Week 5 in Quarantine (Easter, Family zoom chat, Dance texts, Drive by Birthday for Natalie, Crazy Avynlea and Rylee

Easter Sunday.

I filled baskets for Kefford and the kids and had them set out after everyone went to bed. Kefford took his basket into his room in the morning before the kids got up. I think he felt bad that I didn't have a basket but I am ok. I bought myself a couple shirts and a bathing suit and that is what I consider to be a good Easter present to myself. 

Rylee wanted us to hide the Easter eggs she filled so she could have fun hunting for them with her siblings. Kefford decided to play a trick on them and he took a bunch of empty ones and just placed them in  pile in the backyard. He wanted the kids to think we were too lazy to actually hide the eggs and it worked! Ryker went out there to move them and was surprised to figure out they were empty, hahaha, such trickery!

All of the kids got a new top in their Easter baskets along with some other small trinkets. Ryker got a new tie and I also got them each their favorite candy.They were all quite happy with their gifts and were each very thankful.

Kefford decided to make himself look shorter in our family picture which made Ryker look so tall in comparison. RYker is pretty tall, I think he is 6"1 but with Kefford shrinking down it made him look even taller.

After our at home church service Kenedy, Rylee and Kefford decorated our Easter Bunny cake. Kenedy did the frosting and assed sprinkles with RYlee and then we let Kefford do the face. I thought Fur-bert turned out pretty cute. 

After the cake was decorated the kids got to do the egg hunt. It was pretty chilly out there so they found their eggs really fast and then high tailed it back inside.

They all put on their new shirts and they all looked really nice in them. Kenedy and Avynlea got matching ones and you can't see Rylee and Ryker very well because they are wearing sweaters but they looked good.

We gave Bonnie the Bunny his Easter treat which was to come inside for five minutes and take pictures with the kids. I think he enjoyed his yearly visit.

We tried putting him in an Easter basket and while he didn't mind it too much he also didn't love it or want to stay in it.

I got to video chat with my family which was a lot of fun and a lot of laughs.

Then we had the kids video chat with their Grandma Alison and we also video chatted with Mikell and her kids and then my Mom. I got a picture of them chatting with Alison. 

Avynlea's cheer bestie Natalie turned 15 and we heart attacked her door and left a pink themed basket of gifts for her. 

Later a bunch of her friends did a birthday drive by for her and we couldn't contain the girls in the car. They got out and we had them pose around Natalie's birthday sign. It was good for these girls to see each other for a bit and it was so nice for us Mom's to see them and each other. This quarantine stinks.

bottom pic

laying down: Avynlea, Paige, Dreya and Hailey

standing: Hope and Natalie

Another one of my dance Moms sent a picture of her girls dancing to my videos. Cora had her sisters dancing with her anti was so fun to see all of them. I have taught each of these girls in dance at some point and I am so glad that they were all enjoying my videos

l-r: Tenley, Cora and Mia

Rylee playing around with my phone and settings

While I was gone teaching dance one morning Rylee and Avynlea made cake pops, ice-cream in a baggie and lemonade popsicles. They hd a lot of fun being creative in the kitchen and made some really delicious treats.

Avynlea took these pictures with my phone and when I asked her why she said "just for fun"

Week 4 in Quarantine (Zoom dancing at the studio, FHE, Bonnie, Family yoga, Mask making, Zoom dancing at home, Rylee prepares for easter, Family shooting and Easter egg dyeing)

We made it to general conference weekend! Bad news, still in quarantine but good news we get to watch conference! We have a stay at home order from the Governor and so it was a bummer we couldn't go out to the farm for conference. But we are here together and that is better then being alone...sometimes, hahaha.

The cool thing about Conference this year is after the Sunday morning session we had a solemn assembly. It was the first one ever being done on TV like this and it was so neat being able to be in our homes for it. I had the handkerchiefs we used at the Meridian Temple dedication and I was so happy to pull them out again. We dressed up for the Sunday morning session because of the solemn assemble, we felt it would be more appropriate and respectful given the nature of the event. But for the rest of conference we were in our comfy clothes and I took our family picture after the last session.

President Nelson announced that we were going to have another fast on Good Friday, the Friday before Easter Sunday, to help stop the spread of the Corona Virus and to get our lives back to normal. He invited all faiths to join us in this fast and although I do not enjoy fasting I was ok to fast again. At first I thought he was going to announce a policy change that Fast Sunday was going to be every week, that scared me, hahaha. But I can participate in this fast, hopefully it will be beneficial of the world.

I am continuing with the zoom video dance classes and this week it was fun to see more kids participate. 

The one good thing that I can say about this quarantine is it brought me my friend Stephanie. We never would have gotten to know each other if we didn't have to do these online classes and it has been so great to get to know her. Every time we talk we find more and more that we have in common. In addition to doing our zoom videos we also started filming our youtube dance classes together and that has been so much fun! 

After dance class I took Kate Priddy's costumes over to her house to leave on her porch for her. Kate painted me a picture and her left it on the porch so that I could get it when I stoped by. It made me so happy, I really love my little dancers!

For family home evening we had the kids share with us their favorite parts of conference. I loved watching them read from their notes and sharing all that they learned and loved. It was awesome!

Rylee took a picture of Bonnie the Bunny to send to her friends. He is a cute little bunny!

Ashleigh initiated a family yoga session and Tuesday night was our first one. It was a lot of fun to do it with my girls at home and also with my family online. 

After the yoga we sat around and visited for a couple of minutes and Joshua and Mallory announced they were having a baby girl. They told us they were pregnant when we were all together in Utah and it is so exciting now to find out they are getting a girl. I am so excited to see those two little boys with a baby sister, so fun!

The government announced that we should start wearing masks while we are out and about, its not mandatory just recommended. I have been seeing a lot of mask tutorials online and thought I would try my hand at making them. I made it out of the extra Little Mermaid fabric I had and it turned out so cute. I wore it once while I went to the Albertsons to get some things and it was really hard to wear. It made me feel like I couldn't breathe and a little claustrophobic, I was also embarrassed to be wearing it. Oh well, hopefully this will end soon.

I was videoing dances for The Dance Connection and I accidentally pushed camera instead of record so I got a picture. I kept it because I thought it was a good picture :)

Clementine's Mom sent me a picture of her dancing to one of my and Stephanie's videos and it made me so happy. I am so glad that a lot of my dancers are utilizing my videos.

I wasn't planning on doing an egg hunt this year for Easter but Rylee really wanted one so she had Kefford take her to the store to get some candy. When they got back she got out the eggs we had and filled them with the candy. She is so cute and I love that she was wanting and willing to do this little project herself. 

On Friday Kefford took Rylee, Avynlea and Ryker out to shoot guns and so Ryker could ride his dirt bike. I am pretty sure they had fun being out in nature doing cool things.

Kyah's Mom sent me pictures of her following along to my videos and once again it made my day! I have been delivering costumes to my dancers houses so they could have them and one morning I took Kyah's over to her house. I left them on the porch, rang the doorbell and then backed up so I was on the sidewalk. When they came to the door Kyah was so excited to se me, she started to run out to me to give me a hug but her Mom and I both said she couldn't, ohhh it made me so sad. I loved being able to see her and visit with her for a couple of minutes.

Saturday Avynlea and Rylee dyed Easter eggs. Nobody else seemed to want to do it and they both got to Dye a lot of eggs. They had a lot of fun being creative and I enjoyed watching them and seeing their end results.

I am not sure what was happening in this picture or who even took it but it makes me happy. I love the time  can be with my family playing games and having fun. Those times are my favorite!

Week 3 in Quarantine (Interfaith fast, Starting zoom dance classes, Avynlea and Kenedy work out, earthquake, zoom piano lessons and Kefford and Elizabeth date night)

Another week Another Home centered church service. It is so crazy how this pandemic is taking over the world and our lives. Kenedy was accepted as a visiting student to go to BYU for the spring and summer terms which she was really excited about. But now those terms are all online. Schools are going online and I am still doing online dance classes. I am glad that we are able to be with each other through this and I am grateful for the technology we have to be able to still keep in touch and that it is possible to do zoom meetings and have everything available online. 

Also, Kefford's beard is coming in very nicely and he still doesn't like to smile in a picture.

Because of conference this Sunday was a fast sunday and social media was blowing up with memes and quotes inviting all faiths to participate in an inter-faith fast. I love how available this is and how easy it is to share and invite all faiths to come together. This is the picture I put up on my social media with the caption "we are all in this together, so lets end it together". I am definitely not the most clever person out there and I always struggle with posting things because I never know what to say but I was pretty ok with this one ;)

I had my first round of live zoom classes with the Kinderstars and it went pretty good. Stephanie also teaches a couple of Kinderstar classes and she came to help me teach. It was nice to have another teacher to bounce ideas off of and I really enjoyed getting to know her better. She was a new hire this year and I met her briefly in the beginning but because we don't teach at the same time I don't ever have a chance to get to know her. We sat for an hour before the classs and about two hours after the class was done just talking. It was so nice to actually talk to someone face to face and we discovered we have so much in common. I am thinking I just made a new really great friend!

It was fun to see all of my littles on this zoom call and even the ones who showed up from Stephanie's classes I knew because they were in my classes last year.

Top row: Sara, Elizabeth and Stephanie, Roen

Bottom row: Hailey and Rylee and June and Kate

I don't know who took these pictures but here they are

More zoom call conditioning for Avynlea and Kenedy. They are going to be so strong and in shape when this pandemic is over. I am going to have to figure out a way to keep them working out like this every day. It is so good for Avynlea and she will be such a better more strong athlete because of it.

I got out the Easter decor and I love having this cute entry way table to put things on. I love how all of my spring items look on it, so cute.

This was another social media posting that I did, this time the caption I came up with was.."What else do you have to do this weekend? Watch and see why I can find peace through this pandemic"

The craziest thing happened! On Tuesday I was in my bedroom talking with Kefford when the house started to shake. It had been really windy that day and he said "is that the wind shaking the house?" and I said "No! That is an earthquake!!" and my instinct kicked in and I ran to the door frame and stood there until it was done. It wasn't huge and it didn't knock anything over but it  was pretty scary to me. I think because I grew up wth the scariness of earthquakes but also because this was Idaho! This is not earthquake territory! I couldn't believe it! The quake lasted a couple of minutes and then I felt two tiny after shocks later on that day that nobody else in the family felt. I think I might be more in tune with the feeling. It was crazy! 

I found I wasn't spending as much time with my family because I wasn't interested in what they were watching on the TV. I wanted to be with them but I didn't want to be bored sitting there so I had Kefford get the card table from the garage and put it upstairs in the TV room and I got a couple of my mermaid puzzles that I have had since High School to put together. I was very annoyed once I did finish them to find that they were both missing two pieces. That just irritates me. Nothing I can do about it so whatever. I am not normally into puzzles but I had fun putting them together and it helped me to be able to spend more time with my family and not be bored.

Rylee started back up with piano lessons this week and she was dismayed to learn that she had to do them through a zoom video chat. She felt super awkward about it and made me promise to not let any of her siblings in the room during that call. I did a good job keeping them out but I quietly snuck in there for a second so I could get a picture. 

I had a combo kids zoom video class on Thursday and Kristine another combo kids teacher came and taught with me. Again I loved seeing my dancers and I miss them so much. In the beginning I thought this videoing and sending stuff was un and different but dancing and teaching without any of my little dancers is not fun and it breaks my heart that I cannot be with them. Emily Young sent me video and I picture of Raegan following along to my video I sent and it made me so happy!

Top: Savannah, Kristine and Elizabeth

Bottom: Rachel, Sophia

I sent Ashleigh the youtube links of me dancing so that she could have Atticus do them and she sent me a couple of Marco Polos of him dancing but mostly watching me. It was so cute and made my heart burst with love and happiness!

Another social media posting. I love this!

Kefford and I did our date night on Friday night. We got Bundlets from "Nothing Bundt Cakes" and drove around until we found a place to stop and eat them. It ws nice to get out and just be with Kefford but it was sad not to really have anywhere to go to.  Those Bundtlet cakes are so delicious and are becoming my new treat obsession!