March 2020

Let's pick up with March, where we ended in February!

Tyler was in Philadelphia for a work trip! And he got to hang out with his Mom at the temple!

(selfie to prove that Tyler and his mom were hanging out!)

(Just Micah and I, interrupting Tyler's trip with a selfie of our own!)
Tyler took his co-workers to famous spots around Philadelphia!

He is the champion, my friend!

They even visited the Liberty Bell. And look, you can tell this is pre-Corona because they are touching and don't have masks on! In public!
He had a great trip and learned a lot. We were super happy to have Daddy come home.

The weekend after he came home, we squeezed in a fun, quick trip to the Butterfly Biosphere at Thanksgiving point. 

I took this picture of my littles, having no idea that the next weekend we'd start feeling a little like bugs in a jar...

I thought the strangest thing that would happen in March was this visit from Toothless the Dragon and his Pegasus friend. I was so wrong.

Jack had his school band concert! He rocked. The music for advanced band was so beautiful.

Sheridan got to participate in the DanceSport competition at BYU through her school ballroom team. They did a great job and brought home bronze.

That's her in the front. Sheridan has LOVED ballroom dancing and was praying that they would expand opportunities for ballroom at her school (spoiler: they did!).

And Eliza finally had enough hair for pony tails! 

And that is where "normal" ended in March. Because the 13th, we learned that COVID had spread enough that we were shutting down. School was moving to distance learning. People were asked to stay home unless going out for essential purposes (groceries, healthcare workers, essential medical appointments, etc). Everything was cancelled. It felt like things came to a screeching halt.

You'd think that when everything shut down in March for COVID-19, I'd have kept up on life more easily. But the demands of everyone learning how to work distance learning (because the 5 kids in school weren't the only ones on a steep learning curve!) and juggling a preschooler and toddler who wanted the same level of attention they were used to day in and day out while I was trying to help keep a 1st grader with ADHD on task without a firm schedule...It was rough. And everyone was home all. the. time. It was a very, very strange time.

But there were some good things. 

Lots of time with family.

Lots and lots of family walks along the Provo River.

Lots of time with Daddy! He worked from home, so a lunchtime walk was a great idea.

And the river trail is so stunningly beautiful, even before everything wakes up for spring.

Sheridan had some fun class assignments, like making us crepes. YUM! There was a lot of baking and cooking during the shutdown.

We had plenty of time for family games and learned to play Pandemic. It seemed appropriate...

There was lots of time to play outside.

We were so grateful that this pandemic hit while it was warming up. And so grateful we have a big backyard!

Eliza even developed her own quarantine styles!

Not to be outdone, Tyler also updated his style for shutdown.

Which begged the question:

We were grateful for the internet. There were so many authors, artists, and teachers who put together some quarantine activities online. We listened to Mo Willems's stories, created art with McHarper Manor, and exercised with Cosmic Kids. 

Those activities kept up busy in really great ways.

Little people kept things interesting, even when it was too chilly outside.

We also got to embark into the world of home church.

Grammy had sent Eliza a beautiful new frock just before everything shut down, and she was so happy to wear it at home church!

Home church was a huge blessing for our family. We all took turns giving talks about Christ, we took turns playing piano (even Tyler and I took turns, and we can't really play), leading music and conducting the meetings. We feasted together on the Word. 

Our kids taught us, and we learned through the Spirit. 
So while March wasn't all fun and games, and there were some really, really hard and disappointing experiences, we were blessed.

And there was always time for walks along the river.

And if those walks were the only time we felt on top of things, I guess there's a time and season for everything!