* Idaho has implemented Phase 1 and 2 (there will be a total of 4 phases through an 8 week period) of "Reopening Idaho" under the Governors orders (each 2 weeks apart). Honestly under Phase 1 not much changed except that businesses could open for curbside pickup as well as daycares. We are all still asked to stay at home if possible and to wear masks whenever we must be out. Phase 2's biggest impact was opening Salons, gyms and some restaurants now have their dining rooms opened (as long as they are able to keep patrons 6 feet apart from others). Phase 3 is scheduled to launch on June 1st as long as there are no large spikes in confirmed cases.
* Covid-19 in Numbers: As of May 24th in Idaho there have been 2,626 confirmed cases and 79 deaths. In the US, the numbers are: 1,622,114 Confirmed cases and 97,049 deaths and in the world, there have been 5,206,614 Confirmed cases with 337,736 deaths.
* HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! I had a really nice mothers day! Dad made a video of all of the kids answering questions about me and it was so fun to watch! It'll be even more memorable in the years to come! I know that took some time for him to compile it and I was really thankful! He also attempted to get me some bags of Sonic ice but wasn't successful (as they weren't selling it the day he went - boo!) and some hanging baskets that were custom made! They are beautiful and add such a great touch to our porch! AND if that wasn't enough... I am getting a little gun (in teal!!) to conceal carry. Apparently that color is hard to come by but I'm willing to hold out for it because I think it's so cute! haha
I received cards from Ben, Seth and Nathan and some delicious fruit from August and McKendra - Yum! and then the girls crafted and painted and made cards and a song for me! Everyone went out of their way to make the day special! Dad BBQ'd some Steaks for dinner and I didn't have to lift a finger at all! It was great!
* Not too long ago, we had a really big storm come through with strong winds that blew over part of our back fence! We were all sad! Dad rallied up all of the boys and they worked one weekend to get all of the new fence post holes dug and set in cement and then the next weekend, dad, Seth and Nathan put all of the pickets up. It was a big job but it sure looks nice! As dad was chatting with the neighbor we learned that he was a master carpenter. We ended up doing a trade and we did all of the fence repair in exchange for him fixing our pocket door that had come off of the track between our kitchen and dining room. We felt like it was a win-win situation!
* McKendra has wanted to start doing some "young Women activities" with the girls on Wednesday nights (since there are no activities taking place currently)... this week mom and the girls went over and we watched "The Book Thief" and ate snacks! McKendra then tied the movie in with a spiritual message :)
* Seminary graduation is coming upon us and the school asked for a recent picture of Ben, along with a picture of him as a toddler. I put them side by side and added them below - he sure was an adorably cute boy back then and has grown into a handsome young man!
* We made a stop in Kimberly, ID to visit with the Bailey's and the girls absolutely loved holding their baby dwarf goats - Flower and Bambi! They have a canyon on their property that has a creek that runs through it and Maggie was having the time of her life darting this way and that and jumping into the creek to retrieve sticks that the kids threw to her!
* The flowers are all in bloom and the yard is looking so beautiful, lush and green! The hanging baskets from Mothers Day (and other flowers!) are all hung and on display and we think it just looks so nice! Here are some pics of our front..
The girls are still into making their videos and short films and they are so good! They are also starting to turn photos into digital art... On our road trip to Blackfoot, we took some silly pictures in the car and here's what they did with them... pretty remarkable if you ask me! (I'll put the original photo first and then the one they turned into "art" after it. Lexi's is the first grouping and Aubrie's is the second)
Spiritually Speaking...
Dad and I were listening to a talk given at the BYU's Women's Conference and something that was said struck both of us... the speaker was talking about how in early church history, the people kept a "Tidy History" meaning that they only recorded the good things that went on. Heavenly Father has asked us all to keep a history (which is a big reason why I dedicate so much time to this blog) but he didn't say "only record the good times and leave out the bad!" This is what got dad and I thinking and I mentioned that if people read the past 10 years of our blog, it would look like our lives were AMAZING (which they have been!) and free from sadness and hardship (which they have not been!). We have had hard struggles with jobs, mental health, physical health, finances, parenting, grief, sorrow and MANY trials! And maybe some of those struggles would have been good to preserve for our future posterity to read and see how we overcame! So while our life IS blessed AND beautiful AND good - I'm going to try and remember to record the "not so good" and show how relying on the Lord can help us overcome and rise above our hardships.
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As dad and I did some family history, I came upon a biography written about dad's Great Great Grandma -Mary Adelaide Merrell. It told a different story than one we'd ever heard about her. It was written by a granddaughter of Mary's youngest daughter Vara. It stated that in 1885 (when Mary was 38 years old) she had a hallucination that the house was on fire and subsequently threw all of the children out of the house into the snow. After this episode, she was committed into the Insane Asylum in Blackfoot, Idaho where she lived out the next 14 years of her life as a patient there. The biggest piece of info it gave was it stated that she was buried in the State Hospital's Cemetery vs the family plot in Soda Springs, Idaho. Dad hasn't been able to locate Mary's burial spot and so we figured this was where we'd find her! He felt so sad to think that she'd been forgotten all of these many years (she passed in 1899) and he felt an urgency to find his great great grandmother! So... the girls, Nathan and mom and dad (and Maggie!) headed out for a ROAD TRIP to Blackfoot, Idaho to find her!! With 2 stops, it took about 4 hours to get to the hospital's cemetery (so this was not a quick road trip!)... Unfortunately, we were met with disappointment as we didn't find her. We walked up and down the rows of all 600+ headstones with no luck. While we were there, we saw a group of volunteers (all employees of the actual hospital) who were doing a beautification project in the cemetery. We got to talking with one of the gals and told her of our disappointment. She then took down our contact info and said that she'd look up the cemetery archives on Monday when she got back to work and let us know what she found. After research, we were told that there was no history of her being buried there. We then asked if it was possible to find out if she was ever even a patient there in the 1800's (to confirm the story we'd seen earlier in the week)... unfortunately, the person over all of the patient archives is out on maternity leave and so she said it'd be a month or so before we could find out any further information. We don't feel like it was a waste of our time tho, and now we know where's she's NOT and can keep searching!\
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Tender Mercies:
* Dad still has a job and hasn't been affected by Covid19
* Not only has it not been affected, but we received a rather large bonus this month!
* We were able to get our pocket door fixed for a trade in services with the neighbor
* No one has been sick or afflicted (except for allergies!) this month!
* We've all been kept safe - no injuries or sad trials this month
* Nathan is still EXPLODING on his reading (and writing!) He is putting forth such effort and we know that Heavenly Father is blessing him because of it! We also know that he is inspiring grandma Carlson to know what direction to take each day! It truly is a miracle to witness what is unfolding!
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