April 2020

I saw a meme that had Back to the Future characters on it and it said "Whatever you do Marty, do not go to the year 2020!" April was a blur of one same day running into the next sameness as we dealt with COVID restrictions. In some ways it was nice to not have so many places to go and things to do, less stress, and we had a lot more time together as a family, and thank Heavens Jared and my jobs were secure and we still had work to do. On the other hand we had an almost 19 year old trying to recover from a breakup, isolated in an apartment with no social activities, and furloughed from one of her jobs, a 17 year old going stir crazy and absolute sick of being in the same house all the time, but also trying like crazy not to expose herself to anything bc she works in an elderly care facility in an essential job as a CNA, and we have an almost 16 year old getting nowhere with driver's ed, not socializing or doing the sports he is so accustomed to, and whiling away the time on video games. We are opting to trust God and be still while the world recovers from this pandemic.

There were some highlights of April.

• We have actually really enjoyed having church at home with just our family. The flexibility on when and how long to do it has worked well for our teens. It is very joyful and spiritual to see Jared and Weston blessing and passing the sacrament, and we have had some of the best family gospel discussions we've ever had during our lesson time. 
• We also broke a couple quarantine rules and had some family over for Easter. It was so fun to get together with cute nieces and nephews and my parents and siblings to celebrate the resurrection and hunt for eggs. 
• Starting the marco polo app has been an amazingly fun way to connect with family and friends while we have been limited in our socializing time. I've seen more of my sisters than I usually do because of marco polo!
• Its been nice to not have to drive to work and I've been able to have more relaxing mornings taking time to exercise and spend time with Jared. (It was still too cold for me in April, but may is looking nice! When its cold all the time I very appreciate the warm.)
• We got away to the cabin for a couple days, to get out of the house, and took Trevan with us
• Sav, Fiora, and I took a hike one day up to the G and it was the first warm day of the year so it was glorious.
• Savanna improved our spare room and made a Jesus wall, it's so beautiful!
• Fiora passed her CNA certification tests! She is so smart and awesome and doing good in her CNA job.
• My parents and sisters spent a night at our Scera house while Fiora and I grandma sat. Jared and Weston took a nice bike ride while we were away. Sav came over that Saturday while I was at mom's and we took a fun walk to the park in Cedar Hills.
• Trying to spend more time outside--on the deck, setting up the tramp, walking the trail, chalk art, or sitting on the porch. God has blessed us even in the midst of a trial.