Ryan & Erinn's Family: April 2020

For General Conference, Church leaders decided not to have an in-person audience. The only people in attendance at the broadcast were those speaking or praying, and the choir numbers were repeats of previous performances. It felt strange, but it was still a great conference, and I was glad they were being safe.

Right before Conference, our ward started doing a weekly broadcast called the "Verdugo Hills Ward Bulletin Show". Brother Barty used all his talents and equipment to create something that was part variety show, part devotional, and a wonderful way for the ward to continue to feel connected. Adults, youth, and Primary kids all participated in creating the content. Because it wasn't a sacrament meeting, it could be recorded and watched whenever was convenient. At our house on Sundays, we usually did our Come Follow Me lesson first, then partook of the Sacrament, then retired to the living room to watch the Ward Bulletin Show. There was also usually a Primary singing-time video by Megan Harvey, which included crafts, puppets, and online sing-along videos of the Primary songs for that month.

Elise continued to do a lot of baking. Sometimes it was just for fun, sometimes it was for a Young Women activity, and every Wednesday she FaceTimed her friend Ella while they made something together.

Pretzels with Ella

Online school and piano continued with more success than I would have expected. We figured out our schedules and got more accustomed to the technology, and things started to normalize a little.

Somebody left the van door open one night, with leftover fast-food still inside, and we got robbed by a raccoon! Its little footprints were all over everything.

Celeste did not return to preschool once the shelter-in-place order was issued, and had to educate and entertain herself. She became very interested in exploring the limits of painting.

Celeste's Schedule Card

One day after a rainstorm, Ryan took me and the younger kids up Angeles Crest to discover that snow had fallen in the night, and was still coming down! I don't know why this was so exciting, but it really cheered us up.

We went on many more walks and hikes, and Ryan went biking with the kids.

Ladybug

6 Feet Apart

We also took a couple of day trips. One was to Phacelia (near the poppy preserve), and the other was to Crystal Lake Campground. I took our camping toilet and a pop-up tent on these trips, since public bathrooms were either closed or seemed too risky.

I had been crying, but a walk alone made me feel better.

Crystal Lake Campground has great acorns!

Acorn-Woodpecker Holes

I saw a WESTERN TANAGER!!!

Drone Shot

We were able to do almost all of our Easter traditions this year!

Forest Lawn Cemetery

During the month of April, both the refrigerator and the dishwasher broke. This at a time when repairmen were not very available to come to people's homes. Ryan watched a lot of YouTube videos and managed to fix both problems, at least temporarily!

My family and I started doing a lot of Marco Polo messages with each other, along with group texts on a near-daily basis. I hadn't felt this close to them in a long time, and it was truly one of the blessings of the quarantine to get to see and hear from each other so regularly.

The artichokes in our backyard turned into their own little ecosystem this spring! We found ladybug eggs, ladybug larvae, aphids, and tiny white insects that I think were "thrips". We looked at a thrip under the microscope to figure out what it was.

At first, the official advice was to avoid wearing masks in public, because there was a shortage, and those needed to be saved for medical personnel. After a few weeks, however, they discovered that cloth masks (which could be made at home) could prevent an infected person from spreading COVID-19. Cloth masks quickly became a requirement for entering any store, and even for walking outside in public spaces. I didn't have the energy to figure out how to sew masks, so I bought some online instead.

Neighborhood Walk

Restaurants tried to stay afloat with take-out specials. No indoor dining was allowed.

Youth activities and Activity Days happened regularly over Zoom. There were online game sessions, crafts, and speakers. For one of the boys' Activity Days, Ryan dropped off pots and seeds, and they all planted tiny gardens together.

Macaroon (Little Mac) developed an eye infection, so I had to take him to the specialty vet for eye drops. We kept the bunnies inside for several weeks so I could easily catch him and put the drops in every day. It was messy to have them in the house, but a lot of fun. We learned that Little Mac will chase you if you run up and down the hallway!