March 2026

March brought a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  Soccer for Abigail is year-round but basketball came to an end for both Emma and Abigail.  Emma pretty much went straight from biking to basketball so she is welcoming the break from after-school activities.

Abby wrapped up Jr. Jazz basketball at Basin Recreation.

Emma is in a ceramics class and this is one of the little pots she made.

Abby also finished up with futsal.

March 8th: Today was Emma's basketball banquet.  I was in charge of the table centerpieces.  The placemats and paper basketballs were bought but I made the jars--12 of them.

March 11th:  Happy Birthday, Emma!  So Emma had Ms. Denine as her kindergarten teacher. She still volunteers in Ms. Denine's classroom every so often.  When Emma was in her class, Ms. Denine would have the kids sit on the table and put frosting on their noses while the rest of the class sang "Happy Birthday."  Well, Ms. Denine does not let Emma's birthday go by without doing the same thing, year after year.

Not many 16 years olds want to make their own birthday cake, from scratch (frosting, too).  It was so delicious.

Not only does Emma make amazing cakes, but she also makes sourdough bread!  What a process.  

Abby had her last ski group on March 14th.  It was not a great ski season this year.  The lack of snow was nothing like we've seen before.  I only got on my skate skis one time.

March 17th:  Abigail had a choir concert tonight.

March 20th:  Tonight we had Emma's 16 birthday party.  We started at an Escape Room (yes, we escaped!), went to dinner, and then stopped for rolled ice cream for dessert.  Super fun!

March 21st: Tonight, Andy and I went down to the Olympic Oval (where they hosted speed skating for the 2002 Olympics) and learned how to curl!  It was so much fun!!

March 22nd:  We had some extremely nice temperatures for a couple of weeks in March.  (That certainly did not help our snow pack.).   We took our first bike ride of the year to the resort and did a little tailgating with Uncle Jim and others.  It was a great way to spend my birthday.

And guess who made my birthday cake from scratch???

March 26th:  Instead of spring conferences at the middle school, they do a really cool Night at the Museum where the students show off some of the work they've completed.  In her social studies class, Abby had to interview a family member about an important event in history.  She interviewed Andy's mom about the JFK assassination.  She also had to write a paper, make a podcast, and make a model of the event. 

February 2026

 Emma's basketball season came to an end in early February.  

Meanwhile, Abigail's Jr. Jazz basketball season was in full swing.

February 10th:  Abby had a choir concert.  This will be her last year of choir. With being in DLI (Dual Language Immersion) she is already pretty limited on her electives and, right now, choir takes up all of her electives slots.  She wants to try other things next year. 

While we were at the choir concert, Emma was at home making her own sushi!

February 13th: When you have a major knot in your hair (somehow she got her wet hair wrapped around a comb) and mom and dad could not get it out, it's a good thing we know a really good hair stylist.  It took Bree 45 minutes, but she got it out!

February 14th:  This morning we flew to Arizona to visit Andy's mom and my mom and Pete.  We had a pretty early flight and, at one point, there was nobody else around us.

We didn't waste any time when we got to sunny Mesa, Arizona.  We were off to the Mesa Marketplace!  After that, we stopped at a liquor store that had a tasting area.  You don't see that in Utah.

Andy's mom stays at a 55+ resort from November through March.  It's pretty big, so we made sure to always have a picture of the map, especially when we went out for walks.

February 15th:  There something about starting the day with fresh squeezed orange juice! The oranges came from the local orange trees.

We spent most of the day in Scottsdale.  We started in Old Town Scottsdale.

Abby found a new friend.

Then we met some good friends (who used to live in Park City) at the Butterfly Garden.  It was so amazing!  Butterflies would just land on you.  They really liked Emma!

February 16th:  Today, we hung out at the resort (where we stayed with Andy's mom) and explored some of the many activities they have.  We had never played on official bocci ball courts.

There are golf carts everywhere!

We watched some softball.

Then we painted Mexican Train holders.

The girls and I took daily walks around the resort.

That night Andy, Kim and I went to a Trivia Night.

February 17th:  Today we drove down to Casa Grande to visit my mom and Pete.   They stay at a 55+ resort January and February.

We played mini golf.

We played pickleball,

...followed by a quick swim,

and shuffle board.

February 18th:  We had another day of activities around the resort.  If you get bored around there, it's your own fault.  There is so much to do, and everybody is so nice!

February 19th:  Today we went on a beautiful hike to see some petroglyphs.  

February 20th:  We met up with my mom and Pete and drove to Tortilla Flats today.  We had an hour wait for our table at the restaurant, so why not get Prickly Pear gelato first?!  It also gave us time to explore the small town.

Inside the restaurant, the walls were completely covered in dollar bills.

Yum--prickly pear lemonade!

February 21st: We came home to some snow.

February 22nd:  While Andy and Emma went skiing at the Canyons, Abby and I went cross country skiing at Willow Creek Park.  This was my first time on my skate skis all year!

February 27th: This afternoon, Abby had her final basketball tournament for the Ecker Hill basketball program.

February 28th: Tonight we went to a Utah Jazz game!  It was Bear's birthday (the Utah Jazz mascot) so a lot of other mascots from other NBA teams were there to help celebrate.