whenever I want. I bought myself a halo hair piece and have been having so much fun wearing it. My hair is still a little too short in the back to wear it solo, so I have been having fun wearing it with hats. It's fun to have long hair again, even if it is only for a day here and there.

Warmer days means more time outside and afternoons jumping on the trampoline with Madeline. Watching Madeline jump on the trampoline is just such a joy! She is by far the cutest little girl I know.

After Madeline's swim lessons every week, we order Panera and pick it up on the way home. It has become a tradition over the last several months and we both just love it. Curbside pickup is simply the best!

We are so thankful for good friends that moved to Colorado this past school year. The Parr family moved into our ward and they have the best kids. Peter enjoys hanging out with Conner and Emma is best friends with Raelee. It's nice to see Emma have a good friend who is kind, treats her with respect, and doesn't gossip about her behind her back. Girls can be really mean and Emma is learning to steer clear of people like that. 

It was unseasonably warm after church, so we took advantage of it and spent a good portion of our day outside with the kids. We went for a walk around the neighborhood while Peter and Madeline rode their bikes. We even had to raise Madeline's seat up a bit because she had grown taller since the last time she rode her bike. Then we all headed to the backyard to relax under the gazebo while Madeline jumped on the trampoline. We just talked and had fun with the kids while the sun was shining. It was pretty great.

The jellybean craze started after Andrew asked us to send him some on his mission. He got the jellybean craving. Luckily, it's pretty easy and quick to order from the German amazon site. After sending him several different packages of jellybeans, Mike came home one day with a gigantic jar of jellybeans from Costco. The kids have been enjoying picking out their favorite flavors and trying some new flavors. I thought it was funny when I noticed Madeline had taken the jar and was picking out her favorites. Silly, silly girl.

Mike, Peter and Emma have really gotten into playing Stardew Valley together. It was hilarious to see them all with their laptops working together to build awesome farms. 

It's about damn time is all I have to say about getting the vaccine. For one year I have been praying that none of us get extremely sick from COVID. With Mike in and out of people's airways pretty much all day every day, it has been an emotional roller coaster of a year. I was a little emotional when the guy was giving me the shot. He even asked me, "Are you ok?" I said I was fine, but what I wanted to say was, "It's just been an extremely long year of worry, stress, and unpredictability and I'm ready for all of this to be over." I will be the first one to admit that I know that this isn't over yet, nor are we in the clear for removing our masks or social distancing. It surprises me how many people I come across who are complete idiots about the mask thing. Some don't believe in wearing the mask at all and others simply don't want to do it anymore. I have had people tell me that it's ok to not wear the mask because people are getting vaccinated. Um...hello...only 16% of the US population as of today have been given at least one dose and only about 11% have been fully vaccinated. The reality is we all still need to do our part to protect each other because even when you are vaccinated, you can STILL get the virus and you can still pass it onto others. This vaccine does not make us immune to the virus, but we are less likely to get it and if we do, we are less likely to do poorly. So, even though I am on my way to being fully vaccinated, I will still wear my mask, hand sanitize, and social distance myself the best I can. I don't want to be part of the problem but part of the solution. I wish those around me would do the same. Sadly, I have been disappointed in most Americans this year and even some people I would call friends. 

Madeline has been in private swim lessons since September, and she loves swimming with Carolyn. She is improving but she still is afraid of putting her face all the way in the water. Her instructor decided to laminate a face and after every lesson, Madeline gets to color in the parts of the face that she put in the water that day. I love that her instructor came up with a clever way to motivate Madeline to be a little bolder in the water. 

We all look forward to Thursdays because that is the day we can talk to Andrew on his mission. With the time change, Mike is usually off to work by the time Andrew gets to video chat with us. But he has found ways to be on the call even when at work. He will often call Andrew in between his surgery cases or call in his scrubs right before he enters the OR. Peter even got to sit in on the call for a little bit before he headed off to school today. It's amazing that we can all video chat together wherever we are in the world!

We still love exchanging gifts with our friends from Japan. We have stayed in touch with the Murata's over the 8 years since we left Japan. It has been fun to see each other's kids grow up and to enjoy the fun trinkets and treats that they have sent to us. This year they hand stamped personal leather glasses classes for the boys and hair clips for the girls. We sent them some fun American face masks, so they sent us some cute Japanese ones back. We enjoyed the treats as well and the photos of their cute family!

Mike enjoyed showing his dad around his office and giving him the first-class treatment of doing a CT scan of his head. It is remarkable how far Mike has come with his practice since he started this 4 years ago. His dad was definitely impressed.

Having the Priority Pass card has been a game changer when we travel. We have had the card for a decade now and it comes in handy more often than not. While we waited in Atlanta to travel back to Colorado, we enjoyed some free food in a crowd free comfy lounge. It was pretty great!

​There wasn’t a ton of exercising in March as I was slowly adding back in running and biking after my surgery. It felt good to get outside and run, even if I had to do it in the snow. I surprisingly love running through fresh snow. There is something so calming about a new snowfall. I was able to run up Rampart Range Road with Dionne and Amber and did pretty well until the last mile or so. Mike and I biked together, and I actually got QOM on one of the Cordera segments. I was completely shocked. The last half of March I was preparing for our upcoming trip to Disney World so although I didn’t run or bike during the end of the month, I did do a lot of walking.

We thought it would be fun to spend our last day going back to Magic Kingdom. This time we opted for the better parking lot since we knew our legs would be tired at the end of the day. It was overcast in the morning which was wonderful. This morning was all about riding the rides we didn’t make it on the first day at Magic Kingdom and riding our favorites again. The big kids headed to Space Mountain while Mike and I took Madeline to Small World since we didn’t get a chance to do that earlier in the week. The line was super short so that was a total bonus. Madeline loved that ride and just kept pointing to all the things she loved. It was so cute to watch her excitement. We ran over to Tomorrowland and met the big kids at the Astro Orbiter. We rode that and then hopped in line to ride the Buzz Lightyear ride. Mike and Peter were ridiculously good at this ride and always got the highest scores. Then we headed to ride the cars and made our way to the Haunted Mansion and passed the carousel and sword in the stone on the way. All of the kids tried pulling the sword out of the stone. It was so funny watching Madeline try so hard. She even cracked her knuckles before she tried the second time. It was hilarious. Madeline was so brave in the Haunted Mansion. There were a few sections that scared her, but she did pretty well for a 4-year-old. At this point the sun was now out and it was getting hot, so we headed over to Splash Mountain and waited in line so that we cold cool off on the ride. The line was almost an hour but totally worth it. Splash Mountain was still everyone’s favorite ride, especially Madeline. With the heat picking up we decided to find a shady spot to each lunch. On our way to eat lunch we got to see the parade with Mickey, Minnie and Pluto. That was a lot of fun! We tried to stay as cool as we could the rest of the day by doing rides that were either in the shade or inside. We explored the Swiss Family Treehouse, rode the Little Mermaid ride, and did Buzz Lightyear again. Madeline was so excited when we surprised her by buying a new Toy Story characters set for her. We ate ice-cream sundaes and then decided to call it a day since it was way too hot to keep walking around. The closer parking was an added blessing at the end of our amazing week at Disney and Universal Studios. We headed back to the house to hang by the pool and just relax.

​The girls and I decided to stay back at the house and relax while the boys left to go back to Universal Studios. While the girls and I relaxed by the pool all day, the boys spent more time at the main part of Universal Studios, riding more of the Harry Potter rides, riding the Hogwarts Express, exploring Diagon Alley, and just having fun. They came home in the early afternoon and then we all headed back to Universal Studios to eat dinner at NBC Sports Grill. After filling our tummies and waiting for the sun to go down, we decided to all go to Diagon Alley and walk through the shops. We even got to see the dragon at the top of the bank blow fire out of its mouth. It was pretty exciting. Then we all rode the Hogwarts Express train to the other side of the park. Madeline really loved the train ride. As we were walking out of the park, we saw some friends from back home in Colorado and chatted for a little bit and then headed back to the house. 

​After a few days of doing the Disney thing, we headed to Universal Studios to experience the non-Disney side of things. We were there mainly to experience all of the Harry Potter attractions. We spent most of this day exploring the Islands of Adventure Park. After a very mediocre Spiderman ride, the big kids and I stood in line for the Hulk ride while Mike took Madeline to Dr. Seuss land. The line seemed to take forever but, in the end, it was worth it because this ride was super thrilling. There were several loopty loops which was a lot of fun. Afterwards we met up with Mike and Madeline and explored the Harry Potter side of the park. We did a rider swap since Madeline was too small to ride and took turns with the big kids riding Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. I have to say this was the worst ride ever. It was so nauseating kind of poorly done. It made us all realize why there is just something so special about the Disney parks. Moving on, we walked through Hogsmeade, drank some butterbeer, and saw the Hogwarts Express. The big kids ventured over to another big kid ride while I spent some time in Dr. Suess land with Madeline. Then we all ate lunch in the shade and enjoyed some downtime. We headed back over to Hogsmeade to ride Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. Although we had a spot in the virtual line, we still waited in line for at least an hour. The weather was so hot and much of the line was outside, so we were not too happy about that but once we got inside the building all was well. The ride was amazing, and it totally exceeded our expectations. The big kids were excited to ride it twice since we had to do another rider swap because Madeline wasn’t big enough to ride it. I was a bit jealous they got to ride it twice. Since we were all melting by this point, we decided to call it a day and headed out of the park and made our way home to relax in the pool.

After a rather epic day at Magic Kingdom, we were so excited to try new rides at Hollywood Studios. We got there right before it opened and originally planned on doing the Slinky Dog ride first but when we got into the park the ride was already showing 85 minutes, so we decided to head over to the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge part of the park and jumped right in line for the Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run. We only waited 25 minutes and there were so many fun things to see while we waited in line. This ride was super fun, and our family got our own pod in the Millennium Falcon where we went on a secret interactive smuggling mission where each person got to play a role in the completion of the mission. Everyone had a blast, even Madeline who got to be in the control seat with me. After the ride we walked through the rest of the Star Wars section and got to see some Storm Troopers, Kylo Ren, and Chewbacca. We headed towards Toy Story land and Madeline, Mike and I jumped in the line for the Slinky Dog ride while Emma, Abby and Peter headed over to ride the Rockin Roller Coaster. Even though the Slinky Dog ride said it was a 90-minute wait we decided we had better ride it at least once, so we waited in line. Lucky for us it only took us 55 minutes to get to the front of the line. Madeline found a cute little friend that was with her family right in front of us and those two girls just chatted the entire time. It was so cute watching them together. The ride was so much fun and so much faster than I thought it would be. Madeline and I headed over to Toy Storia Mania and wouldn’t you know it, that same little friend was in front of us again. Madeline and I had fun on that ride while Mike snuck away to take Peter to his surprise appointment at Savi’s Workshop so he could build his own lightsaber. Peter was so surprised and excited. Mike was happy that he was able to stay and watch Afterwards, all the kids met up with me and Madeline in the Slinky Dog line. Madeline and I bought some Mickey Ice-cream to help us pass the time faster. Even though the wait time was still long, we made it to the front of the line in about the same time as before. We were a little worried because we got on the Disney App to try and get in the virtual line for the Rise of the Resistance ride and didn’t get in. The next time to try was 11:00am and we were cutting it close and thought we might be on the ride when that happened. Luckily, we got off the ride and had a few minutes to spare. By some miracle we made it in the virtual line and got an early afternoon time. We decided it was a good time to stop and eat lunch. We found some shade and some benches and enjoyed our homemade lunch and then the older kids and I headed to ride the Rockin Roller Coaster while Mike took Madeline on Toy Story Mania again. We all met up afterwards and went to the Lightening McQueen show and then stopped to eat popsicles while we watched the parade. Then we rode on Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. That was an unexpectedly exciting ride. We sat in a train so to speak and at different points of the ride each car of the train broke away and moved around to different places. It was so cool. By this point it was rather hot outside and so we were happy to be able to head over to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride. It only took us about 20 minutes to get through the line to the front of the ride. This ride was the coolest and most amazing ride any of us had ever been on. It was a multi part ride of virtual and physical entertainment. At one point we exited out of our aircraft and into a room full of storm troopers. It felt like we were on the set of one of the Star Wars movies. It became clear why this was the most coveted ride at Disney and why it was so hard to get in the virtual line. After the ride was over and our minds were completely blown, we headed over to the Cantina to look at the shops. We bought Madeline the cutest little knit baby Yoda doll. It was so small and soft, and she just loved it. It was kind of the perfect way to end our day at Hollywood Studios.

Everyone was super excited for our Magic Kingdom day. We got out the door much faster than the day before and took the ferry from the parking lot to the entrance. We raced straight to Frontierland to take Madeline on Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. There wasn't any wait at either of those rides. She was a little unsure of Splash Mountain at first but after riding it once she was super excited to do it again. We ended up doing Big Thunder Mountain a few times before the lines got a bit longer. The longer we waited for that ride all day was 15-20 min. Since it was sprinkling outside, we headed to the Carousel before that line got too long and rode on the horses. Madeline picked a horse with red roses and was all smiles the entire time. So glad we only waited 15 min for that one. Since today was really all about Madeline, we did all the rides she wanted to do. We hopped over to Fantasyland and did the Little Mermaid ride. Just when we were getting to the part with Ursula the ride paused, and I thought Madeline would be super scared, but she was ok. Nothing compared to the scariness of the Dinosaur ride the day before. We took Madeline on Dumbo and then Mike and Peter took Madeline on the Barnstormer roller coaster while the big girls and I rode on Space Mountain. We all met up at Tom Sawyers Island after for some running around and to eat our lunch. It was nice and quiet over there and we even got to see the big Liberty Square Riverboat and waved to all the people as they passed us. After we finished up on the Island, we stopped to see the princess parade. Madeline absolutely loved that! Then we headed back over to Splash Mountain again.

The sun finally came out and we were all excited to find some ice-cream. Unfortunately, the ice-cream parlor was closed during COVID, so we headed over to Tomorrowland and stood in line for the Buzz Lightyear ride which wasn't that long and then headed over to the drive the cars. Madeline loved being in control of the steering wheel and I had fun getting jostled around with my little driver. We finally found some awesome ice-cream brownie sundaes and ate them before riding the Winnie the Pooh ride and the teacups. The older kids got into their own cup and spun super-fast. Mike, Madeline and I just sat in the cup and enjoyed a nice less dizzy ride. We spent the rest of our day over at Frontierland riding Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain. Emma sat with Madeline and I and since Madeline was nestled between us, she finally felt comfortable enough to put her hands in the air. She was so cute to watch. On our last time riding Big Thunder Mountain, Mike skipped riding it and headed over to the nearby restaurant and ordered dinner and had all of our food set out for us at a table he had secured. He even got props from another dad. We were so thankful.

As the night was starting to set in, we just kept waiting for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride to get shorter. It hadn't been under one hour the entire day. Finally, we hopped in line when it was only 45 min. It was such a long and annoying line and we realized that some of the reasons why we loved this ride were missing from this ride at Magic Kingdom. At Tokyo Disneyland the ride starts out in an evening on the Louisiana bayou and passes rickety houseboats with glimmering fireflies and soft banjo melodies. The ride in Tokyo Disneyland is also longer, more detailed, and better maintained. It was our last ride of the night, except for the older kids who ran to Space Mountain to ride that one more time. Mike and I took Madeline on the Magic Carpets of Aladdin and then got some churros to snack on. Since it was getting to the point when the park was about to close, the food vendor just gave Mike the churros for free. It was a nice way to end our truly magical day at Magic Kingdom.

We were all a bit tired from our travel day so it was a little harder to get up on time in the morning. I had a terrible night with passing a stone between the hours of 3-5am, so I didn't get up until 7am. Still, I was blessed that I was ok by the time I got up. We made it to Animal Kingdom only 30 minutes after it opened so that wasn't too bad. In our excitement we walked extremely fast to the front gate. On our way, an annoyingly large woman yelled at us to let us know that there was a line, even though we were still in the parking lot where people were just walking to get to the park entrance. We ignored her because there was no line and we weren't even at the front gate yet. It was a reminder that we were indeed in central Florida with a different caliber of people. Yikes. 

We headed straight to the Avatar Flight of Passage ride and ended up waiting for over an hour to get on the ride. Luckily for the older kids, Madeline was too short to ride so we ended up doing the child swap and the big kids got to ride it twice and only had to wait in line once. That was a pretty sweet deal. It was such an amazing ride. We all loved it so much. Madeline and I headed over to Dinoland to ride the Triceratops ride while the others were finishing up at Avatar. We probably rode the Triceratops ride at least 3 times since the line was so short. Then we all headed over to the Everest ride. The line didn't take that long and we did the child swap again so the big kids got to ride on that one twice as well. It was similar to Big Thunder Mountain but a little different, a little faster, and some cool features like riding backwards which was so awesome. We loved it! Then it was off to the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. Madeline loved seeing all of the animals and was quick to point out her favorites which were the giraffes and flamingos. After an exciting morning, we headed to a relaxation station and ate our lunch before watching the bird show. It was mostly entertaining but after it was over the kids shot out of there so fast because they wanted to ride Everest again. We all met up at the Dinosaur ride after and although the cool dinosaur fossil inside the building was cool to see while waiting in line, the ride was absolutely the worst. It was way too scary for Madeline and not really that interesting at all. Poor little Madeline shed a few tears. It was just dark and scary the entire time. So, we took her on the triceratops ride again to help her feel better. We didn't stay all day at the park but instead left before dinnertime and headed back to the house. The girls and I ordered dinner from the restaurant at the resort and the boys headed back out to try some rides at Magic Kingdom during the less crowded evening hours. It was a win win for everyone!

​Bathtime has to be one of Madeline’s favorite things in the world. She has discovered how much fun bath bombs are and asks for a new one every time she takes a bath. She loves watching the color of the water change as the bath bomb dissolves. Bubbles are also a must and lately the goggles have found their way into the bath. She could sit in that bath for hours and be so happy. 

We never quite know what kind of weather we are going to get in March. One thing is for sure, there is bound to be a snowstorm or two. This year we got a massive snowstorm like the one we got two years ago. There was so much snow that the snowplow was essential to move all the snow off the driveway and sidewalks. The kids had so much fun playing in the backyard and since there was a couple of feet of snow Peter had fun throwing the kids in the snow. Madeline especially loved being thrown in the big blanket of snow, building a snowman with Peter, and throwing snowballs behind their snow fort. We loved watching Mike wrestle with Peter and win, of course. Peter put up a good fight though. ​There was lots of laughter and silliness which made it easier to stay outside and play in the frigid temperatures. 

Peter has been in full swing into his off-season swim training with the PPA swim club. He swam in his first swim meet since his swim season before COVID hit. With COVID restrictions still in effect, we weren’t able to watch the meet from inside the building but stood outside and watched through the glass windows. The weather was cold, and it was snowing but we stood outside for each race and then warmed in the car. Peter swam in the 100 butterfly, 100 freestyle, and 500 freestyle. His times were definitely better than a year ago and that made him really happy. He swam the 100 butterfly in his best time ever finishing in 1:04.97. He swam the 100 freestyle in 58.17 and the 500 freestyle in 5:50.96. It was very exciting watching Peter swim again. 
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