Lagoon Trail

Since there is not much to do we find ourselves getting outdoors a lot more and enjoying nature! Which I'm totally ok with. I remembered walking this path with friends a few years back and have always wanted to visit again. It is seriously the most beautiful walk and there are fun unique things along the way. Plus it goes behind lagoons zoo so you can see some of the animals. Here are some pictures from the walk!

Quarantine Photo shoot

Alex nailed it again!! I knew when she suggested a photo shoot during this quarantine we HAD to do it. Someday we'll look back and laugh, right? We had to show off what we have been up to in this crazy time. She offered this free shoot as a contest and many of our friends participated!! 

Here we are in all our glory! Me - balancing all the devices for school work, mostly bra-less, trying to exercise, but trapped at home, no makeup, downing coke zero to keep me afloat and trying to make dinner and play games with kids and manage the crazy!

Chad - doing allllll the projects...christmas lights, bikes, and home projects

Carter- in jammies alllll day, doing school work, growing out his hair, eating a ton and riding the hoover board

Mollie - super sad about her soccer season being ruined

Bri & Ry dressing themselves, doing alllll the crafts, and making messes everywhere they go! 

 Emily was the winner...nailed it!

 Poor Alex had a birthday during this crazy time and had to eat cake all alone. They also hoarded TP and have the protection they need!

 Taylor's showed what they've been up to very well...scary masks and all!

We welcomed this comic relief so happily and were so grateful to make light of this awful situation!

More from our shoot!!

Adventures

1st adventure: South Willow with Rowleys!

We needed some more fresh mountain air so we went with our Rowley friends to the mountains to roast s'mores and have a fire. It was really pretty up there and peaceful too. 

 We are super sad they are moving to VIRGINIA later this year!

 Adventure 2: Side by Side with neighbors
Lemongellos bought a fun toy and all the kids beg for rides! Luckily we have a fun track that is close to our house. Playing with neighbors has been a saving grace right now since all of us are stuck at home and have no where to go!

 The moms even escaped for a bit! I haven't felt a rush like that for a LONG time!

 Adventure 3: Highlighting Carter's hair
I figured if we hate it, we could shave it. We called it his Covid hair. For my first time I felt like it turned out GREAT! But I learned alot too.  It got lighter too the more time he spent in the sun.

School lunch and Teacher Parade

School lunch....if you can even call it that anymore. The school district wanted to make sure no kids were going hungry. They typically have a summer lunch program and it started early this year. Except it looked totally different than before. It was a drive though/pick up kind of thing. The lunch ladies would package a few days lunches and on Mondays and Wednesdays you would drive through the lot to pick up your lunches for that day and the next few days. After a while, they switched to giving you everything frozen so you could go home to warm things up. We TOTALLY miss the park lunches! And we are very grateful for this service. Did I mention its FREE?! We used this time as a chance to get out of the house since it was really the only place we could go!

 After a few weeks when school was cancelled for the rest of the year, the teachers organized a teacher parade. Man the kids were excited!! And I sat a cried as these teachers who have done SO much for my kids and have uprooted and 180'ed their normal routines drove past.

 My only wish was that they were able to slow down a little so we could see them better. But still it was fun to see the teachers and their decorated cars!

 We made some posters and cut out teachers heads to wave as they passed. We got lots of compliments from the teachers that they liked our heads!

Thanks to our awesome 5th, 3rd and kindergarten Sterling teachers!

A very Covid-Easter

I was SERIOUSLY needing to get out of the house. Away from the fear and anxiety and be in a virus free environment. As far as we knew, Butte Co. had zero cases. I needed to feel the peace I so often feel there. So off we went! As we made the turn onto the highway to Arco, we were greeted with this BEAUTIFUL sunset! I immediately felt the peace I'd been lacking. It was Easter weekend and it felt really weird not going to any egg hunts or being with family.  

 Upon arrival we were greeted with the cool, crisp, sagebrush smelling air. And also with a dishwasher full of moldy dishes! Chads parents didn't start the dishwasher when we left back in JAN! So I spent a few hours running that dishwasher and cleaning up the mess. EW!!! I was glad we found that mess before it got worse. The kids have also been feeling the tension of the world and I watched it melt away as they ran through the 'forest' and jumped on the tramp. It was cold but it didn't stop them. Saturday they woke up to full Easter baskets and then we spent the day playing, jumping, 4 wheeling and egg hunting.

 We also colored some eggs just for something to do.

 I'm super grateful for this sanctuary we have to visit whenever we want. The only thing that would make it better is seeing the smiling faces of our grandparents when we walk in the house. We all felt better after this trip and ready to take on the hard things again.

On the way home we stopped at the Pocatello Temple to see its progress. Its coming right along!  I sure miss temples right now! Carter has been wanting to get back, too to try to meet his goal of 100 names!

Until we meet again Moore, ID!