Quarantine life....

It definitely has been an adjustment for all of us doing online schooling.  I read an article that said it should be called, "crisis schooling".  Those first couple weeks were the hardest. There were so many emails that I had a hard time keeping up.  I was used to having the kids in school all day and having time to myself.

On Wednesday March 19th we were woken up by the 5.7 earthquake.  The epicenter was in Magna where Kev works.  He was driving to work when it happened.  They evacuated the buildings and had everyone go home.  I was grateful to have Kev at home with us.  It gave me some peace of mind. Especially when the aftershocks happened later that afternoon.  It was also a big adjustment for Kev working from home. He starts out his mornings working from our unfinished basement.  Then he uses the desktop computer when our kids are done with school in the afternoon.

Halle did a good job of working and staying motivated. She preferred to be in her room.

We checked out chromebooks for Parker, Halle, and Kenna from their schools.  We didn't have enough computers for them to use at home.  The first few days were hard because the computers were slowed down from all the use in our school district.  Parker's screen kept saying, "This site can't be reached".  

Mckenna set up this table in her room to work from.  I was worried about her the most.  I knew she already had senioritis before all of this happened.  I was worried she wouldn't want to do anything.  But she persevered and got everything done.  She even took two AP tests here at home.  

I would go to the store once a week to get groceries and supplies for our family.  Luckily, I had already stocked up on canned foods at the caselot sale before all this happened.  We did start to run out of toilet paper and hand soap.  I waited in a really long line at Costco just to get into the store.  They were out of things like hand soap, chlorox wipes, hand sanitizer, and paper towels.  As we walked through the store they handed each customer one package of 30 rolls of toilet paper.  It was strange to see shelves that were empty because people were buying up supplies in a panic.  Shopping each week was an adventure and I never knew what I was going to be able to buy.

One day I couldn't find Hayden anywhere.  This is where I ended up finding him.  He was bored so he climbed into the dryer.  He said it was warm in there from all the clean clothes.  I know that he really misses hanging out with his friends. 

Halle made these masks for herself and stuffed animals.  She even sewed fabric masks for all of us in the family.  They have come in handy as I have gone out to do errands.

The hardest part of quarantine for me has been not being able to see my grandparents.  My Grandpa's assisted living center has been on lockdown for several weeks.  I also haven't been able to see my Grandma since she is at high risk because of her age.  I have been able to talk to them on the phone but it's not the same.  We have been eating a lot of ice cream and treats to cheer us up. We have a joke at our house that we are going to gain the Covid-19 pounds. We are still trying to find our new normal around here.  I can tell you this, I have a greater appreciation for all my kids 26 teachers now!

St. Patricks Day

The kids started online school on Monday March 16th due to the Covid 19 pandemic.  It was nice that St. Patricks Day was the day after.  We all needed something to look forward to and that felt normal.  The kids dug in the backyard to find the buried gold.

We took a picture of all the kids before Kenna left for work.  At this point, customers could no longer eat inside JCW's.  It became drive through orders only.

We had our traditional green dinner.  The mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert cheered everyone up.

Mckenna's new job

Mckenna started working at JCW's in Februrary.  Kev was happy since it is his favorite restaurant. She mostly makes shakes and takes orders in the drive through.

We went to visit Kenna at work on Monday March 16th for FHE. She gave the kids stickers.

Our favorite shake is the chocolate fudge with reeses peanut butter cups in it.  Kenna gets to order what she wants when she is working.  She says her favorite burger is the bacon, swiss, and avocado. 

Hayden is still on his sugar free diet so he got the delicious cheese fries.

Kenna has surprised me several times with cheese fries when she gets home from work.  She delivers them to me in bed.  It's just like room service!

Halle's party with friends

Halle had a birthday party with her friends on Saturday March 14th.  She wanted to have her party up at the cabin.

We were happy that cousin Aubrey could also come up with us.  We were grateful to have her help driving the snowmobiles. Most of the girls had never been snowmobiling before.

The girls had fun tubing down the hill and making long trains. 

Halle's friend Sienna made this cute baby snowman. 

We took a break to warm up in the cabin.  We had pizza and caesar salad for lunch.

The girls had fun hanging out and talking for while.

Halle opened up her presents from her friends.

Then we ate cupcakes. Halle chose out these cute spring ones from the store.  They had a flower ring on them.  

We went back out and pulled the girls around on the giant tube.

We pulled out the gator but there was still too much snow to drive around in it.

We lined up all the snowmobiles for a group picture. I'm glad Halle had a fun filled day with her friends.  I loved hearing them talk and laugh together!

Relief Society birthday party

I was in charge of planning and carrying out our ward RS party.  There is always so much time and preparation that goes into planning an event like this.  I'm thankful that I have a committee of four awesome women that I get to work with! I was also glad that Halle came and helped watch kids so that the mother's could attend.

We decided to wrap presents as the centerpieces for the tables.  We chose out this cute reversible wrapping paper on Amazon.  I enjoy wrapping presents and wrapped 10 of them. 

We had each of the tables numbered.  They sat at a table according to their birthday month.  Then we rotated tables according to favorite color and other themes.  We wanted the women to talk with and get to sit with other women they might not know. 

We had soup, salad, rolls, and cupcakes for dessert. 

I had an idea that I learned at TOFW that I wanted to incorporate into our celebration.  I had the women write down words of encouragement to the other sisters on a card.  Then we hung them up on the wires.  Then at the end of the night they chose some encouragement that spoke to them and took it home.

I was too busy to take any pictures once all the women arrived.  We were happy to have a turnout of around 50 come that night.  We had a short program and the RS president and I both spoke.  I shared some of my feelings about the RS program and the acts of service I had seen in the ward the last few months. We were also happy to welcome the seniors that are coming into RS this year. 

The theme of the night was "You are Kneaded".  Stacie in our presidency made 70 mini loaves of bread for everyone to take one home. It was great because we had some extras that they were able to take to their ministering sisters that couldn't be there.  It was a fun night celebrating the RS and getting to spend time with each other.  The timing of the party couldn't have worked out better.  The party was originally supposed to be on March 19th.  We ended up having to change the date because of a scheduling conflict.  A few days after this all church meetings and activities were canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Family ski day

The kids had Monday March 9th off from school.  We went skiing at Brighton.

Halle's rental ski's matched her outfit.

We were all looking forward to skiing all day.  The last time we tried to go Hayden and Addy ended up getting sick.  

I asked Parker to take a picture and this is what I got.  The kids have left many lovely selfies on my phone over the years. 

We were surprised that there was actually some new powder that day.  The snow is usually slushy in March. 

Kev took this picture of the girls and I on the ski lift.  They decided to sing "Into the Unknown" from frozen 2 at the top of their lungs.  I'm sure it was entertaining to everyone on the ski slope that day. 

The kids skied right into Kev for a hug as we waited for the next lift. 

It was the first time that we didn't put Addy in ski school.  I was impressed with how well she kept up with us all day. 

We always enjoy skiing through the trees where the powder is the deepest. 

We took the kids to the small terrain park. 

They also liked skiing at the bigger terrain park.  Kev got some great air on the last jump!

Halle is a teenager!

Halle turned 13 on Monday March 2nd!  I can't believe that I have three teenagers now!  She looked cute wearing her new cream shirt and jeans.

Halle had a good day at school.  Parker had the carpool sing to her.  Her friends decorated her locker and gave her presents.  Her favorite surprise of the day was when Kenna showed up at her school for lunch. 

She brought them Halle's favorite meal which is Cafe Rio salads. I love my beautiful girls!

Halle and I went to get her birthday balloons after school.  She took this selfie of us in the car.  You can see the she has an upper expander and braces on the bottom. I keep reminding her all the pain will be worth it when she has straight teeth in the end. 

Halle chose out a Nutella love waffle. She was nice to share a few bites with me. 

We loved having family come over for her party that night.  

She got her first pair of Vans.  They are checkerboard and sparkly.

She wanted lemon meringue pie for her birthday dessert.

Halle has grown up a lot this last year.  She started going to YW's and Junior High.  I'm glad she is learning how to play the violin.  She is also developing her talents of piano and dance. She continues to bring happiness and peace to our family.  She is also the best sister to all her siblings. They love to laugh and hang out with her.  We love our Halle babes!