We Made It Through April!

We made this video for the HS seniors and this message went with it:

I absolutely love coaching. I have been coaching HS (track and Cross Country) for 12 years now. Parents, you have raised wonderful young men and women. We (the other track coaches and I) made a video for the seniors this year. Corom Hughes was a huge help in putting this all together but keep in mind… it was made on a IPhone and we coach for a reason and are NOT singers. 😂 We had fun doing this but we will stick to coaching!

Seniors (us coaches said this earlier)… We have seen you grow into wonderful young men and women. You are great examples to us and those around you. You have moved others to strive for greatness. We have seen you work hard and push through barriers (on and off the track) and have made us coaches proud! Keep working and keep pushing through the “barriers”… you are stronger than what you think. Stay positive and never forget to SERVE and bring JOY to others especially during difficult times. It will help you get through hard times and will bring you joy. It has been an honor to be there with you during your times of great achievements and your times of sadness-But those are the times that help us grow the most. Remember to always get back up and to keep moving forward. You are all so amazing! We will always be cheering for you and we cannot wait to see what your futures holds.

And coaches… you guys are the best! Thanks for your friendship!

Running has been good this month.

April 1st-Wed:  Corom made this for his Wednesday’s Corom’s Corner for all the HS kids.

Well… lots of time on our hands to play jokes. Corom and I were able to get into a few (4) of the administrator’s offices at school…

We played a joke on 14 different people with cat facts… You sign up on this phone app and this company will send cat facts to that persons cell phone every 15-30 min. You can see what the person texts back and some of the responses were hilarious! And some had some swears words that made us laugh so hard but I didn’t want to post it… it’s now 5 days after April Fools as I am typing this, and I am laughing so hard about it. It was hilarious.

We saran-wrapped the girl’s bedroom doors. They got us back by putting saran wrap on our toilet seat (good thing Corom and I were already on the lookout for this). We told the girls that they had to repeat school again (that meme that went around). 2 of my daughters started to cry. My 2nd made a video to send to our Governor (Herbert) to tell him why it was not a good idea.

The girls “yarned” our room and my 2nd daughter got a hold of my phone and put everything into a foreign language. Oh, and she somehow changed my name so now when I call someone it shows up as, “The weirdest mom in the World”. That was a good one… I just found that one out. I like it though so I want to keep it.

Ok… for the activity: My 2nd daughter had all of us make cinnamon rolls. The girls did a great job making them. Too bad, corom, and I forgot to get them out of the oven and they were a little overcooked. 😂 Way to end April Fools.

Of course I started off the day with a speed workout! Nice April Fool’s run. It was called, Only Fools Fall In Love virtual 5k. 4 mile warmup, race a 5k, 2 mile cool down. I ran up hill 4 miles, ran the 5k on a fast, aided route (17:40) then a nice and easy cool down. It felt great. After school stuff, we played a game of kickball for PE. The girls and I went around and delivered candy bars to our entire track team letting them know we (the coaches) are thinking of them. We have 148 athletes on our team. We started this on Monday… 😬😂

April 2nd-Thurs: My 3rd daughter for her activity had us all make “friends” for dinner and a movie. Out of stuffed animals, pillows, etc… we had a friends movie night.

An easy 8 miles for me; School work, chores, delivered more candy bars, and PE: Basketball and 4-square:

Corom went on a hike up to Notch Peak.

We brought dinner to the missionaries today.

April 3rd-Fri: My youngest chose to have a dance off and to do a play for her activity.

I Ran 8 miles this morning and the girls finished up their school work pretty quick. We had a lot of time today. They ran around the track, delivered candy bars, and then found things to do at home.

April 4th-Sat:  General Conference today!!! We just hung out today.

I had a 14 mile long tempo run today. I wasn’t in the mood when I first started but once I began I felt better than what I thought I would. It was a great run. In between conference sessions we took a drive up Provo canyon to take some video of my accident (when I was 23) for the video I was asked to do for church.

The girls played on the rocks for a little while as well.

Corom’s activity was to play fugitive around the Jr. High. The girls had to hide and make it back to the house without us finding them while we drove around in our car. It was fun to play with them.

A little “movie” Corom helped me make for church. Because we have not been going to church on Sundays, I was asked to do a 5 min YouTube “talk” about moving forward in Faith. I didn’t know what to do, so Corom helped me come up with this.

Here is the movie Corom helped me with for church:

April 5th- Sunday: General Conference all day. Absolutely loved it!!! So powerful, comforting, and left us with the feeling of hope and peace.

During the 2 hour break, I went out again to drop candy bars off on the HS track athlete’s porches. We have a 148 kids on our team and just want them to know we are thinking of them! (I started delivering on Monday and only have 40 athletes left. 😊) Then we brought dinner to the missionaries (we are missing 1 missionary in this pic).

SPRING BREAK WEEK

April 6th- 10th: This week is Spring Break. It was nice not having to worry about online schooling. My girls and I finished delivering the candy bars this week. We went on a hike to Paul Bunyan’s peak. Short 2 mile hike round trip but so fun. We did not see a single person on the trail. Not too many people know about this place. We then watched a movie.

We were able to find a place to go camping and then went on a good hike the next day. It was nice to break the week up. Our family likes to travel, so this quarantining has been really hard for us being able to pack up and go.

We had concrete poured (but did it ourselves so it was only about $2400 instead of $6-7000), the girls caught snakes, played out on the pond right across from us, painted, cleaned and organized. It was a nice spring break away from homeschooling.

April 11: My youngest’s 10th birthday. I got up early to go for my long run. Once I came home, it was birthday mode! We took her on an all-day scavenger hunt! She said this was the best birthday she has ever had. It really was a lot of fun.

 

Easter Sunday 12: Easter baskets, egg hunts, dinner, bday bunny song surprises for neighbors, visiting goats (that we may get), 2 nieces, and a boyfriend were with us. They have been extra careful keeping their social distancing so we were good to get together. Fun, packed day.

April 13th: Back to the school routine. Today was tough mentally!! Hard to come back to the school routine from home. Started off with an 8-mile run, then school work, and PE time.

For my activity, we made hearts and heart attacked doors and passed out store bought cookies. We got a nice treat of ice cream sandwiches back from some friends.

April 14th-16 Tues–Thurs: For the activity today, my oldest brought out the sewing machine and the scraps of materials. She knows how to sew, so she taught her sisters how to sew. I have no clue how to do it. The next 2 nights of activities… my 2nd and 3rd daughter wanted to continue sewing. They finished up blankets and little “stuffed animals”. They handed them out to their friends.

My 2nd daughter helping my youngest with her school work. My youngest had another break down.

April 17, Friday: The girls and Corom raced the mile today. It was pretty fun to watch.

For the activity tonight that my youngest chose was to do a candlelight dinner for Corom and I. We were supposed to leave for Greece and Croatia today… but instead we got to have a romantic dinner. 😂

The girls slept outside. They were going to sleep in hammocks but my 2nd daughter fell out of hers and landed on her back pretty hard. She was fine after an hour but her back was still a little sore.

April 18th Saturday:

3 out of the 4 girls ended up inside last night. 🙄 My oldest slept all the way through (well until 5ish in the morning). I went out for my run, then headed off to the Clarion. The girls joined me later to do some yard work for them.

For Corom’s activity tonight: The neighbors across the street put on a “quarantine” Pirates of the Caribbean tour around the pond. It was the cutest thing.

April 19 Sunday:

We (well not me-Corom and the girls) helped our friend Travis doctor up their cat. His kids were pretty sad about their cat. He had a huge cut on it’s leg and was infected. I didn’t think there would ever be a time where someone called Corom to help “fix” an animal.

The girls wrote thank you letters to our Bishop. The YW and YM played a Bingo/Blackout game and if you completed everything in a 3 week time period, he would bring you lunch from Chik Fa La. It was cute. And then We made Churros. They were so good.

April 20 Monday: My choice for the activity/PE time, we went out for a neighborhood bike ride that turned into a trail bike ride. We were gone for a while but so fun.  The girls came home and painted and of course made more Churros.

April 21 Tuesday:  PE time was learning how to play tennis. Yeah… we are not too great at it. A lot more running than hitting.

My oldest chose to do a picnic outside for dinner for her activity.

April 22 Wednesday: We went on a great hike up Payson canyon today for my 2nd daughter’s choice of the activity. (It was actually my choice and they didn’t want to go at 1st.) We went about 3 miles and the girls wanted to go longer, we just ran out of time. They had piano lessons this afternoon. Our piano teacher (she is a junior in HS), wanted to cut my 2nd daughter’s hair… so I told her she could. 😆

My youngest had a major meltdown before we left on the hike. She has really been struggling with the online school work. Her teacher even called to talk with her to help her out but she just ran and hid under the bed. She adores her teacher and when she didn’t talk to him, I knew she was really struggling. He is pretty amazing!

 

April 23 Thursday: Bike riding for their PE activity, then chalk art for my 3rd daughter’s choice of activity.

April 24 Friday: Tennis today for PE, helped water the plants in the greenhouse at the HS (Corom and my oldest daughter really enjoy working with plants), and a quick motorcycle ride with the girls (in the parking lot). For the activity, my 4th daughter wanted to sleep out in a tent. This time, they all made it through the night without coming in.

April 25 Saturday: After my run, I went to the Clarion for another long day of work. The girls went back to the dirt hill on their bikes, worked around the house with Corom (well they were supposed to but probably didn’t do a thing or very little of something-Corom was really frustrated with them but they tend to not help out so much), then the girls came to the Clarion to do yardwork. They did go on a little motorcycle ride as an activity.

 

April 26 & 27 Sunday & Monday:  Sunday after our sacrament, we went for a nice walk with the Bayles’s. Monday we went out for a bike ride after school work.

 

April 28 Tuesday:

My run, then school work, then a little hike up Rock Canyon for rock climbing.

 

April 29 Wednesday: 

My oldest cut my youngest daughter’s hair today. They both came up and asked if she could do it, and I didn’t care. I figured with curly hair, you can hide a lot. My oldest did a pretty good job. I was impressed. After the girl’s piano lessons, we headed to the pond just to get out for a little while.

 

April 30 Thursday:

Today’s activity (by my 3rd daughter) was spa day. It was cute and the girls had fun with it. I was bugged because the mess didn’t get cleaned up for a few days after. 🤷🏻‍♀️

 

Just so I NEVER forget…

April 4,2020. This is a personal update with local and religious info.

*School cancelled March 14, 2020 – it’s continuing online and regular school is scheduled to open again May 1st.

*Church shifted from meeting at the church building to in-home worship starting March 14, 2020.

*No public will be allowed to attend General Conference, which will now be broadcast from a small auditorium on Temple Square (Apr 4 & 5, 2020).

*Temples have all closed.

*U.S. missionaries serving in other countries are returning home. (Most are home by now.)

*Self-distancing measures on the rise.

*Tape on the floors at grocery stores and others to help distance shoppers (6ft) from each other.

*Limited number of people inside stores, therefore, lineups outside the store doors.

*Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed.

*Playgrounds are off limits, City buildings have locked their doors.

*Entire sports seasons cancelled.

*Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events – cancelled.

*Weddings, baptisms, family celebrations, holiday gatherings – cancelled.

*No gatherings of 100 or more, then 20 or more, now 10 or more.

*Don’t physically socialize with anyone outside of your home. We are to distance from each other.

*Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers. Keeping an N95 mask in a paper bag at work to re-use.

*Anticipating a Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill.

*Only 1 visitor allowed at the hospital for an hour when their loved one is admitted or having surgery and then they don’t get to see them again until they are discharged or dying. *No visitors at all for COVID or Persons Under Investigation.

*No toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towel no laundry soap, no hand sanitizer. Store shelves are bare.

*Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines so they can help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and PPE.

*Government closes the border to all non-essential travel.

*Fines are established for breaking the rules in nearby cities.

*In large cities, stadiums and recreation facilities open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients.

*Press conferences daily from the President and Governor. Daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths.

*Constantly checking the curve to see when the surge will hit Utah.

*People wearing masks and gloves outside and to the grocery stores.

*Essential service workers are terrified to go to work.

*Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families.

*5.4 Earthquake hit Utah (Magna) March 18, 2020.

*6.5 Earthquake hit 78 miles from Boise, Idaho, March 31, 2020.