Jonah and Carson's Birthdays; Earthquakes Continue; Face Masks a Necessity

Each morning as I wake up, I ask myself, "Are we still in a pandemic?" The answer is always yes. UGH!!

With a little bit of Claire's luck, maybe one day things will get back to normal.

I continue to be thankful we were able to buy the living room furniture from the mission home.

We have our 10,000 a day step count goal and that means we do a lot of walking in circles around the house, so we spend a lot of time in (or walking through) this part of our home. It is so beautiful and calming to me during this time when we spend so much time at home.

It has been nice having warmer weather now so I can walk outside. Instead of driving up to Bountiful Boulevard to park and walk where it is more level like I used to do, I now start at our home and walk (hike) straight up the hill (mountain) and around a big loop back to our home.

Every once in a while Glen will join me on my walk. Fresh air does a body good!!!

I have been testing my heart and lungs (by walking up the mountain) to see how they are functioning these days. It is always very difficult to fully fill my lungs whenever I exert, but I feel accomplished to make it to the summit of each walk.

Looking at my daily stats with all those steps and all those flights climbed, it's just like being on a cruise! Only without all the good food someone else has cooked for me.

This is my favorite part of the walk--for three reasons. 

• First, I am on the downhill slope. 
• Second, I am almost home. 
• Third, I see this beautiful blooming tree. Makes my heart (and lungs) happy!!

 We FaceTimed Jonah on his 3rd birthday.

We were invited to join his family for the cake (cookie cake) part of his celebration. So cute to see his face and feel like we were with the Excell family for a few minutes on that special day.

Just a mere 3 days later we were FaceTiming Carson on his 8th birthday. He showed us some of the gifts he had received.

The earth here in this part of Utah has continued to shake after the initial earthquake. Hundreds of earthquakes! Fortunately most of them we haven't felt.

One night we were in the basement watching a movie when I thought I felt an earthquake. I looked over at Glen to confirm my fear and he was just sitting there like nothing was happening. I thought it was all in my head until Dallas reported feeling an earthquake on Instagram.

Two mornings later, Glen had gotten up to get ready for the day and I had rolled over and had gone back to sleep. He felt another big aftershock. LUCKILY--I slept through it. This frequent earth shaking is so unnerving!! Enough already!!!! 

It's always a welcome thing to have Rebecca come by and drop off groceries. Not only does it mean food, but it also means a fun diversion in our day. Human contact (from a social distance of course) has become a very precious thing these days.

Let's check in to see how homeschool is going these days.

Newland and Wynne looking like homeschooling poster children at their work station.

Wynne is a super good reader for her young age. She was doing well reading books last summer when she was here. She'll have that stack of books read in no time!

This is how Carson enjoys his school Zoom meetings.

Carson has a very cute artistic style as is demonstrated in this artwork.

Waiting for and watching the trash man each week is a highlight for the Excell boys. It's like watching a parade go by. 

Caroline has worked hard to achieve her Young American Award. The list of things she had to learn is quite robust. Good for her!! I am still waiting for her to recite the Gettysburg Address to me.

 Brooke comes up with some great art projects.

Brooke demonstrated her amazing artistic abilities on an Etch A Sketch. I am remembering back at my meager skills as a child and cannot even fathom how it is even possible to draw a curvy line with that thing. 

Her intricacy and attention to detail and how she can also capture expression is incredible!!

For a school contest, Brooke was supposed to submit a picture of her favorite place to do remote learning. She made a fort of treats which won her a $25 gift certificate from Amazon.

Okay, enough artistic, creative diversion. I must get to work! I had a project that needed my attention. 

There was spilled chicken juice dripping through the entire refrigerator and it was seeping up under the glass on the shelves. It was DISGUSTING!! 

I had wiped up as much of the gunky liquid mess when I first discovered it, but over time it became evident that every single shelf had been dripped on and the seepage was becoming more and more evident. GROSS!!

I have some very sweet friends who are always concerned about my health and well being. One day they brought over a care package.

Inside the sack was some lunch (look at those huge chocolate-covered pretzels) and gloves, a mask and a face shield.

Laurie knew just the kind of mask that would make Jacob happy.

Glen was not thrilled at all with the mask he received in the mail from his work. He doesn't like the shape and I don't like it is only one layer thick.

He feels like he looks like a platypus when he wears it.

Glen insisted on taking the car in for a maintenance service call and waited there for it to be finished. I insisted he wear his mask the whole time. We FaceTimed so he could prove to me he was really wearing it.

Too bad it wasn't until after his public appearance that I figured out he was wearing it inside out with the seams showing. That definitely enhanced his platypus appearance!!

Glen worked on getting all the sprinklers working again which helps so much with dead grass spots in the yard.

Sunday home church once again. 

During Sarah's family's study of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon, the boys made Lego towers like King Benjamin used to speak to his people from the tower.

The Nephite families were all gathered around the tower with their tents facing the temple to listen to the Prophet King Benjamin speak to them. Sarah's family built a tent and sat in it while they watched King Benjamin's speech on the video.

It continues to be interesting to see how engaged couples are dealing with the pandemic during the their upcoming nuptials. 

This is a sibling's announcement from the same family. 

 This is a close up of the front and back of the smaller card.

This is what one of our missionaries posted showing off her engagement ring.

Too funny! But, why not laugh about the predicament you find yourself in at the time?? It's better than crying about it and will make for a memorable story to tell for years to come.