Wax Museum #5....or something like that

It's been two years since we went down the Covid rabbit hole and some days it feels like we'll never fully emerge. 

Anna is a fifth grader and it is her turn to do the wax museum. She was determined to get the look right, so we sewed up a skirt in the 11th hour and she went outside and recorded her speech. 

That's right. 

It's an online wax museum. What a rip off!

Margaret Cochran Corbin:

I think she nailed it!

Concert season

Yes, it has been almost 2 years since the pandemic. Are we still feeling like singing through masks is a good idea?

Anyway.... we had plenty of concerts to enjoy this Christmas! I'm pretty excited that we're having them at all. Anna's Sunnyside Singers gave two concerts. One at the school:

And another performance at the high school with lots of middle school and hight school kids. 

At the end, we all stood up and sang carols together and that was just enough to heal my soul for awhile. I think we're gonna survive this weird moment in history.

Laney's band concert:

Jammin at home:

Getting groovy at to the Jazz band at Megan's concert. 

And of course...always ice cream to celebrate! 

 

Vaccines and masks

We are the point in the pandemic where we are getting vaccines because we need to be able to go to school and we need to be able to at some future point stop wearing the masks. 

But for now we are buying the ones from Aldi that fit better than most...then we are removing the metal nose clip and cutting out one of the layers. 

Because it is absolutely 100 percent is about the appearance of compliance. The science doesn't back up the use of masks as they are being used. 

So we are making it as bearable as possible if we absolutely have to wear one. Otherwise, we have become a part of the silent the protest. We simply don't wear them. 

It feels stupid and rebellious and fully ridiculous. 

College bound

 The pandemic changed alot of things.

One of the real bummers was the kind of senior year Mathew had. No senior skip days, no marching band season, senior recognition concert,  no bonfires or all-night graduation parties. 

So Mathew decided that instead of missing out, he would opt out an move on to his next chapter. 

He graduated a semester early, then buckled down and saved up money to get up to college. 

Time to plan his first semester!

I'm sad for the things he'll miss (and the things I'll miss!), but I'm proud of him for taking what life dishes out and moving forward with purpose. Just over a month until we head to Idaho!

Valentines...Sabbath...Covid

The universe is conspiring against us for sweeping romantic gestures....

But, by dang, there will be heart shaped cinnamon rolls!

Zoom Church Perks

 One of the cool things about having a zoom link to church is being able to snap a screenshot of your testimony sharing son when he gets up to share. 

Mathew couldn't bear to stay away from testimony meeting, so he zipped over with Mark to be there in person. 

And the rest of us tuned in!

He has the sweetest heart 💓

Ice Skating on the down low

The ward had to cancel the annual ice skating party. I mean, we get it...how do you get 150 people together in a global pandemic? The skating rink is only letting 50 people in at a time, for crying out loud. But we are bummed. We look forward to this every year and the teenagers need to get out of the house!  So we gathered our usual suspects, painstakingly coordinated our calendars, checked with teenager work schedules, confirmed and reconfirmed, stayed up till midnight and franticly reserved tickets 48 hours in advance....no problem.

We went with the Guenthers, Petersons, and Flynns...some were more excited about skating that others...although, poor Courtney almost broke her hiney in her first 5 minutes on the ice. She gets a free pass.

Cute Laney and her awesome braces!

Anna is always out there in the thick of it...she skated as long as she could before the ankle blisters were too painful to ignore. 

And we FINALLY convinced Everly to get on the ice!! 

She scooted along the wall and we took turns holding her hand. She didn't fall, so I think she'll get out there again next year. I think I'll take her place snuggled in the blankets and letting people bring me cocoa.

We had such a fun time hanging out together and enjoying having every one of our kids there. These days are coming to an end soon. 

When all the skates were returned, we went down to see the big tree and the beautiful lights put up in the Crown Center Square.

Huffords 2020!!

We couldn't miss a chance to get a photo of our families all together. Every kid was here...that never happens anymore!

 

Calling all angels

 Hello? 

Hello out there? 

If there happen to be any free ancestors just kicking around with nothing to do today, I've got the perfect thing to keep you busy.... we're gonna need to come up with 25 activities from now until Christmas...and remember....no concerts, no group activities, no movie theaters, no parties...

no problem...right?

Tootsie Roll

 I'm not sure how much the kids are enjoying the new hybrid school week....

But Tootsie is SUPER loving it. 

The Unstoppable Band Teacher

 Covid has effectively stopped it all. 

But this middle school teacher WILL FIND A WAY.

The weather suddenly gifted us one of those fabulous warm days in November, so that man planned the fastest CST Pops concert in history. 

He set it up like a Drive-Up Movie. 

The kids seats were up on the hill next to the parking lot and we all pulled up and listened from our cars.

You can't make this stuff up.

In truth, it was pretty fun! My hat's off to Mr. Evans and his unstoppable drive to not let Covid stop the middle school band. Laney was part of the one and only Drive-Up Pops Concert!

Carving in isolation

 Megan woke up with a sore throat on Monday morning. Then she said it was kinda hard to breathe. AND THEN! She mentioned that food was tasting kinda weird. 

Obviously...she had the Covid. 

It seemed a mere formality to get her tested. 

And Anna too...she was feeling stuffy and they share a room....

We called the schools, picked up a "skip the line" covid test card from the school nurse and ventured over for the dreaded swabbing of the brain we've heard so many people complain about. 

They were super excited.

Then we settled in for the wait. 

In the meantime...we have some pumpkins to carve and we'll not be sharing any germs with our friends until we know PRECISELY what kind of germs they are. 

We missed them all for many reasons...not the least of which was we really rocked it out this year! And we have no one to show our creations.

We had tons of elbow room!

Dad provided fresh baked cookies to keep up our carving energy. He's so supportive!

Anna's very worried pumpkin...

Everly's most adorable mini pumpkin cottage...

This is mine. I've wanted to do this creepy twine thing for awhile...and it was really hard! I mean...it took a LOT of jabbing a stick through tough pumpkin skin. This was a one and only...

Laney's was a two-sided masterpiece....

Megan tapped into her superpowers....Precision and Discipline to produce this awesome Papyrus.  I offered my help, but we have moved into the stage where she doesn't trust me not to mess up her vision.  She got that from me...lol.

All our Jack o' lanterns in a row! 

We missed our friends and we hope next year we can all be back together again, but for now...we have our cute pumpkins to keep us company!

Overabundance

 There are plenty of weird things that this pandemic has brought into our lives. 

Homemade masks, anyone?

One of them is the free lunches that we pick up several times a week from the middle school. These are for all the kids in the house, even those that don't attend school. AND! They include breakfast. So that's 3 drinks, a "breakfast pastry", bag of veggies, fruit, applesauce cup and main dish...times by 5. 

Multiple times a week. 

We make the baggies of lettuce into one big salad, use the veggies in our cooking, the muffins milk are a good backyard snack. But that's about as far as we go...I don't know about you, but we just don't eat that much applesauce. 

So we are learning new skills. 

Ever had bananas dipped in lemon juice and dehydrated?  I'm telling you...you are missing out. 

All those fruit cups can be blended together and we make mystery fruit leather!

The shortest marching season & Mathew's Senior Moment

I feel bad for ever complaining about the many rehearsals and festivals involved with the Falcon Regiment's regular marching season. The kids love it. And they feel like they are part of this awesome program. 

This year we are really missing it. Their season was pared down to just a handful of outdoor, socially distanced rehearsals. 

And the season was completely cancelled. 

No festivals. No competitions. No field show. 

So what they were left with was two home football games. They were arranged 6 feet apart on the track. It wasn't what it was...but it was something!

Mathew on the bass drum!

Megan on marimba!

During halftime, they were able to go out on to the field and perform the songs they chose from Queen. It wasn't what we're used to, but it's something!

And because it's Mathew's last season, they recognized him and the other senior with a photo on the big scoreboard. If he had had the opportunity, he would have stood and said that he is graduating early in December and then doing his first semester of college in April. (At least I think that's what he would have said...the kids always seem to surprise me). 

Look how old he's looking!