Slices of Life - September 2020

MIKE AND MADELINE AT THE NAIL SALON
SEPTEMBER 2, 2020

Mike came with Madeline and I to the nail salon and both of them got their feet done while I got my nails done. It was so cute watching those two look so relaxed in the massage chairs. 

GIRLS PLAYING SYLVANIA FAMILY
SEPTEMBER 6, 2020

The girls set up all the Sylvania Family town for Madeline in the loft and we left it there for a few days so she could play with it. I caught the girls playing with it one afternoon and I just thought how cute it was that they could still dig into their inner child and just have fun. 

HOT AIR BALLOONS
SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

Usually in the fall there is a hot air balloon launch from downtown. This year there must have been one that started up in the northern end of town for Labor Day because when I was finishing up a bike ride, I noticed the balloons in our neighborhood, and it looked like they had just launched. Hot air balloons are just so cool looking!

PETER'S LEGO PIRATE SHIP
SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

Peter has been slowly going through the old Lego sets and putting them back together. It makes me so happy to see that he still loves Legos and is spending time away from his devices.

BACK TO THE THEATRE
SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

Since COVID started there just haven't been any new movies until now. Mike, Peter, Emma, and I went to see the movie Tenet. It was actually pretty good, and it felt nice to be able to be in the theatre, eating popcorn, and watching a new movie on the big screen like normal people.

SPOOKY SMOKEY SUN
SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

All the forest fires in Colorado, Utah, and California have brought such horrible air quality this fall. Tonight, we saw the spookiest sunset with the most brilliant red sun. 

RANDOM SNOWSTORM
SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

Colorado is known for its crazy weather and we usually get snow in October, but this was the first year we got snow in September. We didn't want our plants or flowers to die so we covered up most of them. What a wild place we live in.

VEGETARIAN FAJITAS
SEPTEMBER 13, 2020

Ever since Dionne made us her vegetarian fajitas, Mike has been wanting to make this for dinner. It was a lot of work cutting up the vegetables, but boy did it taste good.

ABBY'S 1ST GROWTH HORMONE SHOT
SEPTEMBER 14, 2020

I was expecting it to take a long time for Abby to give herself her first growth hormone shot but she did it in less than 5 minutes. I couldn't believe it. She was just so brave and did it without any problems. 

SURPRISE GIFT FROM THE TURELLA'S
SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

The Turella's made from scratch an entire game system and sent it for the boys, all loaded with hundreds of old-school games. Peter was so surprised and excited. He actually jumped up and down after he unwrapped it. It was like watching a kid in a candy store!

ONLINE MTC
SEPTEMBER 2 & 19, 2020

We love getting our weekly calls from Andrew while he is doing is online MTC training at Grandpa Al's house in Virginia. It's so fun to be able to video chat with him and hear about his experience. We are so proud of Andrew for being willing to serve a mission.

UPDATED GIRLS BATHROOM
SEPTEMBER 19, 2020

The girl's bathroom needed a major overhaul, so we got a new shower curtain, new rugs and new bath towels. We found some counter organizers and just did our best to make the bathroom look a little cuter for Abby and Madeline. 

ABBY'S SWIM MEET ON YOUTUBE
SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

Abby had her first meet with PPA up in Ft. Collins and since spectators weren't allowed, she got a ride up to the meet with some friends and we all watched her swim from livestream on YouTube. It was so fun for all of us to sit around the iPad watching her swim. She did really well on her freestyle event and came in first for her heat. 

​NEW HOME GYM
SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

​As with other times in my life and especially during COVID I have had to relearn and practice being ok with not being able to control every aspect of my life. The one thing I hold onto is the fact that I can control some things. 
I can control my attitude
I can control my behavior
I can control my health and fitness
I can control my ability to be kind to everyone 
I can control my ability to help others
I’m not always good at doing all of these things but at least I’m trying. We have a poster in our home gym of One Punch Man and on it, it says:
 
HUMAN BEINGS ARE STRONG BECAUSE WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO CHANGE OURSELVES
This is such a good reminder and one I am happy to see every time I leave my house.

MADELINE AND ANDREW
SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

Madeline was so happy to have Andrew home for a few days before he left for his mission in Texas. She just followed him around everywhere he went.

COOL SUNSET
SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

We love sitting under our gazebo with the fireplace going while watching the sunset. We really do have one of the best views of Pikes Peak and a killer view of some pretty amazing sunsets.

MADELINE'S DRAGON
SEPTEMBER 29, 2020

Madeline is getting so creative in her drawings. She drew a dragon for the first time and it had spikes and everything. 

PETER'S LAST APPOINTMENT WITH DR. MANIATIS
SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

After almost 6 years of doing growth hormone shots and coming up to Denver every 3 months to see Dr. Maniatis, Peter finally finished his shots and had his last appointment. It was a shining moment to see how much Peter had grown while being on GH shots and how much Dr. Maniatis helped Peter get to a good height. 

EMMA'S PUZZLE
SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

Emma loves doing puzzles and pulled the candy bar puzzle out so that she could have something fun to work on outside of school and sports. It was cute to see Madeline bring her little puzzles into the dining room so she could work on her puzzles while Emma worked on her big puzzle.