Helping with stake baptisms

My calling is the stake primary music leader also involves me helping with stake baptisms. I think they're fun and I feel useful when I'm there. I filled in for another one of our leaders that had to go to a funeral. It was a unique baptism in that the chairs had to be 6 ft apart and very limited numbers of family watch were allowed the baptism because of the covid-19 restrictions on group sizes. We only had one baptism at a time and luckily there were only two for the whole stake. One ward met at 10:00 and the other ward met at 11:00. We normally have people meet in the chapel or a primary room or relief society room and then shuffle them into the font room for the baptism. Since only one ward was meeting we had them meet in the font room. The drain makes a funny gurgly sound, so we didn't have the last person in the font pull the drain. As everyone was leaving, Brother Evans tried to pull the drain chain with a golf club that he had. Brother Evans is in a wheelchair and was trying to do it himself. He dropped the golf club into the font and then tried to fish it out with a squeegee. After getting his golf club out he tried to pull the chain again but the chain came off the drain plug. So then we were trying to get the drain plug pulled with the golf club thing but I suggested that I could wade into the font with my skirt hiked up a little bit and get it with my toes. I could not figure out how to pull up the drain with my toes and so I ended up just reaching down with my arm and getting the drain pulled up. 

I got a little wet but the job got done. Brother Evans was so embarrassed and I felt bad for him. I assured him that this was nobody's fault and that we got the job done and that was the most important thing. I thought it was hilarious. I think the last time I was in a regular baptismal font, not a temple one, was when I was getting baptized! Mandy was there and snapped this picture for me.

Remote Learning...

After having a week and a half of spring break, we had to start learning from home. Oi. School is canceled until the 1st of May, although that is subject to change. I picked up packets of work for the little kids and the older three kids have assignments coming through their emails. 

Let me just say that I've never wanted to homeschool my kids. I still don't. This is turning into a bit of a challenge. The two little kids need help knowing what to do and what they need to get done during the day. The older kids are doing it by themselves but occasionally need some assistance. I feel like I'm trying to teach an 11th, 8th, 7th, 2nd grader and a kindergartner.

It's taken a couple of days but we are finding our groove. I preferred being quarantined with no school. We could do whatever we wanted. Most days we wrap up around lunch time. It's definitely shorter than a regular school day but I'm the one teaching. 

There are a couple things I'm glad about. I'm glad that I'm a stay-at-home parent and can help my children with this. I don't know how some moms are still working and making their kids write their ABC's and getting their trigonometry done. I'm also glad that Maxine is not a senior. I think this would be a really crappy way to end a senior year of high school. I'm also glad that my kids are generally pretty smart and can get a lot of the work done by themselves. Jack and I had a day where I had to watch the teacher lesson for 15 minutes before I could help him with his congruent triangles homework. We put our heads together and we got it done. Juliet likes that it only takes a few hours to finish her school work instead of spending all day at school. I was really excited for the weekend when it finally came.

Spring Break Hike!

We're not going to let Coronavirus keep us from enjoying Spring Break. We went to Springdale and ate dinner and hiked the Canyon Overlook. We ran into some girls from Australia and Maxine said that Mikayla loved a show that was filmed in there. The girls said, "H2O, the mermaid show!" They even impersonated one of the characters and got it spot on! They thought our family was cute and said we were #familygoals.

Mikayla said, "I love this tree. Can you take a picture of me in this tree?"

On the hike back, we were hiking close to a group of Japanese men and they were speaking Japanese. One of them commented on how Mikayla was dressed like a kitty. Merril responded, in Japanese, that she often pretends to be a kitty. They did that surprised Japanese sound and then they chatted the whole rest of the way back to the car. It was a little cold and there was a slight drizzle but we still had a good time.

Coronavirus...

At the beginning of the year, an unusual flu popped up in Wuhan, China. It's a respiratory infection, spreads easily, and affects older populations and infants hard. It's a new virus and because of that, fear is spreading. Personally, our family will be fine. Average people who contract it can be asymptomatic, or feel a little sick for a few days. It's been spreading steadily across all continents. A few weeks ago, the United States started in with the paranoia. Because of a quarantine fear, people have been buying up all the toilet paper (not quite sure about that one) and hand sanitizer. This is the hand soap and hand sanitizer shelves as of yesterday. Quite empty.  

Since then, store shelves have been emptying every day. Nothing is wrong with supply, it keeps coming every day but people are panicky and buy everything up. Everyone has gone berserk! We use way less toilet paper since we got the Toto Washlet. If need be, we could go without toilet paper at all! It has a dryer feature although I never use it. 

A few days ago, a Utah Jazz basketball player tested positive for the virus. The NBA cancelled the entire rest of the season! The church had been limiting church meetings and operating temples in China and Japan. Yesterday, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints suspended all church meetings, including sacrament meetings. We are encouraged to continue with our Come, Follow Me curriculum. Home centered-church supported. Sounds like the leaders had inspiration, can I get an AMEN! 

All international travel from Europe and China has been suspended. The kids have Spring Break this week but the school district just announced that school will be closed the following week as well. We are awaiting instructions about how they are going to do online school. All gatherings in the state of Utah over 250 people have been postponed. We were going to go to S. California and hit Universal Studios over the break but it's been closed. Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, Universal, it's all closed until April. This is blowing my mind.

We have a lot of food storage and a lot of soap and hand sanitizer and everything we could possibly need. I'm not worried. I'm tired of news stories of the fear mongering. But this is a crazy time and my kids are going to remember the Coronavirus of 2020 and how everyone was talking about it. I figured I better write about it.

Everything is going to be all right. This is going to pass and people are going to be fine. Perhaps it will show people that they could be a little more prepared. Maybe it will show them there was nothing to fear but fear itself. I'm reminded of the scripture in Doctrine & Covenants Section 38: "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." That is right. We pray for those that need comfort. Keep calm and carry on. 

Cookie Grandma....

Have I talked about Cookie Grandma before? I can't remember so I'm going to include her again. There's a woman, named Carolyn Campbell, and she lives with her son and his wife. She's old and runs a few errands and always carries a bag of cookies in her white Toyota Camry. They're usually pink, vanilla, and chocolate wafer crisp cookies or knock off duplex Oreos (have a vanilla and chocolate cookie on either side). Whenever the kids are playing outside, she stops, rolls down her window and holds a gallon bag of cookies. All the kids come running. Mark says he can get up to 5 cookies.

It's about the cutest thing ever. She's so nice. She's #grandmagoals. 

Award for Aspirations in Computing

Maxine and Ellen both applied for an award for girls who excel in technology fields. There was an award banquet, with lunch, at SUU in Cedar City. I made sure to test the cheesecake right away, just to be sure it was okay. It got a thumbs up!

Maxine is standing by Ellen and a friend she made during the robotics season.

Maxine won and Ellen got an Honorable Mention.

They got cool trophies to take home. It was a nice way to spend an afternoon! Yay!

On a side note, Maxine asked me to cut her hair and we both regretted it. She wanted to get it done without getting an appointment at a salon. She wanted it longer but didn't describe it well enough and I messed up the back. Darny. Good thing hair grows back. We'll have to get it professionally styled when it gets longer. In the meantime, we got a few of those big snap clips that are in style right now. We hope that helps. (Personally, I still think it's adorable but she says it looks like an 80s haircut.) 😂

Mint 400 Race...

Merril, Wade, Ryan, and Owen decided to race in the Mint 400 down in Primm, NV. They took turns riding a KTM dirtbike. I think Merril said he rode about 50 miles. Merril had to put a sticker with their race number on his truck.

Ready to roll!

The organizers let all the teams take pictures by this cool banner. 

 They finished 11th in their category with a time of 5:17:30. All the team members received a cool medal.

Jack went with him and they were able to see Herbie. This was at the big gas station in Jean, NV. It's the world's largest Chevron.

Super sized...

Just really quick, I had a pimple at the base of my nose get infected and my upper lip became very swollen. I ended up getting antibiotics to fight the infection. It hurt like a bear but finally started to open up and releasing some of the pressure. Gross. Luckily, this didn't happen before Mikayla's baptism and we have modern medicine to fight this type of thing.

On a lighter note, Maxine said the puffy lip made me look like a who from the live-action 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'. It would've been funny if it didn't hurt to laugh.

Little hike...

After the baptism, Merril and Jack left to go play at the dunes (I think) and the rest of the kids went with Grandma Campbell. I was at the house and wanted to go for a little hike so I rounded up Maxine. We hiked from the cinder cones by Hurricane Elementary to the river. It was the perfect length and perfect weather!

Mikayla's getting baptized!

Grandma Campbell made this beautiful dress for Mikayla and so we needed to take some awesome pictures of her by the temple. Unfortunately, our temple is undergoing major renovation. This was as close as we could get. 

The visitor's center had nice flowers to take pictures by.

We have some goofy shots because Mikayla couldn't hold them in.

She did well and they turned out super cute!

 Mikayla's baptism fell on leap day, February 29th, 2020. I think that's fun and unique! On her baptism day, our ward was the only one in the stake with baptisms. We shared the program with the Beck Family and it was really nice. Normally, the wards take turns using the font room but it was just us so we got to get right in and didn't have to wait! I help with stake baptisms and this is very rare! I felt blessed that our baptism was so reverent.

The girls and I didn't even plan a color scheme but totally matched! Score! 

Boys too!

The Grandmas served as witnesses! That's something new that was revealed in the last general conference. We thought it was fun!

Janalynn won the prize for coming the furthest. She hitched a ride with Grandpa Campbell from Phoenix.

Perfect day!

Volleyball season...

In addition to Juliet, Jack wanted to play volleyball as well. The rec center teams are co-ed so off we go. I snagged some pictures from the video I took.

Jack's are blurry because he moves fast.

Jack is a moral booster for the team and general goofball. Our team may not be the best but I think they are having the most fun, and that's what it's all about.

I asked Julie what she wanted to say about volleyball and she said, "Um...it was fun?" You heard it here first. 😊😊

Upon further reflection she said she got better at setting the ball during the season. Jack said, "It was the BEHST!"

My 40th Birthday...

I told Merril that I wanted to go hiking for my birthday and eat pie. I told him I didn't want a party. He didn't listen. He planned a surprise party at Grandma Campbell's house and invited my family and friends. Jo Anna was able to drive down from Payson because of the long President's Day weekend. So we go up to Merril's parents house, I thought because Aunt Megan and Uncle Lucas were in town. When we walked in, I was taking off my shoes and Merril practically dragged me into the living room so everyone could yell, "Surprise!" The Fluckigers, Valerie Scott, Sara Gilberg, my Mom and Dad, Jeannie, Mike and Greg, Aunt Megan, Uncle Lucas and Teddy, Justin, Rachel, and Duncan, and Janet and Mark were there. It was kind of overwhelming because I was the center of attention, but I got through. Justin made the best brisket for the party! There were rolls and fruit and veggies and pie! How I love pie!

On my actual birthday, Monday, all the kids were out of school for President's Day. Perfect! We went for a hike! Yes! Great weather for a hike. 

I've been fine with the idea of 40 for a long time. I feel good, I've accomplished good things, raised good kids and seen good places. I don't have any sort of regrets about being older, I've done a lot of stuff! I'm proud of the person I've become and the family Merril and I have made. There are good things to celebrate. Bring on another 40!

Valentine's Day 2020

Valentine's Day is the day to show my family that I love them. We had dinner together.

We had candles and I set the table nicely.

I made chicken cordon bleu. The favorite part of Valentine's dinner is dessert. Chocolate fondue with bananas, strawberries, pretzels and graham crackers. 

On February 15th, Merril got a reservation at the Top of the World restaurant in Las Vegas. We went to the stratosphere on Valentine's Day 20 years ago. He gave me a gold necklace with a CZ princess cut stone in a ring box, to make me think he was proposing (I knew he wasn't). I still wear it almost every single day. We went at the end of lunch, 3:45 p.m., and were able to order off the lunch menu. Our meals came with dessert, and even though I was super stuffed from my fish, I managed to eat caramel popcorn creme brulee. Merril got a wall of chocolate cake. 

The restaurant and casino has been remodeled and looks super nice. It always had a bit of a ghetto vibe to it but now it's updated and is very modern. We didn't stay the night. Just drove down for dinner and headed back home. It was splendid.

Mikayla's 8th Birthday!

We started Mikayla's birthday weekend with Laser Mania. She wanted to ride the bumper cars and Mark rode with her.

She chose cheesecake!

Presents included a nice set of scriptures, new boots and a Barbie. Her birthday fell on a Sunday so she was able to take her new scriptures.

Merril took her to breakfast at River Rock the next morning and she got a huge cinnamon roll! Now that she's 8, she can be baptized!

HHS Blackops...

Maxine didn't do swim team this year and decided to do robotics instead. Her friend, Ellen, is on the team too. We went to their first competition yesterday at SUU. They were struggling to get their robot together in time and it didn't do the best but she had fun anyway. 

She later said that she enjoys the people in robotics more than the people in swim or choir. She feels like these are more her type of people, so that's good. Their robot is on the other side of the red bar.

One of Maxine's teammates snagged this picture of her and we love it. She was the human player that round. She's excited about it too.

The season went well. They made it to state and even thought they didn't do very well, they won the connect award. Maxine, along with Jason, is a captain for the 2020-21 season and is super stoked. Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto. Sorry. I had to!