I helped Andrew put together his senior memory board. It was filled with senior photos, swim photos and some photos of Andrew skiing.
​

​As the team photographer I had the opportunity to take the team photos. Afterwards I stayed for their practice and took some random photos and videos of the boys during their workout. I was pleasantly surprised to see them mix fun in with hard work. 

​While we were listening to General Conference Mike was rubbing Madeline’s back with the hand massager and she was loving it. I was surprised how long she stayed still so that Mike would keep rubbing her back. She must take after her mom.
 

 
ANDREW ASKS SAM TO PROM
APRIL 10, 2019

​Andrew asked Sam to prom this year and made a fun poster that said, “Take this Blonde Boi to Prom” and gave her a dozen red roses.  Of course, she said yes. 

​It was so cold and misty during my run this morning that my hair was all frosted when I was finished with my run.  

​Abby had fun once again at Anna’s sleepover party with all of her A-team friends.

​Emma went to her first boy/girl party at Maddi Gebski’s house where everyone was encouraged to wear a costume.  Emma dressed up as Sandy from Grease and she looked so awesome.
 

​While I was up at VMAC watching the boys swim, Mike took the girls out to BJ’s to eat dinner and have the most fabulous dessert. The girls are lucky to have such an awesome dad.
 

​Mike has enjoyed having Christian in the Priest quorum and is excited for his upcoming mission.

​It comes as no surprise that I like to nap whenever I can, and Mike takes advantage of every opportunity to take unflattering photos of me sleeping.
 

​Some of my photos from swim season ended up on the PCHS website main page. What was even better was the fact that two of the pictures were of Peter and Andrew. 
 

​We have been doing our Come Follow Me lessons on Sunday before we go to church. We are just happy the kids will gather with us even though sometimes half of them are totally out of it.
 

​Mike bought me the ultimate lens for my birthday this year, I have been eyeing the Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 lens for a few years and was so excited to finally be able to have a great sports lens.

​Andrew’s graduation announcements finally arrived in the mail. I was so happy with the way they turned out!

​Madeline is always entertaining. She found a pair of sunglasses while we were waiting at one of the girl’s doctor’s appointment and wore them around the waiting area. It was pretty hilarious, At home Madeline loves it when she gets iPad time. Lately we have been letting her use the pink headphones to listen to her cartoons. She just looks so cute in her pink headphones.
 

​Every year during the latter half of the swim season the boys get to play water polo with a greased-up watermelon. They call it the watermelon invite. They always have a great time and they also get a good workout. Mike and I had a blast watching our boys battling it out on opposite teams. Most of the boys walked away unscathed, except for a few scratches and a black eye for Peter. Peter got hit in the eye when someone decided to throw the watermelon in his direction. Ouch! Still, he was pretty much all smiles even though he got hit in the face.   

​You never know what the weather will be on Easter Sunday in Colorado. This year we got lucky with blue skies and fairly warm weather for our traditional Easter egg hunt in the backyard.  The kids woke up to fun Easter baskets filled with their favorite Japanese candies, chocolate Cadbury eggs, new journals for the girls, a cute penguin for Madeline, and some gag toys for the boys.  I don’t think you are ever too old to enjoy a basket filled with fun things.  Before church the kids headed to the backyard to collect as many eggs as they could find. The girls were still interested in finding the hard to find eggs while the boys were only interested in finding a golden egg. Each of the kids gets one golden egg to find. Inside is either $5, $10, or $20. Abby found the $20 egg this year and she was beyond excited. Madeline was so happy to find her pastel colored eggs and was pretty protective of them. Easter is such a fun time for kids but also a time to remember our Savior. We are so grateful for the Atonement and the peace that this season brings into our lives.  
 

​Abby participated in the ES musical again and was thrilled when she got a speaking part.  She was cast as Ms. Smythe, the bank chairman’s secretary. Even though she only had one real speaking part she was beyond excited to be a part of the Mary Poppins Jr. musical where she got to sing and act with many of her friends who were also in the play.  It was such a joy to watch her devotion to not only the mandatory rehearsals but also her commitment to practice at home.  All of the kids did such a great job in all of their performances.  I was fortunate enough to watch the daytime performance with Emma and Madeline where I got to take photos again for the parents.  Then Mike and I enjoyed the evening show together.  We are so proud of Abby for putting herself out there to participate in these amazing musicals that her ES puts on every year.

Mike and I both enjoyed Andrew’s Senior Luncheon at the Broadmoor Hotel where they did a capping ceremony before graduation next month. Before the luncheon began, we walked around the lobby and looked at all the different memory boards. Inside the banquet hall we were seated at a table in the front row with some other folks we didn’t know. We enjoyed the slideshow of all the seniors and the tasty lunch before the capping ceremony began. Each student nominated someone to cap them and wrote a small dedication. They were read out loud during the capping. It was so sweet to hear what Andrew wrote about Mike and to celebrate this special time with Andrew. It was nice to see and talk with Andrew’s close friends he has been best buds with all through high school and to spend time with his girlfriend Sam. Andrew enjoyed talking afterwards with two of his favorite teachers at Pine Creek - Mrs. Margrave, who was his awesome music teacher and Frau Lykens, who was the coolest German teacher ever. I can’t believe Andrew’s senior year is quickly coming to a close.
​

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.