​Peter has been so good with Madeline and takes her to the playground most afternoons. She just loves the time when she can play on the swings and the slides and just be a kid again. Secretly I know that Peter loves it too.

​I took Abby and Madeline to Flying Horse to swim one sunny afternoon. None of the other kids wanted to go so we headed on over to the club for some fun in the sun.

​For two months we have been waiting for the Ethos Power Rack and Bench to come back in stock so that we could start to do some cross-fit from our home. All during the craziest times of COVID all we wanted to do was to be able to do pull ups and box jumps and lift some weights. Our rack system finally arrived, and we were so happy to finally be able to get back into some strength training.

​Andrew is just so good at cooking and baking and we all convinced him to make us the molten chocolate cake again. His second time baking it was just as good as the first time he made it. We were all in heaven.

​We just love our backyard paradise under the gazebo. It has been so nice to be able to have somewhere to sit outside during the day when the sun is out. It is so peaceful out there.

​I love it when Mike gets the itch to try something new for dinner because I am just not that into cooking anything new these days. He found a great chicken marsala recipe online and it did not disappoint. We all loved it.

​Madeline loves to play in the backyard but on this particular afternoon she was super excited to dunk some baskets with Andrew. We lowered the hoop all the way and she dunked basket after basket as Andrew lifted her up to the rim. It was super cute.

​Every time I browse through Mike’s photos on his phone, I come across countless selfies of him and Madeline. I just love how much he adores her.

​Mike did his first Inspire procedures for sleep apnea and they went so well. He was told by the device reps after the procedures that he was the best they had ever seen just starting out. He was quick, efficient, and just downright amazing.

​It is not uncommon for us to get plenty of hailstorms in June. Lucky for us we haven’t had that much hail this month. So, it was no surprise when a big hailstorm finally hit. Usually we get smaller hail but this time we actually witnessed golf ball size hail. It was loud and pretty crazy.

​We have enjoyed the amazing summer sunsets while sitting underneath our gazebo. It’s hard to imagine life without our little backyard paradise.

For part of Abby’s birthday celebration, I took her and Emma to get our nails and toes done at the salon. Abby picked a fun purple color for both her fingernails and toenails. She was in heaven!

With the weather turning a little warmer and the grass turning a little greener, the boys headed out to do some spring cleaning in the front yard. They replanted some bushes that had died and replaced ground cover in different parts of the rocky areas. The boys weren't too thrilled at first, but we made sure to let them know how much we appreciated their help.

​With warmer days but cooler evenings we decided it would be nice to sit outside more often in the evenings if we only had a little help with staying warm. We finally decided to invest in a heater for the front porch and we couldn’t be happier being warm and cozy lounging on the front porch on those cooler nights.

​Mike and Madeline had fun eating strawberry shortcake together outside on the front porch. Mike always made sure to put extra whipping cream on top for Madeline.

I have become addicted to smoothie bowls and get so excited every time I get to eat that for breakfast. My favorite smoothie is a dragon fruit, pineapple and mango mix. Then I sprinkle my homemade granola on top and top it with fresh fruit and unsweetened coconut flakes on top.

​I love seeing my purple tulips come out every springtime. We don’t get a whole lot of color or flowers blooming in Colorado Springs in the spring since we usually have pretty cold temperatures until late May and early June. My tulips remind me that the winter is pretty much over and the warmer days are about to arrive and that makes me super happy.

​With a shortage of hand sanitizer in the stores we were all super excited when Mike’s order of hand sanitizer came in the mail. Three of the bottles were designated for his ENT office but we kept one of the bottles for home to refill our smaller travel sized bottles. Oh, happy day!

Ever since we planted flowers in the front yard, Madeline often sees us out watering the flowers and our Japanese maple tree. She gets so excited when we let her water anything and everything. 

​Emma and I went in to get allergy tested at Mike’s office. It turns out that Emma is only allergic to seasonal things trees and plants, but I am allergic to that and to milk. What a sad day for me to realize that I have to cut milk out of my diet. 

WASHING MACHINE REPAIR 
MAY 16, 2020

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​I normally love our washing machine and dryer. We had some problems the year after we bought them due to a faulty circuit board but that was pretty much fixed. When the washing machine decided to stop working mid cycle and wouldn’t drain, we knew something was wrong. Mike spent time figuring out what was wrong and went and got a new drain pump. It was quite the project to repair the machine by himself, but he did it. 

​After spending a few weeks of planting, mulching, and watering, our front yard finally looks ready for the summer. I love this time of year when everything is alive and green!

​Trying to figure out what kind of masks work best for my kids has been interesting. I ordered a few masks, but they are backordered until June, so we are making the best of it with some homemade masks. I tried a new mask today and I love the way it turned out, but it took way too long to make for me to want to recreate that a bunch of times. 

​It is not uncommon for us to find Peter curled up asleep in the middle of the floor or on the couch at random moments during the day. Today I found him asleep on the front bench and it just made me smile. 

​Andrew is quite the baker. He bought himself a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook at college and has been trying some new recipes since he’s been home. He made a chocolate molten lava cake for all of us and it was out of this world delicious. It was definitely restaurant quality.

​The Stay at Home orders during COVID has definitely left us feeling isolated so we try to get out and go for family walks as often as we can. It has really helped us to get out of the house and feel more normal. 

​There are many things that I love about living in Colorado Springs. The beautiful sunsets we get is definitely one of them. The colors can be pretty remarkable.

​As I have been preparing for Easter, I decided I wanted to be a bit more focused on Christ and so I ordered the Christ-Centered Easter book and an Easter creche to use during our scripture study. I loved the stories focused around people close to Christ in this book and how much more prepared mentally we all were for Easter.

​The question I usually hear every morning from Emma is, “Do we have avocados?” That is primarily because her favorite breakfast is now avocado and egg toast just like me. She has finally learned how to do her own sunny side down eggs and that makes her so very happy.

​Abby and Madeline love to play together. One day Abby put on the same sweatshirt as Madeline so that they could be twiners. They were both so cute and Madeline was so happy to be matching with Abby.

​Andrew loves to bake and so he brought out his cookbook and made Hershey kiss peanut butter cookies. Emma helped him make them and they were out of this world delicious. It’s nice that Andrew knows his way around the kitchen.

​HOMEMADE PIZZA
APRIL 3, 2020

Homemade deep-dish pizza is absolutely the best kind of homemade pizza. I love it when Mike makes it. It’s also the perfect excuse to drink root beer since we don’t really drink soda in our house. ​

​We always look forward to watching General Conference together at home in our basement. This year was especially exciting as we were all looking forward to some hopeful messages from the leaders of our church during the COVID19 pandemic. President Nelson and others totally delivered. 

​After two months of procrastinating, we finally took Emma to the bike store and got her fitted for her first mountain bike. She was so excited to finally be getting the other half of her birthday present just in time for the good weather.

​We made a fire and roasted marshmallows for the first time this year. The kids enjoyed talking and eating yummy smores around the fire.

​One of the things that helped us through the first few weeks of COVID19 was binge watching Stranger Things together. We got through all three seasons rather quickly. There were even a few things we didn’t notice from watching it the first time.

​It’s heartwarming to see the kids take Madeline outside to play with her. Peter took her outside several times to play with her. It was not uncommon for him to spend over an hour playing with her doing chalk and bubbles or jumping on the trampoline. She just loved that.

​It always makes me feel better when I know Mike is wearing super protective gear when he operates, especially because he is in the airway most of the time. I can’t wait until we are past COVID19 so I can stop worrying so much every time he goes to work.

​I had no desire to make face masks since we have access to Mike’s medical face masks. However, I thought it would be fun to make one just for fun. The 5 min face mask took me way too long to make the first time mostly because I had to make my templates. However, I thought it turned out pretty well.

​Mike tried a new recipe and it was oh so yummy. He made a crustless cheese and broccoli quiche and it was outstanding. To top off the fun dinner he also made cake in a jar!

​Mike and the kids really did a great job making my birthday special this year. I got two giant balloons reminding me of how young I am and a yummy ice-cream cake with 42 actual candles. I blew ALL of them out in one breath. That’s right…I’m not old yet. The kids got me the Elton John Diamonds vinyl and a unicorn pinata to beat the crap out of. From Mike I get a new TREK Domane SL6 road bike which I am super excited to get. 

Andrew decided to make cream puffs for the first time. Oh yeah, they turned out perfectly and so incredibly delicious. He really does have a talent in the baking department.

​Mike and I needed some time away from the kids, so we ordered dinner from Ted’s and headed on over to Fox Run Park to eat and relax. It was so nice to have some quiet time together. 

​The one bad thing about the nice weather is how quickly the garage can get disorganized and cluttered. With so many of us using our bikes frequently, the back of the garage was getting out of control. I spent one morning after a bike ride with Emma organizing all the bikes and cleaning up the clutter. It made me so much happier to see a clutter free garage again.

​Madeline loves it when Abby will take her for a ride on the skateboard. 

​Every once in a while, Mike will send me a photo of him in the OR before he is ready to operate. It always reminds me of how grateful I am for the sacrifice he makes in having a super stressful job. It also reminds me of how amazingly talented he is. He is our superhero! 

​Mike tried a new recipe and it was amazing. Pineapple fried rice is definitely going into our cookbook this year.

​Peter can literally fall asleep anywhere. It is not uncommon for him to fall asleep on Sundays on the floor somewhere still dressed in his suit. 

​Chicken wraps seem to be my go-to for lunch these days. What I love most about my chicken wraps is the garden salsa sun chips crumbled on the top. They give it a crunch and a little flavor. I am completely addicted.

​We were all geared up to watch Peter swim at his first swim meet today until we got this on our phones. It was surreal to see that school was actually shutting down temporarily due to COVID19. 

​After dealing with plantar fasciitis and tight calves due to some really crappy shoes, I was on the hunt for some new fantastic shoes. I stumbled upon TOPO athletics and I have fallen in love with their shoe line.

​We all love Facetiming with Andrew while he is at college. Madeline especially loves to see him on my phone. With all the COVID19 stuff and schools shutting down, we are still unsure of Andrew’s plans.

​For St. Patrick’s Day I got the girls cute headbands but for Peter I bought him an awesome sweatband. I wasn’t sure if he would wear it but one morning, he came upstairs sporting his new headband. It was truly awesome.

​Like a boss, Peter helped me to clean the basement in time for Andrew’s arrival. I wasn’t expecting a show when I came downstairs, but he definitely put one on when he started vacuuming. It was quite remarkable.

Now that it is hard to find good bread in the stores, I have succumbed to making bread every 4-5 days. My bread is definitely better than store bought bread and I never hear any complaints from the crew. Everyone loves my warm white wheat bread with butter melted on top!

​One of our projects during spring break was staining the deck. The boys were in charge of helping Mike prep and stain the deck. It was a project that we had been meaning to do for over a year. With the three of them working hard, it didn’t take too long to finish it. During this time, Mike and I also did some spring cleaning in the garage. We went through old shoes and pulled things out to give away and things to sell. It felt good to get some things done. 

​Mike took Andrew and Emma shooting up in Woodland Park and they all had a blast having fun with all the different guns. Emma has gotten pretty good at shooting and had fun with the boys!

​Since we were stuck staying at home for spring break this year, the kids spent a lot of time playing Animal Crossing on the Nintendo Switch. Abby also spent a good deal of time playing Minecraft with her friends. It was fun watching them enjoy their down time away from school.

Mike turned us all on to avocado egg toast and this has become one of our favorite breakfast meals. 

​Mike made Madeline the cutest lunch one day. He cut her sandwich into a flower and then used vegetables as the stem and leaves. It was adorable and she had fun eating it too.

​Now that my nails had grown out and were finally starting to chip, I knew that I needed to try and get the dip polish off of my nails. I got online and researched the best methods and spent an hour trying to get it all off. For the next week my nails were super tender and weak from having that dip polish on regularly for the past year. I was sad to not have nice nails but blessed for the opportunity I had to let my nails heal.

​In anticipation of our upcoming Germany trip, Mike and I realized that we needed new passports since ours expire in May of this year. We decided to pay a little extra to have ours expedited. I was amazed when they showed up less than 3 weeks later. 

​Madeline just loves to play in the snow. It doesn’t matter if it is freezing outside, she is always up for building a snowman. Luckily Abby also loves to play out in the snow. Those two have become quite the pair and I love that Abby is always willing to put on her snow gear to go outside and play with Madeline and build cute little snowmen. 

​Peter and Emma signed up to participate in our Stake’s Best of Youth. Since Emma is now 14 years old this was her first time being able to go and her very first church dance. Both of them had a good time.

There are many ad posters at the hospital at UC Health but there is one that Mike has seen many times. It is of a girl in yoga clothes doing a handstand. When he got on the plane to head to Hawaii, this same girl just so happened to be sitting next to him. He immediately recognized her. When they got to Hawaii, she did a handstand at the airport for him just to be funny. What are the odds that he would meet the girl from the ad he had seen so many times at Memorial hospital?

​This was Madeline’s second time at the dentist, and she did great. She was so excited to get her teeth checked. I sat in the chair with her again this time and she let the dental hygienist and the dentist count all of her teeth and clean her teeth. She was really excited by her new toothbrush and her fun little toy. The kids just love Dr. Patterson.

​Grandma Anne is so fun and always sends the kids something fun for Valentine’s Day. This year she put red and pink M&M’s in a heart shaped cake mold and then took a $5 and folded it into an arrow. She added some other fun candy as well. The kids loved their cute gifts. 

​The girls shower and sink were not draining very well so Mike decided to unclog all the pipes by unscrewing them and trying to get all the junk out. He did that to most of our bathroom sinks.  For the shower we poured liquid plumber down the drain but when we realized that the shower was still backing up, I decided to grab the drain snake to see what was clogging the shower drain. To my disgust, I pulled out a super long hair clog. It almost made me throw up. Grouse. 

​Our cross fit class usually starts with the first half of the class being warm and working through the motions to remember proper form. When it comes to the main set, things move at a really fast pace. We usually do sets in a certain period of time or a certain number of reps or sets and then record our time. It is a common occurrence to keep track of our reps or weights with chalk. There is no way I could remember everything without using chalk. 

​Peter went to swim practice one day straight from his Jazz Festival. Since he was dressed up in his suit his teammates from swim thought it would be funny to do a pretend photoshoot with his swim cap on in the locker room. The funny thing is that it actually looked like a photo from a senior photoshoot. 

​Mike and I learned about smoothie bowls when we were in Hawaii. It took me a few times, but I finally found the perfect combination of fruit in my smoothie and what fruit I liked best on top. I added unsweetened coconut and my homemade granola on the top. It was perfect!

I love running when the sun is rising. Caryn and I ran to Bear Creek Park with the Striders but instead of doing hill repeats on BFNH (Big Freakin Nasty Hill) we decided to do the tempo loop. It was so fun to just do a fun run together and enjoy the sunrise.

​I love how goofy Mike can be with Madeline. It is so much fun to watch her excitement when she plays with her dad.

​Before Andrew headed back to school, I took his mission photo for his paperwork. He spent most of his Christmas break getting all of his appointments taken care of and filling out all of his mission paperwork. 

There is nothing better than starting out the New Year right with a fun run in the neighborhood. Mike and I ventured out to run our 3 mile loop up Royal Pine even though the weather was a bit cold. 

The kids were excited to start out the semester right and so they download a homework app that would help them remember which assignments would be due in their classes. 

After a few months of doing CrossFit with Mike at Cross Fit Continuum, I finally started to see some muscle definition in my arms. I have never been super fit in my arms and so I was really excited to see my hard work finally starting to pay off. 

This was month 2 of healthy eating with our cross fit team. One of my favorite dishes this month was fish tacos. I had that twice at Flying Horse. I tried to be really good about having salads for lunch every day and healthy snacks between bigger meals. For snacks, I tried to stick to a variety of vegetables mixed with my latest craving of grapes, specialty cheeses, and crackers. The key to eating healthy, though, was making sure I got in my 70-80 oz of water each day. That definitely took effort to drink that much water each day.

I have so many good memories of running with Caryn and Dionne this month. From our track workouts with Striders to our longer runs on the weekends, it is always a blast when I get to run with these two girls. They have become some of my best friends and I am super grateful for our friendship and our mutual love of running!

Nothing makes me happier these days than playing some sweet music on our new turntable. I was really excited when my new Billy Joel Greatest Hits vinyl came in the mail. I found an original 1985 vinyl in nearly mint condition. Madeline now knows who Billy Joel is because we play his music so much. 

I took Emma, Abby and Natalie to see the second Jumanji movie. It was actually pretty hilarious and fun. The girls posed in the Jumanji sign before the show started. They are a bunch of goofballs. 

I wouldn't say I am the one who can lift the most during CrossFit but I am fit when it comes to the interval type workouts. It has been fun to watch my improvement in the heavy weights. I maxed out the back squat at 135 lbs and I couldn't have been prouder of myself.

Emma's sweet church leader and her daughter decorated our front door for Emma's birthday. Each heart had sweet thoughts for Emma. It truly brightened up Emma's day!

Abby cut quite a bit of her hair off during her appointment and she was all smiles when she looked in the mirror. Her hair looked absolutely perfect on her. 

We took Emma to Biaggi's for her birthday dinner. While we were there, we gave her some fun gifts and let her open her present from Grandma Anne and Grandpa Franz. We got her a cute silver bracelet and a variety of good makeup and some fun face masks. Our main gift to Emma was a mountain bike that she still needs to pick out. She is super excited to learn how to mountain bike this year. From her grandparents, she got a brand-new jean jacket and a new bracelet. She was beyond excited by all of her gifts. 

​Madeline just loves our Christmas tree and she spends time every day playing with her favorite ornaments. Her favorites are the silver train, the red truck, and the silver key.

​For Young Women in Excellence Emma decided to put together a memory board of her JOXC running season. So many people were impressed with how fast she became this season.

​Before we headed off to Nationals with Emma, her Kokopelli team met at coach Lisa’s house and did a long, steady hill run up High Drive. Then we stayed after for a pancake breakfast.

​Abby earned money from the board for teaching Mike how to do flip turns in the pool.

​Emma had a winter orchestra concert with the HS orchestra and did a great job. Even though she only gets to practice during the last 30 minutes of class, she has learned so much from this experience of being able to be part of the high school orchestra. 

​We watched Makay today and Madeline was so sweet with her. Since Makay is blind we tried to give her things that she might like to touch. It was a very humbling experience to watch Makay.

​It was so nice to have Andrew come home for Christmas break. Everyone was super excited to see him.

​Andrew went with me to take Madeline to her ballet and tap class and he just loved being able to watch her perform.

​Andrew got out 3 wisdom teeth and was quite the funny one as he was coming out of anesthesia. His face was pretty swollen on his right side.

​Madeline loves to sneak into my bed in the mornings before I have the chance to make the bed. She always says, “This is so cozy.”

​After a week of recovery from getting his wisdom teeth out, I took Andrew to the nail salon with me so that I could pamper him, and he could get a manly pedicure. He actually liked it.

​The day after Christmas Dionne and I did a fun run at Garden of the Gods to work off all the calories we ate from the holidays.

​Abby and Madeline are quite the pair. Abby is so sweet with Madeline and loves to do her hair high ponytails. She always knows how to make Madeline so cute. 

​The kids all love it when Sam Spear comes to town to work, he stays with our family. We all had a great time playing games with Sam and cracking jokes with each other.

​Even though the weather is getting colder, I am still running with my friends from Striders. A few of my favorite workouts were the Bear Creek tempo run, a fun run in Garden of the Gods and a long run on the Santa Fe with Dionne and Caryn.

​It is nice to have a surgeon as a husband because he can fix really tiny things. He was able to fix Abby’s glasses with his small screwdriver and his surgery scopes.

​Peter received an All-State Academic award at his cross-country banquet. He was also recognized as one of the athletes who improved his time the most from the beginning of the season to the end. We are so proud of Peter.

After I did a session at the temple I drove back and picked up Madeline at Michelle’s house and then before heading home I drove back to the temple so that Madeline could see the temple and walk around the temple grounds. She loved being able to see the temple. 

​Abby built the tiniest snowman on our front porch while she was out playing in the snow. It was one of the cutest things we have ever seen.

​Madeline is so precious when she is sleeping. She curls up into a ball, wraps her finger around her blanket, and sucks her thumb. There is nothing cuter.

​After the girls got their nails done, they headed to BJ’s for a nice lunch with Mike. They enjoyed eating their pizukis for dessert. 

​After three snowstorms in October and being annoyed with how long it takes to shovel the snow from the sidewalks and driveway, we finally decided to invest in a snowblower.  When it finally snowed again Mike and Peter were all to eager to head out in the snow to try it out. Peter and his friend Grant even went out and earned money clearing our neighbors’ sidewalks and driveways.

​With the crazy snowstorm that we had the roads were terrible as we headed up to the airport in Denver to pick up Andrew. It took us almost 2 hours to get to the airport. We were just glad that Andrew’s plane was delayed so he wasn’t sitting at the airport waiting for us. The older kids waited up and were excited when we finally arrived at home with Andrew.

​The cold doesn’t stop us from running. Emma joined me on a cold run up through the new part of Cordera. It was pretty windy, but we still had fun running together.

​Andrew loves Japanese food about as much as I love it. We spent lunch together eating Ramen at Menya. The ramen is about as close to the real deal as you can get in the US.

​I sometimes have to shake my head when everyone is on their devices at the same time. The kids were completely mesmerized but whatever it was they were watching on their phones. 

It was fun to watch Emma sing with the Silver Tones at the choir concert tonight. Emma enjoys singing but hasn't loved the teacher that is in charge of Silver Tones this year. She really misses playing her saxophone so we will probably try and switch her to band next semester. 

I love running with Dionne and Caryn and the rest of our Striders friends. Today we did short hill repeats at Red Rocks. The weather was warm enough that I took my long sleeve shirt off halfway through the workout. 

We love having lunch with Mike every once in a while in the middle of his workday. Since he works so close to home it's easy to meet up for lunch. One of our favorite places to go is Ted's Montana Grill. Madeline just loves being with her daddy.

I can't believe that we already got snow since it is only the beginning of October. The first snowfall is always so much fun.

Peter is our kid that can literally sleep anywhere and can fall asleep easily. It is not uncommon for him to fall asleep on the floor after school. 

Everyone's favorite chair in the house is the big oversized chair next to the fireplace. Emma usually can be found studying or relaxing in this chair.

After spending one summer painting and updating the girls' room, I'm sorry to say the walls remained empty for almost over a year. I had ordered the coolest vinyl lettering for their wall and it sat in their closet for a long time before I finally got my act together to put it up. The vinyl says Be.You.tiful. The girls loved it. 

​This is the time of year that I usually spend a lot of time working on the small book but this year I decided to forgo the small book and just work on the big book. I must admit it has been exhilarating to think about finally finishing a big book.

​Andrew is really good about keeping in touch with us while he is at college. He loves to Facetime me during the day and he always asks how Madeline is doing and if he can see her. Sometimes on the rare occasion that he calls when the older kids are home they love to chat with Andrew too.

​Abby had such a great time at High Trials this year. This weeklong field trip is for the 6th graders and they spend the week outdoors learning different things and bonding with their friends.

JAZZ AND ORCHESTRA CONCERT
OCTOBER 21, 2019

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​Emma and Peter both had concerts tonight. It is rare for the Jazz Band Concert to be at the same time as the Orchestra concert. They both did a great job, It was nice to be able to see both of them perform.

​Everyday Madeline picks something new that she wants to play with. It usually involves one of the bins of toys in the basement. Her favorite toys to play with lately have been the geo tracks and trains. She usually needs a little help putting together a fun train track and then we play together.

​Peter came home from the Jazz Concert and wanted to say goodnight to Madeline before she got in bed. She was so excited to see him, and he was equally excited to see her. It just warmed my heart to see them together.

​We got our 2nd snowstorm for the month. It was a lighter snow than the first storm and I couldn’t resist a night picture. Everything just looked so peaceful.

​Since it was a snow day, the girls took advantage of being lazy and cuddled in bed with me.

​The Holley’s stopped by on their drive out east. It was so great to have dinner with them and catch up before they moved away from Colorado. We will miss having them relatively close.

​We just can’t seem to catch a break with all the snow this month.  I think this was the first year it snowed three times in the month of October. By the time this snowstorm rolled around we were all kind of over it.

​Ever since Mike and I had the cheese and charcuterie platter up at Beaver Creek, we have been so excited to try and recreate it at home. Our own creation did not disappoint. 

​Andrew and some of his friends from BYU-I spent Halloween at Fat Cats bowling and playing arcade games together. They all dressed up for the occasion. 

 LABOR DAY AT FLYING HORSE
SEPTEMBER 2, 2019

​We stayed in town for the long weekend, so we headed on over to Flying Horse for Labor Day. The kids had so much fun swimming and eating yummy food by the pool. 

​There was so much to organize and pack for Andrew’s adventure to college. I spent several weeks helping him gather supplies.  We laid everything out in the dining room in all the IKEA bags that I could find and packed his suitcases and ski bag in the piano room. There was definitely more to think about since he would be staying in an apartment and cooking his own food.

​It was time for a pillow upgrade in the family room. Mike never loved the end pillows that I had chosen so I spent some time coming up with something I thought he and I would both like. I’m pretty happy with the way they look.

​I took Abby up to the Air Force Academy dermatology clinic to get her red spot lasered off her face. It has been bugging her for quite some time. She was so nervous and almost decided against it, but we got her to be brave enough to do it.

​Mike and I have enjoyed being able to bike together at Section 16 in Black Forest. Since it is still light so late at night, we have found that a quick evening ride is really fun.

​After we dropped off Andrew to college and Mike left for a conference in New Orleans, I went to Find My Friends and thought it was crazy that we were all over the US. 

​I love running with my Striders friends...especially Dionne and Caryn! This month we have been all over town running in different locations such as the Santa Fe trail downtown, the Shooks Run trail, and the track and Manitou Springs.

​We frequently get to talk with Andrew on Facetime. Sometimes he calls when the other kids are home and they get to see and talk with him. He usually asks to see Madeline first. He even called when the girls were at their cross country meet so that he could tell them good job. Being able to video chat is the greatest thing ever!

Peter jumped in on the Run for Rwanda 5K with his friend Josh to support their cross- country coach who hosts this run every year.  Peter didn't plan on racing it but used it as a hard tempo effort run.  There was a pretty good turn out for this relatively flat 5K through Cottonwood Creek Park.  He ended up running it around 21 min.  

It is not uncommon for us to see Andrew playing games on his new laptop all situated in the dining room.  To my dismay, he plays online games with his friends quite a bit. Having too much free time can sometimes not be a good thing for a new 18 year old.  

As Mike and I were on our way up to Denver to see the Billy Joel concert we got a FaceTime call from our kids who informed us that there was a tornado in the area.  We had passed through some heavy rain on our way through Larkspur, but we didn't think anything of it.  We were so glad my parents were staying with the kids.  It passed quickly but the kids were pretty scared.  

Since Mike and I were already up in Denver from watching the Billy Joel concert the night before, we decided to take advantage of a shorter drive to Ft. Collins so that we could go to the temple since the Denver temple was still closed.  The session was packed.  It was a bit longer than we had anticipated but hopefully we will be blessed for our efforts.  

We were so lucky to have my parents stay with us for a few short days before heading to Greg and Ruby's house in Texas.  My kids always love it when they can spend time with their grandparents. 

These evenings have been so pleasant, and the girls have enjoyed spending time on the porch in the early evening just hanging out or reading their books.  It was so cute watching Emma read to Madeline.  Oh, how I wish these summer nights would not end.

I took Peter and Emma to look for new glasses to use as a backup to their contacts.  Peter had quite a fun time trying on all sorts of crazy glasses.  It was hard to not laugh.  

I took the girls shopping for some new school clothes and we found this adorable sweater shawl for Abby and a cute pink dress for Madeline.  They were both so excited to wear them when they got home.  

Andrew picked out frames totally different than what he has been wearing his whole life and they finally arrived.  He was so surprised at how much better he saw through a really good quality lens.  I must say he looks pretty good in his new glasses.  

Emma spent the summer working through both semesters of 8th grade math through BYU Independent Study so that she could move up to Algebra 1 as an 8th grader.  She relied on Peter a little bit at first to help tutor her but by the time she got to the second semester she did it completely on her own.  She finished the course and passed her final the day before school started.  In only 7 weeks Emma finished an entire year's worth of math.  Way to go girl!

Abby and her friends call themselves the A-team because their names all start with the letter A.  There are 5 of them and they have become the best of friends over the last 2 years. This year they have a new addition, Olivia, who doesn't start with A but nevertheless a great addition to their friend group. On the first day of school they all met up and got popsicles at the snack shack after school.

Madeline just LOVES riding the moped and will usually ask Emma or Abby to take her for a ride.  Now that the girls are back in school, I am the one she asks.  It's a good thing I also love riding the moped because it's so easy to say yes to her.  We always have a great time.  

Peter has been working hard this summer to get the rest of his 50 hrs of driving completed so that he can get his driver's license.  He only has 8 hrs left and we are just starting school.  It's so much work to go out driving with these teenagers but the rewards of having them drive themselves is totally worth it.  

I went out for my first run after taking a solid 4 weeks off of exercise.  It was a great time to let my body heal and recover.  It was a super slow and short run, but I was proud of myself for the effort. 

Andrew Instagram's about Peter
August 22, 2019
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Sometimes brothers don't always get along but every once in a while, one of them will do something pretty great for the other.  Andrew instagramed about Peter and how fast he is becoming in his running.  It was pretty great.

Andrew spent 2 weeks in Phoenix as an intern for Kelvin who works for a biomedical engineering company.  He spent the first week moving some of their new biomedical equipment specs onto a new software program.  It was supposed to take him the entire two weeks, but it only took him 4-5 days.  He spent the rest of the time helping them get ready for an upcoming project.  He had a great time spending time learning the biomedical world, eating at In-n-Out, and hanging out with Kelvin and his family.  

​The weeds grow way too fast in the summer and so we encourage the kids to help out by pulling weeds. Peter helped do some of the weeds in the front yard. Madeline liked sitting next to him on the grass. When he needed a break, he would swing her around and around. She just loved that.

Even though our XTERRA race is over, Dionne and I still love riding our mountain bikes together. We live in such a great place for some awesome mountain biking.

​After summer swim practice one day Peter stayed after to help Ramon coach a private lesson. Peter loves to be helpful and it was fun to watch him in a leader role.

​ABBY SWIMMING
JULY 2, 2019

Abby spent most of the summer swimming with the Rapids. She loved being able to swim outside and to spend time working out. ​

​Emma spent most of her summer studying math while she worked hard to complete both semesters of 8th grade math so that she could advance to Algebra 1. She did the first semester in 3 weeks and passed her exam. She was so excited.

​We all spent many nights watching the Stranger Things Season 3 episodes. It was so fun to watch them together and predict the possible season finale ideas. 

​We took Mike to Flying Horse to eat dinner on his birthday. I found the most perfect Stranger Things birthday card. He thought that was hilarious. He got President Nelson’s book from my parents and I made a card for him with a fun hiking and biking adventure that I booked for us for the fall. He was so surprised and excited. It is hard to keep things secret from him but I think I actually surprised him this year.

​Since Peter still needed to get in his hours for driving, he spent some of our drive to Utah getting some driving in. It was hugely helpful for me to have another driver for some of the 9-hour drive.

While the kids and I were in Utah, Mike and Andrew went out one beautiful evening to go shooting. They had such a blast.

​Dionne and I decided to join the Wednesday bike group. Some of our running friends from Striders bike on Wednesdays. They were really skilled and fast. It was all I could do to keep up with the tail end of the pack. Tim stayed behind and I ended up joining him and Dionne at the top of the chutes. On our way up high drive we saw Katie hiking with her dog. It was a fun reunion.

​My parents were really sweet to send a fruit basket to me after my surgery. It totally brightened my day.

​Andrew’s new monitor finally came to complete his college computer set-up. He was so incredibly excited by his new laptop, monitor and fun keyboard. He is one lucky kid.  What a fun birthday present that was.

​Abby was so nervous to get her 11-year-old shots. She almost didn’t go through with it, but we somehow were able to calm her down and she put on a brave face and did it. 

​Mike bought and put together a new chore board for the kids with different things they could do to earn money. The nice thing about this board was the visible cash in each bag with the chore they needed to do to earn said cash. It’s always more tempting when you can actually see the money you could earn.

​Everyone got a chance to ride the moped with Madeline this month. It seems like everyday Madeline asks to ride the moped with anyone that will take her. Since the weather has been so nice, we have all jumped at the chance to go with her. 

​It’s fun to watch the girls play board games with their friends to pass the time during the summer. Usually they are outside jumping on the trampoline but every once in a while, they get hot and come inside to cool off.  It’s nice to see them doing something that doesn’t involve a device!

​Peter and I celebrated after our hard workout at Flying Horse by eating Kneaders French toast. I love it when my kids will work out with me. It’s even better to be able to reward them with something fun afterwards. 

​Mike and I stayed at the Elizabeth hotel the night before my XTERRA race. It was probably one of the coolest and most unique hotels we have ever stayed at. As a boutique hotel, it had lots of deluxe amenities such as an instrument lending library, an in-room record player, local artworks and an energetic live music venue near the bar. It was quite the place to be. I wish we could have stayed there longer.

​I love taking walks with Madeline during the summer. We always stop to look at all the flowers on our street and admire the ones we’ve planted in front of our house.

​Sometimes it is fun to try new recipes. I got this new chicken recipe to try and everyone seemed to like it. 

​Peter and I went with his cross-country team to go and climb the incline. Of course, Peter and Josh practically ran to the top. They finished in @ 27 minutes. I was pushing it to finish in the 32 min range. After we caught our breath up at the top, we ran down the Barr Trail. I kept up with the boys for a bit but soon enough they took off and left me in the dust. Those boys are such fast runners!

​I finally took the time to go through my closet and clean things up a bit. I got rid of some older clothes, organized all of my drawers, refolded all the extra sheets and blankets, and hung up all of my long necklaces. 

​I have been eyeing white jeans for quite some time and I finally found a pair that fit well. I can’t wait to wear these pants all summer long.

​I ran up to Barr Camp with my running friend Emily. This was my first time actually making a solid run effort all the way up. With my XTERRA race under my belt and a week and a half of rest I felt good enough to try it. I was able to keep up with Emily most of the way up. The last mile or so I fell back a little bit, but I could still see her ahead of me. It was a tough run, but I am so glad that I did it. Hopefully next time I do it I will be a little bit stronger.

​One of Madeline’s favorite things to do is watch movies on Abby’s karaoke machine. I decided to pull out one of my baby blankets and let her sit on it while she watched her movie. She loved the red apple blanket. It was so cute.
 
Madeline has also loved playing dress up. One day Peter actually helped her get dressed up in all sorts of fun costumes. She was a knight with a fancy black cape, then she was a ninja. She just loves to play pretend.  
 
Madeline loves to pretend to feed her stuffed animals. She will sit them in her booster seat, buckle them up and pretend to feed them lunch. It is adorable.
 

​As Emma gets older it is becoming apparent that she needs more grown up clothes. Since she is so petite sometimes it is hard to find clothes for her. We found her the cutest pink shirt from Aeropostale when we were looking for clothes for our upcoming family photos. 

​Mike and I took Emma and Peter to the temple to do baptisms. Since Peter was trying to get all of his driving hours in we decided to let him drive us up to the temple. This baptism session was super fun because I got to see Peter baptize Emma. Then he baptized me. It was super fun to spend the afternoon with these two doing God’s work.

PETER’S PLANE PROJECT
MAY 5, 2019​

​This was my third Mother’s Day Luncheon at Challenger MS. During the kids 7th grade year they compile poems that they have written as well as some of their favorite poems and put them in a nice booklet. It used to be called the Mother’s Day Luncheon since it was close to Mother’s Day but for some reason this year it was changed to the Poetry Luncheon. Anyways, I enjoyed spending an hour with Emma having a nice spread of cookies, cakes, fruit and other goodies while each of the parents got to listen to their kids read one of their poems out loud in front of the entire group. 

​We have been thinking about getting Emma a new violin for quite some time but kept waiting until she grew a little bit so that we could buy her a full-size violin. While at the music store we happened to come across a brand-new violin that had been special ordered for someone but became available when they decided not to buy it. After vetting its quality with her violin teacher, we decided that it was the perfect violin for Emma. It was a 7/8 which is actually better for her than a full size anyways. To make things even more fun they had a brand-new navy-blue case with polka dots inside. It was the cutest violin case I had ever seen. 

​Oh, how fun it was to look at the Boys Swim Team yearbook page and to see a giant photo of Andrew smack dab in the middle of the spread doing the butterfly. I was so happy that the photos I had submitted to the yearbook committee ended up in the swim page.

​The weather has finally been good enough to go outside and ride my mountain bike on the Black Forest Section 16 trail close to my house. It’s the one place I can go bike alone and not feel nervous about being by myself. Since I only have one month before my race I need to get in as many of these days as I can.
 

​Peter found some little girls’ pink sunglasses and was found sporting them at the end the CSML Finals swim meet.  Sometimes he is such a goof ball. 

​Andrew came home from his last day of school with signatures on his body instead of his yearbook. I guess that is the way some of the kids are doing it these days. It was kind of funny, so I just had to take a photo before he washed it all away.

​I love watching Madeline’s curiosity. Today as we were leaving the elementary school after watching Abby’s A-team trees get planted, Madeline found a few small rocks and had such a good time just playing on the sidewalk with them. I love how she finds the wonder in the smallest of things. 

​Mrs. Margrave had a special presentation at the music banquet for all the Seniors. Someone had a cake made with all the Senior’s names on it. So fun.

​It was nice hearing what the coaches said about the boys at the end of their season during the swim banquet. One of the things I loved most about this season was the comradery between the boys and how much they truly cared about each other. 

​For one of Peter’s classes, he was required to make waffles and bring them to class. He was supposed to document the different steps. It was so nice to see someone else in the family making waffles. I might just have to delegate him as the waffle maker from now on.

​Mike took Madeline and Abby to the flower nursery to pick out flowers and plants for the front of the house. The girls had a great time helping him pick out the right flowers and spin and relax in the outdoor tent.

​Madeline loved pushing her own little shopping cart at ACE hardware store with Mike. I think they spent a little more time at the store than they needed just because she was having so much fun pushing her cart.

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

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. 

Ever since Emma got her cute little moped for Christmas all the girls have had so much fun taking turns going scootering around the neighborhood.  It didn't matter that there was still snow on the grass or that the weather was a bit chilly.  The girls are always all smiles when they get to ride the moped.  Madeline has had so much fun riding with the big girls.  She does a great job at standing on the foot rest and holding onto the handlebars.  It is pure joy to watch these girls have fun outside in the winter. ​

I love it when Madeline wears her sunglasses around the house.  She loves to play dress-up and will usually grab the glasses and purse first.  It doesn't even matter if it is sunny in the house.  She just loves those pink and silver sunglasses.

I love how goofy Andrew is and every once in a while I get a glimpse of that in real life.  Today he sent me a picture of him from school. He is confident and not afraid to just be silly.  That is how he has always been.  I love this kid!

February brings about all kinds of crazy weather.  Sometimes we get random warm 70-degree days and sometimes we get extremely cold days.  Today was one of those rare days where the temperature actually fell to -2F with a real feel of -17F.  

Andrew came home with the coolest shirt from German NHS.  Of all the shirts he has collected in high school, this might be one of my favorites.  

For Valentines this year Mike made a pancake breakfast for all of us and had chocolates and flowers for not only me but for Abby and Emma as well.  He got Madeline a little koala bear.  Each of the kids got a fun card in the mail from Grandma Anne with a five-dollar bill folded into the shape of a heart.  They all thought that was the coolest.

Both of the boys decided to join their Rapids swim club and head to Phoenix, AZ for a swim meet at lower elevation.  They had a great time even though the temps outside were a bit colder than expected.  Since the pool was outside they had to work hard to stay warm in between events.  Nevertheless, it was a great experience for both of the boys.

I volunteered to put together a website for the high school swim team this year.  I was really happy with the way it turned out and hope that it will be helpful to the coaches, swimmers, and parents.

I love the view of the mountains from our living room window.  This morning the sunrise was gorgeous and you could still see the moon in the sky.  

It was a cold and snowy month, but I still had such a blast running with my Striders friends - Caryn, Dionne and Harley.  I couldn't ask for better friends and running mates. 

Madeline is such a busy bee and so entertaining.  She always keeps me on my toes.  One of her favorite things to do with me is make and eat chocolate chip cookies.  I caught her trying to sneak more cookies from the pan one day we made them. She is pretty clever and sneaky.  She also loves to pretend to type on her own keyboard.  She says she is working.  

Today was such a momentous moment when I turned in Peter's Eagle binder to the scout office with my friend Emily who was turning in her son's binder.  Hallelujah....we are officially done with scouts!!!

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.