Sunday, April 5, 2020
April Week 1
What an awesome week and an even more awesome General Conference! We couldn’t wait for conference and were not disappointed.
Monday, March 30
Happy #8 Birthday, Mark!
Mark was excited to see me making CTR cookies for his baptism the next day. He had fun helping me stir the green icing. Yay!
Tuesday, March 31
Wednesday, April 1
Thursday, April 2
Friday, April 3
Saturday, April 4
Sunday, April 5
I could not sleep Monday morning, so finished decorating and made Mark’s birthday breakfast wish of cinnamon rolls come true. I usually make them the night before, so it was a treat to eat them warm! Mark was the first child awake, but he wanted to wait for everyone else to wake up to eat together. We all sang “Happy Birthday” to him before eating.
On Tuesday night, I finished another big family line that I started 3 weeks ago. I went back a generation further than I had 3 years ago. I researched 1,227 people, reserved 51 ordinances to be done immediately and added 118 people to my 110-year calendar. 12 foreign countries were represented: Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden. It feels good to have another line solidly tidied.
Tyler’s soccer club coach issued another challenge: they had to do a 1-mile run, 15 sprints and 100 passes. This first part was timed. Amy was nice enough to run a mile with Tyler before her regular track workout. She helped him get really close to his desired time.
Another boy in Mark’s class had a birthday, so everyone on the class Zoom chat sang to him. Mrs. Fueger also brought her son Andrew on the chat because today is his birthday, too! I called Andrew up to see Andrew Fueger. Side note: I have wondered over the past several years if we have exaggerated the story about Mrs. Fueger naming her first son Andrew after our Andrew -- she was pregnant while teaching Andrew’s class. I had remembered that she told us during a parent-teacher conference that Andrew was such a good kid that she named her son Andrew and hoped he would turn out as great.) When our Andrew waved to Andrew F., Mrs. Fueger told her son, “That’s Andrew too! ...And that’s why you’re named Andrew.” So I was validated that we didn’t make up the story!
I practiced with both Tyler and Mark. Neither of them wanted me to (because I make them practice a lot more effectively and a bit longer than they do on their own), but the practice sessions went so well and we made great progress!
Amy invited me to run with her in the morning. It was an easy day for her, but I felt it afterward myself! She ran a bit longer after I finished at our street. It was awesome to be outside and to exercise with my daughter! When she came back I took a picture of our shoes to remember our run. It was only 33 degrees outside when we started our run, so I dressed for cold. Then there was Amy in her running shorts! I realized I’m the nerdy old mom because I’m not willing to suffer for cuteness. Maybe I should suffer a little more! Amy didn’t care how I looked, though.
Jon and I went for a walk around our ward boundaries. (Jon took this pic to send to our friends inside this house.) It was so nice to soak up some Vitamin D together! We ate egg salad sandwiches, Jon played Frisbee with the kids, and we settled down for another session of conference!
Amy made some chocolate covered Ritz crackers for a special Sunday treat. Everyone also got a cold bottle of Propel (our favorite Conference treat). We did not do our usual apostle treats since I was avoiding going to the store. I was surprised that not one child asked about it!
Day one of our scripture chart was birthday-themed for Mark. Then we had footsteps for following the prophet and Jesus Christ with upcoming General Conference.
I really appreciated President Nelson’s message and invitation. We are so blessed to hear from a living prophet - not only at general conference twice a year, but often through social media!
The Church released yet more adjustments to missionary service. It will be interesting if the world-on-hold situation will impact Natalie’s mission call. She planned to submit them as quickly as she could (April 20th). We may be waiting until closer to her birthday to submit them now.
Andrew was nice enough to be Tyler’s partner for the passes. The untimed portion was soccer ball drills with a video. Tyler had fun with that one! He ended up winning the team challenge for fastest total time! Go T!
With Mark’s birthday over, I switched the birthday pennant banner with my CTR banner I’ve been waiting to display for General Conference! I also created a new message with my blocks. I couldn’t add “in a” or “amid a” due to limited letters, so I wrote a little sign so the blocks would make sense: “Peace amid a Pandemic.” I borrowed Tyler’s Christus and brought out my Moroni statue, which along with my temple completed the display perfectly! I am grateful for the peace that comes from focusing on the Savior.
Sunday night, Amy decorated for Mark’s birthday. I love the mini Mark on top of the blocks! He is the smallest doll in our family stacking dolls set.
In the morning, I printed out and laminated Mark’s cute little mug for his birthday hats banner. I love looking at this little face through the years!
Along with some fun streamers over Mark’s doorway and the mini birthday wreath hung on his door, Amy made these super cute balloons for Mark’s bedroom!
My mom’s baptism towel for Mark arrived Sunday night - just in time! (Nancy embroiders them for her.)
After breakfast, Mark opened presents right before Jon went to work. He was super excited about his Lego set, these flyer discs, a new CTR ring and tie tack, sour patch kids, and an orange hammock.
Mark enjoyed a FaceTime call from my parents. I enjoyed my turn talking to them after he was done! We only had a few minutes before school video chats resumed.
Mark’s class had their first Zoom meeting because it was his birthday. They sang happy birthday to him and asked about his day. Super nice! They all got a turn to talk, but someone was causing a terrible echo despite everyone being muted. It may have been the teacher’s setup.
It was actually a relief when we had to leave the meeting due to Tyler’s speech therapy session. This time one other boy joined him with his teacher.
I baked two loaves of white bread for Mark’s requested grilled cheese and tomato soup. We were out of sliced cheese, so the boys managed with grated cheese.
Mark was pleased! Jon mixed up some lemonade from the leftover lemonade concentrate I made the night before for his birthday dessert. Mark had fun putting together his new Lego set!
After Tyler and Mark finished school they pulled out a ton of books in the library and read away.
Amy taught piano and violin over Zoom.
Tyler and I shot baskets outside... he somehow managed on his rip stick! Not the whole time, though -- we played 1 v. 1 and he was surprised by my mad skills!
Mark, Tyler and I went on a walk that afternoon around the block. Well, I was the only one to walk. Tyler took his rip stick, and Mark was on roller blades. Yay for warm weather!
Had I known Mark was going to request Navajo Tacos for his birthday, I wouldn’t have made them just a few days ago!! Oh well. Luckily, I still had all the ingredients we needed.
Mark was so flexible with his birthday cake. I asked him if he could choose something I could make with the ingredients we had at home. We settled on Lemon Ice Cream Pie. I haven’t made this in years! I did have to make my own lemonade concentrate for it, but it turned out amazing! It’s lemon ice cream on a graham cracker crust. Everyone raved over it!
We had our first Golden Egg lesson about the resurrection. From the objects inside the egg, can you guess what we discussed? 2 Nephi 9 -- how Christ conquered that awful monster death and hell.
After scripture time, Mark got his last birthday wish, which was to play Halo with his brothers. Jon set that up and watched a movie with Amy and me. After the boys went to bed, we got a call from Gary and M’Jean for Mark. He hadn’t fallen asleep yet, so Andrew got him to come downstairs. Mark enjoyed that call!
On Tuesday, Mark received a birthday card from my parents. So nice! It was very exciting when the money fell out of the card!
We soaked in some sunshine, throwing Mark’s disc outside. I’m grateful for awesome weather!
Inside our second golden egg was this watch (representing the time between death and the resurrection) and two-sided pictures of my uncle Karl and my mom’s grandparents. I shared experiences of the thinness of the veil from my grandma’s letters about Karl’s death (he was hit by a car on his way home from scouts when he was 13) and near the passing of both her parents. I read from the scriptures and church talks about the Spirit World.
Here’s a portion of the “class discussion” section on Mark’s Google Classroom. Mark is a silly kid.
Barney and kids stopped by after the afternoon session in their new ride! It’s always so fun to visit with these guys!
Amy and Tyler took a stop-motion video playing Spike Ball. They made a “50 Things” list of activities to do while quarantined and mark their list when they finish one. It’s super cute.
Inside Wednesday’s golden egg was super glue and our wedding picture. We talked about the blessing that our family will be together forever because of the sealing power of the priesthood.
I’m not a fan of pranks at all, but figured that this little trick was tame enough. I wasn’t sure what my chances were of pulling it off. I took video just in case... and it worked! I love the knowing looks of the older kids. It worked! So classic.
Amy and I were put in charge of Wednesday night’s joint online activity with the priests. We enlisted Jon’s help to create a Pandemic Bingo app. Each youth downloaded the app and competed against each other to see how quickly they could get Bingo and then Blackout. The squares were mostly taking pictures of various things like the inside of their fridge, their hoarded tp stash, the person they’ve spent the most time with during quarantine, their parents on their wedding day, etc. There were also a few trivia questions. It turned out so fun! At the end, Jon shared his screen with the group so everyone got to review all the fun pictures. It was such a big success! Jon is amazing!
Amy read all of Harry Potter book 7 from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning! We had to watch the last movie for her Wednesday night!
Tyler and Mark at their school desks
Everyone appreciated the coconut sweet chili chicken and rice with steamed carrots for dinner. Afterward I made Mrs. Fields oatmeal chocolate cookies, which really hit the spot! Amy and I suffered through the sounds of an Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. Before bedtime we had our scripture time discussing resurrection. We discussed how our bodies will be restored to a perfect frame - “even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost” (Alma 11:44). We also read how Jesus ate fish and honeycomb after he was resurrected.
There was a cute moment at bedtime when Tyler and Mark invited Amy in their room so they could tell her a story. Usually they are begging her to tell them a story. This time they made up their own including Amy as the main character who could teleport. Her friend Summer’s super power was that she could run really fast. They had to fight a jelly cake monster. Tyler ended it, “The end... or is it?!” It was Amy’s favorite moment of the day.
Adam and Andrew got online with cousins Ben and Spencer to play a little Dungeons and Dragons. Before they started a game, I interrupted because the weather was perfect and these boys hadn’t been outside yet. They were good enough to comply.
I did Mom Walks with all the kids from Mark up to Amy. Everyone took 2 laps with me except for Mark who didn’t have much to say and was on rollerblades.
Tyler, Mark and Amy marked several items off their “50 Things” list. These three are so extremely cute. Amy is such a good sport!
I did two golden egg lessons Friday night because I forgot I wouldn’t probably want to do them on general conference days. We discussed how Christ overcame the bands of death and the chains of hell. Discussing D&C 138 is a little extra meaningful currently since the revelation was received right after WWI and during the 1918 flu pandemic.
Our second mini lesson was about how we will be restored to the same quality of person that we have become in this life. We read from Alma 5 about becoming more like Christ so that His image is in our countenances.
Natalie listened to Mark play his baptism medley and gave us some good feedback for how to improve it.
I proctored a math test for Adam and made yet another batch of bread. Natalie asked me to keep track of how much bread I make during the shutdown, so I counted! (She knows I love that kind of thing.) I had quite a bit of bread in the freezer, so we ate up that plus 2 loaves from Costco. Along with all that bread, in the past 3 weeks I’ve made 16 loaves more.
After schoolwork, we soaked up some rays outside and then practiced music.
Amy read both the first and second Harry Potter books today!
We enjoyed a special general conference breakfast of hash browns, eggs, bacon and orange juice. Mmmm!
Tyler and Mark asked for another conference packet, so I threw one together the night before. I’m glad I did! I always come up with a few new ideas to make the next one a little better. I was excited to give each of the kids a “general conference pen” for taking notes. We all got a big kick out of these pens (also styluses).
I loved the speakers and the kids did too... though the boys do a little playing as well as note-taking and drawing.
The kids played soccer together in the gorgeous weather!
Natalie braided my hair. That always feels so good! She wanted extra practice and I’m happy to supply that!
The messages all hit home and were what we needed to hear and focus on!
Mark’s primary teachers dropped off this box of donuts to wish him a happy birthday. They are so thoughtful and go above and beyond!
We were pretty shocked to hear names of two youth from Provo, Utah announced as speakers in Saturday’s evening session. Amy immediately recognized Laudy’s name from school, and when she came on the screen, both Natalie and Amy recognized her. Amy played lacrosse with her and was in seminary with her, and Natalie knew her from dance. Natalie, Amy and Adam all recognized Enzo from school. Timpview High School was well represented! The girl in Bonnie Cordon’s basketball story (Sunday a.m. session) was also... from Timpview High School!
The Saturday Evening session was a combined priesthood and women meeting. How awesome was that?! I love the Church’s new symbol!
I loved Mark’s setup with a blanket over Adam’s legs forming an awesome recliner for him!
President Nelson’s presentation of the new proclamation: The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was so powerful!
Andrew requested a design page. He spent all of his coloring time on this image. It would’ve been much faster to use markers, but he colored this all in with pen! He requested that I leave it in his binder for the next conference.
Mark liked the same page. He used colored pencils on his. I love it!
Photo credit: The Daily Universe
This conference was so unique -- being solely broadcast. With Mark turning 8, I had the thought of trying to get tickets to Conference since our entire family would be old enough to attend, but figured it would be nearly impossible with it being the bicentennial celebration of the First Vision. When no one was allowed to come to temple square for it except the speakers, I thought about how we are all on equal ground as members of the church. No one gets to be in attendance there during these special sessions; we are all watching from our own homes. I really liked a thought Lexye shared from her friend that the restoration of the Church began in a home -- Joseph Smith being taught at home, reading scriptures at home, and nurtured in a Christ-centered home. The Church was organized in a home, and we all listened in our homes.
The kids helped me with a “spot the differences” list for Conference. The general authorities sitting 6’ apart from each other was a good one!
It was also special to do the Hosanna Shout in our own living room as a family.
I decided it was time to use this gigantic can of pears I bought from Costco a long time ago thinking for some reason it was a great idea (maybe for a family reunion). We served some for dinner, and I blended the rest into pear popsicles.
Tyler loved them!
Natalie set the table for me for Palm Sunday.
After our dinner of basmati rice with chicken curry, Jon and I went on another walk together. Ah! We’ve had the best weather! We have seen more people we don’t know walking on our street. It’s funny how it feels like a ghost town, but we see couples walking a lot more than normal. I think we feel that need to get out of the house during this quarantine!
We tried to be funny about the line we had to draw between our families and pretended to be the Jets vs. Sharks, snapping in a line. Jon pulled off some crazy dance moves at the end!
