March 2021

 March 2021 saw the year that I turned 40! Sadly due to Covid-19 blah blah, we couldn't do a big bash, but I still got to have a great dinner with my dear friends who I hadn't seen is a year because of the pandemic.

My sweet mom crew also took me out to dinner to celebrate the big occasion. 

March also brought us Grandma for a visit.  She is all vaccinated and we are now hoping to be seeing a lot more of her.

Mammoth 2021

 Four months earlier if you told me we would be in Mammoth skiing I would of that you were crazy.  We are still dealing with the whole Covid-19 madness and I pretty much prepared myself that Mammoth just wasn't in the cards this year.  Somehow between November and February the world came up with a vaccine and things have started to feel more normal and we were allowed to go to Mammoth.  

Our family was really looking forward to this Mammoth trip because we knew that Madden was going to be on the slopes with us this year.  Also what made this trip extra special was that Lennon and Morrison were going to be with us.

I probably say this after every Mammoth trip, but this was honestly our BEST. TRIP. EVER.  The weather was absolutely perfect, 3 amazing blue bird days.  The mountain was completely empty that we were doing 15 runs before lunch.  They had had a couple snow storms the weeks earlier so they had a great amount of snow.  We skied 3 days and loved every second of it.

Wondering the village with the cousins.

Day two on the mountain.

After a half day of skiing we hit up the tube park which is always a highlight for the kids.  Being able to be at the tube park with Lennon even made it better for them.

Day three on the mountain.  This day was great, we skied all the way over to Main lodge and had a blast of there.  Skiing with my family is one of my favorite memories when growing up. 

 These ski trips with my family now is something that is very special to me that I hope Skylar and Madden hold them close to their hearts.

Video highlights

February 2021

Celebrating Sophie's 11th Birthday 

Poker Night at the Ernest House.  These kids LOVED every second of it.

Celebrating Travis and Kason's 9th Birthdays.

Just a Sunday pizza making session.

Celebrating Ian's 9th Birthday at the trampoline park.  They had the whole place to themselves.

Madden's First Competitive Sport

 Well if there is one positive thing that the pandemic gave us it's Madden has joined his first competitive sport.  Had the pandemic never happened I never would of met Coach Mindes who runs his own smaller competitive soccer club and Madden never would of tried out and made the team.  So I don't like to to say anything positive came out of the pandemic but this is definitely one thing that did.

Madden had his first ever soccer tournament in Coachella where his team played 3 games.  Being Madden's first time playing against such high caliber players he did a great job.  Our team didn't have the best showing but the team is still very young and have only been playing together for a couple months.  Out of the three games we only scored 3 goals and Madden happened to have 2 of the three.  

He is loving every practice he gets to go to and his seeing his skills improve every week is so awesome.  We are really looking forward to seeing what more Madden has in store for when it comes to soccer.

Monthly School Awards

 February was a big month for Skylar and Madden at school.  

Madden was awarded the Citizenship Award.  Here is what Madden's teacher wrote about him:

"Madden takes his education seriously and is an active participant. He is always engaged and genuinely interested in every subject we are working on. I am impressed by his wealth of knowledge at this age and his positive attitude to share it when applicable. He is a team player and will help out any peer when the occasion arises. In the old days, we called this being a "go-getter!" In Nebraska we say, "get 'er done" and that is exactly what Madden does in school. Keep up the great work Madden."

Skylar knocked it out of the park as she was awarded the Academic Awards for both January and February.  Back to Back months for our little sweetheart, we couldn't be prouder.

Valentine's Day 2020

For Valentines Day this year we took the kids down to our old stomping grounds...Pacific Beach.  It was a beautiful day so we loaded the bikes and my roller blades into Jakes truck and we went down to the boardwalk and rode all around the path.  We all had a really nice time and Jake and I loved seeing all the old sites.  

January 2020

 Grandma came down for a visit.  Best part was that she also came down on her birthday so we got to celebrate her big day together.

Traditional beach walk with Grandma.

We all got to celebrate Papa's 70th birthday together.

These two never stop having fun.

Girls decided to wear their comfy's to school on the one rainy day we have had.

Madden finished up his All Star games for soccer.

Madden, Evan, and Travis

The end of All Stars also came with the end of an era for Jake and Madden. It was their last game as Coach and Son.  Jake has been coaching Madden for 3 years and Madden has moved onto a new competitive team.  Dad is going to now be his biggest fan.