The Shut Down 3/15 - 5/15

What a weird couple of months this has been.

An unprecedented time with so many thoughts

and feelings.  Here's a brief summary of our 

experiences during a very confusing time ...

The Coronavirus started in China in Dec 2019

The first case in the US was Jan 21, 2020 

The first US death was on Feb 29, 2020

On March 13th a National Emergency was declared.
Then states started shutting down ...
Safer at Home was on for most states
and many countries all around the world.

It started with '15 days to Slow the Spread' on March 15th ...

Then '30 days to Slow the Spread' till April 30 ...

Then another 15 days till May 15th.

When this all started, we were in the midst of re-doing our
front patio. (see Spring 2020)

  Tim was ahead of the fashion trend with his PPE ... 

facemask, gloves and gown 😂

At first it wasn't too hard ... working from home,

stocking up and staying home ... the slower

pace was a nice change! 

We started a family group text on March 18th.  

We kept in touch and sent around funny memes

 until about May 18th.  It became harder, 

more confusing and less and less humorous.

Clay shared his working from home spot

(which hadn't changed for him).

So James shared his 😂

We stocked up and limited our trips out.  

We didn't leave home from March 15 - April 15th!

There were social distancing lines waiting to get into

Costo.  We went during the Senior hours ... finally 

made it to the entrance after an hour lined up outside!

Laughing kept us going, especially at first.

The Nelsons and Macs sent these around ...

Their time was so different from Tim and I's.

It was so quiet here but not so much for them ...

funny funny!

We sure missed being with our kids 

and grandkids!

I think we all could relate with Letty!

Tim and I decided to re-watch Lost during the 

Quarantine.  We forgot this was on the hatch

door!   Weird days!

We had a few Zoom get togethers with the kids and 

friends!  It was fun but I sure like in person better!!

These were strange days for people all over

the world.  Weird to think about our shared

experience.  Trying to find the good.

This is how it felt as time passed...

So here we are on May 31st!

Where did last 2 1/2 months go??

Arizona is opening up slowly.

We can get haircuts, go out to eat & shop in most stores.

... not sure what's ahead
but glad to be moving on a little!

I actually enjoyed the time, except for the

burden in my soul for those that were

really struggling and for the families who lost loved ones.

I loved having time to sit on my beautiful patios

and think, read, ponder and research.

So many things just weren't making sense ... 

so many questions.   I'm feeling like I'm 

on a trip down a rabbit hole ... one revelation

leading to another.   Only time will tell if

my intuitive wanderings prove to be true. 

I'll keep you posted!

... And now rioting all across the US???

So very sad and tragic. 

What is going on???

The rabbit hole is getting deeper ...

More Shut Down pics and memes here!

Winter 2020

I'm updating this on April 19th in the midst of
 'Stay at Home' Covid-19 days!
What an unprecedented time we've been in for
the past month.  I'll write about this time in the
next entry.  For now, it's great remembering how
special our winter was!
Missing being able to be with the family, but
remembering these days and that one day
they will return, is so comforting!

Winter lights! 

One day we looked up and saw this ... took us a
minute to figure out that it was the sunlight reflecting
 off the mosaic vase!

The sun came in the office window
at just the right angle and time...

 This happens at least throughout the month of January
 around 5:00 pm.  Just magical!

Next year I'll watch for when this lovely daily show
starts and ends! 

On January 10th Adah and Emsley spent the night!
We try to have the kids over for special Grammy and Papa
time somewhere near their birthdays!
We all look forward to it!  They're growing up quickly!

Happy girls waiting for PaPa to cook their waffles!

A great game of Monopoly ... with snacks!

Peter Piper Pizza for some fun!

A treat for me each Winter is spending a day out with
 Deb and Rach for their birthdays!  Each outing was at least a
month after their January birthdays,
but so thankful we can do it!
No pictures - we just enjoyed being together!

Tim had the idea to take the big kids out for study hall.

He enjoys the time with the kids at Starbucks and

it gives Deb and Rach a bit of a break.  It's great to

see how focused the kids can be on their school work!

We got to go to a couple of Caden's baseball games!
So fun to see this special guy doing a great job.

On February 6th Everett came to spend the night.
I had many choices of things we could do.
His first choice was to just go to our house to play and
get In-N-Out on the way there.
He went right to his "room" unpacked into the
empty drawers, got all his things organized,
then came out him his cozy PJ's to enjoy the
rest of the day ... And it was only 1:00!!!
I joined him and got into my comfy clothes -
I think he's a lot like his Grammy!

First he wanted to play with the car track!
This was the one I grew up with and my brothers
let me take it home since I'm the only one with
boy grandkids.  Part of this 'treasure' is a whole
box of hot wheel cars to race!
Ours grands will outgrow it soon and I'll send
it on to whoever needs it next!

Everett is a peaceful guy.  He enjoyed the quiet morning
with Grammy on the back patio,
sitting by the fire and feeding the birds!

Then he decided the Superstition Mountain Museum and the
Goldfield Ghost Town were next!  We had fun exploring
and riding the train - But his favorite were the Rattlesnakes
in the Reptile exhibit!!!   YIKES!!

We always love it when we get to hang out

with the kids at their houses so their parents can

have a night out!  8 pretty special grandkids!

On February 17th Tom came to visit.  We had a nice,
relaxing time together - no projects this time! 

We did spend an evening with each of the girls families!

Tim enjoyed many hikes on our beautiful Mountain

during the cool months!

I was able to read many very thought provoking books

and work on HeARTsEncounter 

during my quiet chilly 'at home' days of Winter. 

I spent hours organizing writings and photos of artwork. 

 I think I have the layout for the book.

Next step is to write the introduction. 

I'll add links to it on here when I get to that point.

What I've realized is that the things I've been learning the 

last few years have been necessary to be able to complete this 

project.  It's exciting to know God's timing is perfect.

But then I got pretty distracted during March and April - 

More about that in the next post!

Winter Pics!

December 2019

We spent a fun night with the kids so 

Clay and Ray could go away for their 

Anniversary ... 14 years!

 Adah loves football.  I loved it when I was 

her age ... so we went out to play!

So fun and I can still throw!  

My brothers taught me well.

Singsation at the Brown's.

I have video from 22 years ago there...

Deborah played the same song this year that she 

did then.  Rachel's kids performed the same song 

she did then.  Crazy!  What videos I have

can be seen at link below.

 James and Beka drove home on Christmas Eve...

Our yummy meal!

Christmas morning ... Root got the most gifts!

Great times together...

Out for appetizers with our dear 'old' neighbors, 

the Valgento's - so great to see them all!

 Our gathering with the whole fam 

at the McInturff's ... pics will tell the story:

Watching our 4 kids play music together

made me cry!  They were just having fun

but it was so very special to witness. 

I took way too many videos knowing I'd

want to remember this special time.

Here's one:

Out with James & Beka the night before 

they left... special times!

I have to include this -

Tim and I get so few pics together!

How we all felt after a busy week😂

We love being together but we're all happy to

be back to our normal lives!

More pics

More videos