Ryan & Erinn's Family: August 2020

In August, church continued with the Ward Bulletin Show, and we continued doing Sacrament Meeting and other lessons at home. Sometimes we'd make everyone dress up, but a lot of the time we were too lazy.

Ryan began his all-consuming COVID project: a home climbing wall. He involved the kids as much as possible, and although it took awhile, it turned out to be pretty good (and even safe!)

Phoebe got a lot of pictures taken of her.

She accidentally fell in the pool and was traumatized.

I managed to give Phoebe her puppy booster shot!

Ryan's garden was doing great. We had squash, beans, corn, carrots, eggplant, chard, tomatoes, and a bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting.

Bad Puppy

Ants on aphids on a corn plant.

Elise and I started taking Phoebe to puppy obedience classes. We found a place in Canoga Park (in the SF valley) that was doing small in-person classes. Everyone wore masks and stayed far apart, so it felt pretty safe. Only the puppies were allowed to be close together. Phoebe did great, but her energy was a bit much for the tiny puppies, and she was too timid for the big puppies, so she had a hard time finding a roughhouse-buddy.

Bird in the Parking Lot

We passed this sign on the way to puppy class. It's one of the greatest things I've seen in the whole pandemic!

I decided to let the maids come back and start cleaning our house again. I'd been paying them anyway, but they were ready to start working. They wore masks, and we would go outside or into the toy room. On one of the first days, we took a field trip to Carls Jr. and the park.

Happy Birthday, Corinne! My sweet little girl turned eight!! She got three celebrations - one while camping at the beach with Aunt Helena, one at home with her family, and another quick party with the cousins later that month.

Birthday Cupcakes!

(The Next Day):

After Corinne's birthday, we left for another short Utah trip to see Grandma and show off the puppy. We followed the same pattern as earlier in the summer - we stayed in the basement and socialized outside under the pergola. It was great.

Mesquite Park

Phoebe liked the idea of grass very much.

Drone Shot

Grandma also had a garden, but the voles ate most of it.

Basement Puppy Pen

The Relief Society had been doing some Zoom seminars as activities, and they persuaded me to moderate a discussion panel about school/homeschool options for the next school year. I spent a ridiculous amount of time preparing, but it ended up going well. I found a place at the bottom of the stairs where I wouldn't be bothered during the presentation but still had wifi access.

I went car shopping! I was convinced that I wanted a Ford Transit van to be able to pull a trailer and give us more space on trips. After test-driving it, though, I felt like it was a bit overkill. I went back with my mom another day and tried a Suburban, and it seemed like a much more reasonable fit.

Transit Van

Suburban/Yukon

Random August Utah Pictures:

Connor had a strict testing deadline to get credit for Health.

Forest Fires

Corinne had a bonus birthday party with her cousins!

Taco Piñata

Sprinklers!

We drove home during a heat wave, although we got a great thunderstorm in Central Utah that cooled things off for a little while.

That next Saturday, Corinne was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was a really unique baptismal service. We did everything ourselves at home, with the service being broadcast to friends and family on Zoom. Even the Bishop attended remotely. Despite the dog running through the service a few times, it was a tender and special experience. Corinne definitely felt the Spirit and was happy to be making promises to Heavenly Father.