I think I'm getting used to our new normal. I guess it takes two weeks. I don't mind it so much now and feel like I've accepted our new routine. It's peaceful! Even with ten people in our house. So. The peace doesn't come from quiet. It also doesn't come from not having things to do, because everyone has lots of schoolwork and even the one chore I've assigned everyday to each person in the household only gets done about half of the time. I guess it's peaceful because we don't need to go anywhere and there's no chance we'll be late for anything and if Megan says, "We're going on a hike!" and Beth and Ben want to go, then I just let them go because there will be plenty of time later to do their work. If we stay up too late, we just sleep in.

We did have one appointment this week and we were so excited to have it! Last week we called the temple to schedule a time for Mariah to take out her endowments. They told us they didn't have time for all the appointments that had been made before the temples had limited attendance so they didn't have time for us. We were sad. But Saturday night we got a call telling us they'd had a cancellation on Wednesday afternoon and did we want to take the opening? Did we ever! She could bring only six guests, so Kevin and I, Savannah, Sarah, Megan, and Grandma Gazdik came with her. What a unique and special experience! We felt so blessed. Later that evening, the church announced the complete closure of all temples until further notice. We just barely squeaked in!!

Mariah left the next day. She took Kevin's car and went back to Dixie to get her stuff and say goodbye to friends and wrap things up. She said she didn't know how long she'd stay but no longer than a week. We miss her and hope she doesn't get sick!

Megan did take Mariah, Ammon, Beth, and Ben on a hike to the Y this week. They said Ben complained ALOT but they somehow made it to the top and back and stopped at Reams to bring ice cream home to the fam!

Ben has had crazy amounts of work assigned from school! Some moms talked to the teacher and by Thursday/Friday his work was more reasonable but most of the days this week saw him in front of the chromebook we got from school--either doing his work or pretending to do it while actually avoiding it. Poor kid!

Bethany seems to have it best. Her work only takes a few hours tops and then she has the Mila's to play with. Megan, Ammon, Savannah, Cali, and Chey do homework a whole lot! Everyday they manage to do some exercise, too. Online Zumba in the family room is my favorite, but they also will sometimes go play tennis or run or hike.

Sarah and McKay came over on Saturday and also Wednesday after the temple and brought their new favorite game to play with the fam. I think it is called Golem but they just call it "the jewel game." This was the fam Saturday afternoon:

Game, treadmill, chilling on the beanbag.

Homework

And what do I do you may ask? I've been helping a little with Kevin's business so I like to sit next to Ben while he does his work and I do mine. I've also gone on long walks at sunset (my favorite time!) and read some books. I also try to keep the house in order and have family dinner every night. No one's schedule conflicts with family dinner anymore! That's pretty nice. I've also been Marco Poloing by sisters and mom a lot. That's been really fun!

Typical morning. That's my computer bottom left. Twins at the counter, Beth and Ben at the table.

Sunset trails!

Gorgeous, right?

Last Sunday was a really fun day. The weather was beautiful! Grandma and Grandpa came for sacrament meeting again and we had talks from Mariah and Savannah and testimonies from Cali and Chey. After that, all my daughters tried on the bridesmaid dresses that we picked up this week. They all looked so cute we had to take pictures and then I thought it'd be fun to get out the bouquets from Sarah's wedding, and it was so fun! After that we went on another long family walk (hike) and had Sunday dinner and some YouTube sunday school and some games.

These are the skirts Meg brought back from Malaysia.

We have Cali and Beth in some pretty tall heels!

I love being with this group of people!

Just because I'm getting used to things, doesn't mean everyone is. I think Cali and Chey are really struggling with the loss of their old life. They do talk on their phones a lot with friends which I think is good for them, but I guess it is not the same. I suppose we will all get through somehow!

Last Sunday was a really beautiful day. Sarah and McKay and Grandma and Grandpa came over for sacrament meeting. We felt a strong spirit during the ordinance itself and then Bethany and McKay gave talks and Grandma and Grandpa bore testimonies. It was really nice. Later that day we took a long walk along the mountain, had a yummy dinner, and then played "the couch game"--which is super tricky and Ben out-thunk us all!

Ammon and Megan came back from California late Sunday night. They had a really fun trip and came back more in love than ever! If that's even possible, right? Since we knew Ammon would come to our house everyday no matter what, in order to cut down on the number of people he interacted with, we invited him to stay at our house for now. They think the quarantine is GREAT! Their high spirits keep us all laughing and happy and Megan even orchestrated a spa night--Ammon included!

Alright, we are not laughing and happy ALWAYS. Mariah misses her place in college life and feels lost here at home with no more track season to work toward and missionary life being disrupted for so many and making her own call feel so uncertain. It didn't help that she had no classes all week because it was her college's spring break. On Friday, she decided to run until she didn't feel like running anymore--that ended up being 17 miles! Megan and Beth were in the car looking for her by the time she finally called from Grandma's house to let us know that she was safe and was going to stay with Grandma for awhile. Come to think of it, it was a lot like when my girls were little and they'd run away from home! It would be funny if it weren't so sad. The good news is that the City Center temple had a cancellation and we will be able (with six guests) to take out her endowment on Wednesday. We found out just yesterday evening. It was a tender mercy for sure.

Savannah is struggling, as well, and I'm not sure how to help her. Her anxiety builds and builds so pandemics are especially hard for her.  Some days she is fine, and I love it when she does stuff with us as a family.

Beth and Ben are probably doing the best (after Megan and Ammon, of course). Their teachers have set up their daily assignments very clearly in Google classroom and the time required to spend on their work has been very doable so far. There are only two girls of the same family here in our new neighborhood and Kevin and I decided they could still play with Beth as long as the girls play outside. So, with friends across the street and sisters more inclined to include her in everything, Beth has not sacrificed much.

Ben has enjoyed having Ammon here. He'll usually play a game of chess with him everyday and throw the football around with him. Cheyenne has also done really well inviting Ben to go up the mountain with her or, yesterday, search for golf balls in the ravine. I am working on getting Bethany to include her little brother more. They fought with tears on both sides yesterday, but they are playing Minecraft together this morning, so I am hopeful.

Cali and Cheyenne miss their friends like they would miss their arms if they were cut off! But, they still have their phones and as far as I can tell they are always in contact with somebody or multiple somebodies whether that is through texting, Duo, Facetime, Marco Polo, or who knows what else! Their teachers have been really intense this week. Each of their eight teachers operates independently and I think they each feel they need to fill up all of these kids' time! Our fingers are crossed that assignments will become more reasonable next week. They also have snuck in some tennis with friends. Tennis is the perfect "social distancing" sport!

Kevin has been stressed and worried that his company will see a big drop in clients with the economic downturn caused by all this social distancing! Already, their company has changed all therapy to online therapy--including online yoga classes and it seems to be working so far. Kevin is still going to work so he has a quiet place to talk with clients. He is working all the time and just hoping it is enough.

It's fine. It's all fine.

Oh, and the dryer broke and we got it fixed and it broke again and the guy came back and cleared the vent and fixed it again and then it broke again but it was Friday evening and they can't come back until Monday afternoon. It's fine.

I'm just going to make a schedule. Then I'm going to stick with it and there will be time for everything! Yay! And this won't last forever. The sun is going to shine again. It really will. Listen to this. Over and over. We do!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqUn-ok3qmQ

At the beginning of this week, the Coronavirus affected our family only remotely. We had maybe two cases in all of Utah. The only way it affected us personally was that people were over-buying toilet paper and it was hard to find in the stores. I mostly just found that humorous.

On Wednesday, the MTC announced that it would close and I knew it was the end of the world.

I don't really think it's the end of the world, but my feelings drastically plummeted from humor to dread. On Thursday, Dixie State, where Mariah goes to college announced that all classes would go on-line and no one was to show up for classes for the rest of the semester. Later that afternoon, BYU, where Savannah and Megan go to college, announced the same and encouraged all out-of-state students to return home. That same day, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, where we all worship, cancelled all Sunday worship services WORLDWIDE--indefinitely. I thought maybe public school would provide a small bit of normalcy for my four youngest but Friday afternoon, the Governor ordered a "soft-closure" of all public schools for two weeks. This in a state where we hardly ever even have a snow day. The schools don't ever close.

It may not be the end of the world, but it is the end of the world as we know it--at least for a little while. And it happened so suddenly!

So, BEFORE our world ended...

Megan went to Disneyland with Ammon. Ammon has a rich uncle who is getting married and he paid for his guests to fly out and stay in the hotel. Megan and Ammon decided to hit Disneyland while they were there and before the wedding festivities began. They spent all day Friday there and had a blast. Disneyland closed to the public on Saturday! They will fly home late tonight.

Savannah was at work when the IT department got the news that all classes would need Zoom computer capabilities by the following Tuesday. They also told any employee who was feeling the slight bit sick to NOT come to work. Since Savannah already was feeling sick, she snuck out the back door so they wouldn't be mad at her for coming to work in the first place! Zoom wasn't part of her department's responsibilities anyway.

Cali and Chey started spring tennis league and had practices and ladder play on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. (They are going to continue play since their group activities are under 100 participants and it is a non-contact sport. Have I mentioned that I love tennis?) They also went to track practices and had an inter-squad meet. (But track has now been cancelled at least for the next two weeks). They also had festival for piano, which since it is conducted in small groups in front of judges, was still allowed to go on. They both played fantastic! Kevin and I are so proud of the skills they've gained on piano and all their hard work.

Beth and Ben had karate and Beth had play practice (which they say they will still perform, but will they?). Beth is pretty laid-back about school closure. She thinks it will be fun to be at home with her sisters. Ben has taken more of the-world-is-about-to-end-we're-all-going-to-die! approach. That is when he's not tearing the middle out of the entire loaf of bread I just made in complete disregard to the needs of the rest of the family, or covering his sneeze with the family's kitchen towel--you know, the one we use to dry dishes? Don't worry, we're teaching as we go along. He's just a typical 9 year-old is all and we love him!

Cali and Chey and their friends reacted to the news of school closure by inviting all their girl friends over on Friday night and all their girl and guy friends over on Saturday night. Apparently, their social needs will continue to be met and also apparently it will be at our house. Don't worry. We will keep them away from the kitchen towels.

I spent most of Saturday driving down to St. George to get Mariah and drive her back to us! She wants to return to campus, but this week is their spring break and since all other plans got cancelled, she'd rather be with us. We'd rather her be with us, too! We will see how long we can convince her to stay and do her online classes from Springville. We love that girl! Her entire track season has been cancelled. In one way, she is relieved since she has been running SO MUCH (60 mile weeks) and she is exhausted. On the other hand, she has been running SO MUCH (60 mile weeks!) and she won't have a chance to see her work pay off in the races that all got cancelled.

It's crazy what a difference in our goals and priorities one week can make.

Kevin flew to Phoenix on Tuesday and returned late Thursday night. He was training therapists in helping with betrayal trauma. He is back now and we are thrilled to have him. The first hard-copy of his book arrived while he was gone. It looks really good!

https://www.amazon.com/Treating-Sexual-Addiction-Compassionate-Approach-ebook/dp/B085BS2Q8L/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=kevin+skinner&qid=1583697486&sr=8-1

I had dental work done on Monday. Ugh. Three hours in the dental chair is three hours too many. That's what I say. Since it was the first week of March, I did a lot of accounting work this week.

Savannah has been working on a 12-page proposal for her English technical writing class as well as a group project for computer science. She's still trying to get her hours in at work, as well!

Sarah threw an all-day party for McKay's birthday on Saturday. They went up to SLC for a professional soccer game, then played soccer in the park with brothers and friends, then went to a friend's house for games, dinner, progress presentations, and a movie. Wow! What a supportive wife she is since I think most of the ideas were his but she helped make them all happen. We went over Saturday night and they were having a great time.

Megan has developed a virtual 5K for her events-internship helping to promote Neptune plastics. You should all check it out!

https://byuneptuneplastics.wixsite.com/gogreenrace/pledges-1

We made some progress planning her wedding this week, too. We visited a couple of venues and she decided on bridesmaid dresses!

Mariah surprised us by showing up early for her visit this weekend! I thought she was just going to spend a few hours with us Friday on her way up to Idaho with her friends to see Ben Rector in concert. Instead she burst in the door Thursday night amid squeals and cheers and stayed until Saturday morning. Yay! I took her with me Friday to look at some bridesmaid dresses and she was a willing model but even better she filled me in on all the happenings in her life! Sarah and McKay and Ammon and Megan all hung out at our house Friday night to spend time with Mariah. Cali and Chey even resisted their other social invitations to spend some more time with her. It was so great to have her back for a night or two!

Cali and Chey participated in "Questival" at the high school this whole week. Questival is a challenge week put on by the student council. The students are encouraged to form teams and perform a series of challenges to earn points. So, after school and after track practice, Cali and Chey got together with their Q team and did things like kiss a goat, do 100 pushups, thank a teacher, make up a rap about a turtle, or jump in the resevoir. They got more points than "the fellas," their group of guy friends, so they're calling the week a victory! I'm calling it a good thing it's over. Ha ha!

Beth and Ben had music lessons and karate. Beth had play practice. The weather has been warmer and since I am forcing them to spend time outside everyday, they've actually been picking up the basketballs and shooting around without anyone telling them to. It's fun to see and they have made up some great games.

Ben played in another chess tournament this weekend. He won twice and lost four times. I told him I admired his courage to play even when he knew he risked losing. He said, "Mom. It's not about winning and losing. It's about learning!" Bravo, kid! You've got the right attitude. The weather was warm enough Saturday that he and Nico worked on their fort. Good times.

Bethany went skiing with the church youth this week! Cali and Chey couldn't fit that many hours into their schedule, but Beth had a blast! She also had karate and play practice. Last week, on a hike, Megan found a tree with an old tree-house platform. She showed the kids and Beth and her friends went back on Saturday and had a great time.

Cheyenne and Cali had an exciting week as their varsity basketball team made it to the state championship game! They did not win that final game but that still makes them second in the whole state! The boys team ended up going to the championship game, as well. A lot of people were very excited in Springville on Saturday. Balloons lined 4th South and people came out to cheer both teams as they left town Saturday morning for the big games. The boys team did end up winning. Go SHS! So, Chey and Cali started track practices but also spent three days in SLC watching and cheering their basketball team. Since they hadn't had enough time for socializing, Saturday night they had 12 friends over for games and a movie AFTER they got home--they started at 8:30. Crazy kids.

Megan went shopping for a wedding dress on Friday afternoon and we bought one! Yay! Sarah, Cali, Alisa, and I all came and we had a great time watching her try things on and give our opinions. It was a productive trip and we are more excited than ever!

Savannah and Megan both had an intense week taking midterms over at BYU. I am happy to report that they have both made it through the week! Yay!

Kevin finished his book officially and it can be bought at Amazon now! His audible version will be available later this week. He has been working hard and I know he feels good about this accomplishment. We are all proud of him!