2020 In Review

 Where do I even begin? With all that has happened this year there really wasn’t too much that happened, lol. The year started off normal with reports of a virus that was spreading in China all the way across the world. I remember hearing about it for months in the news. 

March came with my birthday in the middle. I was so excited for my birthday because Stephen was finally going to take me to see the Pompeii exhibit. I had waited for months to go; I could hardly wait! My birthday came....and so did all the closures. Literally the day we were set to go the museum closed. Everything closed down and we were ordered to stay home for two weeks because the virus has started to spread across the United States at a rapid rate. People were dying—thousands of people were dying from this new virus called corona virus or covid-19 all over the world. We found ourselves in the middle of the first pandemic within 100 years. With all of the modern technology I never thought I’d ever find myself in a pandemic. Store shelves were ravaged day after day and it became hard to find toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and even food. Stephen was ordered to work from home, and we had to sanitize everything and wear masks everywhere we went.

I gave birth to my baby boy in the middle of a pandemic! On April 10th Grayson decided to hijack our wedding anniversary.

Civil unrest became rampant in May with the George Floyd stuff in Minnesota. Then came the protests and all the political nonsense. 

Mom, dad, AND Becky came to visit me and meet Grayson at six weeks old.

Lucas turned 5 and got to have his first birthday party in Twin Falls with all his cousins and grandma and grandpa.

We spent a week in Twin while Becky was here to visit and Brad took us fishing at Crystal Lake.

We went to Cherry Hill with the family and the kids all learned to swim! 

Grayson was blessed at home.

We went camping with grandma and grandpa at Lava Hot Springs and floated the river.

Zander started 1st grade and Lucas started kindergarten. They both have to wear masks, wash and sanitize their hands and belongings, and social distance themselves from their friends. At first they were on an A/B schedule only going to school for two days out of the week. The rest has been remote learning at home. That has been a HUGE adjustment for all of us.

Zander won his first flag football championship.

Grayson got fitted for a helmet to help round out his head.

Grandpa Washburn took a turn for the worse, and we didn’t think he was going to make it for a while until he eventually pulled through.

The rest of the year was spent hunkering down again from the rise of cases of covid and waiting for the holidays so we had something fun to look forward to. 

This year had many, many challenges and hardships, but for our family we were blessed beyond measure even when I didn’t see it. It has been hard emotionally for me in a lot of ways, and I spent a long time waiting for Heavenly Father to come in and “fix” me or tell me what to do and nothing happened. It wasn’t until I reflected on the year that I saw all the small and powerful ways and assurances that Heavenly Father heard my prayers-my pleas for help and forgiveness. 

Christmas

 Here's a look at all the fun festivities we did this month in preparation for Christmas. We spent several days in Twin Falls with our family, and then Mom and Dad graciously watched our kids for us so Stephen and I could have a night alone in Sun Valley. The kids got to spend lots of time with their cousins having a sleepover and playing with the new toys they got from Grandma and Grandpa the night before. Lance won the pot this year, we played bingo, sang happy birthday to Jesus and Valerie, and opened up presents.

that boy looooved Grandpa's eggnog!

Stephen and I listened to our book on our way to Sun Valley, had lunch in a little hole in the wall place, and shopped the rest of the afternoon. We checked into the hotel and cut our plans short due to being tired, exhausted, and of course, because everything closed up early because of Covid. We had a great time though, and got a good nights rest before we headed back. 

  Christmas morning!

On Christmas Eve morning Lucas and Zander, of course, got into a fight and Lucas kicked Zander in the face knocking one of his teeth loose (which I’m sure was warranted, but I digress). By the end of the night Zander had wiggled and wiggled and pulled that tooth out. He was over the moon excited; he came upstairs to show me and he eagerly said, “This is the BEST day ever!!! Santa is coming tonight AND the tooth fairy!” I must say, this Christmas was pretty magical for him.

Thanksgiving Blessing

 We were invited to Loren's for Thanksgiving this year, but that all fell apart real quick. All of the family, including Shule's family, were going to be there. But then we got word that Stephen's dad's health has dramatically declined. He hadn't been feeling well for a couple weeks and it was just discovered that he had a urinary tract infection that was really bad. His nurses brought pamphlets to the house on end of life procedures, and no one saw it coming. Dave had lost a lot of weight and the infection could kill him. We were told he had anywhere from a couple weeks to a few months left to live, and that we should go visit him as soon as we could. So that's what we did the day before Thanksgiving. We took the kids to visit Grandma and Grandpa Washburn. Zander wore his favorite football jersey because he new it was Grandpa's favorite team and he wanted to show it to him. That melted my heart when Zander told he wanted to wear it for Grandpa. 

We had to wear our masks as we visited. Zander stayed with us the whole time while his siblings played in the basement. Dave could hardly talk, and what he did say was just barely a whisper and really hard to understand. He was tired, so we mostly talked with Pat in the room, but tried to include Grandpa. We took a family picture with him. We didn't know if he would come back from the infection or not, and by the look and sound of things we were just waiting for that phone call. 

 The next day, on Thanksgiving day, Miriam took dinner to Pat and Dave, and let the rest of the family know that Grandpa wasn't looking good, and that this could be it. All the siblings gather at the house the following day (minus Shule because Oregon shut down again, so he couldn't leave the state) and Loren and Stephen were asked to give Dave a blessing. surprisingly Dave was looking and sounding a lot better than the previous day. Rachel commented at how good he was looking that night, and Dave replied, "Is that code for you're surprised I'm not dead yet?" It was good to hear he still has his witty sense of humor. 

Since then, Grandpa has been getting better and better. It's kind of a roller coaster with good days and bad days, but he's still hanging in there eating, sitting up, and wanting to watch tv, so we are really grateful that he's feeling better and that he's still here with us.

Cornbelly's and December Craft Day

 I found these cute pictures that Stephen took when we took the kids to Cornbelly's back in October. That last one cracks me up! I sure love my kids.

I got to go to craft day in Twin a couple weeks ago. We had a lot of fun getting to spend time with cousins, and seeing family. My Favorite Things was a lot fun; I brought hand warmers this year and also participated in the cookie exchange.

Father of The Year

 We recently got a new dishwasher shipped to us this last week, so after unpacking it the boys took the four two-by-fours and asked dad if he could help them make something out of them. This morning Stephen got out his saw and went to work. He made a sword for Lucas and two guns for Zander and Hannah. The kids were over the moon excited about their new toys that dad made just for them. Dad is their hero. 

Recently

 We had November craft day at Nancy's a few weeks ago. I was so excited to get to see everyone, especially mom. Then I talked on the phone with Becky and found out she was going to come too, woohoo! I loved having them over, really I did, but with covid and school being in session I couldn't find a sitter to watch the kids so I could go out shopping with everyone. I did get to go to the new RC Willey and I found a chair for my living room! That was really exciting for me. 

We made paper luminaries that fit inside a cloche, we baked sugar cookies and learned how to decorate with royal icing, made snowmen out of salt shakers, and made freezer meals for Grandma Watson and Aunt Nancy. It was so nice to see everyone especially all the new babies.

Grayson learned to crawl on his hands and knees, and pull himself up. His favorite thing to do is grab/pinch the back of my knees to pull himself up so I'll carry him. Today he stood up all by himself after letting go of daddy's hand for several seconds. I can't, nay, I won't believe he's big enough to do all those things yet. He has always been a little mover. Even in utero he was constantly kicking and moving--even during labor during contractions he was kicking. The nurse kept commenting on how active he was because he kept kicking the heart monitor off my belly. He just wants to go, go, go. Grayson is relatively a happy boy as long as he's fed and has someone to play with. The older kids just can't leave him alone. They are constantly picking him up, moving him, dragging him, shaking him, and poking him all in their own childlike way to play with him and get him to laugh. It doesn't take much to get Grayson to laugh; he is such a delight.

The boys are doing so well in school. Their reading, writing, and math skills are coming along great. Hannah loves to have all of mom's attention while the boys are at school in the mornings. She is just like a sponge soaking up all the knowledge she can get from her books, tv, and computer games. She is all set for kindergarten...in two years. She knows everything except how to read and write; those are the things we will be working on at home. 

My Babies

 Zander 1st grade

Lucas Kindergarten

Hannah 3 years old

Grayson 7 months old (he doesn't look like Grayson without his helmet)

Zander Turns 7

This goofy kid made me a mama 7 years ago. Zander has become a soft hearted boy with helpful hands. He loves his siblings even when they fight. He loves battling whether it's with a sword, gun, or light saber he'll say he won every time, haha. He loves school and seeing his friends. Right now his interests are Star Wars, Minecraft (hence the cake), football, Iron Man, and legos of all kinds. Happy Birthday Zan Man!

We Are Grateful For This Year

 Sometimes when it's Zander's turn to say the prayer he'll say that "we're grateful for this year". He'll say that not fully understanding the concept of time--days, months, years, etc... I mean this year has been a doozy to put it lightly. It has been hard in a lot of different ways. We've had to make changes and adapt to the changes of the world, but whenever I hear him say that phrase in his prayer it makes my heart a little softer. It humbles me because despite all the "hard" that we are going through there are always good things happening too. It hasn't been easy having everyone at home all the time since Stephen has to work from home and the kids have to stay home from school. We have had so many blessings this year because of the pandemic too. 

I am grateful that we are reading and studying the Book of Mormon this year. I have learned a lot and my testimony has grown exponentially. This is the first time since I was a teenager that I've read through the Book of Mormon all the way through. I have started many times alone; I have started many time with Stephen, but every time we get to the book of Alma we peter out and start over again months later. I am excited about all the things I've learned! I kinda get why missionaries are so excited to share the gospel now. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know that it was put together for our day and the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored through Joseph Smith. 

As I reflect on myself the past several years, mostly since having kids, I haven't liked who I've become. I have really struggled with parenthood. So far it has not turned out anywhere close to how I had imagined it would. My kids are not the well behaved, quiet, polite, kids I envisioned for myself because that is what I was going to teach them. In reality, I have been teaching those things to them, but what I didn't realize is that it's a process that they learn as they grow up. It's not going to happen just in their youth. They're going to be learning it over the course of their lives just like I am. I struggle with some of my parenting skills one being yelling. It is not something I am proud of or like to talk about, but it is a big weakness that I am trying to strengthen.

I have a testimony of repentance--of the mercy of our Savior. Take Laman and Lemuel for example. They murmured on and off and repented on and off. Every time they repented they were forgiven and were able to continue on their journey even though the lord knew where they were headed. Ultimately, He knew their hearts were not where they should be, but they were still forgiven every time. 

We've been reading in the book of Mormon this last week. It's gotten to the point where the Nephites are extremely wicked and not wanting to repent. Mormon has pleaded with them to repent and be baptized, but they are too far gone and don't want to listen. Several times in the first 6 chapters the lord tells Mormon to preach repentance to his people. Several times before the lord had had enough and the Nephites sealed their fate. That gives me hope. A lot of hope and peace because I know that if I continue each new day to try to be better and overcome my weaknesses and repent every day, I will be forgiven. I know I will be forgiven every time I repent. That is love. That is mercy. In one of the talks given in conference a few weeks ago it was said that we should make repentance part of our daily routine. 

Oh how I am grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! No matter what life throws at us we can overcome it as long as we are looking to the Savior, repenting, and utilizing the golden rule we will be ok.

Halloween 2020

 Clone troopers, stormtrooper, and Batman Kitty

Halloween bingo tradition

Eating brains for dinner

"I Only Eat Whole Bananas!"

 This is Hannah. She throws a tantrum every time her banana breaks in half and refuses to eat it because she "only eats whole bananas!" She's three.

At The Park