June

June was fairly uneventful for us, but at times like this, I guess that's a good thing. Covid-19 is still running rampant. We've let the kids do more with their peers, mainly because kids aren't very likely to have complications from the illness. But AZ has been hit pretty hard this past month, so we need to be careful. Most public places and businesses now require that patrons wear face masks, I'm not sure if they're helpful or not, but I don't mind wearing one for short periods of time. 

Earlier in the month we spent a day at Green's Peak with Russ and Ashley’s family. We played games and enjoyed the cool, rainy weather.

Sarah got her divers license! Adam bought another vehicle since we have more drivers in the family. Sarah doesn’t love driving, but driving this car isn’t so bad! 

Caleb and Sarah were FINALY able to have their piano recital. Caleb played Come thou fount of Evey Blessing and Minuet.

Sarah played Sweet hour of Prayer, and Rise.

Together, Sarah and Caleb played Hope of Israel.  They both played beautifully.

One sad thing that Happend in June, was Richard fell from the roof of a home they were building. He was in so much pain, they thought he may have broken his femur. Thankfully, he just dislocated his hip,  they were able to re-set it at the hospital without having to do surgery. It still took him a few weeks to recover, but it could have been much worse.

Caleb was able to spend some quality time camping with Grandma, Grandpa and the older boy cousins at Green's Peak. He spent most of his time mountain biking. It sounds like everyone had a great time.

There was a huge forest fire in Arizona this month. Four Peaks is one of our favorite places to buggy ride. Unfortunately, it was almost completely covered with flames. It will take a long time for much of the trees to recover and regrow.

Travis came up for a couple days to do electrical work on one of the houses being built in Shumway.  We were happy that He was able to bring his family with him for a visit. 

We had a few giant, fat caterpillars in our yard. Daisy is obsessed with them. She would watch over them and even try to snuggle them. 😂

We ended the month by hosting a BBQ for the girl's soccer team. They are a great group of girls and it was fun to have them over.

May

The month started with a visit from the Hulse family. They brought Daniel up 

To stay with us for a few weeks so he could work for Adam building houses with Caleb. Normally, the kids would all be in school, but since they had the time off, why not let them work and earn some money?

While the boys were framing, Eliza and Sarah went down to the Valley to work at Watson's flower shop. It was a very busy Mother's day season for Watson's this year, and the girls were a big help.

After working hard all week, it was fun to take a break and go for a buggy ride with Travis and a couple of his kids.

Even though school was cancelled, some of the High school student's parents decided the kids should still get to have a prom. Sarah was asked to go with a blind date just one day before the dance And Eliza decided to go with a group of friend at the very last minute. We had fun getting them ready to go! 

Both girls had a wonderful time. 

I've really been missing my preschoolers this month, so I called all of their parents and invited everyone to meet me at the park for one last hurrah with them. It was so great to see their smiling faces and watch them play together again.

This is the first home completed this season and they got it all built in less than a month! 

We ended the month by taking a drive over to Eager to visit Aunt Pam and Uncle David and play some games with them. We stopped at the cemetery to see the headstone that Grandpa had made for Grandma Burk. 

Things are starting to warm up and open up around here. Hopefully the worst of the Covid virus is behind us and life will return to normal very soon.

April

Thanks to Covid-19, April was filled with more social distancing. We had to accept the fact that schools would not be re-opening and that the track season was officially over. We made the best of it by enjoying our time together as a family. Adam was still busy with work, but the rest of us played games, watched movies, put together more puzzles, worked on the yard and garden together and enjoyed the outdoors.
I was able to finish re-staining and painting the table. I ended up just buying new chairs because I only had five of the old chairs left and one was breaking.

The kids Took Adam and I to the Four mile knoll. I had never been there before and thought it was pretty neat. 

We enjoyed lots of beautiful blooms in our yard this month.

One day, we decided social distance with the Hulse family and hike to Horton springs together (while maintaining a safe distance from one another of course). We could not have asked for a more beautiful day to hike. The weather was absolutely perfect and the creek was awesome. 

We ended the month with one last buggy ride at Greens peak before all the snow melted. We got stuck pretty good in this drift, but as usual, Adam was able to get us out of it. We couldn't believe how much snow was still around.

All things considered, April was a pretty great month!

We got to spend lots of time together, we all managed to stay healthy, and we didn't run out of toilet paper!

March Madness

March started out pretty typically. The track season was in full swing. The girls had a track meets the first Friday and Saturday of the month.  Their relay team got first place at the meet on Saturday and both girls were showing a lot of promise of having a really great season.. Caleb was also enjoying the  track workouts, running long distances at the practices.  All three kids we’re excited for the choir concert that was set to preform in Mid March. I was enjoying singing in the community choir every Tuesday night. Adam planned on taking our family to Utah during spring break. We were all busy with school, church Work  and other activities.

About a week and a half before spring break, we started hearing more and more about a pandemic (Covid-19) that was currently wreaking havoc in China, and had started spreading throughout the world. Originally, it was being described as being a lot like the flu.  We weren’t too worried about it. I mean, getting the flu is no fun, but we’ve all had it and gotten over it just fine. 

As each day went by, we’d get a little more information.  news reports started coming out of Italy, this new virus was causing a lot more deaths than the Flu typically does. The elderly were especially vulnerable and the entire country went into lock down. Soon afterwards, a nursing home in Washington state had an outbreak every day they reported more and more deaths. More countries and states began reporting outbreaks. The healthcare systems and hospitals all over the world were being overwhelmed. 

Here in Taylor, things were still pretty quiet. So we still wondered if we’d be effected at all. 

Then, our prophet, President Nielsen announced that church buildings around the world would close their doors. We would now be required to have our sacrament meetings at home. 

Then the governor of our state announced that effective immediately, all schools Arizona were required to close. At first, the school closures were to last just for a couple weeks,  then for a month, then finally it was announced that schools wouldn't re-open until next fall. 

Within a matter of weeks All church activities, school activities, track practices and meets, piano lessons, choir practices, my preschool classes, movie theaters and many restaurants all cancelled and closed.  oh, and that spring break trip...you guessed it, cancelled. 

So now, here we are,  not stuck at home, but safe at home. We’re trying to stay Safe from a virus that scientists and doctors  are still trying to figure out treat and prevent.  

We’re limiting contact with the outside world because, not only do we not want to catch This dangerous virus, but because we don’t want to spread it.  We are blessed that Adam’s line of work allows him to stay busy, without having a lot of contact and interaction with others. A lot of people have lost their jobs and have had to close their businesses. The economy has been hit really hard. 

Another effect this virus has had is that so many people are hoarding essential groceries and household supplies, in case they got sick and couldn’t leave home for two weeks. . The first thing to go was toilet paper. You literally can’t buy toilet paper anywhere. Things like soap and hand sanitizer. And groceries like eggs, milk and bread are scarce. We try to limit our trips to the store. So far we haven’t had to go without any necessities. We’ve always been able to find the groceries we want and need. (Except for toilet paper, but we have a decent supply here at home and pray it’s continues to last.)

Some things that have kept us sane and busy this month include;

 Spring cleaning

Church at home

Hikes and buggy rides

Snowmobile rides

I’m giving my dining furniture a much needed makeover.

                                        

                                                                               Puzzles!!!

Sarah has been trying new recipes. 

We are so thankful for modern technology that allows the trio to continue with their school and seminary studies from home. We also stay in contact with friends and family though phone calls, texts, Marco Polo, and other apps that help us stay connected. We feel very blessed and peaceful at this time.

We recently joined in a world wide fast to bring relief  from the effects of this pandemic. 

We have faith that the Lord will hear and answer our prayers. 

February

After our very exciting January, February seemed to go by so slowly.
We did have some fun playing in the snow with the Solomons and Later, with Richard and Calli’s family.
The trio started track season and have been putting in a lot of work trying to improve their speed and strength. Eliza decided to give Pole vaulting a try this year. We’re excited to see how that goes for her. Both girls are doing sprinting events. Caleb trains with the long distance runners to help him be better prepared for Cross country running next fall.
Otherwise, February was filled with the usual daily tasks. Preschool for me, excavating for Adam, school for the trio. 

Happy leap year!