We all started out 2020 with promises that this was going to be our best year yet! It may not be our best, for for dang sure will be memorable. I don't want my kids to look back at this time in their lives when they are older and fully understanding the seriousness of what happened in 2020 while they are in their high school history class and think of being scared or having to hide out at home. None of that is true. I want them to remember back on all the family movie nights we had since getting up early for school was no longer an enforced rule. That although schools were cancelled, we still played school at home. Low key, low stress. How the boys danced while Kenidy and I sang our days of the week and our months songs. All the family walks we went on and all the fun exercises we did for "pe." Which usually consisted of kids yoga on Cosmic Kids. Or following along with me doing High Fitness.
Christmas 2019 was so exciting and we gave our kids a trip to Disneyland from us for Christmas. We had planned to fly out March 10th. With less than two weeks until we flew to Cali to soak up the sun and enjoy the magic of Disney we cancelled our trip. Corona virus had not really hit the US yet besides a few cases, mostly from the cruise ship. We got a lot of laughs and eye rolls for being one of "those people." I wanted to still go, but Justin didn't feel comfortable going right then. So we decided we would reschedule until fall. While we were suppose to be on our vacation things got crazy starting March 11th when there was a confirmed case from a Utah Jazz player. That same night they suspended the NBA season until further notice. Within 24 hours the church announced there would no longer be church in the regular meeting house, March Madness was cancelled (que the tears) colleges were online only, and Disneyland closed. All of this happened on what would have been the middle of our Disneyland vacation.
After all of the announcements and closures grocery stores were EMPTY! Shelves were all but completely bare. Toilet paper, cleaning supplies, soap, hand sanitizer, medicines, and gloves were nowhere to be found. Even Amazon was on back order for several weeks.
Schools were officially cancelled on Tuesday the 17th and Kenidy took it into her own hands to fill the time when she would have originally been at school. After 5 1/2 years of growing out her hair she took the scissors to one side. We now have matching hair after I took the scissors to the rest of it and made it all the same length. She looks so grown up!
We have been thankful for the chance to get out of the house all together and enjoy some time outdoors. We packed up the kids and hauled them around the mountainside as we went shed hunting with all the kids. Lucky for them a farmer gave us a tip on where to look and the kids found a two point shed and were over the moon excited!
Walks, bike rides, and going on drives have become pretty normal weekend activities. As well as taking advantage of all the extra sleep. Lots of naps have been happening over here. Walker has given up on waking up at a decent time every day and almost always sleeps until 10:30. Occasionally even 11 am. We set up the tent in our living room for something new and fun. It was new, but the fun was hard to come by. We all ended up in mine and Justin's bed by the end of the night. I will be first to admit I was first to bail on the tent idea...
We had church in the tent while it was still set up as we participated in the world wide fast the prophet asked us to be apart of. Home church with three kids is a bit crazy, but will be something we remember forever feeling the spirit in our own home. As temples have closed this month it is nice to feel in our home a place of safety and peace. Even after both the Idaho and Utah earthquakes. Holy smokes that was a lot to take in in such a short time frame!
It has been fun to watch the community pull together and how many companies are offering free education or fun ideas for kids. All of the kids have loved how much we have crafted, baked, learned to draw from Kids Hub on YouTube, colored (Walker took advantage of the markers being out and colored on the oven...it came off!) and the countless books we have read. We dusted off the bubble machine and played until the towel on the floor was soaked, played with bath paint until their fingers and toes looked like raisins and the water was cold. The kids made up their own drive thru and played for hours. Coloring pictures for great grandparents for a fun surprise in their mailbox was the highlight of their day.
It's been hard to not be able play with friends, spend time with family, or show off the kids' new tricks. Walker has gotten two new teeth, Vince is obsessed with pointing out V's on anything he can find with a "V" on it, and how well Kenidy is reading now, and her new hair do. We are grateful for Marco Polo and phone calls to make us still feel connected. And thanks to the corona virus, I can say spring cleaning has been taken to a whole new level ;)
In all of the uncertainty of what will happen next and breaking news happening almost daily I will always cherish this time to really focus on our little family. These will be days we will all look back on and cherish. ♥
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