Welcome to our World

We finally made it back to Casa Bonita!  The last time we were here was March of 2019 and my children look so much younger in that photo than this one.  We had a wonderful time enjoying the new and improved Casa Bonita.  Same charm and quirkiness but renovated and clean with way better food.  This is Colorado's version of a year round theme park and the way my family was smiling and laughing definitely reminded me of when we were at Disneyland last summer.  The best part was spending hours of fun together as a family amid our usually busy spring schedules. As the dog can show, we had plenty of time at home over spring break too.  We made spring themed GF/DF sugar cookies, Hubby helped Natalie repaint her dresser as an early birthday present, and we watched so many movies and tv shows.  Well, Kate was hanging out with friends a ton and Danny quite a bit too, but the rest of us had a double header of Top Gun & Top Gun Maverick , lots of episodes of ...

The season of Easter officially begins on Ash Wednesday but for me it's Mardi Gras.  Universal Orlando would be my favorite place to be on that Tuesday but making a King Cake at home and celebrating Hubby's annual bonus at Texas Roadhouse on their Mardi Gras night was pretty fun too.  As a bonus, Michelle didn't know Natalie and I were planning on making a King Cake that day so she made a delicious chocolate cake with raspberry filing so we all had plenty of cake to eat the whole week. I was all dressed up for Michelle's pre-festival concert at her high school when I received the following text: The reasons I think it is not worth your time to come to this concert: 1. I don’t care about it 2. I am only playing in a fraction of it 3. It will be bad  4. I have a LYS concert in a little over a week I actually put effort into  5. You have better stuff to do When I told her I wanted to come anyway, she responded, "Please I can not stand you having to lie to my face...

The last week of basketball's regular season Danny had six games to go to on three different days. First up was actually playing against some of his former Titans teammates, which was fun to see. (I tried to get a picture of D talking to R but failed to get a good enough photo to be worth sharing.) The next two games were in a very red gym near my parent's house and Danny came home with what looked like a bite mark on his arm from when he elbowed an opposing player who had braces.  I remember Danny saying he HAD to have his braces off before high school basketball season and I completely understand why.  The last games I missed due to attending the Lunar New Year festival Michelle was helping with and performing at.  Hubby went and the JV boys ended the season with an easy win.  Danny is going to be trying something new this spring season!  Instead of being on the high school baseball team again, he is going to try out Track & Field.  Danny sees basebal...

We feel so lucky that we got to spend our four day weekend with extended family in St. George.  Amylynn found a perfect vacation home where 36 of us could stay and play together.  Highlights included simply being around amazing people, meeting our grand niece, hiking at Snow Canyon and Pioneer Park, two pickleball tournaments, puzzles, games, and our own pool.  I miss them all (and Swig and Splash) already!  However, I will not miss the 13 hour drive both ways due to President's Day weekend ski traffic, snow, fog, and even I-70 being partially closed due to accidents.  I'm grateful we made it there and back safely but dang, when are we going to learn not to road trip through mountains in winter?

Certain days on the calendar are usually pretty plain, but the first Tuesday in February ended up being really neat. I took Danny back to the orthopedic and he was cleared to play basketball that afternoon. Then after getting him to school and doing some housework I got to work out with Michelle’s friend’s mom, K, for the first time. I was laughing at how much stronger I was on my right side than my left side. Was I like that before my surgery too?  I was able to go grocery shopping, eat lunch, and get ready for my evening before my high school girls got home. Since Hubby wasn’t feeling well, Michelle volunteered to make sure she and Natalie got dinner (I taught her how to cook hamburger patties) and walk with Natalie over to the middle school and I would meet them there after the basketball game. Hooray for Michelle stepping in!  She had already volunteered to help tune violas before Natalie’s orchestra concert and attend but I was sure grateful Michelle was willing to flip p...