​It was Dr. Seuss week and Madeline dressed up as Lucy Lou and she was adorable in her cute dress and crazy hairdo. | I have been working on the kid’s school albums and have loved seeing their old artwork and writings. It is a lot of work to scan everything into the computer, but it will worth it. | Mike was having a rough day in the clinic and so his support staff went out and bought him chips and lots of different salsas. | We have been trying really hard to have fruits and vegetables prepped for the kids every week. It’s amazing how quickly it gets eaten up. | After rummaging through old school memorabilia, Mike found my old Walkman and after trying to get it to work, he decided to get online and order a new one. The girls were in heaven listening to our old mix tapes. | One of our favorite places to eat is Cowboy Star. Mike loves getting the scallops when we are there. My go to is definitely the filet mignon. | While Andrew was visiting during his spring break we headed up to the Denver LDS temple to do a session. It was really nice to be in the temple with Andrew. | Emma went to the Sadie’s dance with her friend Rya. The theme was the 70s. The girls and I had loads of fun picking out their outfits. | When we get those random warm days, the first thing Madeline asks is if she can go to the pool at Flying Horse. Mike is always happy to take her and go sit in the hot tub. | Abby spent a lot of time on her project about women’s rights and I loved how she displayed everything on her board. She really is quite the crafty one. | Abby went to see "In the Heights" for one of her classes and really loved it!

​We love watching Peter’s air tag on his mission to see where he is. It was especially fun on this particular day when we realized that he was being transferred up north to the island of Samar. | Abby is such an amazing big sister to Madeline. After being gone at Emma’s track meet, I came home to a tea party that Abby put on for Madeline. Even Abby dressed up which was so sweet! | For the 100th day of school Madeline wanted to dress up as a 100-year-old. I pulled out the wig, glasses and pearls and we put together something so hilarious. She was so excited to show her friends at school. | Madeline had fun assembling her milkshake valentine cards this year. It was quite a bit of work to punch everything out, but she had a blast creating fun paper milkshakes for her classmates and attaching a cute curly straw to each one. | Mike out did himself for Valentine’s Day this year. I came back from my early morning run to flower petals and chocolates on my bed with a dinner invitation. He did the same for all of the girls. He took charge of serving us dinner in the dining room and made us all feel so special. It’s a Valentine’s Day we will all remember! | Stephens hot chocolate has been out of stock forever at our store and so when I saw it had finally come back in stock, I grabbed 3 cans. There really is no other hot chocolate that tastes quite as good. | It was so fun to be back in the temple again and even better to share that time with Michelle. | Emma and Abby went to an 80s dance at the high school. I let Emma borrow my letter jacket and Abby quickly came up with the most perfect outfit, big earrings, and all. The girls looked cute and had a blast. | Emma and I went prom dress shopping and had so much fun at Something New. The dresses in this store are definitely on the pricey side, but we managed to find one that was manageable. It was the most perfect dress for her figure, so we went halfsies on the dress. It was a win win for everyone! | Emma was asked to Mormon prom by her good friend Collin Bass. He was so cute when he came over to ask her. They have been good friends all school year so I knew that they would have a good time. | Madeline wasn’t feeling well so she just laid on the kitchen chairs while I cooked dinner. | Mike and I were able to go to the temple together this month. This was his first time seeing the new Endowment session. Afterwards we headed over to The White Chocolate Grill to eat dinner. We shared the veggie burger which is amazing and had fun chatting without the kids around. | Peter’s missionary plaque was finally finished and put up on the missionary wall at church. I just love the way it turned out. | I usually shy away from dinners that involve lots of cheese since Emma and I don’t tolerate it very well, but I was able to modify the shells recipe to include one batch with lactaid cottage cheese. The other batch included ricotta cheese and parmesan for the top. This has now become a family favorite again. | For Dr. Seuss week Madeline was so excited to dress up like Cindy Lou. We found something in her closet that worked, and I did a crazy hairstyle that involved a small cup and lots of hairspray. I thought it turned out super cute. 

​The snow is never ending here and just when I think I’ve had enough I look out the window and witness the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets over a white covered land. It may not be ideal to always have snow but sometimes it is a beautiful reminder that even in winter things can be magnificent. | This year we have to use our own bags at the grocery store or pay 10c for the store plastic bags. I decided to just buy 5 of my own reusable bags and was pleasantly surprised when all of my groceries fit in all five without any problems. | I’m always amazed by Abby’s beauty. She asked me to take her photo one morning for her audition paperwork for the HS musical. | Madeline always likes to be the first one on the bus in the mornings. She and her friend Easton are usually the first ones to line up for the bus. | It’s been a while since I’ve made ricotta filled shells for dinner. I used dairy free cottage cheese for Emma’s shells and ricotta for the rest and they turned out really well. | Madeline and Easton loved eating the Mickey Mouse ice-creams that I got for them during one of their Friday playdates. | Madeline has been doing so well on her recent spelling tests. Some of the words they have to spell are pretty difficult for a first grader. | Madeline has become quite the good reader. She found her Humphrey book that we started last year and tried reading some of the sentences all by herself during dinner one night. | With all the exercising I have been doing I have found that doing compression with the Normatec has really helped me with my recovery. | Madeline got new pink snow boots and was so excited to wear them to school for the first time. | After a weekend of not feeling well, Madeline stayed home from school and watched TV all day in my bed. When I told her she should take a nap, she wasn’t too happy about it. I told her I was going to take a nap on the couch, so she got her blanket and before long she was fast asleep. | For our super combined youth activity, we went to the Planetarium at the AFA. We all had such a good time. I love our Class 2 girls. They are so fun and hilarious! | Mike and I made ratatouille for dinner, and it turned out so well. All of the girls loved it including Madeline. | Abby was cast in the high school musical Bye Bye Birdie as Randolph, and she is beyond excited for this new venture. She loves theater and her theatre friends.

It was so much fun to have the boys home for a week during their spring break. It was a little chaotic at the house since we were right in the middle of our home renovations, but we did our best to have fun around the chaos. The boys played Smash Bros in the basement, took care of necessary appointments, helped Emma with her German cooking project, were thrilled when mom treated everyone to Chick-fil-A, went to Scheels to ride the Ferris wheel and play the dinosaur game with Madeline, and spent time playing with Madeline at the park. It was a super chill week and a good time for the boys to reset before heading back to finish out their semester. 

It's rare when Madeline comes into my room because she isn't feeling well. I decided it would be best to just bring her mattress and lay it on the floor next to my bed for the night. Poor little thing sure didn't feel well for a few days. 

I love it when Mike is in charge of lunch on Sundays. He usually comes up with the yummiest and healthiest lunches. I especially love it when he makes grilled tuna steaks and pairs that with a yummy salad. 

In the middle of our home renovations, the minivan got boxed into the garage and for some reason we couldn't find the Rav4 keys to move the car and back out the minivan. So, Mike used his superpowers and did some amazing backwards angling and was able to get the minivan out. The tire marks on the driveway show how angered he had to be to get the car out without hitting the Rav4. Mike is amazing!!!

Ever since our house has been flipped upside down, certain things have fallen through the cracks. One of them was this All About Me poster that Madeline and I were supposed to work on together over 2 weeks. Well, it got hidden under a pile of office stuff stashed in the basement while the office flooring was being done. When I did find it we had only 2 days to finish it. It was a lot of work to help her since I wanted her to do all the writing. She did an amazing job!!!

I love this student led conference that Madeline's teacher put together. Madeline and I went through different stations where we either worked on something together or she showed me what she had made or written. I especially like her little writing book. She even got to see one of her good friends, Max, while we were there. 

I often hear parents talk about how they don't travel with their kids because it is just too hard. I have to admit that when we first started traveling with our kids it was hard. But, the more we did it, the better we became and now we have it pretty much nailed down. Madeline is the best little traveler. She is such a sweetie and pretty good when it comes to traveling. So grateful to be taking her to Hawaii for the first time. 

I try and follow and very specific diet when it comes to what I eat for lunch. I almost always choose a salad and have finally figured out what I like best. My go to salad usually involves a mix of greens (usually romaine), goat cheese, mix of pecan and craisins, either rotisserie chicken or pan seared tofu, poppyseed champagne vinaigrette dressing, Mexicali dip and a few mini naans. For me, this is the perfect lunch!

Emma has been working through some knee pain at the beginning of her track season. She has spent a lot of time at PT, cross-training on the bike, and working on her form and strengthening her hips and glutes. 

Madeline has been swimming with Ms. Carolyn for the past 2 years. She has improved so much since swimming with her. Today was her last day with Carolyn and although we were both sad that she would not be teaching Madeline anymore, we were glad that Madeline finally got to a good point in her lessons. I will always remember how patient and loving Carolyn was with Madeline. 

Grandma Anne always sends the sweetest birthday cards to the kids during their birthday. She usually includes cash according to how old they are. It is really the cutest!

I have been working hard to catch up on my 2020 family album.  It feels good to be able to spend so much time doing what I love.

This is the month of endless snow. It's only February and I am already over all of the snow. 

Madeline loves to get her nails painted and always begs to come with me when I need to get my nails done. It was fun having her join me today for some nail pampering fun!

Mike took the older girls up to Denver to do some shopping. The girls loved going into all the stores they loved, trying on different outfits for their super fun dad.

I loved watching Mike FaceTime with Adam who is stationed in Japan right now. They were so much fun to listen to. 

Dionne brought me over some beautiful flowers to cheer me up while I was sick. It totally made my day!

Whether it's putting on dress-ups or dressing up in a cute outfit, Madeline is always the life of the party. 

I was finally able to get in and have a CT scan done to see if I had anymore stones that were causing me trouble. Luckily, they didn't see any stones but, it did show that I had recently passed a stone. 

We told Madeline that when she finished all the books in her first Bob Book set that she would get a surprise. She decided that she wanted her first magna tile set, and it did not disappoint. 

It's been a labor of love and money trying to organize and update all of the school albums in the office. I found an entire bin full of the older kids artwork from various years and went to work taking photos and scanning them all into my computer. Then I updated everyone's school albums to be more uniform and colors they wouldn't mind having in their homes someday. I have 5 albums for each child (1 baby and 4 school years), but I am finding that I may have to order one more for each of the kids. We will see!

One of Madeline's favorite places to go is Scheels! She loves the real life-sized stuffed animals and the dinosaur video game. She asks to go to Scheels almost every weekend.

It was an unusually warm Sunday afternoon and so we headed to the park so Madeline could play on the playground. It was a great chance for all of us to get outside.

Madeline loves to help Mike make pancakes. She got a little too excited when mixing up the batter and the flour sprayed all over her face.

Abby had a blast shopping with her friends at the mall and at the Promenade shops. 

I gifted Emma a teeth whitening session and she was able to get through 3 rounds before it got too sensitive! 

We have had several problems over the years with our garage door system. We had a complete overhaul of the system replaced a few years ago but Mike noticed that they didn't install it very well and it was rubbing incorrectly so he figured out how to fix it without having to pay someone to come by and do a crappy job fixing it. Mike is so handy!

It was a sad day today as the news of the war in Ukraine broke out. 

Emma went on her first official date with one of her good guy friends Ryan. Black. They went to see a movie and had a great time hanging out together.

Peter went skiing with some of his buddies from college. Julian drove them all to Alta to ski. They all had a great time on the mountain.

Mike and Emma spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon walking around the Painted Mines. 

​Emma had 2 winter concerts two days in a row. The first concert was her orchestra concert. They all sounded so good. It was fun to watch her perform. The next day she played in the Jazz Band concert where she soloed several times throughout the concert. I was blown away by her talent on the saxophone. 

​We survived the most powerful windstorm to ever come through Colorado Springs in the 8 years we have lived here. It was so powerful and lasted most of the day. By the end of the storm both of our fences were damaged. One side actually fell over. 

​We gifted Abby a couple of private swim lessons with one of the upper-level coaches to help her with her form. She loved it!

​I spent the beginning of this month getting the lasts of my long runs done in preparation for my race. One day I ran from Cordera all the way to my PT apt which ended up being 13 miles. I started out at a faster pace and realized I had to keep that pace to get to my apt on time.

​As Madeline and I were walking home from the bus stop one day we had to stop and play in the yellow leaves.

​Emma was struggling with some of her math concepts, so Andrew spent some time helping her out via Zoom.

​Madeline has been doing well at her swim lessons with Ms. Caroline. She can now swim a few strokes on her own before reaching her instructor.

​Mike and I stayed up in Denver and spent the night shopping, eating good food, and laughing at the Jim Gaffigan live show. The next morning, we basked in the unseasonably warm sun and lounged at the pool at the Four Seasons hotel.

​A few days before my race I weighed myself after an awesome run and was shocked to see that I was 107.9. It has been almost 16 years since I have seen that number.

​Emma rode the peloton for the first time during one of her cross-training days.

​It is not often that I find Mike taking a nap but the day after our race really did him in.

​Sometimes we have the most beautiful sunsets and the view from the back of our house is just amazing.

​​My parents sent me a super cool triathlon ornament that they had made by a friend.

Mike had lots of fun visiting Adam in San Diego while he was out there for his ENT academy meeting. They hiked, talked, and ate tons of good food. It's always good to have good friends. 

​We can always count on Madeline to be silly. One day she came in the living room with the American Doll glasses and violin and started playing it. It made me laugh so hard.

​One morning while Mike was doing cross-training in the garage Madeline joined him and used a broom pole as her bench bar. She felt so special.

​Madeline was the cutest little Red Riding Hood at our church’s Halloween party.

Peter has been struggling with a variety of issues with his computer this semester and it finally came to a point that he needed a new laptop. He was at the breaking point of having a really important project due and he was very stressed out. Andrew picked him up at the dorms and they both Uber'd to a nearby Best Buy where Andrew helped him pick out what he needed. Then Andrew brought him back to his apartment where he set it all up for him and let him finish his project where it was quiet. It's good to have someone always looking out for you.

Two weeks after school started, Madeline’s kindergarten class was quarantined. We spent 10 days at home doing work on her school iPad, doing educational craft projects, and working on her writing her name. 

​Emma and I finally went to buy her a new bow from J. Mijares violin shop in downtown Colorado Springs. She tried a couple dozen bows before she found the right one.

​Emma and Abby helped me with the fondant for Madeline’s birthday cupcakes.

​Emma got a new pair of running shoes and the print they had in stock was super cute.

​Madeline has been making good progress in our swim lessons. She has mastered scaling the wall, floating on her back, putting her face in the water, and going under the water.

​Abby has been taking guitar at school and I love listening to her practice at home.

​Madeline and I made peanut butter cookies and they turned out so yummy.

​I went to the temple by myself today and it was glorious.

HEALTHY LUNCHES
AUGUST 3, 2021​

​
QUIET SUNDAY PLAYTIME
AUGUST 29, 2021

In the common room on Peter’s floor was a doll with blonde hair that sat on top of the refrigerator. Everyone kept saying how much it looked like him, so he had to have a picture with his “twin.” 
 

I spent a great deal of time this month helping both boys start to pack up for college. Since both boys were busy with full time jobs, I figured they could use the help. After the rest of Peter’s new luggage came, I was able to start packing up their suitcases. I even cleared out and sold most of Peter’s furniture in preparation to have the room painted and set up as a guest bedroom. ​

​The Track and Field banquet happened at the end of this month. It was quite uneventful as Coach Wasson forgot to highlight each of our girls on their season. Needless to say, we were proud of Emma but disappointed we sat there for 2 hours and didn’t hear one personal thing said about Emma or some of her other distance teammates. 

RIGHT AFTER THEY WERE FINISHED and EYES ONE DAY LATER (totally infected) 

​Madeline loves to go outside to ride her bike. She got grandma and grandpa to go with her. They loved watching her ride her new bike.

​Madeline loves swimming lessons with Ms. Carolyn. She is good about balancing skills and getting Madeline comfortable in the water. 

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!

​One of the only things Peter has been asking for all year long has been a Campbell’s Soup sweatshirt. I failed to purchase one earlier in the year and since they are difficult to find online, I was so happy when I stumbled upon one before Christmas. I ordered it knowing that it wouldn’t get there by Christmas Day. Peter’s grandpa was so excited to give it to him for Christmas and when it finally came in the mail Peter was so excited. 

​Madeline got some hand knit animal dolls from Cuddle and Kind for Christmas from her grandparents and from mom and dad. She has been so cute lining them up and playing with them every day. They are some of the cutest little stuffed animals I have ever seen and I’m so glad that she loves them too.

​I know Andrew’s missionary plaque has been up near the Bishops office at church for a little while but since we leave after church rather quickly every week I don’t ever remember to go and check it out. I loved spending time after church looking at his plaque and all of the other awesome kids that are in our ward that are also serving missions right now. It just put a smile on my face to see the wall of missionary plaques.

​Abby is one of Madeline’s best friends and I love it when she dresses Madeline up and plays with her. The girls found the Japanese kimonos and Madeline was so excited to play in it. Abby even did Madeline’s hair. It reminded me when Abby and Emma wore these same kimonos so many years ago. It made me a little homesick for Japan. 

​I have been slowly collecting some of the classic games that we either didn’t have anymore because they had been destroyed by many years of use or didn’t ever have in the first place. After purchasing Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders for Madeline, I found Mastermind for the older kids. It was hilarious watching Mike and Peter battle it out.

​One of my college roommates from my BYU days and a good friend who went through the accounting program with me was in town and came down to Colorado Springs to visit me for the day. Julie and I headed over to the club to eat lunch and chat and then I took her to Garden of the Gods to show her the coolest place in the Springs. We had a blast catching up and talking about our lives. 

I can always count on Peter to shovel the driveway and sidewalks for us when it snows. Unfortunately, our snowplow is on the frits, but Peter honestly doesn’t mind doing it the old-fashioned way with a regular snow shovel. I’m so grateful for him and how he never complains when we ask him to do things to help out the family.

​I have been known to have periods of time where I have random spikes in my blood pressure. It’s been a very long time since I have had problems with my blood pressure but after getting it checked at a recent appointment and seeing that it was rather high, I decided it was time to do regular checks. I was so relieved to see a good reading one day after I exercised. 

​Madeline has been in private swim lessons for a few months now and she has been loving it. I decided to start up my own private technique lessons at the same time she has her lessons. I have already learned so much from my awesome instructor Jan. I hope that with some more training on my technique and form that I will be able to swim more efficiently in the water so I can be more competitive in my future triathlon racing. 

​In Advanced Jazz Ensemble, Peter plays the trumpet. However, the band lost their bass player and so Peter was filling in using the bass feature on the electric piano. Then Mike ordered a bass guitar for Peter so that he could practice. I was amazed at how fast he picked it up. It has been fun to hear Peter and Mike jam out on the guitar together.

​Mike and his work partner had two segments on the local news. The first one was about their practice, Pikes Peak ENT, where they were able to talk about some of their services and to just get their name out there. The second segment was all about the Inspire Sleep Apnea implant that Mike has been implementing into their practice. Mike is currently one of the only ENT physicians in the front range of Colorado who is trained to surgically deal with this awesome implant. The segment was all about one of his patients and how well it has improved this patient’s quality of life. He also had such awesome things to say about Mike as a physician.

​Since we weren’t celebrating Emma’s birthday until the day after her official birthday, we decided we had better do something fun for her birthday dinner. Mike ordered ramen from Menya and brought it home so we could all enjoy an excellent Japanese dinner with Emma. Emma was beyond excited.

​It was so fun to be at church to hear Caden McDowell’s missionary farewell talk. Afterwards, Peter stuck around to talk with the boys. After getting a photo together, Caden’s mom asked Caden who the blonde boy next to Caden was. She had no idea it was Peter since she hadn’t seen Peter since his hair had grown out during COVID. It’s so fun to see Peter bond with friends who are mostly his brother’s age. He has a soft spot in his heart for Caden who he really looks up to. 

The kids love swimming at Flying Horse because it isn't really crowded at all. With all the new restrictions we had a few hours in the afternoon time slot to play and have fun together. 

After over 4 months of not being able to meet with our congregation for church, the girls and I enjoyed being back at our church building for sacrament meeting while the boys were away.

Abby was so excited to go on a bike ride with her brand-new bike. The girls rode 8 miles up into the newer part of Cordera. They both love their new bikes.

With Peter and Emma both taking the growth hormone test a few times I thought it would be prudent to have Abby get tested just to make sure she was producing enough. She was a little nervous about the IV but she did a great job (update...she found out that she is deficient in producing growth hormone so she will be on GH shots for the next few years).

I love how sweet Madeline is with her grandpa. Most of the kids when they were younger always snuggled up to just grandma, but Madeline snuggles with her grandpa and her grandma. It is so cute. 

For our 22nd Anniversary dinner we headed to Prime 25 and had a delicious steak meal. It was nice to go out somewhere fancy to celebrate our special day.

​I bought Peter a funny sweatband earlier this year and he decided one day to wear it and be super goofy. It was hilarious.

After sending Andrew off to start his mission I was a little sad, so Mike took me over to Tesla where I got to test drive the Model Y. It was so much fun. 

​We got a call from Andrew on his first day of online MTC. It was so good to see him and hear his voice. We are so thrilled that he gets to do his online MTC from grandpa’s house in VA.

​I came home from running one morning to find Mike trying to do Madeline’s hair. It was so cute that he was trying. I swept in and gave him a little help and he was so relieved.

​One of the most annoying parts of Colorado summers are the random torrential rainstorms that create intense flooding. On the way home from a canceled cross-country meet I witnessed how badly some parts of the town were affected by the previous down pour.

One of my greatest joys is watching my older kids read and play with Madeline. I loved watching Emma and Madeline read together. 

​The air quality has been so bad this month due to all the fires in CO, UT, and CA. It has made it really hard for Peter and Emma to run well in cross-country.

Madeline loves to play pretend and had so much fun doing Peter’s hair. He was a good sport and played along with her. She was beyond happy to make him look pretty.

​I took care of the grilling for our dinner kabobs and I was amazed at how well they turned out. The kids were super impressed that I could grill as good as Mike.

​With all the fires that we have been having in and around Colorado, we do get some pretty awesome looking sunsets.

Abby tried out for PPA swim club after being unhappy with swimming with Rapids. She was so excited to be placed in Group 3 with some of her other friends. 

I hate picking weeds and all summer I stayed on top of it so it wouldn't get that bad. I took a 2-week break from weeding and then I spent over 3 hours picking some of the most stubborn weeds. It was pretty awful. 

​Abby is such a good sister to Madeline. Madeline frequently goes into Abby’s room to find little treasures and although Abby doesn’t like Madeline going through her stuff, she still manages to be kind to her.

After Abby failed her growth hormone test, the next step was getting an MRI done to make sure her pituitary was working correctly.  She was a bit nervous, but the techs were so good about making her feel calm and safe.

On our walk we saw a double rainbow in the sky. It was only brief that we saw the double rainbow. By the time we made it halfway down the block, the second one had disappeared.

​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!