God’s Love

 On Sunday nights I’ve started asking the kids to share how they felt God’s love the past week. Their answers have been pretty amazing and I need to do better at documenting them. We started the week of the primary program and Luke raise his hand and said, “I felt the Holy Spirit when I was singing the primary songs.” It was so sweet and genuine. I hope it helps them look for blessings every day and realize that God loves them so much.

Kade is leaving for a few days on a choir trip. We will all miss him a lot but maybe not as much as Luke will!

At-Home Church

Today may have been out last at home church meeting as a family since we plan to head back to church next week for full two hour blocks. The ward leadership has been busy preparing and I’m excited to be back teaching the primary children! It will be good and I hope it all goes well.

Ryder finally got to play in the snow today. He wanted to all day yesterday but he was too busy with his friend. It was -1 degree but he still played out there for a while and Luke had fun joining in.

Tenley taught us a great lesson. She always prepares so well and really cares about giving a good lesson.

We made fondue tonight to eat while watched the super bowl. It was delicious and made for a fun evening!

The Chosen

We’ve been watching The Chosen as a family every Sunday and I love it so much! I feel like we’re all learning so much more about Jesus. 

We had a good Sunday service at home. Kade taught and helped pass the sacrament. The kids also spent a lot of time drawing. They even played outside in the nice weather. 

Best Friends

Ryder and Luke are the best of friends. As are Kade and Tenley. It’s nice that they each seem to have someone that they play really well with. Ryder and Luke played together a lot today. They have such a fun imagination. I’m thinking of moving them in to share a room together soon. As long as it doesn’t mess with Luke’s nap time I think it would be great!

Mae had church at home today and Brad shared a lesson about the new youth theme for the year. I can’t believe Kade is in the youth program now! He can’t believe it either especially since we’re not fully back to church yet. But I hope we can fill the role as his youth leaders as best as possible.

Christmas Time

It’s so much fun to have our Christmas decorations up and Christmas music on. I’m loving it! Ryder taught us a lesson today about the birth of Jesus. It was a short and sweet lesson. I asked him if he wanted to share his testimony at the end and he asked what a testimony is. I told him to just share what he believes. He said that He believes in Jesus and that he believes his family lives him. It was sweet.

Brad and I had to be at church this morning, him to conduct and me to play the organ. It was just a zoom meeting though so our kids had to stay home. Kade did a great job taking care of the crew at home. 

At-Home Church

We’re back to at-home church again for a time. The Covid cases are rising so our Stake President decided it was best to cancel for the rest of the month at least. Brad still had a baby blessing to attend and with our Bishop out of town with his daughter having surgery in Seattle, he and the other counselor are doing tithing settlement. But we still had nice meeting as a family. Kade taught a great lesson about being grateful and recognizing our blessings.

The kids are back in a Lego phase again. Even Luke is getting interested in them! At least it keeps them all busy.

Zoom Church

We drove home from Utah today and we’re able to listen and watch church along the way. It was pretty cool and I’m glad we had service for that.

We made great time and made it home in about 8 hours. The car holds so much for fuel and so we’re able to go much farther. We just stopped once today.

Luke and Ryder went straight for the trail when we got home and then Tenley and Ryder played with play dough the rest of the night. 

We had such a fun trip and we’re so glad we went!

Luke in Boots

We got to have church at home today which was nice. We also played Monopoly twice and Brad won both times. The poor kids want to beat him so badly.

We discovered that Luke fits into the cowboy boots that are hand me downs from the Simmons and he loves them. We recently watch Shrek and Luke loves Puss in boots so now we call him Luke in boots. He never wants to take them off and he even wanted them on over his pajamas today lol. It’s adorable!

Sunday at Home

Many of our friends and families have headed back to church but we still haven’t. These relaxing Sundays at home are amazing and I’m trying to eat them up while I can. The kids played legos so well together before we started our family church meeting. Brad have us a great lesson today on Alma dealing with Korihor. We grilled steak for a yummy dinner. And then this evening we had fun catching up with family on video chat.

At Home Church

Have I mentioned how much I love at home church? It’s so simple, so easy, so carefree. I love the easy going morning as opposed to rushing out of the house. I love teaching my kids and hearing their thoughts as we learn together. I love the quiet, intimate sacrament meeting we have together without having to worry our little two year old is bugging someone else who is trying to feel the spirit. I just love it. There are things I miss about going to church with our ward, but I know that this special at home family church time is temporary and may not happen again so I’m loving it even more. Tenley taught us about the importance of keeping a record and we read through some of our blog books. I love all the memories that we have stored away.

After church we planted our garden! It is beautiful and I forgot to take a picture so I will have to add it tomorrow.

Nice Neighbors

Day 42

Ryder taught us a lesson on trusting God. He dresses up like King Benjamin to do so and it was awesome. He bore his testimony at the end all by himself. Having our kids teach their own lessons has helped them progress in so many ways. I love seeing their confidence grow and their excitement to teach.

This afternoon our doorbell rang and we opened it to see hearts decorated all over it with cards and treats for all the kids and even our dog! We have such nice friends and neighbors!

Cozy Sundays

Day 15

We really enjoyed church at home today. Taking the sacrament has never been as special and sacred to me as it has these past two weeks. And I’m sure when I get to have the sacrament in a church building again it will be that much more special. Brad taught us a great lesson on fasting and Brad and I and Kade and Tenley were able to join in on the world wide fast for relief from the corona virus. I was impressed with Kade and Tenley fasting for that long. It was hard for them, but after Brad’s lesson I think they really understood the reason for skipping meals. We did end up having an early dinner just for them and it was extra delicious. Brad grilled steak and pork and I made rolls, mashed potatoes, and baked asparagus. I think Luke ate more asparagus than anyone else. He really loves it! 

The kids kept their minds of their rumbling bellies by building a tent inside. These days as a family all hunkered down inside have been precious. 

Technology

Day 8

At-home church went well again. We’re getting the hang of it a little bit more. Tenley played the opening song on the piano and each child took turns leading the music. This seems like a great opportunity for them to start learning how to do these things. Brad blessed and passed the sacrament for us which was an amazing and special experience and Ryder taught us how to listen to the spirit. We also got to watch our niece’s husband bless their new baby Annie through a zoom meeting. That was really special and neat as well! Technology is saving us right now! We need social interaction and luckily we’ve still been able to have that with technology.

We loved catching up with my parents and the Simmons today. It’s good to hear my family is doing ok after the earthquake. They are as happy as ever.

Brad is headed to work tomorrow. It seems inevitable that he will have to close his doors at some point. We just don’t know when or for how long. In Washington, dentists were required to shut down for two months. Harder times may yet be ahead, but we are grateful to be happy, healthy, and together.

At-Home Church

Day 1 after COVID-19 changes life as we once knew it.

Life seems very different now and we (Brad and I) are doing the best we can to adjust as quickly as possible so that the kids feel as happy and safe as they ever have. With as care free and happy as they seemed today, we must be doing an OK job.

Church is canceled for the foreseeable future so we had our own at-home church today. After a warm breakfast and getting ready we had our hour family lesson like normal. Tenley taught us about the allegory of the Olive Tree. Then the kids colored pictures while we caught up on some of the Book of Mormon videos. It was very nice and we enjoyed it. I missed taking the sacrament and teaching my cute little primary kids, but I also really love teaching my children so this was great.

Later, Tenley and Ryder went and played in the snow. It was below freezing, but they still spent two hours outside together. 

We had a delicious turkey dinner to celebrate Brad's birthday that is tomorrow. We also ate his birthday dessert tonight as well and played some card games together. We had a lot of good quality time as a family today. It was a wonderful Sabbath day.

I feel so much more grateful for every little thing now for some reason. This virus and the change it has brought to our lives has just made me realize how quickly things can change and how much worse they could be. I'm so grateful we have delicious food to feed the family, warm water for showers, drinking water, a comfortable home, FaceTime and social media to keep in touch with loved ones that we aren't near, the scriptures and all the helpful resources we have to teach gospel truths to our children. We may be 'quarantined' to our home, but I feel more connected to others than I did before. We are strong and unified and we will find the good in this temporary situation.

We learned today that schools will be closed here in our state for the next two weeks. Kade's basketball season and Tenley's volleyball seasons are both suspended. The school closures will affect Brad's business I'm sure. He will likely have many cancellations. But those are all things we cannot control. I feel like the only thing we can control is our own attitude. We can be upset, angry, confused, dismayed, sad, scared, and fearful, or we can find the positives, appreciate the changes, and smile and laugh our way through the day. Because life is still wonderful, people are still good, and happy days are ahead.