Quarantine Time

It seems I've been really busy during this quarantine - going from one big project to the next.  Here are some things we've been up to:

We sold our cute little play set to make way for a shed.  This means my babies are growing up. [tears rolling down my face].

The day after it was built, the kids took residence inside and called it their comic clubhouse - a place where they could write comics.  The code phrase to get in:  "Gavin and Alayna's Comics Rock."  The kids also dragged their sleeping bags inside and wanted to sleep in there, but Laynie got scared and Dad had a big day at work the next day, so we convinced them to do it another night.  ;)  HOWEVER, we did tell ghost stories!  Laynie's stories were THE BEST!

Matt and I painted the shed.  We put the white trim down first then started painting the shed blue.  We realized after painting 2 sides that we'd made a HUGE mistake.  We chose BYU colors!!!  Gag!  Barf!  What were we thinking?!  We should have gone with red...  

I spent a LOT of time sewing 100 face masks for #projectprotect - a Relief Society endeavor to supply medical staff with hospital grade face masks.  I sure hope they get used!

Despite the COVID-19, Laynie was still able to get her immunizations to be eligible for kindergarten.  She was SO brave and didn't cry at all!  My baby is growing up!

Matt and I have dug out more grass than we'd ever like to admit.  We got rid of a huge crab grass patch and transplanted the grass behind the curbing into that spot.  Then we took out a bunch more grass out of the curbing...  We still have one more section to do then we can plant a tree.  :)

Matt and I installed a second row of sprinklers in our backyard.  We spent a Saturday digging trench, laying PVC pipe, and digging holes to go under the curbing we had put in.

I have been scouring the "free" section of fb Marketplace for vegitation to put around my home.  I've gotten quite a few beautiful plants - all for free!  7 hostas, A butterfly bush, a pine shrub, and a mystery bush I still need to learn exactly what it is!  Along with that, neighbors have shared some of their feverfew, daffodils, day lillies, and ground cover with me.  At the nursery, we bought a burning bush, a couple boxwoods, 5 rose bushes, and 3 blackberry bushes and one more raspberry bush.  I'm growing some peas and hollyhocks to go behind the rose bushes as well.  I sure hope all this stuff thrives in our poor soil and salty water!  It's been a huge effort, but I LOVE it!

I still want to get some lavender plants, two trees (one for the front and one for the back), a juniper, and a lilac tree!  Then my landscaping efforts will be complete!

A Little Photoshoot for Gavin's Baptism Day

On Sunday, April 26th, we traveled to SLC's Memory Grove.  I love this park, and going up to SLC made me miss living so close to places like this.  Gavin would be getting baptized on May 3rd, but he chose to wait out the COVID-19... to see if he can be baptized in a few months with his family and friends in attendance.  Right now, they are allowing only 10 people to be in attendance.  Nonetheless, we wanted to capture Gavin - looking ever so GQ - in this stage of life so he can look back and remember the important covenants he will be making hopefully soon.

Easter 2020

The kids woke up to Easter Bunny shenanigans once more.  This time he hid their baskets in the lazy susan and behind the couch.

The bunny left Gavin a lego set, shampoo, a loofah and some candy.

He left Laynie a princess rubbing sketch pad, shampoo, a loofah, and candy.

They were pretty excited.

The day before, Laynie was questioning whether the Easter Bunny was even real.  On Easter morning, she looked into her basket, saw her favorite candies - Hi-Chews, and exclaimed, "He really knows me!" So I'm guessing she's now a believer.

The Easter Bunny also set up an egg hunt downstairs since it was freezing cold with snow flurries outside.

We had a nice at-home church service.  Matt blessed the sacrament, we watched a resurrection movie, and we shared our testimonies of why the resurrection is important to each one of us.

Then we made resurrection rolls.  While they baked, we dyed Easter eggs.

Can you spot Captain Underpants and Mr. Krump??  The Irish, Sweden and American flags are also in the mix!  Laynie colored grapes and a piece of bread on her eggs as well.  You might also see a couple of Hatchimals?!

After the eggs were done, we ate the resurrection rolls and yep!  Sure enough, Jesus has risen!

We ended the Easter evening with a walk around the neighborhood and singing Gethsemane.

8 is GREAT!

Gavin's birthday was on a Monday this year.  The Saturday before, we drove to Stansbury Park to buy a second hand birthday bike.  It's a good, quality bike and Gavin has really enjoyed riding around.  He had outgrown his other bike and it wasn't worth spending the money to fix its tires.  Here's to hoping he stays on this bike and it doesn't result in any more broken bones!

The birthday boy woke up to breakfast in bed - a #8 bagel, a banana, and Orange Julius!

This is Gavin's first store-bought birthday cake.  (It was $4 in the day-old section at Smith's.)  Totally worth all the effort saved in the making of it.  We added a couple donuts to make the number 8 and Gavin put in 8 birthday candles.

Due to the virus, Grandma/pa Anderson decided to "risk" a trip to our home for dinner/cake.  We had one of Gavin's favorites - Orange chicken with corn and salad.  Gavin HATES chicken, but for some reason, Orange chicken... "Doesn't even taste like chicken at all!"

Grandma/pa Anderson gave Gavin a race track.  Our sweet friends in Ireland - The Kearney's - sent Gavin some Amazon money and he picked out a lego set and comic book and put a bit of money in his savings for his mission.  Grandma/pa Sorensen also sent some money for G that he wanted to save for his future mission.

At the end of dessert, we took a trip out to Eagle Mountain to see Grandma/pa's new home being built.  It is going to be beautiful.