We've had some beautiful evenings. Luckily we are at the time of year where it still cools down a little bit in the West Texas desert. It's been almost 100° everyday so when it's only 84° by 8:30 pm, it feels great.
Brinley, Britney and I went on a walk at UTPB on Monday and found this cute little guy. (It's a tiny turtle.)
On Tuesday evening, Brinley and I pulled out reclining lawn chairs and read in the front yard. On the side of the house, Parker practiced his unicycle while Tanner shot baskets. Aubrey pulled out cones and practiced dribbling drills.
Aubrey showed me the plants she and Brian purchased earlier that night. They are going to plant a small garden, and she is so excited.
It was peaceful and everyone was content. It was a perfect evening.
Sometimes with the craziness that ensues over here, I could welcome everyone to our circus. However, we have approached another level of circus. Parker is getting pretty good at his unicycle. He was able to pedal 33 times yesterday without falling off. Pretty impressive.
Aubrey ordered this new trapeze/yoga thing. I don't even know what to call it. She has been happily learning new tricks and making up routines. She was very sore after the first couple of days.
When Tanner attempted the trapeze, the fun really began. He was hollering the whole time and Aubrey and Parker had to lift him into new positions. Everyone was cracking up.
I really hope no one gets a permanent brain injury if this thing doesn't hold. I've questioned Brian a couple of times. Parker knows he is too big and not to risk it.
The afternoon sun was beating down on her spot, but Aubrey kept practicing.
Now we just need to get a picture or two of Brian showing off his juggling skills.
Looking back at pre-shelter in place/real life, it was always hard to find an open Saturday where everyone was available to work in the yard. (I can refer to it as "real life" right? We will be going back to real life...right?!?!) Brian and I are both probably too soft on the kids too. They had long school days starting with seminary at 6:00 a.m. and ending with physically demanding workouts and homework. In the spring and fall, the boys would referee soccer on Saturdays. Saturdays make a fun day to hang out with friends or catch up on sleep or homework. We have always had a few Saturday inside chores but not Saturday outside chores.
Currently however, no one, with the exception of Brian, has particularly straining weeks. Brian and I felt like we could get a little backyard work project going. The kids still weren't thrilled by the idea of spending a couple of hours working in the yard together. The difference on my end though was I didn't feel badly at all about expecting them to join in the work. We still had to approach them gingerly. They are teenagers and things blow up quickly on any day at any time.
Luckily they all agreed without too much complaint, and we were able to clean up our jungle out back. It felt good working hard together on a common cause.
Brian supervised the boys in felling this tree. (Is that how you say it?) They started up high and then pulled out the axes to take her out completely. It was physically demanding work, and they didn't quit until it was done.
The girls and I cut out the dead honeysuckle vines by the back gate. They started dying a few years ago when we had a drought for multiple years.
We also cut down smaller branches and carried or drug everything out to the alley. Bri is planning on taking these to the recycling center on Tuesday.
Bryn started cutting off limbs of this tree. It gets so huge and bushy. The previous owners planted it so close to the house that it really needs to be removed. One day in the future maybe.
I should have taken before and after pictures of the backyard, but trust me, our jungle is looking much more tame.
Tanner has sooooo much hair, and he really needs a cut. He won't let me touch it. Then he said if I paid him $20, I could cut it any way I wanted. (Insert eye roll) I pretended that it was a really hard decision for me to make and then finally agreed. Once I started describing my plans, he backed out and upped the price to $50.
In jest, I sent a family text out to see who else might be willing to donate to the pot. Parker said he would give $10 if he could choose the style. Bryn thought it was a great idea but didn't offer any cash. Aub doesn't have a phone, so she wasn't on the text. Bri offered a big $1.50. We weren't making a lot of progress with the $50 payment, but we all had some perfect styles in mind.
Parker wanted short on the top and long on the sides. That is a lovely haircut and all but I was kind of hoping to get rid of the mop on his head.
I sent these lovely ideas in the group text. We figured we could probably do both. Tanner started getting a little uneasy about the whole thing which made everything even funnier.
Brinley voted for the stache picture above so Tanner could at least have one real mustache. (He is pretty sure the peach fuzz above his lip, which she has dubbed "Pedro," is legit.)
PROVO — Three Brigham Young University students with wet hair walked out of the Provo City Center Temple on a chilly, gray and misty Friday unaware that the baptism ordinance work they’d undergone for dead ancestors will be temporarily suspended on Monday.
Proxy ordinance work at all 168 temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around the world will be suspended. Ordinances for the living will be done by appointment only, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles announced on Friday.
Their joint letter was released while Brinley Gwilliam, 19, was inside the temple with her friends, Katelyn Bell, 19, and Elena Peterson, 18.
“That’s so sad,” said Gwilliam, a freshman in communication disorders from Odessa, Texas. “I’m so glad we made it today.”
“We’ll have to go again tomorrow,” said Bell, an experience design major from Houston, Texas. “This is the place to be with all the chaos going on.”
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints perform saving ordinances in the church’s temples both for themselves and by proxy for those who have died. The spread of the coronavirus worldwide prompts the changes announced Friday.
Both proxy and living ordinances are suspended temporarily at temples located in areas where government or other restrictions on public or religious gatherings preclude temple activity, according to the letter released by the church’s senior leaders.
They also announced that all housing for temple volunteers will close. The changes are temporary and related to health concerns regarding COVID-19.
“It’s a lot going on,” said another BYU student, Trey Long, 27, who is pursuing a master’s degree in social work. “I’ve been worried about the virus, but I felt so calm in the temple.”
Long and his wife, Larrisy, 28, who is pregnant, have one child. They attended a live sealing of two friends, an ordinance with the potential to bind a man and woman together for eternity.
“It was amazing,” Larrisy Long said. “It’s always amazing.”
Live sealings like the one the Longs attended will continue in Utah temples and other places without restrictions on small gatherings. The same is true for child-to-parents sealing ordinances, and living initiatory and endowment ordinances.
However, guests at living ordinances will be limited.
The letter said temple presidencies, staff and workers would take steps to minimize the risk of spreading the disease. Staff will be reduced, for example. That will reduce capacity for even living ordinances.
“Church members will be provided with instructions when they schedule their appointments for living ordinances,” the leaders’ letter said. “Individuals with currently scheduled appointments will be contacted by temple staff.”
Trey Long is a Provo City Center Temple worker with a shift scheduled on Friday night. He said he would look forward to hearing from his supervisor about what he should do.
Gwilliam usually attends the temple every Tuesday. She went prayerfully on Friday as she tries to decide whether to leave her friends and school midsemester. BYU announced Thursday that it had suspended classes on Friday, Monday and Tuesday. Classes will resume Wednesday online, and the university encouraged students to go home while completing their courses, if possible.
“I thought I had five more weeks with friends and classes,” she said. “I’m planning to go on a mission next, so I have to decide, do I say goodbye to my friends in two days for two years or more?”
Bell and Peterson missed their normal temple day on Thursday. With classes canceled, they said the temple was one of the few things to do.
BYU students Brinley Gwilliam, Katelyn Bell and Elena Peterson learnd about the temple changes after they performed baptisms for the dead at the Provo City Center Temple on March 13, 2020. Tad Walch, Deseret News
“It’s the place we get to forget about everything happening,” said Peterson, a genetics major from Layton.
“It helps your day go smoothly,” added Bell, who works at the Provo Missionary Training Center, which received its last missionaries on Wednesday for the time being. She helps with broadcasts, which will keep her busy. The MTC now will help train new missionaries by remote video conferencing.
The church previously announced the temporary closure of 13 temples.
“Many governments have placed restrictions that have required the temporary closure of a number of temples,” the leaders noted.
(Here is the official link to the article online.)
The kids have their work down to a science. They started about 11:30 this morning. It's 12:20 and they are done with their assignments for the day. The school work being sent home is not very challenging (obviously!), and it takes them almost no time to complete it.
Our school district is pretty rough to start with. It's extremely overcrowded due to the oil industry, and I think about 70% or more of the students live below poverty. I saw one of my friends when I was on a walk. She is a teacher, and she said only about 20% of the students are even turning in work. Now the few students who actually attempt to do the work will be even further ahead when we start next year. Makes me sad.
Brinley finished her last final for BYU yesterday. She was so relieved. This morning she joined the boys on the couch and was looking into scholarship opportunities. She is a focused girl.
Bryn is extremely dedicated to school. She puts in hours and hours of work. I am positive I never worked that hard in college, and I was a good student. She is an excellent student. Occasionally she will take an afternoon off, and then she is really cute to spend time with her siblings. Bryn gives her all with whatever she decides to focus on.
One unexpected blessing from having church at home has been the feeling of family. After church ends, everyone just lingers in the den. There is a sweet feeling of love and peace. We usually end up talking, laughing and playing a game together. Definitely an added blessing of home church.
Aubrey died the tips of her hair red with Kool-Aid. With no school or church, it made it easy for me to say, "Go for it" when she asked. (It was a surprise to her daddy though...he was at work!)
The boys have been working on making a corn hole game.
Aub made a cute gift and put together an Easter basket for her bestie Breena. One funny thing is Aubrey was disappointed the balloons she blew up did not float. The boys gave her a bad time about not realizing how helium works. I am not sure how she missed that either. Silly girl.
Parker and I play a daily Yahtzee game and have a quarantine tally. That game of mostly luck is getting a little boring. We have all been playing different games together as well: Monopoly Deal, Cities and Knights, Spades, Crowns, Rummikub, Othello and more.
The water is FREEZING but we've still enjoyed hanging out at Gram and Gramp's pool. Grandpa was working in the backyard, so we got to visit with him for a few minutes from a distance. It was 90° on the day this picture was taken. This whole 5 weeks we've been on lock down, we have had beautiful weather. Usually it is very windy in West Texas, but it hasn't been bad at all. It's definitely heating up though.
Aub reading her cousin Perry a story.
SUNDAY NIGHT. We were tired of social distancing on such an extreme level. We had 10 people total so we were still being good citizens and staying within the guidelines. We had a great time visiting with the Vores for a little over an hour. Brinley especially was so grateful. She has been so sad living in Odessa but not being able to be with family. She was beaming for hours.
(Seeing my boys in this picture makes me super frustrated...they try to ruin every picture they are in by not cooperating. It's been years now, and I'm so over it. However, they are not, so what's a mom to do? Get over it, I guess.)
Park bought a unicycle a couple of weeks ago. It is pretty tough to get the hang of, but he is getting there. He needs to start by a wall and then he can go about 10-15 feet. I am sure if he sticks with it the next few weeks, he will be a pro.
We didn't really plan any April Fools jokes this year. Parker did see one going around on the internet where the Governor Abbot said everyone would need to repeat the year. He and I decided to try to "get" Tanner and Aubrey with that joke later in the day.
A little before dinner, we were all hanging out in the den, and Parker and I started casually talking about how everyone was going to have to repeat the same grade next year.
Aubrey and Tanner went silent. Then Tanner was annoyed and asked, "Why are we still doing homeschool then?" Parker and I were cracking up but trying to stay calm and keep the conversation going. Aubrey was pretty much speechless. Then we broke the news that it was just a joke, and we all had a good laugh. I was shocked with how calmly they both took it though.
However, two weeks later, the Easter day joke we played on Tanner was hilarious....to everyone but Tanner anyway. Tanner loves Cheddar and Parmesian Cheez-It Duoz, but he hates Bacon and Cheddar Duoz. We have accidently purchased them a couple of times, and he rants on and on about how disgusting they are.
For their Easter baskets, we bought everyone their own package of Duoz. (When we just purchase one package from the store, Tanner eats them all before anyone else has the chance to try a few.) We switched Tanner's package out with the Bacon and Cheddar one we had in the pantry.
His reaction was priceless. When he realized everyone else had the good kind, and he was stuck with the nasty ones. he was in shock. Then he started trying to steal everyone's Cheeze-Its.
We were all cracking up. He was ready to battle, and he was totally stunned that we would be so mean as to give him the gross ones.
After a couple of minutes, we let him know he had the good Duos and that only his packaging was wrong. He sat down on the recliner, tried to hold back a smile, and he busted open his crackers.
We had Family Home Evening last night, and we read a sweet story entitled Living the Somoan Way It focused on teen brothers who live in Somoa. Their life has been so different from ours. It was interesting to hear how they live off the land and see how they take care of one another. (For example, the older brother works in town and his earnings help provide for their family and also for his younger brother's education.) Learning about these brothers really brought a sweet, reflective spirit into our home.
We then talked about some of the blessings that have come into our lives since the quarantine. It was interesting to hear what the fam mentioned. I am going to make a few notes down below so I can better remember the significance of a few blessings that were mentioned.
-More time for scripture study. Aub mentioned this one, and it made my heart happy. She has a goal to read The Book of Mormon this year. She started strong but with school, homework, Young Women's and athletics her scripture reading started to slip. I love that she realized that and is using this time to study the scriptures more.
-Learning to cook. Bryn said this one. The kids have helped make dinner for years. We have a chore chart, and they rotate nights. Often, however, I do a portion of it while they are at school so they have never felt fully confident in making the entire recipe themselves. (I didn't realize this until the summer before Bryn was going to college, and she was concerned about not know how to cook. What????) Now they have the time to be involved in making the meal from beginning to end.
Parker has been learning to grill his deer meat and has actually been the one initiating that. He looks up the recipes on the internet, makes the marinades, when applicable, and cooks it. Pretty impressive. He has made back-strap, sausage, and fried venison so far.
-Be with Tanner. This was thrown out by someone because Tanner had a negative remark about pretty much every blessing mentioned. He gave a half grin. Such is life with a 15 year old boy, I think.
-Butter gets more attention. Buttercup, Butter for short, is our dog. She's getting lots of loves from Aubrey and lots more walks than usual.
-More snacks. This one is no joke. We are all eating lots and lots of snacks, and I have chosen not to make it a battle at this time. With no extended family time, no friends, no school, no sports, no church, no shopping....if an extra 10 cookies will bring you joy, so be it. (I think my kids will recover just fine from this. I, however, am going to have to rein myself in because I will not be happy if I gain 10 pounds during this quarantine.)
I do try to slow the random eating down some before dinner....so everyone will eat the dinner.
-Family dinners. I mentioned this one and Park, Tan and Aubrey were incredulous. "We ALWAYS have family dinners. What are you talking about?" (They didn't make that point with joy either...more with annoyance.) Their protests made my day! I am glad in their minds we have almost always have family dinners. I know this is something Bri and I feel is important, and I am probably too hard on myself for all the times it hasn't happened. It is super tricky with evening games, practices and other commitments. It is not very tricky at all right now. We really get to have family dinner every single night together! It's the best.
We have so many blessings. I was reading in Moroni chapter 9 yesterday and it brought peace and hope to my heart. Christ is merciful and long-suffering. Christ lifts us up. I am glad we were able to reflect together on some of the blessings in our lives right now.
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