It had been quite some time since my last posting! These past couple of months we have been in a lockdown of sorts because of the Covid 19 Coronavirus. Just after Rick and I returned home from visiting my parents at the end of March Governor Herbert asked Utahns to stay at home as much as possible. It was the beginning of the coronavirus quarantine. After leaving my parents' home on a Friday we got word that all churches would be closed for an indefinite amount of time. We decided since we did not have to be home that we would stay in St. George for the weekend. The next morning Rick felt that it was important to grab a few necessities from the store. There was a run on all things baking AND toilet paper, of all things. He filled our trunk with a bunch of canned goods and what he could find of baking items. Late that morning we left for a beautiful day of hiking in Snow Canyon and enjoying the hot tub (even in the rainy weather). We got excited about planning our family reunion to be held at the end of April and started putting together a plan. (Which did not come to pass because of the quarantine extending into May. The next day, a Sunday, we enjoyed having a beautiful church meeting in our hotel room.
We returned home that evening and then the next day everything seemed to stop. All schools were closed, restaurants started shutting down and people were encouraged to "Stay Home and Stay Safe".
Thus began the next two months of staying away from others except for those closest to us. Since Skylar and Sarah live just across the street we continued to see them and the kids pretty much each day. As for the others it was just phone calls and face time. A few times after picking up some groceries for Kendra and Brach I would go in their house and love on those little kids. I would always feel a little guilty because I never knew if I was going to get sick and did not want to infect the little ones. It was not easy staying away. I started wearing masks when going into the supermarkets or anywhere that other people were and just tried to stay home as much as possible. Rick could still go into work so his days were fairly normal. His business has been very much affected. Normally at this time of year Superior's crews are lined up with lots of work. Rick has been struggling to have work for them each day. We have taken a few work trips (we are in Moab looking for work even now) to drum up some work for the guys.
It's been really strange. Work is low, churches and temples have closed, we don't go out to visit others, restaurants have closed other than take out, Parks are closed, people are wearing masks, mothers are homeschooling their children etc.... While at this point in time things are starting to slowly reopen, it has been an interesting time in our lives.
In the midst of all this, just two days after the quarantine hit full force, Northern Utah was hit with a 5.7 earthquake. I had just woken up and Rick was in the shower. I felt the house start moving accompanied with a loud noise. Rick ran to the bathroom door and said, "What is that?" I said, It's an earthquake. After a few seconds it passed and we were left in wonderment. It was all over the news and the talk of the day. People were wondering if "the big one" was going to follow. There were aftershocks all throughout the day which were a little unnerving but thankfully other than a clock falling off of the wall and breaking, and the garage door lights not working, nothing was damaged at our home. Rick's office (which was just a few miles from the epicenter) was hard hit. There were lots of things turned over and things fallen off of shelves. The bathroom had a few things shattered on the floor and the guys lockers in the break room had fallen over. It took a little effort to put things back in order there but as far as home went we were ok.
We decided that we needed to get our food storage up to par. Since our children have left home we have kind of let our food storage slide. It was good to get our storage room cleaned out and filled up with goods that would sustain us for a while, if needed.
That is one thing that the corona virus was good for.
It knocked us in gear to have our storage ready in case of emergency.
The second wonderful thing about the virus is being able to have home centered church. It has been absolutely wonderful having our church meetings in our home. A wonderful spirit presides each week as we humbly partake of the Sacrament and share our thoughts of the week's Come Follow Me study. Sometimes church consists of just Rick and me, sometimes it includes Colin, once it was with Skylar and Sarah and kids at their home, and once it was with my parents as we made another trip back to see them. It has truly been a great experience having these meetings in our home.
Here are some random pictures taken over the last few months....
On Easter weekend Rick and I had a date out. We picked up some takeout from R&R BBQ and enjoyed some time at an abandoned park. We enjoyed the sunshine and then picked up some curbside Ruby Snap cookies. That night we enjoyed the Tabernacle Choir singing The Messiah over the internet in the comfort of our bedroom.
The next day was Saturday and we snuck over to the Bomans to give the kids some Easter prizes. No Easter egg hunt this year and so this would have to suffice.
Darling little Chloe enjoying a rice crispy treat!
Haivyn and Merik came over for a bit to get their presents.
We were able to watch Henry, Charles and Daisy do a little Easter egg hunt in their backyard.
The little sweeties!
The next weekend came and we both really needed to get out of the house. Getting a little stir crazy not being allowed to go out much. We enjoyed a razor ride up into South Willow Canyon. It was really nice! On the way home we passed by Brach and Kendra's and saw that they were outside so we HAD to stop. It was so nice just to sit and visit outside in the fresh air. Chloe was loving it. During this quarantine she learned to walk.
That night we watched Henry, Charles and Daisy while their parents got some much needed time alone.
The next weekend we did the same for Brach and Kendra. They were able to get out for a bit, and we enjoyed time outside roasting hot dogs and making smores in the fire pit. Grandpa got the big bubbles out for some fun!
Gary turned twenty seven on April 22, so Rick and I and Skylar met at a park for lunch and celebration. We came bearing Cafe Rio and cake and gifts! It was good to spend time with Gary. We had not seen him for a few weeks, and I know he had been missing us! We talked for a while and then watched as he played on the park toys:)
I will tell you that our free day in St. George was so fun!! We didn't have anywhere that we needed to be so we just did what we wanted to:) This included riding around with the top down in the beautiful 70's weather singing our hearts out to tunes by Rascal Flatts and Michael Buble. We drove out to Santa Clara (just because I love that place:), got takeout from Firehouse Subs, had a picnic in the park while watching college kids play volleyball on the grass, had the pool to ourselves for a whole hour, ordered dinner from Cracker Barrel and went to Tonaquint Park for ANOTHER picnic. we played board games, hit the pickle ball around and then ended the night with Baskin Robbins. What a beautiful unplanned day!
We enjoyed time with my mom and dad. We had a nice church meeting in their family room. My dad expressed his love for his ancestors and the sacrifices that they made to make a better life for their posterity. He also expressed his love for us. It was really tender.
The next day we took mom and dad out to the Hoover Dam only to find out that it was not open. (kinda like everything else). We then took a ride over the new bridge that was built but were disappointed in that as well. We couldn't see over the edge so it was basically just driving over a high road with walls built up. What WAS nice though was the trip into Boulder City. What a gem that little place is! The weather was beautiful so we had the windows down as we drove through that historic little town. I'm so glad that my dad suggested we stop there. I am sorry that I did not get ANY pictures of my parents through those couple of days. We headed back to St. George Monday evening.
Rick had gotten word that there was a possible job at the Grand Canyon so we decided to head that direction to look at the roads. We got up early and drove pretty much all day with the top down. It was so fun! We drove through Fredonia and then a few hours from there we got to the North Rim. The park was closed down but Rick had received the gate codes from the park director to get in. While looking at the roads and parking lots we stopped and found a couple of lookout points. The Grand Canyon is massive. One cool thing that happened was after hiking down a little pathway to get to a view point we were standing there enjoying the view when here comes this raven right up to us. He came about six feet in front of us and looked right at us and let out a big CAAAW! He was so close it felt like we could almost reach out and touch him. He then circled above our heads a few times just checking us out! Kinda cool! After looking at all of the roads we still had a THREE HOUR drive to get to Flagstaff! We spent TEN HOURS on the road that day.
The next day we drove to the South Rim. While it was closed as well, there were more people there. Not tourists but contractors, rangers and the like. We got some nice views from the overlooks as well there:)
On the bridge over-looking the Colorado on our way down to Flagstaff!
After visiting the South Rim and measuring roads and lots (a nine hour day) we drove up to Page for the night. We stayed in a nice Marriott there and ordered some Mexican take out.
The next morning I knew I wanted to drive over to Horseshoe Bend. I had seen lots of pictures of it but wanted to see it in real life. The man at the front desk also mentioned that there was a nice view of the Glen Canyon Dam within a mile so we headed there first. What a surprisingly beautiful view it was! It's amazing how much water is held back by that massive structure. Lake Powell is a HUGE lake. (reservoir:)
We drove the five miles to the trailhead that gets you to Horseshoe Bend. It was about a twenty minute hike and the view was SO AWESOME! I could have stayed there another hour just enjoying that splendid view. It was breathtakingly beautiful and so serene!
After getting some breakfast at the Sonic drive-in we went back to the hotel and got showered and got back on the road. We stopped at "Moqui Cave" rock shop (just outside of Kanab) and enjoyed about an hour there. We had dinner in Panguitch and then continued to drive home. Lots of time in the car those three days but my goodness, what a nice time together!
P.S... Didnt get the Grand canyon job!
The next Sunday we were getting tired of the quarantine again so the Bomans and the Phelpses felt like it was time to get together. We had a Sunday dinner at our home. Smoked brisket, cheese potatoes, salad, deviled eggs and dessert. It was super yummy! After dinner we went outside and played corn hole and grandpa got the bubbles out again. The neighbors (Bakers) came over and it was just a nice time visiting with everyone since we all have been staying away from each other.
Cinco De Mayo was lots of fun. I had woken up that morning trying to figure what Mexican meal to make for that night. Sarah texted first thing and invited us over for some baked tacos. I said that sounded fun so Rick got a Spiderman piñata, I gathered some decorations and made pico and rice and that evening, along with Grandma Sharon and Uncle Ben, we had a nice dinner. Sarah made a tres leches cake that was super delish and I brought some horchata cookies from Ruby Snap.
The kids broke the piñata to find all kinds of Mexican candy and we ended the night with Nacho Libre downstairs. A fun night!
Xavier had a birthday and so did Kaitlyn and Alyssia. While we had Kaitlyn over for a small celebration at our house with some Costa Vida and a small cake, we headed to Ogden to spend some time with Alyssia and Xavier. We bought Costa Vida takeout for her as well (it's cute that Gary, Kaitlyn AND Alyssia all wanted fresh mex for their birthdays) and sat in the sunshine at the park outside of her apartment and visited and let them open their presents. We then took them to Walmart for some things that she needed. I picked up some flowers and plants for the garden. That was the next day's project.
While Rick worked in the garden on Saturday, I was busy making a princess cake for Haivyn. Boy was it a labor of love. One that I don't care to repeat. I didn't have enough cake and then I didn't have enough frosting. Holy cow! Three hours of putting it together and I just barely squeaked out a presentable cake. It tasted good though, and I think Haivyn really liked it, which is all that really matters, right?
A picture of all of the kids!
We were blessed that it was such a nice day.
The Grantsville gnats though have been terrible!
All of the kids were scratching behind their ears.
After getting the garden in, Rick helped Skylar finish getting his trampoline in. They have been working on it for a couple of weeks. Cutting railroad ties and digging out the ground so they could have it flush with the grass. It turned out great and the kids were SUPER excited!
That night Rick and I had an at home date. I bought a frozen pizza (Digiorno) and a caesar salad. It's crazy but that food sure tasted good. We had our first outdoor movie of the season, 'The Greatest Showman'. Because it was too light when we started we just were watching the laptop at our feet but at around eight o'clock we were able to run it through the projector. It was a fun way to end the day.
Next morning was MOTHER'S DAY! We had ALL of the kids come over for breakfast. This is the first time we had all been together for quite some time. Alyssia and Zavi had come out the day before to be there for Haven's party so she happened to be in town. And Gary came as well even though he complained about the earliness of it all:) Colin also joined us from downstairs.
Rick was in the kitchen making eggs, potatoes, ham while Sarah made sourdough french toast and waffles, and Kendra brought fresh berries. We just all had a nice time together. The kids had a great time playing outside (thank you spring).
The Mother figure wearing her new jewelry that Kaitlyn made for her! The Bomans and Phelps's went in on a new Pioneer Woman crock pot for me, YAY, and cute Gary bought me an adorable butter dish from Orson Gygi. All the kids were gone by noon and then we had a wonderful church meeting (with Colin) and then the 3 of us visited for a long time. It was a nice way to end the day!
