2020, March 30-April 12

Another couple of weeks have passed since we've been under stay-at-home conditions. In that time, Hallie has been to Westside most days, the kids stopped having gym at AirTime and transitioned to gym at home, and Mike has been on campus a couple of times to teach his students remotely. Zoom has become our go-to teleconferencing app, and we all have had way too much screen time.

Spring has continued with blossoms galore at our local school and around the neighborhood. Eliza's class planted these tulips back in the fall.

Yes, we definitely get outside, but we try to keep our distance from others as much as possible.

Hallie even made it to the hair salon. As not everyone in the US has this ability at the moment, we're grateful.

Gym from home brings its own opportunities and challenges. Normally our living room would be well-sized, but it seems a bit small for active conditioning.

The neighbor kids definitely see no problem hanging out on the jungle gym near our house. We, on the other hand . . . .

Ms. Nielsen got hold of Hallie's cell phone. Ha ha! Joke's on you, Mrs. N!

More workouts via social media.

Our cute friend is waiting for a Kidney Transplant and so we participated in a fundraiser for her by eating at Papa Johns. It was amazing that Papa Johns was willing to do this during this hard time.

As part of Hallie's work, we all got together as a family to do a school service project to show our appreciation for teachers.

Our awesome PTA had this fun sign put up for our Teachers and Staff. We do really love our school.

Grandpa O. sent some fun projects for the kids.

With Easter coming up, we decorated eggs on General Conference weekend.

Eliza tried training Fergus using little treats. He was pretty good about being trained, and she only got a few scratches. This cat is pretty good to Eliza for someone who does crazy stuff to this cat he is very patient with her.

This scene is becoming all too common in the afternoons.

Eliza has taken to drawing heraldic lion tattoos on herself. Eliza is most proud of the blood.

This screen. Multiple times a day. Mike's work, the kids' gym, chats with the family, all on Zoom.

"Y'all can leave and let me have some peace anytime you want," says Fergus.

We practiced making masks until ones we ordered arrive.

Some cloths work better than others.

Landon made banana bread. Yumm-o!

On Easter Sunday, the weather was perfect for flying kites! So, we went out and enjoyed a couple of hours outdoors. Landon got his kite caught in a tree, but fortunately we were able to rescue it using some ingenuity and teamwork.

We also plastered each other with cascarones.

Fergus welcomed us to come out and visit him in his realm. He really wasn't sure what to make of our strange antics.

2020, March 16-29

And here we are in the stay-at-home phase of 2020. Despite the fact that we did school (both Westside and BYU) and church from home, the kids still had gym at the gym, at least until the end of March with practice modified to promote "social distancing," one of many new terms we've been introduced to in the couple of months or so.

Staying at home meant more time with LEGOs.

And spring is finally in the air!

We still got to have fun with Lily. Landon was a great babysitter to Lily and was very imaginative in his play with her.

Alicia and Hallie broke their social distancing and went to a landscape center in Orem where they put planter baskets together. One with flowers and the other with herbs and lettuce.

In order to get out and enjoy the spring weather, Mike and Eliza drew on the driveway with sidewalk chalk.

Social distancing hasn't gone quite perfectly.

One day Hallie had to work and so Mike and Landon babysat Lily and Mike took this cutie on a walk. Eliza wants to know why we have so many pictures of Lily. She is so cute. Why not?

A major change we have all had to adjust to is doing school from home. Our teachers at Westside did an amazing job turning things around between the Friday school got out and the Wednesday we started again at home. Mike and/or Hallie and the kids spend most mornings with one or both of the kids on Google Classroom reviewing the materials their teachers post. Some days are easier than others. As parents, it has been enlightening to see our kids as students. Overall, as Mike has been working from his office at home, he has spent quite a bit of time with the kids while Hallie has worked at Westside. Hallie takes over in the afternoon.

Staying at home is not without its stressors. We're around each other a lot, so we don't always get needed privacy, and while we go out for walks or bike rides, having gym is a welcome break from being indoors.

Among the many new (and potentially pointless) skills the children have learned during this new adventure, Landon has mastered the Rubik's Cube. He's can go from scrambled to solved in under two minutes.

2020, March 1-15

The first two weeks of March were the last "normal" weeks of the year. The weather finally started getting warm enough for Eliza to ride outdoors.

Eliza competed at the Epic Invitational in Draper, Utah. We sat with most of the parents from her ream and her old Coach Marissa.

After Eliza's meet Mike headed back to Provo to teach and Hallie took the kids to the Ogden Fairgrounds to Landon's State Meet. As the day progressed Hallie was feeling worse and it felt like the longest day. Landon's meet was two days and so Mike took the kids the second day so Hallie could rest. 

By Sunday, Landon was feeling sick. Mike took Eliza to church to give her talk. Turns out this was also our last week at church due to the stay-at-home measures that started getting implemented the following week.

Granny O. sent cards for St. Paddy's Day, adding to the greenery in our window sill.

Grandpa O. sent some politically-themed building sets including a wall and a border guard set.

After Hallie and Landon got sick, Mike also came down with whatever they had along with the same ear ache he'd had since back in February, which a third doctor diagnosed as a collapsed Eustachian tube requiring yet different medication. Was what the illness that got the three of us at the end here? Was it Corona? A cold? Allergies? Who knows? Regardless, by Friday, March 13, we were well into the nation-wide drama around the COVID-19 pandemic. By the end of February, Hallie reported that people had started hoarding toilet paper and water from local stores. By March 6, Governor Herbert had declared a state of emergency, and confirmed cases were being reported. Church meetings were canceled on March 12, and March 13 was the kids' last day at school preceding a "soft closure" of indeterminate length.