Escape Room!

To say that we LOVE Escape Rooms is an understatement! We went with friends to fabulous Escape Room about the Colorado gold mines, then Steuben's for dinner.

It was SO MUCH FUN! And, we were a brilliant group together- we finished in 42 minutes. Ben says we didn't get our moneys worth since we paid for a whole hour. Haha!

Anyway, it was so much fun! If you ever want to go to an escape room and need another couple, we would love to join you!

Chuck E. Cheese

The girls had a Birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. I will say this: they know how to make every child there wish they had a party at Chuck E. Cheese! It was a lot of fun.

Audra and Adriana pretty much played this car game the entire time. The lesson we learned: Audra should never drive.

Ward 5K

Our ward (church congregation) had our annual 5K. There are a lot of runners in our ward. We are not runners. But, our girls love to bike. So we had them bring their bikes and they went ahead with the fast group while Ben and I walked behind at a slow, leisurely pace.

It was a beautiful day- it was really, really nice to be outside. It is starting to feel like spring. Which means we probably only have one major snowstorm left.

Feeding the Homeless

Through our 4H club, yesterday Audra and I had the opportunity to go downtown and work with a wonderful Catholic organization called "Christ In the City" to feed the homeless. It was truly a humbling experience.

Before we went to the park to do the service, the missionaries at the parish gave us an enlightening orientation, where I learned a lot about the homeless that I didn't know before:

-There are almost 12,000 homeless in Denver
- 56% are male, 44% female
-Reasons for homelessness: 14%- soaring rents, 18% drug addiction (I was floored- I often think the majority have drug addiction, and that is simply not true- MIND. BLOWN.), 23% mental illness, 48%- Family situation forced them out of their home. (numbers don't add up exactly as there is some overlapping of conditions)

WHAT? Half of the homeless are homeless because their home life SUCKS and they would rather be homeless than live with their abusive spouse or parents or whatever?!?!

Talk about a testimony builder for how important family relationships are! I am heartbroken that so many of our neighbors and friends, brothers and sisters, live in households that are unsafe.

-Average age of the homeless is 40
-They are regular people. They aren't invisible (even though they are), and are just going through a really rough time right now and need a little love and support.

Anyway, it was a great experience. I'm glad Audra and I got to experience it together.

Audra was first in charge of handing out oranges, but we quickly ran out. So then she helped put the salad dressing on the salad.

About 300 people were fed! Whew! It was incredibly well organized, Christ in the City does a great job. There was a hair cutting table, finger nail painting, clothes to be handed out. a prayer group, football and frisbee- very well done. Of course, they have about 15 full time missionaries who spend all day every day being with and serving the homeless. It is simply beautiful!

This Is What Homeschool Looks Like

At least for today, this is what our homeschool looks like:

Free ice-cream at Ben and Jerry's with a few of our friends!

Baby Owls!

It's hard to see, but there are three baby owls at our local park. We went over to look at the cuties. We loved the owls, and then the girls loved showing Ben all the cool things at the park. It was so fun for me to watch them drag Ben around in excitement. I see all their fun forts all the time, so it was great for them to show Ben.

We are getting very anxious for spring to come!

Gymnastics Meet

Audra's best friend Chloe had a gymnastics meet, so we went to cheer her on. It was pretty crazy! The world of competitive gymnastics is insane! But, Chloe won 5 medals- including 1st place in all around. Olympics here she comes!