June 2020

June was more of the same for us - staying at home, me sick, and outside time for the kids. At least the weather keeps things interesting! We had a dusting of snow on June 9th - the latest I've seen snow since we have lived here (5 years now!).

Macy wanted to wear a mask like everyone else. It didn't exactly fit her.

This girl LOVES being thrown into the bean bags by her daddy. We have gotten good use out of those bean bags.

Macy hiding from us.

Another family hike at Garden of the Gods.

Dave and my mom took the kids on a waterfall hike in the mountains. They love anything to do with waterfalls, just like their dad.

We had a severe windstorm right after Dad finished with his in-floor heating for his house (before they poured the concrete over it), and it ripped up everything, including the insulation underneath, mesh wires, and tubing. Fortunately he and Dave were able to track down most of the materials out of the forest and put things back in place. What a nightmare though!

Poor Mac lost his manhood in June and was not too happy about it.

May 2020

Quite frankly May is a big blur to me. Thank goodness my Mom and Dad are with us right now to help us make it through while I'm pretty much down for the count and everybody is home ALL THE TIME. Lots of puzzles, games, baking and snacking going on over here.

Homemade ice cream with homemade individual pazookies. Yummy!

This is Macy's preferred method of brushing her teeth these days (you can't hear Grandpa singing to her in the picture).

Lexi and Clara were able to go to their friend's birthday party and LOVED seeing other kids for the first time in a couple months.

There were also lots of nature walks to the meadow and stream by our house and in the mountains with Daddy and grandparents.

Occasionally we get severe thunderstorms followed by absolutely surreal light and rainbows.

It wouldn't be May without a little snow. Dad's scraping his workbench off.

 More COVID Memes. I can't help myself.

April 2020

 With school shut down and all events cancelled (including church) because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, April was full of good old time together. We had a visit from the cousins in Oklahoma, which was great for the kids. They were going stir crazy without seeing any of their friends or going out at all. There was lots of time spent doing Lego's, puzzles, playing outside, going on nature walks, and just playing together. At some point we did a little bit of "distance learning" for the kids school online as well, but I don't think there was any actual learning going on.

Clara and Ellie were two peas in a pod and had a blast together.

Ava finally went to Grandma with out screaming!

Watching General Conference together was a challenge, but the kids did great.

We had a "ground breaking" ceremony with a gold shovel and everything for the start of construction on Mom and Dad's new house.

Flying kites together...

The kids always love doing an Easter Egg hunt. It went so fast that I hardly had time to take pictures!

Mom and I took the kids to go visit the Denver Temple grounds (it was closed due to the Pandemic) and have a picnic across the way. Macy particularly loved going to see the temple and frequently talks about how excited she is to go inside one day.

Otherwise our month was full of puppy time, outside play time, and inside school time.

People were going crazy being isolated. I drove past this guy with a giraffe in his convertible. :)

Dad and Dad built this make-shift green house around our raspberry patch in an effort to help the plants along.

A family walk to Monument Rock...

We had a LOT of puzzle time. Good thing our dinning room table is so big. Macy is surprisingly good at puzzles thanks to Grandma.

One giant German Pancake!

And another tooth bites the dust!

Climbing the dirt piles at Grandma and Grandpa's lot is the best.

This is Lexi's preferred seating arrangement while doing school work at home.

This is how Lexi and I kept ourselves entertained for a while...

Grandma is way more fun than Mom.

Sisters doing chalk together. Makes a mamma's heart happy.

We also found out in April that we are expecting another baby, due December 12th! Let the craziness of 2020 continue! We are beyond excited and I am already counting down the days until I am done being pregnant. It's hard. This is what my bed looks like these days while I'm not feeling well.

I had to document some of the weirdness of this whole Pandemic. I went to Sam's Club one day and they had us all waiting in line in the cold outside, only letting in 20 people at a time. The line went all the way around the parking lot because everyone was standing the obligatory 6 feet apart. Once we got inside all of the TP, disinfectant wipes, and a ton of the food was out. No baking supplies, and everything was picked over. I was so glad to have a stocked pantry and full freezers at home!

Once Costco finally got TP back in stock this is what the store looked like: TP stacked all over the store, including the food court that was closed down.

This is what home church looks like for Cole. :)

Our Stake President shared this slide with us in a leadership training meeting, and I thought it was worth documenting. There are so many things that the Lord has changed in His church recently to prepare us for this crazy world we are living in right now.

Let's just say that I spent a lot more time than usual browsing social media as I wasn't feeling well with pregnancy. Here are a few memes that I came across that I think capture the feeling in our society right now with everything going on.