2020 - April

The first week of April is one of my two favorite weekends of the year - GENERAL CONFERENCE!! President Russell M Nelson had challenged members to prepare for the conference by studying about the Restoration, as this was the bicentennial year of the First Vision. He said it would be unforgettable. During conference, he said he didn't realize how unforgettable it would be, referring to COVID 19 and meeting outside the Conference Center, with no spectators outside of a very limited number in the conference room. 

Here are some pictures of watching conference, gathered in the living room. Opal joined us and "helped" Aurora as she made a Ball State quilt.

Praying or Sleeping during one of the sessions?

"This is a great blanket. Good job Ro."

With the Corona Virus keeping Indiana on lockdown and the kids finishing the school year virtually, while Eric and I continued working (I went into the office with three others that attend the Fishers office, even though many others remained virtual) I decided I would bring one child at a time with me to work. I figured it was very easy to socially distance, they would have a good wifi signal and an adult to supervise. Additionally, it gave the kids a change of scenery. They also liked the snacks that were available in the office. :)

Neta would take lunch breaks to rollerblade, getting in 3-4 miles each time she came with me. Graigry went walking with me once, until he decided to jog ahead. In that singular event, he got back to the office and didn't find me so he retraced his steps while I turned around. Thus I got back to the office before he did. I as a bit worried that he wasn't there. He didn't have his phone, so I couldn't call him. When he did get back to the office, I was already at my desk and he had put in three miles. Good job!!

Nate went on one walk with me. He also attempted rollerblading once after work. One time, I snuck into my side office that I wasn't using to find Nate in this position:  

He was taking a quick nap to re-energize his brain to finish his school work.

Neta and I also took time, almost each Saturday, to go rollerblading on the Monon Trail. Over several months, lunch and Monon blading totaled 90+ miles. Neta doesn't like her picture taken, so I had to snap when I could.   

I loved spending time with the kiddos in the office. It would have been nice to be remote, but bringing the kids to the office was a decent compromise. 

April 8 - Neta took a liking to sleeping outside. We had three mattresses that she would pull onto the grass and spent many nights under the stars. I joined her a couple of times. Here she and Nate join the dog on the porch on the mattress. 

There was an awesome lightning storm north of us that same night. It was great to watch, not so great on the video. The storm worked its way to our part of town and soaked everything.

April 12 - Here are my Easter dinner contributions to the Scott gathering.

Deviled chicks :)

Resurrection Rolls
one of our traditions

April 18 - Graigry trying on a something that Eric bought for one of his radon jobs.

Pretty decent fit

Spring during a pandemic is different than usual. I'm grateful there is a yard to be in and for good weather so we could enjoy the outdoors.

2020 - March Mayhem

March 2020 introduced Corona to Indiana and the United States in general. Stay at home executive orders began, bringing school and work building closures and the new norm of e-learning and teleworking. Campuses across America were sending students home, including Aurora.

Before that world changing event, we had scheduled to have Aurora's wisdom teeth pulled. I mixed up the appointment time, but they took us in anyway, thankfully. I had to hang out in the lobby while the operation was underway and then was shown back to the room where I found:

I didn't capture much video, but she was a little out of it. I had to go back into work, so Graigry was the supervising "adult" until I got home. He was supposed to make sure bandages got changed every couple of hours, which he didn't do. Mr. I-Want-to-be-a-Neurosurgeon didn't want to deal with pulling out bloody gauze and exchanging it for clean gauze, even though I'd already set everything out for him. Lucky for him, Aurora slept most of the time and he just let her sleep while he did school work.

On Pie Day, I made a cherry pie:

Something I think of doing, but never actually accomplish.

COVID orders came down around March 17. I still went into work with three other people from the Fishers office. It was great how free and clear 465 was. I could leave at 8 and be to work with no problem before 8:30. Fabulous!! I would bring a different kid with me each day. This provided some regular normalcy while giving the kids different scenery with quiet space to get their school work done. When it was lunch, Neta and I would rollerblade along Cheeney Creek. Graigry & I once went for a walk, which he turned into a run for himself and then ran longer because he looped around to the office instead of turning around. He ended up doing three miles that day, which I got a kick out of.

Nate and I went to pick up Aurora from Ball State. She wasn't excited to come home, but didn't want to spend money to stay on campus when she could get a refund to come home. Ball State has carts to help haul things from room to car. Apparently they can also transport students from car to room as seen below.

There was a little accident while waiting to load the car. Aurora's succulents were on a cart that tipped and their little homes were not so whole at the roadside end of the drop.

Kids were excited to not have to go to school, but the novelty wore off a few weeks in and they were looking forward to going back to "normal." A longer spring break was not actually what they wanted, they realized once they were given their wish.

Here is a quick video of Opal wanting to take off a shirt Ro put on her. 

On March 27, Graigry made dinner per my request. He looked up a sweet and sour chicken. It took him hours and when I cam home it was ready to go and it was delicious!!

As quarantine got more underway, Neta and I took to rollerblading. She would come to work with me and we'd rollerblade during lunch or we'd go to the Monon and rollerbladed. It was such fun!! I love spending time with my kids doing stuff outside.

2020 - February Fun

Another month of little to no pictures. Sunday Feb 2 was warm and sunny so we took the opportunity to go on a family walk and roll. Graigry tried his feet at rollerblading and only fell down a few times. Sadly, I didn't get any of that on video. He's so graceful when he goes down; choreographs the fall as if it was intended. I did get the following video at the bottom of a decline at Brookside Park.

Twenty-four days later, there was just enough snow to make a run at sledding. Mutual was cancelled because the roads were too wet (I'm sorry, but that's nuts. Wet yes, but icy they were not). Nate, Neta and I drove to Brookside Park, with the dog.

Nate bundled up and ready to sled

Opal - "I've got the harness on.
Come on Human. Get the leash
and let's go!"

We were the only ones on our side of the hill for a while before a father and kids came. That was fun to watch and remember times gone by.

Walking to the desired hill

At the top of the hill on the west side

Neta heading back up.

We sledded for about an hour. Nate and Neta enjoyed themselves quite a bit and didn't miss not having the youth activity at all. Mission accomplished. Now, home, warm showers and to bed. School in the morning. :)

It was a leap year, but I wasn't on top of it to do anything special. Hello/Good-bye 29th. See you in four years. So much will have changed in four years. Graigry should be back from a mission and Nate should be on one. Wow. 

2020 - January - BB's, Cassettes and Snores

I didn't take many pictures during January out side of New Year's Day. Obviously a dull-drum month where everyone gets back into the routine of reality. Blah.

A1st day of January/because we have the time so why not thing we do is play Carcassonne. Long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away, we used to play this all the time with the Dunahees or Robinsons and Eric bought a second set. Instead of taking 45-90 minutes (which is a fast paced game) this one takes up to four hours to play, longer if there is more contemplating in piece placement.

This is the VERY BEGINNING
A large section of the table fills as the cities
start growing and meeples fight for ownership

After hours of Carcassonne, because it there was still daylight, we let Nate shoot his BB gun in the backyard. There is a metal squirrel target, stuck into a hay bale back by the doghouse, that they try to hit.

It's kind of fun to watch them. There's no way to prove what they've hit, if they've actually hit anything, but they still like shooting and taking credit for hitting something when they hear metal ping (there are plenty of metal things to ping off of and no they haven't hit the car).

Ro's back on campus as soon as they let them back into the dorms. She keeps the family informed about different aspects of her life via an app called Marco Polo. She sent a video on January 8 struggling with a technical problem that I just got cracked up about. :)

I had seen segments on the Ellen Show where millennial tried to figure out boom boxes and "regular" phones, but never thought my child would willingly create her own video for all to see. It makes me smile every time I watch it. I cut the second video short because it's 3 minutes of cassette and then another 5 minutes of first day of class description while she waited for the "whirring," also knows as rewinding, to finish.

This last video, you don't have to watch the entire thing, but I had to record it. We had just dropped someone off from church (a homeless man that comes every week; we dropped him off at a gate kind of under west Washington Street. Little bit different than the kids are used to - it was our first time taking him home) and Graigry fell asleep. Two minutes of snoring and bubble making may not be very funny to anyone but a mother and siblings, but for posterity's sake, I'm posting it. You're welcome!

2019 December Doings

Putting up the Christmas tree and lights is one of my favorite things because it is a signal that Christmas is coming to my house. I love the light that comes into the house and the extra physical reminders of the Savior. There are fewer helper elves and for some this seems to be evolving into a checklist item instead of an opportunity to spend time together and maybe reflect on Christmas memories.

Graigry decorating the small tree

Neta going above and beyond the
hanging of ornaments. :)

Christmas Day

It was a simpler Christmas, which was okay. I didn't have the savings I usually do, to purchase gifts, so there were fewer boxes under the tree, but we still were able to enjoy ourselves. The first Christmas was simple too. I loved watching the kids open each others' gifts and the excitement they had for each other.

The Grinch
Brought to you by Nate & Neta's gift to Ro

Nate LOVES his duct tape

Time together

*I've been having technical difficulties with my videos playing. If this one decides to play, I will try to include others.

Large Fries
In case the video doesn't play, Neta gave Ro
some cash filled "fries" to help her with
college expenses.

I took the days between Christmas and New Year's Eve off. Because one of the CCHA partners is a board member at Connor Prairie (a living history museum in Fishers), I was able to get free tickets to their Christmas on the Prairie and so we went as a family. I enjoyed myself and was grateful that the wind wasn't blowing. It was cold, but warmer than previous nights. Graigry did a lot of complaining and pleading to go back to the car. Whiner.

There was a tubing hill that the kids liked.
Too bad the line was so long that we could only do it once.

We also went on a hayride through some lights. I tried to take a picture, but the flash, well....

...little too bright for the unsuspecting eyeballs
and too bumpy for the phone camera.

Playing in reindeer feed (ie corn kernels)
Neta invited her friend Ohna.

Kids on the Carousel

We did everything that was at no additional cost. The carousel was the last thing before I felt we'd done what was available and we headed back to the car and home.

The torture was finally over! We headed back to the car and drove home. Next time, I'll go with different children, or by myself. I enjoy looking at Christmas light displays and the holiday environment, even when it's cold. :)

NATE IS FOURTEEN!!

I know I say this a lot, but time goes by too fast. I have memories of Nate toddling around with his cute curls that seem like they were only, you know, last week. Nate had been waiting all day to open presents and shoot his bb gun (Christmas present from one or two years ago) and finally got to do both after dark.

Opal was part of the security detail,
inspecting every package 

Nate's favorite cake is eclair cake, so that is what I made. My candle supply was low, so I made do with what I had to make a 14. It definitely wasn't 14 individual candles.

NEW YEAR'S EVE

The kids love the permission to stay up late. They kind of do their own thing until just about midnight. We watched a movie, kind of as a family...

Watching Instant Family

...then grabbed our pots and utensils... (quieter version found below)

In case you wanted a still and quieter version
of the video above. :)

2019 November Notes

The first event that happens in November is Graigry's birthday. He's now officially 16 and of driving and dating eligibility. When I asked him what he wanted for a birthday cake, he said pecan pie and/or cheese cake. I purchased both. Graigry put candles to the pie and then we at the cheesecake slices. (Below is the video of us with his cheescake; I hope it works - I've been having technical difficulties lately.)

Graigry of course got the package from Grandparents Hibbert, arriving with the annual $50 and other stuff. When kids get to be teenagers, it's hard to know what to buy. Graigry got multicolored socks and a real bowtie - one he has to tie. In his opinion, it was a little bit of an atypical package - nothing excited him very much, minus the cash and the gift card to McDonalds.

On Saturday November 9, I ran my first half marathon, the Monumental Marathon. I had a wonderful running buddy, Victoria Wilkinson, who trained with me and is the reason that I was able to do it. The law school had a team that signed up and Victoria said she needed a training buddy and was willing to pay for it. Training has been a spiritually insightful experience and with Victoria's encouragement, friendship and follow-up in regards to getting our runs in.

It was the coldest start to the Monumental, ever, like 27-28 degrees to start the race. Thankfully the sun came up as we got going and that helped. It was interesting to watch, at the beginning of the run, how much clothing was pitched as people started run. I was able to run 11 miles without stopping, then my knees started screaming at me and I told Victoria I needed to walk a bit. She slowed her pace to stay by me until I picked up again. Then I had to stop and I told her to please go ahead and not feel bad; I knew she wanted to jog the whole route, which she did. I jogged the last 1/2 mile and crossed the finish line after hearing a "Go Camilla!" from the crowd, from I assume Gage Wilkinson, Victoria's hubby. It was such a good feeling to cross that finish line and know that I actually finished something that I thought was previously impossible.

I was so proud of myself

My stats; not to bad

When I got home and after I showered, I was excited enough and it turned into a nice enough day, that I wanted to get the kids outside. I convinced Nate and Neta to bring Opal and go to Holladay Park. They were willing to oblige my need to be moving and outside, so we went.

Climbing the Spider Web

We had fun taking Opal up through the jungle gym.

One...

Two...

THREE!!

Love to play in the leaves!

Someone help me up, please!

We went for a walk down to the White River.
Opal wanted to follow every squirrel she saw.

RANDOM PICTURES AT THE RIVER 

Looking down over the White River

On November 10, after church, we took dinner up to Aurora at Ball State in Muncie. It was chicken and rice, which is one of her favorites. We ate in the kitchen area in her hall and played try to get the candy corn into someone else's mouth by throwing it (see video below). That got some good laughs. Before going home, we played a couple games of pool. I can't remember who won, but we were spending time as a family. That's what's important.

Playing pool as a family

"Ready? Aim? Strike!"

There are different family adventures as the kids grow up and leave the house. I am grateful for these moments as children begin to reach a peer type level, but at the same time, I miss simpler times and younger ages. :)