The Best Things About the Quarantine

Our two April trips, first to Mexico City for Luke's wedding, and second, our trip to London to visit Chelsea, both have been cancelled a couple of weeks ago.  No traveling for us like we had been planning for so long.  Big bummer for sure.   But then Chelsea and Spencer decided to hurry and pack up their belongings and high-tail it out of the UK.  They were able to get a flight booked, and thankfully it didn't get cancelled.  They are now living in our house until Spencer's job starts in July at Whirlpool in Michigan.  Since they were traveling internationally and passing through major airports, we felt it best to have them quarantine in our basement for two weeks.  It was really hard to do that.  We wanted to interact with them.  We didn't like not being able to hug them and to wipe down things like door knobs that they had touched. I would text Chelsea and ask what food they would like, and I would make it for them and deliver it to the landing of the stairs.  Well, that lasted three days.

After praying about it, we felt okay about allowing them to be upstairs with us, and that feels so much better.  We all are keeping things clean and washing our hands.  I've been to the grocery store several times, but other than that and some walks around the neighborhood, we have all stayed home for days and days.  Matt comes home from work and strips off his germy clothes and takes a shower.  So far, we are all healthy!  The other wonderful thing about the quarantine is having Emma home from BYU.  She, also, is having to finish the semester online which is not an easy thing.  It's hard for her to not have the lifestyle that she has so much loved these last seven months.  She misses her roommates and boyfriend so much.  But we feel so much more at peace having her safely nested in our home.  God is working his miracles in bringing so many people to their homes to hear His voice at General Conference this coming weekend.  We can't wait!

Our ever creative Emma designed her very own PPE (personal protective equipment) so she could go down to Provo to visit her friends.  In the end, she decided to just wear a N95 face mask.

Here we are having "home church" and singing a hymn.  It's been really wonderful to be able to partake of the sacrament in our home.  Look at little Piper with her arms folded.

 Some more funnies...

A New Kind of March Madness Begins

Several days after coming home from St. George, COVID-19 (corona virus) decided to make it's debut in the United States.  And boy, did it ever make an entrance!  Life changed pretty darn quick for everyone.  Literally the whole world is sheltering in place.  "Social distancing" is a daily word everybody knows.  It naturally makes people panic and rush the grocery stores.  Toilet paper and water were the first things a lot of people hoarded.  Yes, that is a good thing to have in storage but not necessarily the first things people should have been buying for preparation.  The grocery stores have seemed to recover from the initial onslaught of buying up everything in sight.  As long as the trucks are able to keep up their normal deliveries and as long as the public can go to the stores for essentials, then we will all be good.  I feel like we have decent food storage, but I certainly could be more prepared.  I will keep adding to my pantry and freezer and do what I can.  I didn't get a picture of what some of the store shelves and lines looked like in the first week or two.  I was able to avoid going shopping since we had food at home to get us through the rush.  I still haven't gone to Walmart or Costco.  But here is a pic I snapped of the lines at Sprouts.

At the very beginning of this pandemic, Matt had to don himself in PPE (personal protective equipment) and go out to a car where a patient got swabbed for the virus.  As of right now, they aren't doing testing at the instacares.  Test kits are few and far between.  They have special testing areas at various hospitals.  He does his best to stay protected when he's in the clinic, and he tries to only allow the necessary people to actually come into the clinic.  A lot of stuff can be done on the phone or out at the curb.  When he comes home, he takes all his clothes off in the laundry room and then showers.

Then on Wednesday, March 18, we had a 5.7 earthquake here in Salt Lake City centered in Magna, only twelve miles from our house.  I was home by myself when it happened at 7:10 in the morning.  Matt had left at 6:15 to work in Provo for the day.  It was pretty darn scary, and the aftershocks kept me on edge all day.  

There was structural damage to a lot of buildings downtown and of course in Magna.  Angel Moroni's trumpet on the Salt Lake Temple broke off!  A bit freaky, really.  Thankfully, nobody was hurt from the quake.  But it certainly got everybody's attention that morning to get more prepared.  What a wake up call!  God is speaking loud and clear.  Here are pictures of the visible proof that our house had a good shaking.  I'm surprised that more didn't fall over.

My brother Erik got out his "water Bob" that our mom gave each of us probably 16 years ago.  Now we know that they work great.  I still have mine and hope to never have to use it.  

Our church gatherings have stopped for the time being.  No gathering whatsoever.  Temples have all closed down.  Many missionaries are returning home from around the world or are sheltering in place for now.  It really is so surreal.  It seems like it's all fake, but it truly is happening.  Normal society has basically stopped or drastically slowed down.  No pro, college, or community sports.  No public entertainment like theaters or museums, etc.  Restaurants have to close down, some can still do delivery or take out.  Schools are all closed and probably won't reopen for weeks or maybe this school year is over for everybody.  Online schooling for college students.  Homeschooling for everyone else.  Many people have lost their jobs.  It's gonna get uglier before it's gonna get better.  

 Our YSA friend, Erin, did this funny wedding picture with her new husband.  They were able to have their sealing happen, but their reception had to be postponed.  But even since this happened for them last weekend, the temples have now had to temporarily stop all previously planned live ordinances for people.

 This is a picture I got off Facebook of one of the planes the Church chartered to bring home all the non native missionaries out of the Philippines.  They don't look very happy at all.

I'm still able to go out on my morning walks, thankfully! The gym I've been going to twice a week has had to close down for now.  So I'm so glad I can get outside and enjoy moving my body.  Here's the temple I get to walk passed on my walks.  So beautiful and brings me peace.  

Keeping the humor...

Quick St. George Trip

Matt and I got away for two nights in St. George.  We stayed at the Inn on The Cliff and enjoyed a beautiful view off our balcony.  There was a full moon the first night, and then the next morning, we had a gorgeous sunrise.

After Matt got a little bit of morning golf done, we spent the afternoon at Snow Canyon State Park.  In the evening, we went to see the new Jane Austen movie "Emma".  What a interesting area this state park is to explore.  We only did short hikes, but still had lots of fun together.  We started with a short walk up to Jenny's Canyon.  It's a slot canyon only maybe a hundred feet long.  But it was our first to be in, so it cool enough for us. 

Then we found the Pioneer Names trail where some guys had signed their names with wagon wheel grease in the 1800s.  

The last hike was a bit longer and super easy called Johnson's Canyon, and luckily we were there the week before it closed for the season.  It leads up to an arch.  

On the second day, after a yummy breakfast at the Bear Paw Cafe, we drove out of town and headed for Kolob Canyon.  It's part of Zion National Park, but it's accessed right off of I-15 north of St. George.  Matt had never driven through this part before, but I had when I was around age 19 with my parents and younger siblings.  Way back then in 1991ish, I had named a rock formation "Butt Crack Canyon",  and we've always remembered that funny name.  I finally got to see it again, and pointed it out to Matt.  What an incredible place that area is!  So amazing.  

My Finished Paint-By-Number

This was such a fun project for me, and I can't wait to start on another one!  This took me almost six months to complete.  I usually painted a couple times a week for short time frames... maybe ten minuets up to an hour or so.  I loved being so detailed, and I am glad that I have a steady hand.

We Are Light Keepers

My mom came with me to an all women's session called Light Keepers at RootsTech at the end of February.  It was on a Friday afternoon from 1-5 pm at the Salt Palace Convention Center.  We learned some ways of how we can do family history work in our everyday lives.  It was interesting and inspirational at times.  I'd like to continue to feel the excitement of this kind of work more often.  The day was great because I got to spend it with my mom.  And having my dad join us for lunch at Cafe Zupas was an added bonus.