March...or the month when the U.S. just...shut down

What a wild ride this month has been. I would have never guessed the events that unfolded this month and, I do have to say, it's a bit strange to be a part of history in the making.

So, here's our tale of how the events unfolded.

The first week of March brought James Proctor home from his mission and Tyler home for his Spring break. It was great to see James again and to see the boys together again. I wish I had taken pictures of this event, of our last day at church.

Other than those events the month began just like most others.  We had plans. A trip to Vegas at the end of the month to meet up with Chris & Kim and to check in on Dennis and Mary. Celebrating Miranda's 25th birthday. She had plans to spend the weekend up at Lava Hot Springs in a condo with friends. Matt had a trip to Phoenix for work. We had friends getting sealed in the temple and I had kids from my primary class getting baptized.

In February there was news coming from China and other parts of Asia about an outbreak of a new virus.  Friends had friends that were on a cruise ship that stopped off the coast of Japan. They were quarantined in the ship because of that virus.  Hospitals were filling up and people were dying. But, it was far away...not influencing our lives much.  As March came along the virus, COVID-19 or caronavirus, started to spread...to Spain...and then a few cases in the U.S. It came time to start thinking about it. On the 5th of March I sent this fun meme to Matt..I thought it was pretty clever

Then things got worse and then more cases in Seattle and in New York. The key to stop this or at least flatten the line to not overwhelm the hospitals, is to social distance, wash hands, stay 6 ft apart, don't touch your face. And then, for some odd reason, there was a shortage of toilet paper and water bottles at the stores. People were hoarding them I guess, but this was happening across the nation.

On March 12th the president spoke and finally started treating this like it could be a problem here in the U.S. Told Americans to not have any gatherings larger than 100 and just like that America started to shut down. Within hours we got word that ALL public gatherings of the church were being temporarily suspended WORLDWIDE until further notice--no activities, no sacrament meetings. We were to meet at home.  All Utah colleges announced they were taking a few days off and then, on the 18th, would begin online classes-NO in person classes for the rest of the semester.  Grocery stores had lines out the doors and shelves were being emptied. The stock market was crashing as well. It was the strangest day. So much changed all at once.  Nathan and I went to art although I didn't get much completed.  Chris called and we talked on the phone about what was going on. In ABQ they had already shut down all schools for the next three weeks. The next day, Friday the 13th, our Governor announced no gatherings larger than 10 and the "soft" closure of all Utah schools--meaning teachers would have Monday and Tuesday to prepare and then online remote digital learning would begin to take place. Of course this was announced after school had gotten out.  No one had a chance to say goodbye to the students. So sad. So weird. So unprecedented.

Grocery store shelves at WalMart-no baking products, no cleaning products, no can goods

 Thank goodness we have a fairly decent food storage...

That weekend we had our first at home sacrament meeting. Just three of us-Matt, Nathan, and me. It was actually a special experience. We went to Grandpa's house and had an early birthday dinner with Miranda.  I spent some time over the weekend working on getting things prepped for the teachers and planning how the heck we were going to teach them how to get everything online. Monday and Tuesday were busy days getting the teachers set up with online learning--hardly anyone has experience with this.  However, by the end of the day Tuesday most everyone had something up and ready so digital learning could begin on Wednesday. Teachers are fast learners!

In the midst of this crazy, on Tuesday March 17th Miranda turned 25.  With no gatherings larger than 10, all restaurants dine in areas were closed.  No birthday dinner out for Miranda, but we did our best to make it a special night for her. I made a yummy dinner for her, she invited a few friends, we opened gifts, and went through the Nelson's frozen custard drive-thru for dessert.

And so that night I turned off all my alarms...no alarms to wake up for school, or for church. It was all on our time now. Even Matt was planning on spending days working from home. Tomorrow we could sleep in a bit before we got things started.

But we didn't get to sleep in AT ALL! 

Because...

At around 7am on Wednesday March 18th 

yes, the day digital distance learning was set to start...

we had a 

5.7 EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!

What the HECK!!!

NOT the way you ever want to wake up!

It was loud and unexpected...

and we did what you really shouldn't do and jumped out of our beds and met in the hallway. Nathan was super confused for a bit as his brain was trying to process what was happening.  Poor Stanford was freaked out.  As we were coming out of the room, he was running to get get in and under our bed. In the process he ran over my foot scratching up my toe...luckily my scratched toe was the only injury from the earthquake.  We did have several things fall off of our kitchen shelves. The glass in one frame broke and this bird cage got a little bent out of shape, but other than that all was well. Except of course we were all wide awake and more than a bit shaken.

We couldn't get Stanford to come out from under the bed no matter what we tried.  Finally after about 3 hours I was able to coax him out with treats.  He must have been pretty close to the shelves when things started falling and I am sure all the aftershocks didn't help either. We continued to feel them all day. Just after 1pm we had a pretty big one that sent Stanford back under the bed for another hour. Poor kitty.  All in all it was a pretty unsettling day and if people weren't panic shopping before they sure were going to do that now.

So, the rest of the month is a blur of us all being home, doing our part to social distance. Here's a look at what we have been filling our time up with:

• When the weather's been nice, we've gone on lots of walks up to the temple/lake.

• Hanging with the cats. The kitties have enjoyed us being home. They are ready for cuddles anytime and they think it's even better when I decide to take naps with them.

For the most part, Stanford has recovered. He still wants to be close though.

• We are muddling through online school and I've been super busy helping teachers with their distance learning. Work has suddenly become a lot of Google Meets.

• For church, we have done a few family Zoom Come Follow Me meetings. It's been pretty fun.

• They boys have spent A LOT of time playing ping-pong.  Jacob still comes home most nights for dinner and the first thing he usually does is play a game of ping-pong with Nathan or Matt.  Matt, Nathan, and Jacob are pretty evenly matched, so the games can get quite competitive

• Playing games.  It's been fun having time to play games as a family. When Callie and Tyler came down for Andrea's birthday (that's Callie's mom), we were able to introduce Callie to Ticket to Ride. Surprisingly she had never played it before .

• Making s'mores in the backyard.  For Christmas the kids bought us a fire pit for the back yard. It was finally warm enough to break it in.

• Puzzles!! 

• ZOOM calls with family and friends. Outside of our kids and waving to neighbors as we pass by on our walks,  Zoom calls are the only way we can socialize with others. Thank goodness for the technology!! 

We've had a Zoom chat with the Sant's

For Chick Chat with Dina, Ellen, and Anne

and even a FHE Zoom for Matthew's "missionary homecoming"

And that leads me to the most recent crazy in all of this pandemic stuff.  All missionaries outside of the US have come home. I have no doubt it's been a crazy logistical nightmare, but they are all getting back to the U.S. ASAP. Matthew shared some crazy stories about all that it took to get him home from Chile. Needless to say, it took several days, little sleep, much rerouting, and many prayers.

Schools were originally closed until the 26th of March.  That has now been extended until May 4th.  End of year testing has been canceled.  Tyler's Utah State graduation ceremonies have been canceled. Miranda's internship for May in Spain has been cancelled and we will not be surprised if her internship for June and July in NYC gets cancelled.  She is, of course, devastated..not to mention out a lot if money for housing. Matt's offices are closed and he is now working from home.

So, that's the current state of things. A state of weird where we wake up and check the news for the daily count of cases and deaths.  A state where we are seeing the loss of life in country after country, state after state.  A state where the economy is tanking further every day. A state where the unemployment rate is skyrocketing because all the stores are closed-except for essential services. A state where all restaurants are closed unless they can provide drive through or delivery. A state where anything that was on the calendar is suddenly off the calendar. 

However, it is also a state where I am thankful that we have food storage and a few months supply of TP. A state where we can spend plenty of fun time together with our little family. A state where we can support local small food businesses by ordering food through Door Dash a few times a week (Yay for Cubbies, Melty Way, and Mo'bettah's!) . A state where we can use technology to still connect to those that we love.

Most states have enforced a stay at home order for everyone.  Right now Utah's is a soft Stay safe Stay home, but I am sure before too long we will have that stay at home order too. It will be interesting to see what April brings.   Hopefully it will find us all still healthy even if it still find us here at home.