Easter During Covid 19

Welp. I keep joking that I’m finally growing up. All thanks to Covid. I’ve NEVER had to plan all our families Easter activities and teach all the lessons and make Easter Dinner all by myself without any helps from my mom, parents, family, Kathy etc.... haha. I DID IT though!!!! We colored Easter eggs just as our own little family, we read the Easter Story throughout the week, we watched the entire series of Jesus of Nazareth, had our own Easter Egg Hunt in our backyard, broke confetti eggs everywhere,  and I made our own EASTER DINNER. And although I missed my family immensely there was something so special about being together just the 6 of us and focusing on being together, enjoying each other, and learning more about our Savior and his life. It was definitely an Easter to remember. 

Tate’s Accident

During this quarantine we’ve felt the need to get outside as much as we can and as much is safe to get some fresh air and get some much needed exercise. So one of the things we do a lot of is go for walks around the lake. This particular day the little boys wanted to bring a scooter to share when they got tired. We also decided to try something different and go around the inside of the lake. During one part where were going across the bridge and getting to the bottom of it Tate was on the scooter and hit a little bump and fell off of it. It really wasn’t a hard fall and he barely even cried. There was just a little scrape on his finger and after a quick kiss he was fine. We continued on the walk laughing and talking the whole way. A little while after we got home he told me his finger hurt. I looked to see a little scrape and told him I’d get him a bandaid but he said he didn’t want one. Fast forward a couple of hours and Toby and I were in our room in the bed when he came walking in crying and saying his finger still hurt. I told him to come closer and I took a good look at it. I was shocked! It was twice it’s normal size and was pretty purple and blue. I showed Toby and he couldn’t believe it either. Tob wanted to wrap it himself but I felt like it needed ice first. When I went to touch it with the ice Tate just burst into tears and wouldn’t even let me come close. That’s when I knew I needed to take him to the Dr. - Toby still wasn’t sure. Didn’t think they’d do anything it was just jammed or sprained. We had fun plans to sleep out in the tent that night. It was Friday night and I was so worried that with it being the weekend we would have to take him to the instacare if it got worse, so I just told Tob I’d hurry him to Dr. Johnson’s just to be safe. So that’s what I did. They got us in quickly, it was so weird being anywhere since with Corona I’d barely left the house. The on call dr came right in and looked at it and right away said it needed an x-ray. That was pretty painful for Tate.  As we waited for the results I heard the doctor getting a second opinion and it sounded like they were in agreeance. It was broken. And it was a break that would require a plastic surgeon so they needed to send us up to Primary Children’s in Salt Lake. I was shocked! It was getting worse though and Tate was in a lot of pain. I called Toby to let him know the news and told him I’d run home quick to get some things I needed knowing I’d be at the hospital for a long time. Also we were fasting because the prophet had asked us too and I was starving. It was past the time to break the fast so Toby was so sweet and got us food, warm jackets, a phone cord etc and we were on our way. I of course wanted Toby to come but got a text from a friend that works at the hospital reminded me that because of Covid there could only be one parent with Tate. So just the two of us drove up there!

They were so sweet and kind to Tate. Primary’s is the best for little kids. They took such good care of him. There were a few kids in front of us so we just played little games and watched home videos on my phone. They decided they needed to give him anesthesia in order to set it. They used Ketamine so he wouldn’t have to be intubated but he honestly didn’t take to it very well. He was jerking all over the place. They kept giving him more to see if they calm his body down but his eyes were rolling back and he just kept shaking. It looked like he was having a seizure. I of course was crying and my heart was just hurting. There were like 6 or 7 people in the room and they decided they needed to try a different medication so they added phentenol to the mix. After a nurse sat and rubbed his tummy for awhile they got him calmed down  and were able to work on his hand. They still gave him a nerve block shot and then set it. They had the plastic surgeon come make sure it was set as well as it could be and then they wrapped it up. - He didn’t wake up as quickly as they thought he would and had me worried for a bit but after pushing on some tender places and he reacted to them it made me feel a lot better. He was such a champ. I was so proud of him. His little face is so perfect. They all thought he was so cute. He really is. I used the restroom for just a minute and when I came back they had him awake which made me wonder what they did when I was gone because he was so out of it when I left 60 seconds earlier. Haha. Anyway it was like 1:00 am when they discharged us. My Dad was so dang cute and didn’t want me to drive home alone in the dark so he and Jake drove up to the hospital and he had Jake drive me home and follow him so I could sit in the back with Tate. How special and thoughtful is that. So incredibly sweet. He’s doing great now! He’ll get a cast next week. So glad it wasn’t any worse and so grateful for good dr’s and nurses who take such good care of my little boys. What a crazy adventure for us during this quarantine! We sure LOVE you Tate!!!

Toby’s One on One Dates!

With all this extra time Toby had the idea to take of the kids on a little date. Of course they couldn’t go out to eat but they could still get some take out and do something fun outside. He took them each individually to get their favorite food then took them either to the church to play ball, ride a bike, watch a show in the car, or play tennis. I love these pictures. My turn is next week. I need to do better to make these dates happen regularly. These kids are just awesome and deserve some more one of one time. 

Strawberry Jam and Easter Care Packages

Toby and I have been trying to think of ways we could help and lift peoples spirits through this hard time. For awhile we thought of putting together little Quarantine packages with toilet paper and hand sanitizer etc but since those items are quite IMPOSSIBLE to find I decided to go another direction and do some Easter Quarantine Packages. My kids LOVE confetti eggs so I was able to find a whole bunch of them, after much searching, and we bought a bunch of $1 boxes of candy, and I printed off my favorite picture of Christ and put them together for a bunch of family members and friends. Tried to teach my kids how important it is to serve. We loved doing them and taking them around. We also had the kids color lots of pictures and write a few letters, and we took them to an assisted living home to be handed out to the older people there who can’t have any visitors right now. We really hope it brightened their day. - And then with all this time on our hands I was hoping I could better myself in some way shape or form. :) I’ve always just taken from my moms stash of strawberry jam but figured it was time to grow up and make my own. I was pretty proud of myself for making my FIRST batch of homemade Strawberry Jam!!!!

Keeping Busy and Playing during the Quarantine

It’s becoming a little more tricky to come up with fun things to do and keep the boredom away. Thank goodness for Pinterest and instagram:) I still hurt for all those this is affecting. New York City one of my favorite places in all the world is REALLY struggling right now. No one on the streets. Hospitals overflowing. Hundred of people dying every day. It’s really awful. The economy is falling apart. Scary and really hard stuff. But I just keep thinking how grateful I am for the gospel and for this beautiful home we get to live in. We’ve kept so busy doing fun things. Playing baseball, coloring pictures, doing puzzles, getting in the hot tub, playing lots of tennis, making play dough, having picnics outside, lots of reading, and “art class” outside painting pictures on canvases. The days are really long but I’m still loving them.