Tuesday 3/3
Today we got out the Neato, Robotic vacuum that
we inherited from mom.
After reading all the information
Finding a place to plug in the base/recharging station,
waiting for the Green light "charge full" to appear,
We set it in motion !
It's pretty fascinating to watch it work
It goes from carpet to wood without any problems
down the edges of a room then back and forth until the
area is completely vacuumed.
In the kitchen it even goes under the cabinets to get all
those little crumbs that collect there.
It seems to take longer than if we just used our regular
upright/broom and did it ourselves, but it's a lot
easier on the back and . . . . entertaining !
Sunday 3/8
Our Ward has a great Elder's Quorum instructor . . . .
This weeks lesson was on Trust . . . .
This is the final part of his object lesson,
it was a perfect introduction.
Monday 3/9
Spring MUST be on the way . . . .
Our "resident" duck couple is back and
the tulips are coming up !
Seeing beautiful flowers and baby ducklings in our future !
Thursday 3/12
So.... our world has been invaded with what is known as
the Corona Virus or COVID-19
(although it didn't hit USA until 2020)
So far, Idaho is virus free, one of only a few states that
has managed this.
(update 3/13, Idaho now has one case in Ada County)
The country has gone into panic mode as the outbreak
has now been classified as a world-wide Pandemic.
Activities, gatherings, professional & NCAA athletics,
religious meetings and more are being cancelled or
being offered only online.
Many colleges have sent their students home
for the term and students are now
finishing their classes online.
Today we went to Walmart for our normal weekly shopping
with just a few "back-up" items on our list.
This is the toilet paper row. If people end up being
quarantined at home for two weeks,
I guess this is one thing they
don't want to run out of !
We were able to do our regular weekly shopping
adding a few "extra's" to our list this week
In addition to the boxes of our regular food storage . . . .
(noodles, sugar, dry milk, beans flour, water, etc)
we added some convenience meals and . . . .
a few more canned goods
Once things calm down a bit, I'm sure we will
be able to add to our TP supply, lol
The church announced yesterday that
April General Conference will go on as scheduled,
with all sessions being broadcast live from the
conference center, however, the public will all be
turned away and asked to
watch it at home. In areas where the
virus is very active they have asked the members
to have meetings and the sacrament in their homes with
small groups. The Come Follow Me
curriculum will come in very handy at this time.
and the wonderful technology of our day is making a
difficult situation a lot easier.
Saturday 3/14
This morning we spent 3 1/2 hours at the Eagle
Library getting our taxes done.
We have gone to AARP for several years now.
They offer their service for free including
e-filing both Federal and State returns.
You can't make an appointment so you just have to go
and sign-in then wait! We found out when we arrived that
today was their last day to provide this service due
to the . . . . you guessed it . . . . COVID-19 virus
so we are very glad we decided to go today.
Sunday 3/15
A few days ago the church announced that ALL church
gatherings, including Sacrament meeting,
world-wide are cancelled.
Our Bishop has sent out an email giving all worthy
Priesthood holders authority to perform the
Sacrament Ordinance in their homes.
As we prepared to have our own little Sacrament
Meeting at home today . . . .
We sang "As Now We Take the Sacrament"
then Steve prepared, administered and passed
the Sacrament.
It was very special. It made us reflect on, not only
the Savior, but on the early saints that had
to meet in their homes, many times secretly. Even today
there may be places in our world where saints
have to meet secretly in order to take advantage of
the ordinances we all take for granted.
We took a minute to send a text to our children
encouraging them to take advantage of this
in home teaching experience.
One family had their own like we did. One said
they had a Facebook Live meeting with their Bishop.
After the Sacrament we took time to watch
President Nelson's video about the Lord's hand in
our lives during this unusual and stressful time.
As he expressed his love for us and showed his confidence
in the Lord's hand in our lives,
we were comforted and put at ease.
Next we were able to watch some of the new
Book of Mormon Video's that we
haven't seen yet.
So far, it has been a wonderful Sabbath Day !
Saturday 3/21
Spring is on the way -
We have had some rain followed by warm
sunny days . . . .
The grass is green, there are new little leaf buds on
the trees and shrubs and Steve is out digging in the dirt.
Sunday 3/22
Another In-home Sacrament meeting today.
We also had a special Family Fast for Camrynn.
We sang hymns, prayed,
blessed and passed the Sacrament,
Studied "Come Follow Me" and watched the related videos,
Used Skype/texts/Marco Polo to talk with some of our kids,
Went for a walk and took naps
Wednesday 3/25
It is not sunny and warm today, but still,
spring is all around us.
Some beautiful Blue skies and puffy white clouds . . . .
Lawn being aerated . . . . .
Daffodils are blooming . . . .
Flowering Pear Tree blossoms are about to burst . . . .
some flowering plumb blossoms have popped and . . . .
the pansies are in bloom !
guess it's time to put away the Poinsettias ?
Extreme times call for extreme action . . . .
Thanks to "Rhodes"
we will have bread for another few days !
COVID-19 Update
All Foreign Missionaries are being brought home,
this involves thousands.
They will self quarantine for 14 days.
Many will be reassigned in the U.S. and some that were
nearing the end of their service will just be released.
The church is chartering airliners and receiving
permission to get the missionaries out of countries that
have closed their borders.
The Salt Lake Airport has put a process in place for
parents to park on the 2nd level of the parking garage
and wait. The missionaries will be sent to them.
The choir will not be participating in General Conference
(at least not live)
and it will be broadcast from a smaller venue
instead of the large Conference Center.
Our Prophet, being a renowned physician, is taking
this virus and the recommendations of the
CDC very seriously and we are trying to listen and
follow the guidelines of social distancing.
This Sunday President Nelson has invited all
the world to join in a special Fast and to pray for
relief from the effects of this Pandemic.
Saturday 3/28
Linda has been working on putting together a book
in honor of her mother. It has taken
several months, but today she printed the last pages.
This book is filled with pictures of . . . .
her life, family and funeral.
She has also included, from family, many of their
memories of mom (Grandma, GiGi)
Linda copied entries from her journal as recorded during
the last few days of her mother's life here in mortality.
Putting this book together has been a wonderful experience
for Linda and a book she hopes our descendants
will enjoy looking at throughout the years to come.
We are so blessed to have all the technology to be able
to make things like this for our family.
Debbi is still flying and is still healthy.
She laughingly says the planes have never been,
and will never again be as clean as they are now!
She said a lot of her passengers right now are
missionaries returning home.
This flight had 19 scheduled passengers
a very large group at this time . . . . .
soon the count changed to only 10 . . . .
In the end, the actual passenger count - 6
and that's the way flights are going these days.
She sent us a few pictures from SLC
COVID-19 WARNING SIGNS
Terminal - typically very crowded
Baggage Claim - no luggage, no people
Curbside - one car
TSA Security lines - almost non existent
The Airports are like ghost towns with just a few
passengers here and there. TSA agents are just
sitting there with nothing to do. The other day Debbi went
through security and she was the only one
going through. She said it was creepy.
She never knows if her scheduled flights will actually happen
or if they will be cancelled somewhere
along the way. She said the airlines are sending
updates and changes all day long, everyday.
It's a very uncertain time for the airlines . . . . and her !
Tuesday 3/31
This morning our alarm clock went off at 5:15.
It was set so that we could take advantage of the early
"Senior Shopping" at Walmart, 1 hour before
the Store opened for regular business
It turns out we were not the only "seniors" that
got up early to go shopping.
It was dark and rainy as we left home at 5:40 this morning.
It was still dark and wet as we loaded
our next few weeks worth of groceries in the car
and left Walmart at 6:55
On the upside, it was early enough that we were able
to get virtually every item on our list.
Maybe not the brand we typically use,
but nevertheless, everything !
Meal-time prayers have a more intense feeling
of gratitude these days . . . . yes, we are
very thankful to have food on our tables every day.
We now have a new "symptoms" window. 14 days
from now will be the day after Easter.
March definitely "went out like a lion"
with . . . .
Covid-19, Rain, Snow and . . . .
a 6.5 Earthquake in the mountains, 65 miles north of Star.
It hit twice within about 30 seconds and some
mild aftershocks for about an hour.
it shook things up pretty good but no damage and
only a couple of little knick-knacks fell over.
March has been an interesting month with all the media
coverage of the COVID-19 virus Pandemic
all day long - every day,
and everyone trying to adhere to
the social distancing recommendations.
But it seems with all challenges, there are always
some positive outcomes.
Among all the concern, we are experiencing an increase of
love toward others, family togetherness,
developing our creative sides,
a slowing down of our hectic lives
and a unity we, as a country,
have not seen or experienced in a very long time.
"We are in this together"
is the "theme" that is being repeated
over and over again every day.
How grateful we have been for the leaders of the church
who bring some calmness into our lives with their
reassurance that everything is going to be okay.
Today President Nelson sent out a message about
General Conference. He ended his message with these
comforting words:
"I love you. I pray for you. And I assure you that the Lord is
watching over us during these troubling times."
No comments:
Post a Comment