02 August 2020

July Has Come and Gone

Erik is coming home in exactly one month. SEPTEMBER 1! And Nate will enter home MTC the next day AND Kiersten and Jason are going to bless little Ollie that weekend. I swear my kids don't know how to space things out. Everything always seems to happen at once.

I remember so clearly the day we were headed to the MTC to drop Erik off. He was sitting in the back of the van . . .

*Writing that word van gave me a thought that we no longer have a vehicle big enough for all of us to go and pick him up from the airport. Hmmm . . . I guess we'll take two.

. . . sitting there very quiet and contemplative. I'm sure he was thinking of the two-year road ahead of him and how long it all seemed.

It seemed long to me and now here he is so close to coming home. He is currently bracing for another small hurricane. As a precaution all missionaries were moved inland again. This time he got to stay put.

He's become a pro at making ties making one for his entire district, and he's become quite proficient with a crockpot.

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Back in March when schools shut down for less than a 100 cases of COVID-19, I was pretty certain that come August we would be heading back to school in normal fashion or at least somewhat normal. HA HA! Our average COVID numbers are now between 500 and 600 and our school board voted to have us in the classroom Monday through Thursday with Friday being an online day (no kids in the classroom). I'm really not sure how that's going to be any better than simply going to school on Friday since Friday was our half day anyway. This year will be so interesting. I've spent my summer preparing for online. Digitizing a lot of materials and updating my website.

Am I nervous about going back?

Not really.

I have felt calm and peace about the whole thing. 

I read an article by a man who works for Pfizer or some drug company working on a vaccine. He said that normally vaccines take 5 years to roll out to the public. Two years ago some new technology was developed that enabled them to work at a much quicker time frame. God knew what was coming and prepared a way for us to not have to deal with this forever. I'm confident we'll have a vaccine sometime next year.

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Kiersten hitched a ride from Colorado and stayed with us for a week. We sure enjoyed having our baby back.

When he made it back home, he got shots he wasn't too happy about.


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Five miles into my run, preparing for another half marathon, I hit the ground hard. The first time I've done that in 14 years since I started running. Instead of limping home, I decided to run since it would be faster. I found that plastic wrap worked MUCH BETTER than any bandage would. It kept the wounds moist, allowing the new skin to begin it's growth without a lot of scabbing.


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Alex wanted to go backpacking this summer. A few days before the 4th, we headed out. It seemed EVERYONE, camper and non-campers alike, had the same idea . . . escape to the mountains. Luckily not many were backpackers so we had the lake to ourselves. We truly live in a very diverse, beautiful state.





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Nate celebrated his 18th birthday by starting a new, 40-hour/week job. It's been hard for him this summer in the employment department. He was doing tennis clinics until they shut those down early due to a neighbor of one of the kids testing positive with the coronavirus. He's been doing yardwork for various people and was happy to get something for this last month. We went suit shopping and today was his "farewell" talk at church. He and cousin Jeremy spoke together in all three sessions of church while Carl Jackson, whom Erik spoke with at his farewell, reported on his mission in the first two. Afterwards both of these cousins were given the Melchezedek priesthood and ordained as elders. We chose to not invite anyone other than grandparents. Usually farewells are a big to-do with some socializing afterwards. COVID-19 has made gatherings so hard. But this I know: two years from now when Nate and Jeremy are reporting their missions, this virus won't be a hindrance to who we can and can't have gather with us. However, with the way the world is in upheaval, it won't surprise me if it's something new we are learning to combat.



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One week I took Alex and Ian to Ferron for a few days to help mom and dad out watching Angie's kids, but especially to help lift Makayla in and out of her wheelchair. 


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Then I took Al and Ash to Logan for some puppy heaven. Natalie's house is always a favorite when there are puppies around.


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The Utah Jazz have started playing ball again with a very shortened season. All 22 teams playing have been quarantined to an area in Orlando. There are no actual fans to cheer them on. This is the one an only birthday (most likely) where Nate got to watch a Jazz game on his July birthday.


Bring on August!

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