Pre-Apocalypse Trip #2- Bryce Canyon

On Sunday morning we did a little sacrament meeting. Dean wasn't given permission to pass the sacrament from his stake president, so we didn't have sacrament but it was still nice.

Then, we went to the nature of God to continue our worship.

The national parks were still open, so we decided to head to Bryce Canyon. It was COLD, but beautiful. The trails were muddy so we didn't really hike, but we got to see the stunning views. I love seeing God's greatness!

Pre-Apocalypse Trip #1

For several months some friends and I have planned for a reunion of some of us from Federal Way. I have known Adam since 5th grade. We planned to meet he and his family, who live in California, at the home of Dean and Sheldon. I knew Dean a little bit growing up, but he is a few years younger than me. Adam and Dean are best friends, and it all worked out with our spring breaks for this to work- so that's the set up. Phew. It's a lot to unpack.

On Thursday night, things started getting REAL with the Corona virus. Everything started getting canceled- including DisneyWorld (that's how you know it's legit!).

We had to make a decision of whether or not to go on Friday, for a world we didn't know existed on Tuesday.

We used our best judgement and decided to go for it (well, not Ben. He hates road trips and he had to work anyway). Like I said, it was starting to get crazy, but it wasn't FULL ON crazy yet.

Every day, the news got more intense. On Sunday, Ben sent me this text: "Trump alluded that he might restrict travel between states. Maybe you will get stuck in Utah." Notice he did not say we should come home.

However, in small town Cedar City, life was pretty normal. Yes, Wal-Mart had some empty shelves, but it wasn't crowded- it was OK.

For the most part, we were at Dean and Sheldon's house- where the kids all had a BLAST! They all played so incredibly well together- it was awesome!

The adults stayed up late playing games, the kids put on skits, we laughed A LOT, and enjoyed a few more days of normalcy before we returned to total chaos.

This is from our road trip. At least for this trip, the drive was beautiful.

The cast bowing for the audience:

Also, let me just say: my girls are AWESOME! They are such wonderful travelers! They did fabulous for the long drive, they were incredibly respectful of our hosts, they played well, and they adjusted to changes of plans and the four of us all sharing a bedroom. Seriously, they are the absolute BEST!!!!!

M-M-M-My Corona!

Unless you are living under a rock, you know that a few weeks ago the Corona Virus touched down in the USA- and it has quickly spread.

Watching what my family in Seattle (the epicenter for the virus in the USA) is going through, I knew we were about 2-3 weeks behind.

Suddenly, last week, everything started happening FAST!

Audra was the first canceled plans casualty in the state- and it hurt. Her school musical and her solo and ensemble concert were both postponed. She did get one play in on Thursday night, and thankfully Ben was at least able to go to that, even though the rest of us weren't able to go.

There were a lot of tears last Thursday.

But, then, yesterday everything went crazy.

Disneyland and Disneyworld are closing.

ALL church meetings WORLDWIDE are canceled until at least the end of the month.

The NBA, MLB, and NHL are all postponed.

March Madness is canceled.

Schools across the country are being canceled for weeks at a time- including our school district which is now closed until at least March 27th. The entire state of Washington is out until April 24th.

College campuses are shutting down and students are doing on-line college classes.

BYU canceled graduation.

General Conference will not allow an audience.

To say it has been crazy is an understatement.

I'm grateful our local and state governments are taking this seriously (our federal government put a man who doesn't believe in science and who prays daily for the rapture in charge of the pandemic, so you can guess how well that is going). It is a HUGE bummer that pretty much everything from another canceled concert for Audra last night to at least half our volleyball season to EVERYTHING being canceled....this pandemic is affecting every aspect of our lives. Not only are people quarantined if they show flu symptoms, thousands so far have died worldwide, and there does not appear to be any end in sight, BUT....

This is also the Great Toilet Paper Crisis of 2020:

This is our grocery store toilet paper aisle a couple of days ago. By now, absolutely everything is gone on the paper product aisle.

I went to KingSoopers at 7 AM this morning. It was Thanksgiving week-esque busy. They said there was a line at 5 AM when the store opened. Costco is a madhouse- just getting into the parking lot takes a half hour.

Luckily, I stocked up on TP last week- we are fine on, well, everything. Food storage is coming in handy, and I'm happy we can share with others- a woman on FB needed some powdered milk, and I have a year's supply of it that I will likely never use.

At any rate, this is an absolutely unprecedented time. It is simply insane, but we will get through it. If we so much as get the sniffles, we will not leave the house for two weeks- and we are prepared for that.

We aren't panicked, but we are ready. Thank goodness for following the prophet 10 years ago and finally deciding to get our food storage!

Audra's Art

Cousin Time!

Is there anything in the world better than cousin time? Most likely not!

Stephanie had some free tickets so she and Makenna decided to fly out for a few days. We had an absolutely blast! Camille has cried almost non stop since they left, so we won't focus on the good-byes, and instead concentrate on the FUN!

Playing at the local elementary school:

Movie night- watching The Lion King with all their dolls

Making waffles

Hiking Waterton Canyon:

A sister's pic:

Swimming:

Of course, a trip to Casa Bonita was in order. Makenna said it was the best time ever!

 Thankfully Makenna was here because we had a job to walk THREE dogs, so we needed the help!

They were only here for a few days, but we are so incredibly grateful they came! There was not very much sleep happening, but there was definitely a lot of fun! What a great weekend!!!

Cruise Director Q & A

It's been over a week since we got home from our cruise, and I'm definitely missing the beach. I can't go back, but here's some really funny questions that employees on the cruise ship have actually been asked:

Do the stairs go up or down?

Guest: Does the pool use ocean water or clean water?
Cruise Director: Ocean water.
Guest: Oh, that explains the waves!

Can I take the elevator to get to the front of the ship?

What do you do with the ice carvings after they melt?

Has this ship ever sunk?

Does the crew sleep on board?

(Referring to the pictures in the picture gallery that the photographers take of guests on board the ship) How do I know which pictures are mine?

Tampa

I told Ben the only way I would get off the ship was if he promised we would be back on one again soon. He agreed.

So we got off.

We had about 5 hours before our flight, so we got a rental car and went to a nearby beach. It was beautiful. I was glad to have one more stop in the sun before we headed home to the cold.

And, here we are about to head home. They may be smiling, but it was really sad.