COVID-19 Quarantine: Days 56-60

Day 56: 5-8-20 (Friday)

Today was super fun! I got to see so many people that I miss. I met up with my friend Stephanie today. We had some fun things to drop off for our Primary families. It felt so good to go over to a friend's house even with social distancing!! After that Ailey, Bryn, and I took our boxes of Primary drop offs and started making the rounds. This was so good for Bryn!! She got to see and visit with many of her friends. I did too! It was fun to chat and catch up. Plus I got to see so many of my sweet little primary kids that I miss! We were gone for several hours and it was wonderful and therapeutic for all of us! Plus I love it when my kids are given opportunities to serve. It was a great day with the girls and friends and families that we love!

It was also date night!! We really had no plans and no real motivation to do much except not cook and get out of the house! We ended up doing a progressive dinner. We haven't had cheeseburgers in a super long time so we went to our local copycat In-n-Out...that really gives Delish's too much credit...it is not nearly as good as In-n-Out or that much like it but we do like their cheeseburgers. We don't like their fries so we went to another place for those and yet another place for dessert. Then we had a little picnic and chowed down! LOL. Today was a pretty great day!

Day 57: 5-9-20 (Saturday)

Today was super low key. We did yard work galore. We got so much done. Our yard is ready for summer! It felt so good! Tyler and the kids were plotting and planning all day too. Kameron was sent out on several mysterious errands and I was told that under no circumstances should I enter the garage! Several packages arrived and were quickly whisked away! I can't wait for tomorrow!

Day 58: 5-10-20 (Sunday: Mother's Day)

Mother's Day is truly my very favorite holiday. I love it so much! I love Christmas...in particular the build up to Christmas...but Mother's Day is a delight! Usually. :) It definitely was this year!

It all started around 9 am with breakfast in bed. One of my very favorite things is going to church on Mother's Day with the whole family. Sadly this didn't happen this year but the rest of the day was pretty grand!

My perfect breakfast! Redbull and a slice of marzipan coated Swedish Princess cake! Yum. I am not a breakfast person but when I do eat breakfast I like a sweet breakfast. I loved the lilacs and flowers from the yard that the girls picked!

I had the sweetest cards, gifts, and flowers from Ailey, Bryn, and Tyler. Ailey and Bryn made me the cutest Mother's Day video too. They are becoming great videographers!! Kam had given me his gift of the hanging basket early.

I also received this card from Beverly! Ha ha!

The kids decorated:

Reilly and Hunter had to divide their time today between both mothers. They did a good job. They came over early around 10:30 am for a porch visit and brought sweet flowers, a card, and gifts for me. They are so thoughtful! Then they headed over to Hunter's parents house.

I really wanted to go on a bike ride on Mother's Day as is our tradition. Tyler had our bikes all tuned up and ready to go the day before. We decided to ride on the Centennial Trail in Idaho that goes to Lake Coeur d' Alene. We had never done a bike ride that direction before.

The trail is absolutely gorgeous as you ride along the water. There were interesting sights all a long the way. I can't wait to ride it again.

It was such a fun day!

We exhausted these two who slept the entire way home. Ha ha!

When we got home from our bike ride Kameron was done with work. He and Tyler went to pick up the food from the restaurant that was catering my Mother's Day dinner...Chicken Osaka and Shanghi Beef, Pot stickers, and salad for everyone with Sweet Frostings cupcakes for dessert!

Reilly and Hunter came back over for dinner. We had this table set up on one side of the deck and another table for them on the opposite side. We also had a buffet table set up with all of the food. It was so awesome! We had a beautiful night together as a family. We watched my videos and then we dug out Reilly's bins from the garage that held some of her "special" things. We were laughing so hard going through some of them. I was THRILLED that she decided to take them all home with her! Yay!

Mother's Day picture with kiddos...social distanced. Kam's quarantine hair is OUT OF CONTROL!

Hunter's birthday was the next day so we had a little celebration for him too:

He is a good sport and HAPPILY donned the infamous party hat!

All in all...what could've been a really sad and hard day turned out to be a fun and joyous one. I posted this on FB and Instagram:

Mother’s Day could have been especially hard this year but I saw that my mom’s spirit lives on so strong... and she was there...in laughing until I was crying talking with Kirk, Meki, and Tyler this morning, in the festiveness and overflowing love of her grandchildren, in the white hanging flower baskets she and I used to race each other to purchase that was gifted to me this year by her grandson, in the joy of simple pleasures like bike rides and glittering water and sailboats, in the teasing of her grandchildren, in the laughter that surrounded me all day, in the hugs and kisses of my family, in the words “I love you Mom”, and in the white hydrangeas that we floated on the lake last weekend in her honor. My mom lives on in the sparkle in Reilly’s eyes, in Kameron’s hugs, in Ailey’s thoughtfulness, and in Bryn’s laughter. She was there.

Day 59: 5-11-20 (Monday)

Today is Hunter's 25th Birthday. We got him a gift card for the Boot Barn. He wants some new cowboy boots. It's kind of fun to have a country boy in our mix. I got to go into a store that I never would have entered and inhale the dreamy and intoxicating smell of leather! It smelled so good even wearing a mask! I guess cowboy boots and clothes are essential. ;)

Mondays are always busy even in quarantine. So much is always going on with online school and Tyler's work. Today I worked on my business doing inventory. I have zero interest in doing this but my garage and storage unit are packed with items that need to be tagged and inventoried and SOLD.

When we went walking today we saw these signs posted all over at the park:

We always see huge groups of people hanging out, having picnics, and playing games. It annoys me. I'm glad they put the signs up.

New phases for WA State: We are still in Phase 1.

Tyler and Kam worked all evening fixing our front yard sprinklers and working on a damaged water line. It was quite the project. I stayed out of their way...they were NOT friendly!!

Day 60: 5-12-20 (Tuesday)

Have I mentioned what absolute hell it is dealing with my mother's estate? Ugh... today I had the joy of being on the phone with the bank for an hour and a half. Then I had the pleasure of dealing with unpleasant siblings for the rest of the day and on into the night. I am so OVER it!

Okay...focusing on the positive...

Tyler hung up my hummingbird feeder and I actually saw a hummingbird come to it today! Exciting! Nay...thrilling!!

We harvested our first batch of Rhubarb today. We have a giant rhubarb plant and we all love and adore rhubarb. I craved it when I was pregnant with Reilly and ate it raw cut up like celery sticks. It's so good! Ailey and Bryn helped me by dicing it up, measuring it out, and freezing it in ziploc bags. They are angels. I worked in the yard all evening and it is starting to look spectacular!!

Current Favorite Memes #4

1.)

2.)

3.)

4.)

Try Day #65! 

5.)

COVID-19 Quarantine: Days 51-55

Day 51: 5-3-20 (Sunday)

We slept in again today. It felt good. No kids and or dog demanding our time and attention. We got up and went for a big walk. It was really pretty early in the day. The water level is super high. We've had to pull in the dock twice and the water keeps rising and it keeps floating out again.

We brought our bikes with us and planned on going for a ride but the clouds rolled in and it started POURING rain. Rain is a beautiful sight out here especially when it gets really stormy. We had thunder and lightening. It was great but it changed our plans. We ended up doing a bunch of work. We organized my mom's food storage room. We threw out all of the expired food. 14 garbages bags! We just did this 2 years ago when we cleaned out this same room when my Grandma died. Nearly all of the food had expired. My mom was definitely her mother's daughter. Clearly they did not understand ROTATING their food storage. My mom has a big armoire upstairs in the kitchen that she used as a pantry and she just kept filling that up with food. She didn't touch her food storage downstairs. Anyway...we did that for quite a while and then took a big load of trash to the dump. The sun came out for a minute and we ran out and mowed the lawn and did some yard work. Then it started pouring rain again. We ordered food from our favorite Mexican restaurant in town and they delivered it curbside. By the time we got back to the lake the rain was coming down in torrents and it continued all night. It was so cozy to be snuggled up and watching the storm. We also made some snacks and binge watched some of our favorite shows.

Day 52: 5-4-20 (Monday)

We woke up to thick fog all over the lake. You couldn't see anything. It was also super cold... in the low 30s. Finally the sun came out and burned off all the fog. We deep cleaned the house and packed up. We met up with two realtors about my mom's estate and properties. We were masked and socially distanced the entire time. They were very helpful.

We got home in the afternoon. It felt good to be back with the kids! It's good for all of us to have little breaks now and then. They did great while we were gone! The house was spotless...everyone was happy and not complaining about each other...they even had home church and Kam blessed the Sacrament and taught a lesson. I love this! It makes my heart happy! It was good to be home!!

Today was also Kameron's last official day of work. He will still fill in on weekend shifts until they find his replacement.

Day 53: 5-5-20 (Tuesday)

This is an exciting day! It is our 25th Anniversary! How have we already been married for 25 years?! My friend Jen reminded me that it is our Silver Anniversary! That is insane. Today was awesome despite our current quarantine circumstances. We had such a great day! We had so many sweet anniversary wishes sent our way. Ailey and Bryn both made us cute anniversary videos. I love them so much! They are my favorite gifts!

We celebrated as a family. We had Thai food delivered, made cookies, and drank Brazilian limeades. We blared 90s musics and danced around the kitchen. We had an AWESOME game night with the kids. I forced Tyler to play The Name Game which is my favorite game. He hates charade-type games but he was willing to do it for our anniversary. Ha ha!

I tried on my wedding dress...it still fits! Booyah! Not bad for 25 years later. Ailey and Bryn both wanted to try it on too. It was pretty hilarious!

We had a spectacular day!

Day 54: 5-6-20 (Wednesday)

Today was rotten. In the middle of the night I started getting a migraine and instead of getting up and taking something when I felt it come on I stayed in bed and tried to ignore it. Big mistake. HUGE! By morning it was excruciating. My regular migraine medicine wasn't working. I was completely nauseous. I spent 24 hours in bed in a dark room. It was terrible. A complete waste of a day.

Day 55: 5-7-20 (Thursday)

I felt much better this morning. The heating pad finally helped and I was able to sleep. Thank goodness. Migraines are awful. That was one of the worst that I have had. I think all the stress is taking a toll on me physically.

Tyler found out today at his morning meeting that he most likely won't go back into the office until September. Swell. I am grateful that he can work from home and with his health issues I am extra glad but September is a LONG TIME FROM NOW! I think Bryn and I struggle the most with quarantine. We like to be social and it is taking a toll. Bryn who is always a cheery ray of sunshine has been so down in the dumps. It has been hard to watch. I need to do more to get her out of the house and to help her feel better. Most of my family are introverts who love being home. Kam is okay now that he can see Abbey. That's all he really cared about. Ailey is pretty social but she and her friends are very active on Zoom and online. Bryn is too but she is a complete extrovert and online interaction is not enough for her. She misses her peeps. I get it. I miss mine.

We figured out that Kam has 54 days until he leaves. Yikes. We ordered Kam's temple clothes. Who knows when he will be able to go to the temple to take out his endowments so we want to be ready. He has also started packing up his room and packing his nonessential items.  July 1st will be here before we know it.

We had an online meeting with the sister missionaries and our family tonight. Reilly and Hunter joined in and so did Kameron's girlfriend Abbey. It was fun to have everyone on and chatting. The sister missionaries really want Kameron to take the lead on these weekly meetings. He is not quite ready for that but it is good for him to be involved in missionary work each week. I loved everyone's willingness to join in tonight. It made me so happy!

COVID-19 Quarantine: Days 46-50

Day 46: 4-28-20 (Tuesday)

Today was kind of a crazy busy day ... for quarantine. I had to run a bunch of errands. One was going to the licensing department to register the boat. Tyler had to come also to sign some documents. It was his first foray out into the world...masked and gloved. He said it was unsettling. You've got that right! Since today was so busy we did a short walk and then Bryn had to go to the elementary school to pick up a packet from her teacher. I miss our elementary school! It is such a good one.

Reilly came over for a porch visit. It was good to talk to her and catch up. She brought me a jar of homemade butterscotch sauce which I ate with a spoon over a 48 hour period. It was so good! Quarantine and healthy eating are not going hand-in-hand for me.

Tonight was book club. I look forward to this all month. It was fun. We read The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers. We all liked it but the audio book was preferred. It is read by LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow fame. I can't wait for book club to be in person again.

Day 47: 4-29-20 (Wednesday)

Another busy day. I worked on my business and we walked in the afternoon. Everyone is busy with school and work. No real down time during the day during quarantine which is good. We all do better staying busy. I completed the purchase of my mom's boat and sent off payments to my siblings. It is so weird that it belongs to me now. But I am glad that it will stay in the family. It is a great boat!

Kameron gave me my Mother's Day gift early. He got me a gorgeous hanging basket from the Nursery down the street. I love these so much! He got me my favorite all white basket. My mom and I both LOVED the all white baskets...they only make a few each year...and  we would try to beat the other to get one before they were gone. Kameron went early to secure an all white basket for me...sadly there is one less competitor for them this year. But it makes me really happy to see it. I love that my mom and I shared a love this particular item every year. The tradition continues.

Tyler and I are spending the weekend out at the lake so we ran out after dinner to drop off some stuff for the weekend. These days I love the simple pleasure of a car ride! Coming back home I had a good phone call with my cousin. A much needed one. I appreciate the support that he gives to me and to my family. It was good to vent and to get some advice from someone who is in the family but not in the mix of all the stuff that is going on.

Tyler and I grabbed some dinner and ate late in a parking lot with the windows rolled down and looking up at the stars. Another little bit of peace in a hectic time.

Day 48: 4-30-20 (Thursday)

Today was a hard day. It was our friend Chris' Memorial...not easy in the time of COVID-19. It was a drive thru open house style memorial in the parking lot of our church. Not the norm but still the spirit that was felt there was tremendous and powerful. The Memorial went from 10 am to 12 noon. Kameron had to go early...his boss gave him the time off to attend. Abbey went with him. Both Kam and Abbey are friends with his children. Kam loved Chris as his coach and teacher. He came home just before we left and told us about it. He was in tears. I was in tears. Abbey was in tears. He said it was really emotional despite being unique.

We drove into the church parking lot and were given a program. It was his life sketch and pictures. It was so neat to read about him and to learn new things. We waited in line in our cars as we passed pictures of him on easels. The first stop was at a spot with his parents and siblings. I adore his parents. It was so nice to pay our respects to them and to talk about our gratitude for their son. The next stop, as the line of cars advanced, was to a spot with his wife and kids. My friend Lara is amazing! She is a rock. Tyler and I were emotional wrecks and she was this glowing smiling light. It was good to talk to his kids too. His son Sean is Ailey's age and they have seminary together. Their son Chad is Kam's age and they have grown up together. Their daughter Halle had band and jazz band with Kam and is Abbey's age and good friend. Chris was Ailey's current geometry teacher....and Kam's XC coach and teacher in high school too. Kam just had Chris last year for Calculus. He was a wonderful man with an outstanding family.

After talking to the family and paying our respects we were feeling emotional and we were all dressed up with nowhere to go. We stopped by our house as Kam was leaving for work. I am so glad that he was able to attend Chris' memorial and was able to talk to the family. Chris leaves behind a tremendous legacy. The last time I saw Chris was right before he got really sick. It was at back-to-school night. (The night before my mom died.) Tyler and I were following Ailey's schedule and got to Chris' class about 10-15 minutes early. It was so good to see him. We had a good visit and I remember laughing together. He was a great guy and will be missed. Our family needed a nice drive and some ice cream after the memorial so that is what we did. We got home in time to watch the Facebook live stream of his graveside service. Wonderful talks were given by his siblings, wife, and children.

The rest of the day was very low key. We all needed it. Tyler and I had a few errands to run and went to see our favorite trees with their gorgeous blossoms. They aren't going to last much longer.

Day 49: 5-1-20 (Friday)

It's MAY!! Which is one of my favorite months...even in quarantine. Tyler worked a half day and we went for our walk early. The weather was gorgeous! The first lilacs are in bloom...very fitting for May Day. We found this variety at the park and it smelled heavenly. The lilacs in our yard aren't blooming quite yet.

WA State's Stay-at-Home order was extended to May 31st. The good news is that State Parks, Hiking Trails, and Boat Launches are supposed to open on Tuesday. WA also set out it's 4 Phase Plan. It seems like quite a long time before we reach Phase 4 which is life back to normal.

Our anniversary is this upcoming week so Tyler and I are spending the weekend at the lake by ourselves. The kids are holding down the fort at home. It is our 25th anniversary this year and we were planning a trip to Hawaii. Since that isn't going to be happening anytime soon we bought a boat instead. Hopefully we can squeeze in a fun trip this year too. Despite it not being Hawaii it was still fun to have some alone time at the lake.

When we got there this sailboat was out on the water. You don't see those often on our lake. Tyler and I stopped for Chinese take out at our favorite little restaurant in town. We have been missing it. We ate our dinner looking out at the water and enjoying the sunshine and beauty. We had a such a fun night!

Day 50: 5-2-20 (Saturday)

Today we are out at the lake. We slept in and Tyler made us breakfast. We had a leisurely morning. We went on a little day trip to check out boat launches on the various lakes that we enjoy. We drove to Spirit Lake and stopped at our favorite place for Avatar drinks and a lunch to-go. We drove to Bayview on Lake Pend Oreille and explored all kinds of cool areas. Then we drove up to the Blanchard area to check out the golf resort up there. We had a great time! The weather was kind of chilly and windy so it was the perfect day for exploring. We got back to the lake in time to eat dinner...our Chinese leftovers...and we watched the movie Emma (the new one) and binge watched some shows. It was perfection!

Also, today Idaho State opened for business. It was kind of eerie. Seeing stores open and people just going about their business with no masks and acting like life was back to normal again. We didn't go in anywhere and wore our masks and gloves when picking up our food. Kind of crazy.

COVID-19 Quarantine: Days 41-45

Day 41: 4-23-20 (Thursday)

Today our kids have been fighting like crazy. It was bad. We had to punish all three. They have no technology and have been banished to their rooms. Good times. I think we are all getting fed up with quarantine and being cooped up together.

My new lap top arrived which was exciting. I am donating my old one to Ailey. Online school requires each of the girls to be online nearly all day and in various Zoom meetings throughout the day. So Ailey and Bryn both need one. Sharing the "kids" laptop and the tablet hasn't been working very well. So Tyler ordered a new one for me.

I talked to my mother-in-law today. They are doing fine. They bought a new trailer and were going to go for a little weekend trip. I'm glad that my father-in-law is doing okay. His health isn't great.

I had to go to Albertsons again today. I nearly cried seeing actual toilet paper on the shelves. Not a lot but some! The grocery stores shelves are starting to look normal again.  I found big bags of flour and yeast. Hooray! Canned soups are still low but I was able to find the cream of chicken soup that I need to make Mexican casserole for Sunday dinner this week. I haven't found any cream-of-anything soups since quarantine started. One thing really irritated me though...half of the people in the store weren't wearing masks or gloves or anything! Things have definitely loosened up since I was in there last week. People think we are out of the woods. It makes me so angry!! Because of lackadaisical attitudes like that other people's lives are put in danger, families are separated, businesses can't open, people are out of work, and the shelter-at-home order keeps getting extended!!

Tonight we had a great online meeting with the sister missionaries. It was a lot of fun talking to them. They were filling Kameron in on life in the mission field and what missions will probably be like when he goes on his. They did a great job of getting him pumped to go. They are LOVING their missions despite the coronavirus. They are teaching twice as many people as before and loving it. They weren't bummed or depressed. They were so excited for Kameron and their excitement was contagious. They had such great advice for him as he preps to head out in July.

The night ended on a much better note than the day began!

Day 42: 4-24-20 (Friday)

Miss Beverly was up and out the door super early this morning. She had to be at the vet at 7 am to get spayed. She was there all day but she did great! She would have had cute puppies but we are not equipped to deal with that and I am THRILLED that she did not get her period/go in heat again before this appointment!

She has been such a little sweetheart during her recuperation. The vet said that she didn't have to wear the cone when she was with us if we could keep her from messing around with her incision. We also got the great advice to put her in a onsie to also keep her from licking her wounds. They make "recuperation" dog onsies but why pay $35 when we have actual onsies in the doll clothes box. LOL.

It did the trick! She didn't mind wearing it at all! We have quite the extensive doll clothes collection so Miss Beverly can have her pick of outfits!

I had a phone meeting with a realtor in North Idaho. She was awesome and so helpful. My sister Jordin is deciding if she wants to purchase my mom's house in Sandpoint. She has been renting it for nearly two years. If she doesn't want to purchase it we need to get it on the market. I was happy to learn that despite COVID-19  houses are holding their value and still selling well since there are less houses on the market. Good news!!

It was also date night!

We had so much fun! 

We got our favorite take out...Osaka bowls again. They never disappoint!

Since we are buying my mom's ski boat we decided to check out several different bays and boat launches on Lake Coeur d' Alene. We drove out to Rockford Bay and Mica Bay. It was such a gorgeous night!

We stopped for some energy drinks at the beverage barn in CDA. I love a beverage barn...you just drive into the barn and can buy your treats/drinks without getting out of your car. I wish we had these in Spokane.We tried the new watermelon redbulls. They taste like liquid watermelon jolly ranchers. The night was warm and delightful. We played great music and enjoyed our night out!

Day 43: 4-25-20 (Saturday)

My favorite trees in Spokane are just starting to bloom! Gorgeous.

Today we slept in and Ailey and Bryn made breakfast. We walked early at the park. It was drizzling but not too bad. We also had Walmart drop off groceries this morning. I can get used to never stepping foot into Walmart! This has been a perk of quarantine! We did a bunch of projects around the house today. It is always so satisfying to check things off of our list!

Kameron took Ailey driving this afternoon. Technically this was a punishment that he picked for himself for all of the fighting that has been going on around here. But it actually turned out great! They had fun together. They used to get along much better when they were both in high school and spent more time together. I know that the girls love having one-on-one time with him and have missed this. Reilly too.

My sisters were all out at the lake dividing up more of my mom's belongings. This never goes well. It didn't this time. I am so over all of the stress and drama. I really long for all of this to be over.

Bryn's drone arrived that she bought with her birthday money and we had fun messing around with that.

For our Saturday family fun night we made homemade donuts. This was a first for us. I've never made donuts before. We got the recipe off of Pinterest for Krispy Kreme style donuts. They were really good fresh out of the fryer but not as tasty the next day. We will try again with another recipe.

Even Kameron got in on the action.

Late that night Tyler and I had to go for a walk so that I could deal with the family stress from today. I had to complete the stress cycle and work out and process all of my anger, annoyance, and sadness so that I could even go to bed and attempt to sleep. This whole process has caused Tyler and I to have so many discussions about how to make sure that this never happens with our children and what steps we need to take to ensure that it doesn't.

Day 44: 4-26-20 (Sunday)

Today was a quiet day and it was much needed. I had to recoup from the drama of yesterday. Luckily I didn't have any early video chat church meetings. We slept in and had an easy morning. We had home church. Bryn taught the lesson and Tyler and Kameron blessed the Sacrament. I really love the feeling that home church and partaking of the sacrament brings to our family.

Our Stake President called Kameron today to talk about his upcoming mission. Kids who are "under call" but who haven't started their training can either 1.) Postpone their missions for 12-18 months or 2.) Go forward with whatever that looks like. Kameron told him that he was going forward.

This afternoon the weather was nice. Kameron took Ailey driving again. She is doing well. Then Tyler took all of the kids to the middle school to fly Bryn's drone. I had the whole house to myself for about an hour and a half. It was BLISS. I love my family dearly but it is also nice to have a break! :)

For Sunday dinner I made my mom's Mexican casserole with all of the fixings and for dessert we had ice cream sundaes with my Grandma Ellersick's famous hot fudge sauce. It was all about comfort foods today and every day during quarantine! After that we just hung out as a family just talking, laughing, and playing with Beverly for most of the night. Bev is great entertainment. She is either in her cone or in her baby onsie! She is recouping well after her procedure. Later that night Tyler and I binge watched a show together. The whole day had a much better feel than the one before. It was a true break and a rest.

Day 45: 4-27-20 (Monday)

Quarantine routine coming in hot! Work, school, meetings... all day. I was even able to do my own work and got a bunch of stuff done for my business. It felt REALLY good to get back to it.

I talked to my dad today. He was checking in about Kam's mission. It is also his long-time girlfriend, Gayle's, birthday today so I talked to her too. They are both doing okay.

Today was busy and productive. Just how I like my days. We got a bunch of stuff done! Some house projects, yard work, business, school, meetings, and I finished my book club book in the nick of time. Book club is tomorrow night. Tyler played a bunch of games with the girls so that I could have some devoted reading time. We also did a double walk again today. The night sky was absolutely beautiful. It was so calming and grounding. I felt like I slept so much better.