We started April off in the very best way possible...
With the epic and unforgettable conference celebration.
It was the greatest weekend I have had in a long time.
I was emotional almost the entire 2 days and I had several spiritual experiences.
I loved every minute of the entire weekend.
I feel so blessed to be apart of it... the whole experience.
Most importantly, the part that is still to come.
We made crepes as we traditionally do and they were extra delicious
The young women wrote messages on our front walk
Allie, our hard working SWIG employee worked a ton of hours in April
and wore gloves and masks to keep every one safe.
Easter 2020 was so different. Every year since 1995, we have an Easter Egg Hunt in Papa and Nana's yard. They hide hundreds of eggs filled with candy and MONEY and the kids look for them. Even the old teenagers still join in... they don't feel embarrassed.
This year, we couldn't gather as we usually do. But, we couldn't have Easter without a Papa and Nana Egg Hunt.... So in the middle of the night they came over and hid the eggs in our yard. We didn't tell the kids. We just waited for them to notice. But, they didn't. Finally Raleigh had to go to the window and say ..."Oh my laws, what is this I see in our yard"
The kids (who up until that point had been secretly sad) ran outside.
And at that exact same moment, Papa and Nana were doing a "drive by" to see if the eggs were gone.
It could not have been more perfect timing. They jumped out of the car and took pictures and hugged the kids. Yep, they hugged. And the kids needed that.
I caught them doing a drive by
While they were hiding eggs, they also dropped off baskets full of more surprises
And the best cake ever....
Allie got a copy of "The Living Christ" from the Young Women's Presidency
Three little homeless children enjoying an Easter Egg Hunt
Then we had Sacrament Meeting and watched all of the church videos on the Atonement and the Resurrection and I could see the lightbulbs going off in the kids brains.
I know that they truly understood the meaning of the day for the first time.
I know that they were touched and that meant so much to me to be able see that happen.
And also it made me love my husband even more, if that was even possible.
As much as it could have been a complete bust of a day
it so wasn't.
I'm wearing a sports bra under my church shirt... what of it?
I also didn't wear shoes.
There are no rules at our home church.
For Family Home Evening, we made homemade icecream.
I cannot believe it turned out. How is that possible?
Science.
It was FREEZING and sortof miserable to shake bags of ice for 10 solid minutes
And somehow salt ice droppings went literally everywhere
and left white salt rings all over the kitchen which took like a solid week to clean up
Who cares? Just look at the happiness on the faces of the children!!!
Rals is still working from home. And completely loving it too.
He is meant to be a stay at home dad.
At first I thought he would lose his mind, but just the opposite happened.
He totally stepped into the role with perfection.
But, half way through the month, he got a little antsy. And one day I came home to blue tape sectioning off the wall
The next day, I came home to stripes made out of wood
The next day, I came home to perfect squares.
I tried 20 times to take a picture that did it justice, but had to finally give up.
Suffice it to say, it looks 100% better in person.
It is SO cute. I love it very much.
Our Bishop issued a challenge to all of the families in our ward to make a lip sync video.
We seriously thought about it for a whole week and then we made our selection and practiced it for a week. We chose Day-O and reenacted the scene from Beetlejuice. It was really fun to do and we had a great time doing it.
I can't believe how good it turned out. The kids nailed it with only a few nights of practice.
They totally got into it too
KK wanted to wear my glove.
When Allie was under sponsorship with Sol Kendamas, she was required to make videos weekly and she got really good at editing them. She edited our video in like 7 minutes. And it was perfection.
I am so glad that we did this. We will have good memories
KK, my little social butterfly who has struggled with this social distancing the most
really hasn't struggled too much because she just doesn't follow any of the rules.
She and Makayla hang out every day. They play with bunnies, jump on the tramp, play school, ride bikes and Makayla's mom takes them on outdoor adventures.
They also made chalk creations on our driveway
Quincey cut our hair
Raleigh sent me photos periodically during the month like this....
Just randomly
It's not weird
Allie worked her last day at Swig n Sweets in St. George.
It started to get real with me on this day that she is actually moving out.
I don't feel ready for it. I am not handling it very well. I'll just be fine one minute
and the next minute, I am bawling. I'll be a wreck when she officially pulls out of the driveway.
Another thing that made me so sad was the fact that she didn't get to have a graduation.
Class of 2020 was going to be so cool.
She didn't get one of Nana's famous graduation leis.
She didn't get a big family graduation dinner.
Or family coming into town to celebrate her.
She just got to put on the gown that her sisters wore in their graduations and
take pictures in front of the house in bare feet and beach hair.
Nevertheless, she looked gorgeous
Another project that we conquered was moving plants in the front yard and building planter boxes to put our new trees in. I think they look darling.
We dug these plants up from our side yard and put them here next to the bench.
It looks spectacular at night
Raleigh posted these signs above the light switches in each of the kids' rooms.
He has their routine dialed.
They LOVE watching the Book of Mormon videos in the mornings and learning about the scriptures
Then they ask Mr. Lund all of their school questions and he LOVES helping them.
At first this school thing really bothered him... but he quickly adapted to it and he feels very happy about being home with them and they have really thrived in this change of lifestyle.
I have truly never seen my family so happy and more close than we are right now.
Finally... my mom ordered hundreds of dollars of the most beautiful flowers from Holland and when they arrived, Morgan and Allie helped her put bouquets together for her friends for May Day.
Allie gave hers to me. It makes me so happy.
I feel very blessed that we all continue to be healthy. And that even though I am stressed, I am blessed that I am still working. We are blessed that Raleigh is working. Allie is leaving on May 2nd to move up to Provo. She starts the PTA program at Provo College on May 11th. And she starts working at the Provo Swig on the 6th. I know that she is going to be great, but I am going to miss her like crazy. And it will probably take me a few weeks to get over it. I have more to say about this but I am starting to cry as I am typing... boo hoo!!!
There is a part of me that wants things to return to normal and then there's another part that is SO okay with this new normal. I love the safety of my little children and the time they get to spend with their dad. I love the easiness of everything right now. I love the clarity and the attention to the important. I love that we have fun things to talk about when we run into friends and family in town. I am in introvert, so I kinda like social distancing. I miss my parents coming over on Sundays. I miss going to church. I miss real TV (sports). But, it will be so fun to look back on this time and remember the weirdness of it and the goodness of it.
1 comment:
Another beautiful post about another beautiful, and very strange, month in 2020!! I, too, am very happy that everyone has been able to continue to work and most of all, has remained healthy! Beginning today, May 1st, things will begin to change again!! Utah is going to start the process of "opening up" and I couldn't be happier. I know that one day we will look back on this time and say, "remember the good ol' days, when we were quarantined!"...but today, I am very anxious to get back to "normal"...whatever that may be!! It sounds as though the Lund's have really thrived during this time and it's good to know that the kids are getting used to the ups and downs of life. I know that we all have learned some good lessons through this experience but I'm happy to be moving on.
I will miss Allie too but I have a feeling that she is going to be coming home often and those visits will be fun. She will have exciting things to tell us about. I'm sad about her graduation not happening. Fortunately she doesn't seem affected by it...but then, that's Allie!! I hope she will always be so easy going.
Thanks for sharing your month. In this post, more than ever, I learned some things about what your family has been up to. It was very informative. I hope during the month of May, as we begin to return to "normal", that Dad and I will get to "live" out most of the moments with you. Here's to happy times ahead!!
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