March and COVID-19

March 2020 is one for the books. Literally. The time we are living will one day be in history books.

It started out normal. Like any other March. Pleasant weather, moments of fun and laughter.

We even made a trip to the library for the first time in months. We still have the library books we checked out that day 7 weeks later. We played with the toys there without a second thought.

We went for a walk with our dear friends, the Searles. We enjoy their company and miss getting to see them! Rusty does still make occasional visits, although it is recommended that he not.

Maya had a well-check for her 7th year of life. I was able to take Dallin and Lydia with me without fear, and after her check up we went to McDonald's for lunch and got to sit inside the restaurant to eat. Then Maya went back to school to attend the last week of school for the entire school year.

We went on bike rides after school to enjoy the beautiful weather. This bulldozer was greatly admired!

And then the weirdest thing happened and I think all of us had this emotion in our souls. Beginning March 14th a new protocol called "social distancing" went into effect. This meant that we were not to be in groups larger than 10 people (outside of immediate family), and a 6 foot distance was highly recommended. This was only the beginning. Why? COVID-19. Some person in the Wuhan village in China got sick. This sickness came from an animal and is called a novel virus, as it has not existed before now; it is highly contagious and it is wiping people out by the thousands. In March it started to infiltrate Colorado, while other nations had already gone into lock down mode. More on that in a moment. The governor quickly made changes to our normal daily routines, including the social distancing, to try to slow the spread for the sake of hospital space. 

The nation banned any indoor gatherings of more than 50 people. Guess what that meant? Church is on an at-home basis until further notice. We still get dressed up and try to start church by 10 AM. Ryan blesses and passes the sacrament to our family and we hold a short primary lesson and singing time. All in our home. The first Sunday we did it, the Spirit was remarkably strong. I am glad to have had that in such an uncertain time.

The schools stretched out their spring break for an additional week. That has since been changed to in-home schooling for the remainder of the school year. Jared came to stay with us for a few days after his UNC classes all went on-line and he was trying to figure out what to do.

The state has taken many more drastic measures in the past three weeks. First they closed all non-essential businesses. Ryan's work became strictly remote. This included restaurants (we can still order take-out or delivery), hair and nail salons, libraries, clothing stores, entertainment like sports, museums, zoo, movie theaters, etc. A few days after that a statewide stay-at-home order was issued through April 26th. This means that we can only leave our home for essential errands, such as grocery shopping, doctor visits, Home Depot (thank goodness given that we are finishing the basement), post office, etc. Now we are highly recommended to wear face masks any time we leave the house, which we do. Ryan and I were supposed to go on a trip to Europe in May and now that can't happen. In fact, airports are ghost towns now. I had signed Dallin up for a farm class in April and that didn't get to happen. People went absolutely bonkers in their need to get to the grocery store. Shelves were picked clean, and the hardest thing to find was toilet paper. It is getting back to normal in that regard, but the toilet paper and pasta was still completely gone at King Soopers when I went last week.

The kids are handling this VERY well. We spend a lot of time outside when the weather is nice. They haven't gotten in the car in over a month. We have to do all of their schooling at home, with the help of their teachers supplying assignments to complete throughout the week. Their dance class is now done through Dropbox videos, and who knows when the recital will happen (supposed to be end of May). I have become Maya's piano teacher for the duration.

I am doing my best to provide fun activities for my children through all of this. So far, so good.

Home Depot was giving away little kits for kids and Ryan picked up a few.

Dallin and Lydia are really bonding. They play together often and she loves giving him snuggles.

Lots of outside time! I already have a tan line from my watch!

For the first two weeks of home school I had to create the curriculum and schedule. It went really well! My kids thrive so hard on a schedule. I made sure to make one that would fit all of our needs. This is Maya working on math.

In our first art class at home the girls created these Sand Art creatures.

One day we went on a bike ride/walk on a trail. It was nice to have Daddy with us!

Using creative minds to create things!

We all worked hard to get the basement ready for carpet. 

Watching Lydia's little mind working is such a joy.

Dallin still loves playing with his train track. I'm so glad!

For our second week of school the girls made dioramas. They did a great job, and I loved helping them!

We don't know what the next weeks or even months are going to be like for us. Will the pool open? Can we go visit Ben and Sarah and their new baby? Can we go back to school in the fall? How long do we have to "stay-at-home"? When can we see our friends and family again? We have no idea. A huge concern is the impact this is having on the economy. With so many businesses closed there are more people unemployed than during the Great Depression. The government even sent out stimulus checks to every family in the nation. 

Like I said, this is a time for the books. I am looking forward to things feeling normal again, and I hope it's soon. Until then, we are doing okay waiting this out. There are still so many things to be grateful for: Ryan's job, our kids' ages (no really hard school work that I have to try to figure out with them, they aren't begging to see their friends, they are happy to be home with Mom and Dad), we can still have church even if the setting is different, technology keeps us connected to people we can't see in person right now, to name a few. 

Only time will tell what the future holds....