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!

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

​

​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. 

Andrew has been having a great second semester at BYU-Idaho and has made some great friends through the swim team. Some of them headed out to Grand Targhee to go skiing. 

​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.