​Emma and I went back to the same dress store to find another prom dress for this year. She saw one online but when we went to the store they didn’t have the dress. After rummaging through all the dresses in her size I found the perfect dress. It turns out it was the same dress she had seen online but in a different color. | Madeline had fun taking care of Emma’s Sam Wise Potato project. | Emma and I visited CSU to tour the campus and the cross-country team. | It’s always amazing to me how some holiday cards arrive at the end of January. Those barely made the wall before I took them all down. | Madeline had fun at her first Activity Day girls’ activity. | Emma’s room is always a mess and we usually just shut the door. One evening while Emma was out of town Mike decided to help her and clean up her room. | Mike took Madeline to the field by the elementary school to go sledding after a big snowstorm. She had so much fun. | Madeline and I had fun putting together her Valentines box this year. We made a hot air balloon. Then she put together her Valentines for her classmates with a little help from Mike. | Madeline loved getting her Valentine card and $5 from Grandma this year. This year she could read the card and after she said, “That was so sweet.” | I finally caught up with Peter's Mission album. He is going to love it! | Madeline and I went to Scheels one night and played video games and rollerball and had the best time. | Emma voted for the first time. | Madeline did her diorama project on Jellyfish, and I was able to go into the classroom and see her project. | Mike took Madeline and Easton to John Venezia park to play and have fun on the wheel of humanity. | We love talking with Peter on Sunday evenings and love it when Andrew pops on the conversation too. It’s fun to have the family all together for just a little bit every week. | I started working on Emma’s t-shirt quilt and laid out the first draft of the different rows of the quilt.

​Madeline has really loved playing with her new American Girl dolls and loved dressing up her doll in one of the new outfits she got for Christmas. Madeline loves skiing and was excited for her doll to get all ready to go skiing. | Madeline went roller skating for the first time during one of her classmate’s birthday parties. She used the rolling walker to help her and by the end of the party she had really gotten the hang of the skates. | I love shopping and sometimes I just want new clothes for church but sometimes all I need is a refresh by putting together new outfits with the clothes and shoes I already have in my closet. | The lettuce we planted in our home garden finally started sprouting. It made us all extremely excited. | Mike did his 2-week reserve duty in DC again. He enjoyed reviewing medical policy and working out in the amazing military gym. | Mike was able to visit with his dad while out in the DC area. He enjoyed looking through all of his dad’s old military uniforms and looking through old photos on the bookshelves. | One morning Madeline put on my University of Utah sweatshirt and told me how proud the boys would be to see her in that sweatshirt. | Mike took Madeline out for a special day to get pampered. Madeline always loves to get her nails painted. | My new MacBook Pro finally came in the mail. I am so excited for a more powerful computer. | Our lettuce is finally growing, and we are so excited to finally start eating fresh lettuce grown in our home. | Miss Colorado came to the elementary school and visited each of the classrooms. Madeline was so excited when she came to her classroom, and they got a photo with her. | Madeline has loved going to the activity day activities and she especially loved making hot cocoa chocolate bombs. | Madeline wrote Peter the cutest letter to put in his birthday box. She is so excited for him to come home and baptize her. 

Our mini Aerogarden has been growing surprisingly well. We have already used some of the basil and it is amazing how delicious fresh basil is. | This year I decided to update our color scheme for our Christmas decorating. I took all the red pillows to the basement and got some green pillows, a fun new Christmas lumbar pillow, a cream tree skirt, and a new star. I love the way it turned out. | Emma decided to be silly one night and painted her face to look like Darth Maul and put together a red light saber and then went upstairs to scare Abby. It was hilarious. | Our elves have been found doing funny things this year. | Abby and Mike went shopping for a new ski coat for Abby and found the perfect burnt red coat for her. | Madeline has loved learning how to make bracelets for her friends. She made a big 6-sided bracelet as her first one. It took quite a bit of time to make. | Mike found a new recipe and made Italian style margherita pizzas and they were yummy. | Madeline loves to scooter around in the garage when Mike and I are lifting weights. | Emma’s winter orchestra concert was amazing. I loved watching her as she sat on the end of one row almost the entire time. | Madeline and mom had fun eating ice-cream while watching the Goldbergs together. | Abby found one of my retro camera bags my dad had passed down to me and has been using it. Some things never go out of style I guess. | Mike and Madeline headed over to the elementary school hill to go sledding. | Emma got her first college acceptance to CSU in Ft. Collins. | With the season comes the baking of many loaves of poppyseed bread to give away to our friends and neighbors. This year I made 5 batches. | Madeline and I headed over to Bass Pro Shop so that she could meet Santa and tell him what she wanted for Christmas. She was so excited to tell Santa that she wanted the pink American Girl Doll car. | Madeline had fun at her class holiday party. The room moms did such a great job with the rotations and the games. | I went out to a holiday dinner with some girls from my ward. Jen brought everyone fun reindeer headbands to wear. | Madeline loves to go shopping and usually goes with Mike to Costco. | Abby went to Noelle’s sweet 16 pajama party. Most of the girls were cheerleaders but she still had a great time. | Usually, it’s Peter that falls asleep on road trips but this time it was Abby who fell asleep hard core on our way to Vail. | Madeline’s wooden name finally arrived, and it looked so good on her wall. | Madeline finally got her haircut after a year of it growing way too long. We had them cut several inches off. | It was fun to see the boys and extended family on Christmas via FB messenger video. Technology is amazing. | I love when Mike sends me photos of him in the OR before he operates. He is such a bad ass. | Madeline loves all things crafty and artsy. She has been having fun lately painting on her easel. | The Spears came to visit us for the New Year and Mike took them all to Garden of the Gods and to the top of Pikes Peak.

Madeline has been playing cello for over a year now and is still loving it. | With the new fiber optic cable install in the city, we are one of many homes that had damage to our property. They finally came and replaced our cracked driveway. | We enjoyed going to Emma's XC Banquet and hearing all the amazing things that were said about her and the awesome season that she had. | Mike had his first experience with kidney stones, and it was truly awful. Madeline wrote him the sweetest little note as we were leaving for the hospital. | We love talking to Peter on Sundays. It is usually the highlight of my week. | The cabinets for the basement closet finally arrived. | Madeline's new big girl bed arrived, and I had fun putting all of her stuffies in the trundle. | We started putting together the cabinets for the basement and it has been quite the project. | Mike made homemade pasta noodles and sauce and it was out of this world delicious. He even used the basil from our AeroGarden for the sauce. The AeroGarden has been one of the best purchases we have made lately. 

We had the craziest hail storm today and it left a bunch of hail pieces on the top of Emma's car. | Mike and I enjoyed an afternoon together at the Denver LDS temple. | After 7 years of using the Fenix 5S watch for all of my running and getting frustrated that it didn't hold a charge longer than 6 hours, I I finally splurged and got myself the upgraded Fenix 7S. This watch has been such a dream. | We were all saddened to see a war break out in Israel. | Abby played the guitar and sang at the Acoustic Cafe at the high school again this year. As always, she amazed us with her incredible talent. | I loved being able to take photos of Andrew and Alex while he proposed to her. | There was so much that went into packing for our Grand Canyon adventure. After laying everything out I wondered how I would fit it all in my little pack. | We love watching Emma play in the Advanced Orchestra at school. She is so talented. | After going out to dinner to celebrate our success in completing our Grand Canyon R2R2R adventure, Mike surprised me with a customized medal. | Madeline loves art projects but lately she has loved painting. | Mike has mastered how to make a good Ratatouille. It look so pretty in our new Le Creuset dishes. | I love a good fall sunset. We have the best view from the back of our house. | I went out to lunch with Dionne and Caryn to celebrate Caryn's birthday. I just love these friends of mine so much. | Madeline tried on the dirndl that we borrowed for Halloween and was so excited by it. | Mike raked up all the leaves in the backyard and let the girls jump and play in it. They had such a great time! | In preparation for Madeline's big girl bed I rearranged and organized Madeline's bedroom. It's amazing how moving things around and reorganizing can make the room look completely different. | Two days after a beautiful fall day of jumping in the leaves found us in the first snow storm of the season. For some reason we were actually excited by the snow and even played Christmas music to celebrate. | I finally discovered that by making my cookies into a mini version they were not only more delicious but there was more to share with everyone. This has become a hit in our house and I am requested to only make mini cookies from now on!

Madeline got her first real mountain bike a couple of days before her birthday. She was so excited that after we got home she wanted to go for a ride around the dirt loop behind our house. | After getting back from a long family bike ride up in Denver we came home and watched Goonies with the kids and ate curly fries. | I love it when we get a fantastic sunset. | Madeline and Mike crated the coolest train track with the GeoTracks down in the basement. | Madeline always wants to take selfies with me. | We finally found a fantastic PT for Emma and she spent the tail-end of her first session getting her legs dry needled. | Madeline started back up with cello lessons with our good friend, Emma Patterson. | One of Madeline's birthday gifts was a giant ramen squash mallow. It was so cute! | During one of Abby's drives she learned how to pump gas into the car. | Madeline loves going to the playground and her favorite place is probably Black Forest Park. | Abby passed down the panda onesie to Madeline and she wears it almost every day. | I went to pick up my packet for the Ascent and took a photo of the elevation that I would be running to the next day. It was both exciting and daunting. | After the Ascent Mike made me a fantastic lunch of meat, potatoes, carrots, and fruit. It was the perfect recovery meal. | Emma was highlighted on the Pine Creek website for her outstanding performance at the Liberty Bell meet. | I finally got new biking sunglasses from Smith, and they look awesome. | One of Madeline's favorite things to do is go to Scheels and play the car game. She finally came in first place. | One of the best parts of the fall is roasting marshmallows under our gazebo and watching the sunset. | It was so cute watching Madeline during the primary program at church. | Mike makes the best crustless quiche dinner. | I took some headshots of Abby for her upcoming auditions. 

​Madeline and Grandma Anne had loads of fun doing puzzles while Mike and I were in Switzerland. | I had such a bad reaction to whatever stung my toe in Lucerne. It was so red and so swollen that I ended up having to be put on antibiotics. | Mike has loved having his new truck and he loves the self-drive mode. We even tried to see if Andrew would fit in the frunk. | Andrew and I had fun bowling at the Summit while he was visiting. Then we headed to Costco to get him a hot dog. | Madeline loved playing video games with Andrew while he was visiting. | I love pulling up photos on my phone and seeing the cute selfies that Madeline takes of herself. | Abby and Emma went to the high school to paint Emma’s senior year parking spot. It turned out different than what they originally planned to do but it still looked amazing. | Everyone loves my homemade bread and so every week I keep making it. | Madeline jumps at every opportunity to go to Scheels to see the animals and play the car game. She gets so excited when she wins. | I went to Castle Rock to have lunch with Michelle and Karen. It was so nice to be able to catch up. | We are an EV family now. It was comical to see both of our cars side by side and get excited by the fact that neither one of us ever has to go to a gas station again. | I loved being able to go to the temple with Vicki. She has become one of my really good friends. | Madeline has really loved riding bikes in the evening after dinner. We usually head around the block on the sidewalk but one particular evening we rode all the way to the gravel trail. | I love when Mike sends me photos before he heads into the OR. He is such a badass.

​Madeline’s favorite place to eat for lunch is Panera Bread. You would think that she would love the macaroni and cheese like Abby when she was younger. Wrong. She loves the chicken broccoli soup. | Abby was so excited to get her learner’s permit. Luckily the DMV trip to get her permit didn’t take very long thanks to the appointment system they have now. | The older girls were really excited to give Mike a delayed birthday gift of a unicorn shirt and fanny pack just like the Rock wore in the movie Central Intelligence. | Madeline has loved two things of late – sitting with the hot pad and playing the Nintendo Switch. | Mike and I headed up to Buckley Air Force Base to sit in on the change of command ceremony for our neighbor Amanda. | It seems like every day this month is a good day to head to the pool. | Madeline loved snuggling up to all my pillows while I was in the process of washing all of my bedding. | Mike works hard and on one particular day in the OR they had him scheduled so tight it was ridiculous. | Madeline loves to play at any park, but it was a real treat to play at the MVP park after a little run there to watch Emma run with Kokopelli. | Summer evenings sometimes call for a stop at Baskin Robbins for a little ice-cream. | We finally got rid of our broken trampoline and had some guys come over and replace the pea gravel with new sod. It looks so good already. | With the destruction of Emma’s RAV4, we headed to the dealership in hopes to find Emma another car to drive. We walked away with a brand-new electric truck for Mike. The Ford F150 Lightening is probably one of the coolest cars we have driven. It was miles ahead of the Rivian we test drove in functionality and comfort. | Abby had her first few drives this month. We headed to the church parking lot for our first two sessions. | We love talking to Peter on Sundays. You know it’s a chill Sunday when we can actually sit on the couch and talk to him via the computer.

​One of our favorite restaurants in Denver this past year has been the Mercantile in the Old Post Office building. The food is so good and unique, and the restaurant never is all that crowded or loud. It checks all the boxes. | Mike and I loved spending time in Denver during one of their summer music festivals. | Emma joined the Coronado boys and coach Lisa to an away meet in Nebraska to run the 1600m one last time for the season. | Madeline has been fascinated with worms and always seems to find them whenever we go out walking. | It is always such a treat when I get to go eat lunch with my favorite running friends. We celebrated Dionne’s birthday this time. | Madeline always asks to go and get ice-cream at Lulus. She was so excited when we finally made the time to take her there. | It is always such a treat to have Madeline as my little buddy. She went in for her eye appointment today and was all smiles and not nervous at all. | Madeline loves to go anywhere with me, even the grocery store. One of her favorite things is to collect the fruit and put them in the bags. | Abby and Emma had fun playing volleyball and other outdoor games at the Murdocks for the combined youth night. | Madeline and Easton spent the afternoon eating at Wendy’s and then heading to the Space Museum. That museum has become one of Madeline’s favorite places to visit. | It’s a rare occurrence when I am found with my hair in a ponytail. My hair is finally long enough to pull it all back. | Madeline finds joy in all the toys we’ve saved from the older kids. She even loves the cars. She and Emma put together some of the tracks and had fun shooting the cars through the obstacle course. | Every once in a while we get lucky and see a double rainbow. | Abby does such a great job babysitting Madeline when Mike and I go out together. They watched a movie together on my bed with lots and lots of stuffies. | We met up with some friends from our Japan days. It was nice to catch up with the Shupes while they were in town visiting. | Mike has loved playing the new Legend of Zelda game on the switch. Many evenings are spent watching him decompress from his day while playing this game. | Madeline was able to join Easton at Lifetime for some swimming. She loved being able to go somewhere else other than the club that she usually swims at. | Madeline has the longest lashes ever. Sometimes the random photos on my phone that she takes of herself are my favorite. | It’s always a good day when Madeline gets to go to Scheels with Mike and play games and ride the Ferris wheel. | Abby figured out how to do bubble braids on Madeline’s hair. It has now become one of our favorite hairstyles to do on Madeline’s hair. | We got a surprise call from Peter not on his p-day. It turns out he was in the hospital. All was ok and he still was in good spirits. | Many Sunday afternoons are spent at the park with Madeline. Her favorite park lately has been Black Forest Regional Park. | Somehow Madeline snuck her way back to Scheels to play the car game with me. | Mike always gets complemented on his awesome calves. It has become quite the topic of conversation as of late in the OR. | This summer Madeline has become good at going down the waterslide at the club all by herself. It is so fun to watch her try new things. | I love it when the girls can be fun and creative when washing the dishes. They finished up by giving themselves soap beards. | I was able to sneak away one day and head to the temple with my friend Emily. | Abby got home from girls camp on her birthday. Mike picked up a cake and we had fun celebrating with her. | Emma finally made it home safely after almost 3 weeks in Jerusalem.

​Mike had a colleague that went to Japan and brought us back some of our favorite Japanese treats. | Mike finally got the new special edition Legend of Zelda Nintendo Switch. | We went to the elementary school with Madeline on the 1st grade art night to see some of her artwork. She had fun posing with the different canvas paintings. We even saw Mrs. Taylor who had both Emma and Abby in her class for 2nd grade. | We all love tonkatsu night. It is probably one of our favorite meals. | When Andrew and Alex came to visit we ate smores and talked out by the firepit. | Abby had so much fun at McKenzie’s quinsañera. | Madeline got her first pair of Athleta leggings, and she loved them. | We found the Nutella cookies that we loved from our Italy trip. Who would have thought that King Soopers would have them? | We all enjoyed going to Emma’s orchestra concert. She has really become a fabulous violinist. | Abby had a blast at her theatre party! | We all love Sundays because we get to nap. | Mike’s homemade deep-dish pizza is simply the tastiest and we feel lucky when he makes it for us. | Madeline and I had fun playing ice-cream shop one evening before bedtime. We took turns ordering our many scoops of ice-cream. | I got some new road shoes from TOPO, and I have absolutely loved them. They are quick and light, yet still supportive. | Abby has been hanging out with a small group of people at lunchtime in her counselor’s office. It has been really good for her. | Sometimes when church is boring you have to find ways to keep Madeline entertained. This particular Sunday called for putty mustaches. | Mike and I went up to Harrison's senior piano concert. It was fun to see so much talent and to connect with both the Harrison and Watabe families. | Madeline and Mike are always making goofy faces in the phone. | It was fun to hear all the amazing things that the coaches said about Emma’s track season. She had really great support this season by some of the coaches. | We test drove the Rivian and decided it wasn’t that great of a car. They definitely need to spend more time perfecting some of its features. | One of the girl’s favorite stores is Altard State. Abby found a cute shirt there which is amazing because she doesn’t find clothes she loves very often. | Swimming at Flying Horse is one of our favorite family activities during the summer! 

​Madeline loves stealing Mike’s phone and takings dozens of silly selfies with him. | Cooking is not one of my favorite activities, but I do it anyways. Easter Sunday is always a time I don’t mind cooking. | Emma is constantly elevating her legs to promote recovery from her hard workouts. It has become quite comical to see her positioned all over the house. | Madeline loves to have playdates with Easton. She got to spend extra long with Easton doing projects and eating pizza while I was at Emma’s track meet in Denver. | Madeline has taken over the role of puzzle master in the house. She is quite good at puzzles just like her brother Peter was at her age. | Madeline loves to read books at night. Her favorite books lately are the LOVE book her grandma gave her and the Gabby’s Dollhouse sprinkle book she got for Easter. | I was definitely spoiled for my birthday this year. I loved opening up the little bag of treasures and homemade card from Madeline and receiving the one-of-a-kind painting of white peaches by Abby. I was floored when I opened present after present of new camera gear. I got three brand new mirrorless lenses to go with my new mirrorless camera. Wow! | I have enjoyed being in YW with Abby and our many fun activities together. The girls especially liked the movie night where we watched Megamind. | Madeline’s favorite game to play lately is Pop to the Shops. | Mike took advantage of a no work day to hike the Incline. | You know the winter is almost over when we get random warm days where it is actually warm enough to head to the pool at the club. | We treated Emma to getting her makeup and hair done before HS Prom this year. She looked so beautiful. | Abby had fun hanging out with her friends at the ES playground one afternoon. 

​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.