The beginning of March was full of those ordinary days we are taking for granted now. School. Work. Friends. Geoff's brother Christian came into town for a friend's family event and he, Geoff and Em were able to go to the temple. It was a fun, quick Christian siting!
I went to St. George for my mom's birthday. It was so nice to have so much time with her. We took a trip to Las Vegas for an appointment and spent two full days watching my nephews Tag and Dooz in a baseball tournament. (Somehow I didn't end up with a picture with my mom!)
Adele and Ceci drove to St. George and then went on to Carlsbad California for a total of a day and a couple hours. They slept in the car near the beach, cooking oats on the camp stove in the morning. It was a bit chilly, but that didn't stop them from playing in the waves and loving their adventure.
There were hints of a rapid-spreading virus in faraway places. A few days later one of Geoff's friends in Hong Kong said schools were canceled for the rest of the year. What? I went to the store and loaded up on toilet paper (thank goodness) and food, just in case. And just a week or so later the world closed. Literally. It happened so fast it was a bit hard to get our minds around. At first we thought it would just be for a couple weeks,. We didn't fully grasp the social distancing concept. We met our friends for a hike on Antelope Island.
But within days the realities set in that the prescribed "social distancing" was going to last a long while.
Tennie came home from BYU and will finish her sophomore year online. Her much anticipated, month-long biking trip through France will not happen. Adele will finish her senior year at home. No graduation ceremony. Ceci is doing school online too, and is sorely missing her climbing team (although they are holding two online workouts a week). Geoff set up an office in the living room.
On day 4 of being at home we woke up to the house shaking. A 5.7 earthquake. I had never experienced an earthquake before. The walls were violently shaking, the books were falling off the shelves, the hallway pictures shattered on the floor. And then all that was left was dizziness. Suddenly, for me, corona was obsolete. Rumors soon spread on social media that maybe this was going to trigger the BIG SHAKE due to Utah. That freaked us all out a bit, as being on the 6th floor is a little unnerving when the earth is moving! We threw everything we could grab in the car and drove to Em and Mike's to let come what may. At least we would be on ground level! After an hour of calming down and reading that the rumors were just rumors, we returned home to a mess of a house. We spent the next week with our 72-hour kits strewn out all over the living room floor as we assessed what needed to be updated; the size 4 underwear gave us a hint that were overdue!
We ordered food and water and meds that had expired. We updated to some more modern equipment (such as new and improved headlamps). I put all of our important documents securely online. These were projects on my to-do list, but they immediately took top priority.
The earthquake really freaked me out. It took me a week to get a good night sleep. I had to talk myself through the reality that one does not have control in an earthquake. So I threw all my energies into being prepared, something I COULD control, and that was mentally and emotionally helpful. For two weeks we felt multiple earthquakes a day, and at night we were all woken up at least 2-3 times to the feel of our beds rocking. The 6th floor. I think I might be ready to move.
Poor Mila, every time the earth shook she ran for cover. She was stressed and on alert for the first week and then she seemed to get used to it.
Back to Corona. Strangely, the social isolation and everyone being home was familiar. This was the homeschooling life we lived for so many years. Geoff and I loved it. We loved not having any outside demands on our time. Even church was canceled. But a sign on a bedroom door told us the girls didn't share our excitement.
It was really cool to see the world's reaction. Videos of Italians singing and playing songs together from their balconies, musicians giving online concerts, late night show hosts filming shows from home, funny videos about toilet paper being sold like drugs and parents wanting breaks from their kids and the follies of working from home. Since most missionaries around the world have been sent home, yet they are all quarantined for two weeks and can't see extended family or friends, those family and friends are driving by the house in an organized parade with signs on the cars and yells of "welcome home" out the car windows. My cousin was sad her daughter was missing her senior dance, so the family dressed up in their nicest attire and held a formal dance for her at home. So much goodness and creativity. One thing is comforting in all this madness. We are all in it together.
On the 22nd Tennie turned 20. We had a weekend of fun planned, and then we were scrambling to figure out how to celebrate it meaningful way. We coordinated a virtual birthday party on ZOOM with Geoff's siblings. Everyone showed up before we got on and sang happy birthday when we showed up on the screen. We played a round of Who Knows the Birthday Girl like we did at Adele's party. Everyone sent what they love about her on the family text strand. She felt loved. And then later that afternoon Em said she and her kids were coming up for a little 6'-away party. They set up blankets on the park across the street and had a "present picnic" with 20 wrapped gifts for her. This effort made Tennie's birthday. She'll remember the kindness forever.
We organized a surprise ZOOM birthday party for our bishop. It actually worked as a surprise and he was so touched at so many people wishing him happiness.
It is good to have so many sharing light because the disappointments are so real. Weddings, trips, graduations, THE OLYMPICS, missions, study abroad, and everything else in between is canceled or postponed. As time goes on the stress and fear seem to be mounting. How long will this last? How bad will the economy get? Will the world ever be the same? Why isn't the government responding more proactively? Fingers are pointed, conspiracy theories are brewing, domestic violence has spiked. What unknown consequences will this have? And some still think it is no worse than the annual flu and why are we making such a big deal out of it? They aren't taking the social distancing recommendation quite as seriously.
I seem to spend a lot of time cleaning up the kitchen and cooking. The food disappears rapidly with everyone home for all three meals. We bake and play games and watch movies and take lots of walks. Tennie and Adele made candles one day. The girls painted by candlelight one night. We have a Sunday ZOOM call with Geoff's family.
Our at-home church sometimes gets a little theatrical (like the good ol' days).
Geoff and I are reading scriptures and praying together every morning, something we haven't done in a long time. It is strengthening. The weather has been cool and wet, but Spring is making its way in and we're looking forward to warmer temperatures.
Exciting news of the month is Britt & Hunter's IV treatment worked and they are expecting twins!!! Too bad they both lost their jobs this week. The good news still overshadows the not-so-good-news, though. More Davis twins!
We're in this for another month or two, at least, so I'll check back in in a few more weeks.
I went to St. George for my mom's birthday. It was so nice to have so much time with her. We took a trip to Las Vegas for an appointment and spent two full days watching my nephews Tag and Dooz in a baseball tournament. (Somehow I didn't end up with a picture with my mom!)
Adele and Ceci drove to St. George and then went on to Carlsbad California for a total of a day and a couple hours. They slept in the car near the beach, cooking oats on the camp stove in the morning. It was a bit chilly, but that didn't stop them from playing in the waves and loving their adventure.
There were hints of a rapid-spreading virus in faraway places. A few days later one of Geoff's friends in Hong Kong said schools were canceled for the rest of the year. What? I went to the store and loaded up on toilet paper (thank goodness) and food, just in case. And just a week or so later the world closed. Literally. It happened so fast it was a bit hard to get our minds around. At first we thought it would just be for a couple weeks,. We didn't fully grasp the social distancing concept. We met our friends for a hike on Antelope Island.
But within days the realities set in that the prescribed "social distancing" was going to last a long while.
Tennie came home from BYU and will finish her sophomore year online. Her much anticipated, month-long biking trip through France will not happen. Adele will finish her senior year at home. No graduation ceremony. Ceci is doing school online too, and is sorely missing her climbing team (although they are holding two online workouts a week). Geoff set up an office in the living room.
On day 4 of being at home we woke up to the house shaking. A 5.7 earthquake. I had never experienced an earthquake before. The walls were violently shaking, the books were falling off the shelves, the hallway pictures shattered on the floor. And then all that was left was dizziness. Suddenly, for me, corona was obsolete. Rumors soon spread on social media that maybe this was going to trigger the BIG SHAKE due to Utah. That freaked us all out a bit, as being on the 6th floor is a little unnerving when the earth is moving! We threw everything we could grab in the car and drove to Em and Mike's to let come what may. At least we would be on ground level! After an hour of calming down and reading that the rumors were just rumors, we returned home to a mess of a house. We spent the next week with our 72-hour kits strewn out all over the living room floor as we assessed what needed to be updated; the size 4 underwear gave us a hint that were overdue!
We ordered food and water and meds that had expired. We updated to some more modern equipment (such as new and improved headlamps). I put all of our important documents securely online. These were projects on my to-do list, but they immediately took top priority.
The earthquake really freaked me out. It took me a week to get a good night sleep. I had to talk myself through the reality that one does not have control in an earthquake. So I threw all my energies into being prepared, something I COULD control, and that was mentally and emotionally helpful. For two weeks we felt multiple earthquakes a day, and at night we were all woken up at least 2-3 times to the feel of our beds rocking. The 6th floor. I think I might be ready to move.
Poor Mila, every time the earth shook she ran for cover. She was stressed and on alert for the first week and then she seemed to get used to it.
Back to Corona. Strangely, the social isolation and everyone being home was familiar. This was the homeschooling life we lived for so many years. Geoff and I loved it. We loved not having any outside demands on our time. Even church was canceled. But a sign on a bedroom door told us the girls didn't share our excitement.
It was really cool to see the world's reaction. Videos of Italians singing and playing songs together from their balconies, musicians giving online concerts, late night show hosts filming shows from home, funny videos about toilet paper being sold like drugs and parents wanting breaks from their kids and the follies of working from home. Since most missionaries around the world have been sent home, yet they are all quarantined for two weeks and can't see extended family or friends, those family and friends are driving by the house in an organized parade with signs on the cars and yells of "welcome home" out the car windows. My cousin was sad her daughter was missing her senior dance, so the family dressed up in their nicest attire and held a formal dance for her at home. So much goodness and creativity. One thing is comforting in all this madness. We are all in it together.
On the 22nd Tennie turned 20. We had a weekend of fun planned, and then we were scrambling to figure out how to celebrate it meaningful way. We coordinated a virtual birthday party on ZOOM with Geoff's siblings. Everyone showed up before we got on and sang happy birthday when we showed up on the screen. We played a round of Who Knows the Birthday Girl like we did at Adele's party. Everyone sent what they love about her on the family text strand. She felt loved. And then later that afternoon Em said she and her kids were coming up for a little 6'-away party. They set up blankets on the park across the street and had a "present picnic" with 20 wrapped gifts for her. This effort made Tennie's birthday. She'll remember the kindness forever.
We organized a surprise ZOOM birthday party for our bishop. It actually worked as a surprise and he was so touched at so many people wishing him happiness.
It is good to have so many sharing light because the disappointments are so real. Weddings, trips, graduations, THE OLYMPICS, missions, study abroad, and everything else in between is canceled or postponed. As time goes on the stress and fear seem to be mounting. How long will this last? How bad will the economy get? Will the world ever be the same? Why isn't the government responding more proactively? Fingers are pointed, conspiracy theories are brewing, domestic violence has spiked. What unknown consequences will this have? And some still think it is no worse than the annual flu and why are we making such a big deal out of it? They aren't taking the social distancing recommendation quite as seriously.
I seem to spend a lot of time cleaning up the kitchen and cooking. The food disappears rapidly with everyone home for all three meals. We bake and play games and watch movies and take lots of walks. Tennie and Adele made candles one day. The girls painted by candlelight one night. We have a Sunday ZOOM call with Geoff's family.
Our at-home church sometimes gets a little theatrical (like the good ol' days).
Geoff and I are reading scriptures and praying together every morning, something we haven't done in a long time. It is strengthening. The weather has been cool and wet, but Spring is making its way in and we're looking forward to warmer temperatures.
Exciting news of the month is Britt & Hunter's IV treatment worked and they are expecting twins!!! Too bad they both lost their jobs this week. The good news still overshadows the not-so-good-news, though. More Davis twins!
We're in this for another month or two, at least, so I'll check back in in a few more weeks.
