Halloween 2020

 Like everything else since March of this year, Halloween was quite different for us. We told the kids several weeks before-hand that because of Covid, we would not be trick-or treating. 

They all still wanted to dress up and we told them they could each pick a Halloween decoration. Kimball chose a human skeleton, Cameron a dog skeleton, Lily a cat skeleton, and Becca a lizard. Kimball also convinced me to get Dale a fish skeleton. The girls loved their skeletons and did everything with them for several days! They would sleep with them, cover them up with blankets, feed them some of their cereal, and more. It was super cute and somewhat macabre. :)

September 2020

 The biggest change that September brought to our family was starting school with Epic Charter School. After waiting most of the summer for schools to announce how they were going to handle all of the challenges Corona Virus was throwing at them, we felt it was best to have our kids go to a school that already knew how to operate online. Our experience in the spring with "online learning" was more stressful than it needed to be. There were definitely some growing pains as we got used to the different curriculum and trying to get everything set up online but the best parts are not having to get the kids up early each morning for school and letting them have more freedom to move at their own pace. 

August 2020

We went on a river rafting trip with the Berry, Marshall and King families. We booked with the Riverside Resort in Tahlequah, OK. It had been raining most of the week before but we decided to go anyhow. The first part of the float was sunny and beautiful but as we reached the last leg, a thunderstorm came in and it was slightly terrifying. Kimball and Cameron were on other rafts, and Dale and I had the girls on a raft with Errol King. The girls were crying in my lap (and Becca fell asleep eventually) while Dale and Errol paddled furiously. 

July 2020

 Life started to look slightly more normal as businesses started opening and activities resumed, but we still spent most of the month at home. Covid is still a huge part of our lives and greatly impacts everything we do.

We found out all 4 kids fit into the dog kennel...barely...

Lily turns 6!

Somehow our little princess is now 6 years old!

June 2020

June felt exactly like the movie Groundhog Day. Everything was still pretty much cancelled and we were home a lot.

We got to pick up lunches from Lily's school throughout the month which was a big blessing for us. Lily also started back to tumbling and struggled being around others at first after being isolated with just our family for so long. She loves riding her bike!

The Rexes and Corona

I've been keeping a timeline of events related to Corona Virus that have affected our family over the last several months...of course the effects of this pandemic will go on and on for who knows how long but here's what I have:

May 2020

Our biggest adventure in May was our cabin camping trip over Memorial Day weekend with the Ferrells...

In front of our cabin

We stayed at a cabin in Dallas NE Campground. Our cabin was literally right on the lake and it was so nice to get away from Corona Virus life (to some degree) and just let our kids be kids.

April 2020

You'd think with the world being shut down from Covid-19, I would've had more time to keep up with monthly blog posts but each day blurs into the next and there's still always something needing to be done. April was spent basically entirely at home.

Easter Sunday

Kimball turns 13!

We have entered the world of teenagers in our house!

March 2020

Who would've known how much our lives would change from the beginning of March to the end?! The beginning of March was school, work, church, shopping...normal life...by March 13th we entered a world of quarantine which got more and more "strict" throughout the month.

Church at home

Cameron turns 11!

Cameron was our first kid to celebrate a birthday in quarantine. We had planned to have the Ferrells come celebrate with us, but cities everywhere were placed on "shelter at home" orders due to Corona Virus, so we decided it was best to not have them come.

Since we had no other plans/commitments (thanks quarantine), we sang Happy Birthday and opened presents as soon as I was done decorating his Minecraft cake...

Ferrells move to Texas!

We've been so excited to have our favorite Ferrells move to Texas and we headed down on March 14th to help them move in. It was also the start of our spring break so we made a weekend out of it!

On our way down we hydroplaned. It was one of the scariest experiences of my life. The van spun towards an oncoming truck, then spun around and went down into the valley next to us backwards. It took a while to stop but we were so blessed that we didn't hit anything and only minor damage was done to the van!

February 2020

It was in the 60's at the beginning of February, and we enjoyed a nice dinner on our deck...

Becca turns 3!

This birthday has been highly anticipated by Becca who was thrilled to no longer be 2! On her birthday she asked me if she was 3, and when I said yes, she asked if Shadow was still 2. When I said yes, she was so excited. Apparently it did not sit well with her to share her age with the dog.

Her birthday was on a Sunday so we went to church. Dale had meetings after church so the rest of us came home and I finished her Paw Patrol cake.

January 2020

Welcome to a new year, a new decade, a new beginning!

We spent New Year's Eve at our friends, the Berry's house. We played games, ate yummy food, and rang in the new year very loudly.

The next day we drove to Wichita Mountains to hike with Greg and Dana Rex's family. It was much colder and windier than we expected but once we ate and got moving it wasn't too bad.