A Very Covid Christmas

 A few days before Christmas I started feeling a little weird. I could tell I was getting sick. I didn't know what kind of sickness it was or how bad it would get so I just kept doing most of my normal things. I went to work, we went to the aquarium, and we went to the movies like we had planned. I didn't want my kids to miss out on any Christmas things we had planned so I sucked it up even though I didn't feel good. It started with body aches, then it progressed to really bad body aches. Anthon started to feel a little bad right before Christmas. On Christmas Eve I lost my sense of taste and smell. That's the sure sign. I have Covid. 

My brother was having a Christmas Eve party, but we didn't go to that. (My 3 brothers were there and they have all had Covid already, but my parents were also there and we don't want them to get exposed.) Christmas Day we usually go to Anthon's family's house, but we didn't. We had tickets for Hale Center Theater to see Tarzan, but luckily they had already cancelled that because the cast had Covid, so we got a refund which we wouldn't have been able to get otherwise so that was lucky. We missed a few things, but other than that, we realized this was the perfect time for us to get it. We have shortened weeks at work because of the holidays, the kids are already out of school so they aren't missing anything there, and all the kids' activities are on break for the holidays as well so it really couldn't have happened at a better time for us. Today I'm feeling pretty normal, other than a little tired, but that may also be from losing 5 lbs. in 5 days. Since I can't taste anything, I really have no desire to eat anything. Most things I do eat either taste like nothing or it tastes bad. Sweet things taste sour right now. Life is definitely not as fun when you can't taste food. We had a lot of snacks and sweets for Christmas and I can't taste any of them so there's no point to even eat them. Anthon hasn't lost his taste or smell so he gets to eat yummy food with the kids while I eat salad because if I can't taste it anyway, I might as well eat as healthy as possible.

The older kids went to their mom's before we found out we had Covid so we told them to stay there until our quarantine is up. 

Despite not feeling great, we still had a good Christmas. On Christmas Eve we had dinner by candlelight, which was Sophie's idea. We ate orange chicken and the kids loved it.

Then we let the kids open one present, which they already knew was pajamas. They love getting new pajamas. Damon wears his onesie pajamas all day if he can.

We watched movie together, (one of the kids' favorite things to do is Family Movie Night) read the birth of Jesus in the scriptures and then sent the kids to bed. They were willing to go to bed, but falling asleep was a different story. They were all very excited, which Anthon and I were happy about because Christmas is not really magical when you are an adult, but you want it to be for your kids. 

We agreed that they could wake us up at 7am. Damon said he woke up at 5:10am and waited until 6am to wake up Monson and they all came down at 7am sharp.

They each got a stuffed animal in their stockings, a bag of goldfish crackers, a tube of Pringles, a candy cane filled with candy, and $20.

Then came the real presents. Damon got a new suit and 2 Lego sets. Monson got 2 Lego sets and an electric scooter. Sophie got a Baby Yoda electronic doll, (that she treats like a baby) an Elsa jacket, a replacement little pig that you can heat in the microwave because her other one got ruined in the wash, little lip glosses and a Blume doll. The big family gift was a Nintendo Switch. Damon has been begging for one every. single. day. for months so I mostly got it so that I don't have to keep telling him to stop asking me for one every day. We also got a picture of Jesus, a karaoke machine, and a little reading nook furniture piece that Sophie loves. Anthon and I talked before Christmas and decided not to really get each other gifts. He got a new truck recently so that he didn't have to drive one of the crappy work vans every day anymore and I'm getting a new Hyundai Palisade as soon as it comes in. I did still get him ear buds and cologne and he got me some new kitchen utensils and cleaning supplies for my new car.

Monson rode his scooter as soon as it was charged.

After everything was opened, the kids spent the rest of the day playing with their new stuff. 

I got to have a zoom call with my family, which was fun and nice to have all of us together...virtually.

It was a wonderful Christmas, despite having Covid.

Easter 2020

Everyone deals with things differently. The same is true during this time of quarantine. Some people have been really strict and not left their homes. Others, like us, have been trying to live life cautiously, but as normally as possible. We still go to work. We still have our employees working. Anthon Jr. still goes to work at Costa Vida. We make sure we wash our hands and don't touch people that don't live in our home, but we still go to the store and go on walks and live as normally as we can right now. We are not afraid. In April, my brother John and his family were ready to get out of their home and start seeing people again. They live about an hour away from us, so they came to spend the weekend with us for a couple of weekends in a row. We had a lot of fun and our kids loved having cousins here to play with. We ate yummy food together, played games, stayed up late, and enjoyed being with other humans again.

The first weekend was the weekend before Easter. We decided to have a little pre-Easter egg hunt for the kids.

And then we got to spend Easter together, which was a lot of fun!

The Easter bunny hid Jr.'s eggs so hard that Uncle John had to give him clues to find them.

We got to have home church together. We are really loving having church at home and the spirit it brings into our home.

It was a fun Easter!

Valentine's 2020

The boys brought the girls out for Valentine's tonight. They knocked on the door and had gifts for all of us girls!

We went to Sizzler. There was a line to get in, but probably shorter than most other lines at restaurants tonight. Jr. was on a date across the street at Texas Roadhouse so I took this picture and sent it to him.

I forgot to take a picture of all of us together at the restaurant. :( But we had a fun night and on the drive home we got to watch on Facebook Live as our niece opened her mission call. Sadie Hammond is going to Helsinki, Finland! So excited for her and proud of her!

Sophie let me do her hair for school.

Halloween 2019

I forgot to post about Halloween! We love going to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point every year. It starts out the Halloween season for us.

This year they had a sea lion show!

This was a really cool addition to the park and the kids loved the show. Monson especially loves animals. Afterwards they said you could get a picture with a sea lion for $15. It was a bit pricier than we would have wanted to spend, but Monson really wanted to get up close to a sea lion so we decided we should do it. When it was our turn, they told us they only accepted cash, but we only had a card. So we couldn't get the picture. Monson was devastated. We told him we could take a picture of him with the sea lion in the background, but that wasn't good enough for him.

The rest of us continued having fun, but Monson just walked slowly behind us. Luckily there was another animal show happening soon after in another area of the park and I knew if he got to see more animals he would perk up. Sure enough, it worked. There was a wild animal presentation happening and afterward Monson got to hold the animals. He was a happy boy again.

We always have a lot of fun there!

The boys' school had some guidelines as to what could or couldn't be worn by the students for Halloween. They wanted to be animals, but we didn't really have animal costumes. Luckily I have a very crafty sister who crocheted really cute animal hats for them. Damon's favorite animal is a snake and Monson's is a cat of course.

A few days before Halloween we went to a Trick-or-Treating walk in Vineyard and the kids got to wear their real costumes. It was COLD, but the kids had fun.

I was too busy this year to have all the kids carve pumpkins, but Damon had to decorate one for his class and I think it turned out really well. It was for his book report about a book he read called Potter Wookie.

Then came the real Halloween day. Avery came over for it and they all had a lot of fun together. We also had cousin Kal and my brother John there to trick-or-treat with us.

We love stopping at the Gubler's house for hot dogs and fire.

Lots of candy was collected by all. Avery and Damon went a little longer than the other kids and they came back with over 100 pieces.

It was a fun Halloween!