Oh Boy - 2020 was something else, right? Things started well, and quickly went topsy-turvy. Here's a brief rundown of our year. (For a Christmas Program from us, click here.)
January: Henlie was excited to attend Children and Youth activities for the first time. Between church goals and New Year's resolutions at school, she was full of goals. Like most of us, though, I don't think she met any of them haha. We attended stake conference where a talk about cookies inspired us to make some chocolate chip/m&m cookies. Henlie celebrated 100 days of 1st grade. We also visited the Bean Museum at BYU.
February: We visited Hogle Zoo and cashed in on our Christmas present to get a membership. Henlie was a little late in losing her two front teeth. Biting was a challenge for awhile. We participated in the "magic broom" challenge. Henlie had a parent showcase at dance. Andrew and I helped in Henlie's class for their Valentine's party reading stories. We're really lucky Grandma Carrie and Aunt Lynell keep us stocked with holiday books! Amber attended her first political rally for Pete Buttigieg in Salt Lake with cousin Coco. We also finally picked out flooring and paint for our downstairs living area. Andrew finally got to sit forward-facing in Mom's car and Henlie graduated to a booster.
March: We voted in the primaries. We helped Henlie's school by eating at Cafe Zupas for a fundraiser, and she got to see some of her friends. RSL had their season opener. This year, we got the kids season tickets, too! Our downstairs finally got painted! Matt got started laying the floor. Henlie stayed home sick the Friday before the world shut down. She didn't get to go back to school after that. Matt's friend Percy stayed with us awhile. Andrew just fell in love with him :) It was a good thing we had help to eat the 4 dozen donuts we had for Andrew's birthday that never happened. Andrew turned 5 at the beginning of the pandemic, and Matt turned 35. Since school was only supposed to be closed for two weeks, we did lots of crafts during that time while Matt tried to work from home. The gym and Amber's work closed - messing up all her working out progress. Church moved to at-home, and we got red solo shot glasses for the sacrament haha. We had an earthquake! School started up virtually, so Henlie and Matt tried to work together at the kitchen table while Andrew did who knows what and Amber worked. Henlie also participated in Utah School Spirit Week. The kids also learned how to clean toilets. Henlie likes it. Andrew finally moved into a big boy bed!
April: We watched General Conference and continued crafting. Henlie's dance class moved online. Amber caught mono. We were blessed by our besties, the Basingers, with some soup and Easter festiveness. Thanks to them, my kids got to do a small Easter egg hunt. The kids enjoyed their Easter baskets and dying dino Easter eggs. We also participated in neighborhood Easter egg hunts - hanging up eggs in our windows and seeing who else did the same. Amber was the first to sport a cloth face mask to work. Amber was further blessed by ward friends who sent Jamba Juice to the house. The crafting continued. By the end of April, the downstairs remodel was finally completed! Henlie's school hosted a drive-by teacher parade with a free drive-in movie afterward. Our school is pretty awesome. Amber was the first to get a Covid test. It was negative.
May: We found a new duck park at Nielsen's Grove. We loved watching all of the baby ducks! We visited lots, especially when playgrounds were closed. We got a lot of household chores done during quarantine - like trimming hedges, organizing the pantry, and installing a new dishwasher. The last one wasn't originally on the list, but when the old one stops working, you either fix it or upgrade ;) We also enjoyed the birds at our house and got more feeders for them. Matt and the kids also planted some seeds in ice cube trays. They didn't go well, especially after we tried transplanting them. Pretty sure the birds ate those, too. Matt ended up getting mono. "Sharing is caring!" ;) We got to enjoy fireworks from Alpine School District for graduation.
June: More trips to the duck pond. Playgrounds finally opened! We also expanded our bubble to include the Basingers and visited the splash pad with them.With the downstairs finished, I realized my dream of creating a better playroom for the kids. They got a table and chairs and some beanbag chairs to go with their new-to-them TV. We finally got to go to the dentist, too! Henlie got to see her classmates when they filmed their recital piece for dance at the Provo Library. We finally got to visit Grandma and Grandpa for a s'mores and hotdogs date. Of course, we also had to ride the horses. Andrew got to celebrate graduating from Waterford UPSTART. It is a wonderful program that we highly recommend. We had another playdate with friends from school, the Basingers and Wilsons. We camped in our backyard. It was the first time ever I've camped and been too hot at night. We had a water party at the Basingers. It was so nice to have friends in our quarantine bubble. Matt got roller blades so he could keep up with the kids on scooters. I think he's faster, now. We started back with piano lessons. Henlie's dance recital was shown outside at a park on a big screen. Matt decided Amber needed wheels to keep up with everyone. By the end of June, her scooter had arrived. All of this excerising made us adventurous. We also participated in a drive-by birthday party for Grandma and Grandpa Covalt. We hiked up to Battle Creek Falls. June is also when we started back to in-person church. Once a month only - except for Amber, who goes every week to lead the music.
July: Amber said goodbye to Rocky Mountain ATV/MC. Being a stay-at-home-mom can be a challenge, so I decided we would visit all of the parks in Orem. Matt was off on our first day of our parks tour, and he convinced us to scooter to the park. Unfortunately for me, we were starting with the most southern park. We survived, and the kids even had energy to play at the park once we got there. Independence day brought a little normalcy. We did some daytime fireworks and had a BBQ at Jason and Camile's house, and then headed to Brian and Melody's for nighttime fireworks. With our tour of parks continuing, Amber got back into Pokemon Go. We drove to Nephi to visit Devan and Kayla, and we visited Devil's Kitchen with them. We picked up some new-to-us books at the Orem Public Library outdoor book sale. More outdoor adventures when we went camping with Grandma and Grandpa Biggs, Jason and Camile, and John and Lynell at Indian Creek. Pretty sure that valley is a piece of heaven. It was so beautiful! We enjoyed 4-wheeler and RZR rides. We also played at Potter's Ponds and got to try out our Christmas present from my parents - an inflatable kayak. Unfortunately, Henlie had 3 incidents and does not want to visit Potters Ponds ever again (crashed running on the trail, fishhook in her toe, and a leach on her leg). We got to ride horses at Grandpa's again with the Basingers. We enjoyed some concerts in the park.
August: We enjoyed the Hadfield family camp. The kids had tons of fun playing with cousins. When we got home, the kids kept partying because Basinger's put on a little carnival. We continued our parks tour. We celebrated at a baby shower for Jennifer. We enjoyed a playdate with my BFF Angie and her kids. It's been a hot minute since we saw them, but the kids quickly became friends. Matt and Amber celebrated 13 years of marriage by DoorDashing some shakes after the kids went to bed haha. Our primary did a drive-through ice cream social for the end of summer. They also gave the kids little pencile bags filled with goodies for the new school year. Orem Summerfest didn't happen like usual this year, but they put on Summerfest Lite in August. We enjoyed a presentation from Scales & Tails at the park, seeing UVU's Green Man Group, getting dinner from food trucks, and listening to music. At the end of the night, we got to enjoy more fireworks. The kids finally got to go back to school! Henlie started 2nd grade and Andrew started Kindergarten. The kids finally managed to climb a tree on their own. Andrew started taking piano lessons. Andrew was finally able to redeem his 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten prize at Payson Library. Henlie and Amber got to enjoy a date at Scera Shell for Dancing Under the Stars thanks to Aunt Roxanne and Uncle Shawn.
September: We finally visited Scera Pool with the Basingers. We celebrated Emily and Daniel's wedding and got to see some extended family. On Labor Day, we went fishing at Salem Pond with the Hadfields. Both of my kids caught fish and had fun playing. Henlie got tenor mallets. Matt got a bodhran. Henlie and Amber took a much needed break and went on a Mommy/Daughter date to the mall. Andrew passed off all of his required word lists for Kindergarten. Now he gets to work on 1st grade words!
October: It's conference time, again! Our primary dropped off a giant coloring sheet. The kids did so well that Matt even hung it on the fridge. Henlie and Amber went with the Basingers to Hee Haw Farms. Unfortunately, Andrew lost the privilege and had to stay home. It was also the day she could bring friends to dance, so all of the kids went to dance and then to the farm. We finally visited our local farmer's market and bough some tasty treats and little pumpkins. During Fall Break, Amber and the kids went on adventures to the zoo and the aquarium. The zoo was fine, but the aquarium was a little too crowded for being inside. Matt was able to put on a live stream concert with the pipe band. Amber and the kids celebrated Dia de los Muertos and Latin culture at The Shops at Riverwoods and enjoyed our library's haunted parking lot. Matt and Amber utilized our handy dropbox to vote early. The kids enjoyed spirit week at school. We headed back to the farmer's market for pumpkins to decorate. Andrew carved his and added scary glow-in-the-dark teeth. Henlie painted hers into a unicorn. Amber "helped" both kids' Halloween school parties by sending supplies. An easy craft went to Henlie's class while cookies to decorate went to Andrew's. No parents are allowed thanks to Covid. Halloween was festive with jack-o-lantern pizza, a costume parade put on by our primary (outside and socially distanced), and then trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Even with less houses participating this year, the kids got a pretty good haul. Henlie went as Ginny Weasley, Andrew went as Draco Malfoy, and Amber dressed as a generic witch.
November: Henlie turned 8. She is currently obsessed with Harry Potter, so we had a Harry Potter birthday party! While we missed friends who couldn't come, we had fun being sorted into houses, getting a wand, and attending a few classes at Hogwarts. Amber and Andrew had a Mommy/Son date on the first minimal day of the school year. Henlie only went half a day, and Kindergarten didn't go at all. He opted for the Blue Park (Westmore) to play with Mommy. Mocha ruptured an anal gland and got to wear a cone of shame as well as take pills. She's finally doing better now. We celebrated Thanksgiving on our own making very yummy food, crafting for the kids, and having a video chat with Matt's family.
December: Years ago, Matt's mom gave us an advent calendar. I usually try to stock it with experiences more than candy, and this year was no exception. Even though we've had no Christmas parties to stock it with, we've done lots of activities. Crafting continued. We watched a Christmas movie. We've seen different Christmas lights and visited Santa. We decorated gingerbread houses and gingerbread cookies. We saw the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. We visited ZooLights. We incorporated a few days of the Light the World campaign and decorated a neighbor's door and donated to Utah Food Bank. On the 5th, Amber turned 35 and Henlie was baptized.
There's a lot of things covid took from us this year. We've missed out on concerts (Simple Plan and Dan + Shay are both postponed until 2021), the pipe band season (including a trip to Chicago for Matt and Amber), and family get-togethers. We've lost people to Covid, including Amber's great-aunt Iris Ann and Matt's great-uncle Gene. Henlie missed out on the last couple of months of 1st grade. Andrew missed out on a traditional kindergarten field trip to Hee Haw farms.
However, there have been positives, too. Neither Matt nor Amber were out of work (unwillingly, anyway). We've had lots of family time. I don't think we've ever camped this much in a single year before. We've gone on lots more walks and rides and generally spent much more time outside than usual. Even though holidays looked different, the lack of a busy schedule has been welcomed. We've found new ways to connect with people. Matt started streaming on Twitch, both games and music. We've been blessed to not have had Covid, like so many friends and family have had to struggle with.
We look forward to the new year and continued vaccination programs to hopefully allow us to be physically close to the ones we love again.
