Happy Quarantined 44th!

Rex and Lyle waving from the summit, their Pride Rock 

When they didn't know I still had the phone out.

Hyrum named the canal, "Agate Creek."

They've actually found quite a few agates.

They are pretty fascinated with the crashing water at the bottom.

Then we came home and used two different types of diagrams to compare and contrast forsythia, daffodils, and pot of gold coneflowers.  They did a great job!

Received a lot of love through several cards and several "door ditches" (including the pictured ice cream) for my birthday.  Had a zoom birthday party with my folks and siblings.  Quite content to spend the evening with these great people.  A wonderful birthday.  Topped off by a sweet note from Lyle on my pillow written in my favorite color--yellow highlighter.

And last, but certainly not my least favorite gift.  News from Talmage that he made it to his first area, Salina, Utah.

His "I made it ok" email had this picture attached with the caption, "I made it to my first area."  

Love that boy!

 With his trainer, Elder Simmons.  He said they live next door to the stake president.  I'm assuming his wife is who sent me this picture.  Good timing on my birthday!

Oh How Lovely Was the Morning, March 26th 2020

The grape vine weeping.

Raspberry leaves pushing for light.

Millions of morning diamonds.

We chose March 26th to visit the Pasco North's Sacred Grove Project.  We watched a YouTube video called March 26, 1820.  It was fascinating to me!  A world-renowned astromer (in CA I think) that specializes in ancient calendars and an Washington D.C. economist with a hobby for early American weather tracking, both set out independently and unbeknownst to the other, to see if they could determine the date of the First Vision.  They both came to the conclusion that it was March 26^th.  The astronomer studies the calendar of Enoch from one of the lost books of scripture, and the economist discovers that 1820 was the first year in the history of the world with methodical weather measuring and recording.  (A fascinating thing in and of itself.)  Once they realize they have come up with the same date, they connect with a modern day maple syrup farmer in New England to get his opinion on whether or not the Smith family, a maple syrup tapping family, could afford the time to let Joseph Smith have a day off on that day.  Studying the recorded weather, he confirms that Sunday, March 26^th, 1820 would have been a very likely day for Joseph Smith to have the time to leave the labor and pray.  (Which would also explain the ax in the stump because A LOT of wood was required to boil down the syrup to make sugar.)  Anyway, it was a pretty convincing argument and we decided to take the kids to the “sacred grove” that day.  There are plaques throughout the grove along a barked path and the kids were able to recognize many of the phrases since they have memorized part of the First Vision.  They were just cheering to be in a car again!

Hyrum

Bryant

 Then we came home for a Hotdog Roast over our flaming canes.

Seriously HOT!

Kinda nice for a chilly afternoon.

Protecting the "brows." 

COVID-19 Lifestyle

Going out to kill it and drag it home has new meaning.  At least twice now, James has had the impression to go grocery shopping "now."  Both times he beat the REALLY bad rushes by a day.  Thank you DAD!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...we brought the desks down from the attic.  It has had some great benefits including the use of the whiteboard.
 
Makes it a little more fun to do math.

Working from home.

Decided to do "The Twelve Days of Quarantine" for the neighbors to bring a little light to the situation at hand.

 

COVID-19 Family Get Togethers

 
Bryant helped the little guys pitch tents and hang hammocks.  Hyrum and Lyle slept three nights outside after that.  Rex was out there two nights.  Pretty impressed that they did it in the first place, it's pretty cold at nights still.  Really impressed that they were at scriptures at 6am every morning!

Hyrum slept in his hammock the first night.  He said it was the first time his back wasn't stiff in the morning.

Sunday evening family get together.  Grandpa wanted to know our 3 month plan and if people were still planning on coming to the family reunion in July.  Vard was at Dave and Taneil's.

Monday, we traced the kids' heritage through Hyrum Smith all the way back to Robert Smith who landed in Boston from England.  Really Cool!  14 generations.

Learning about how area changes when the perimeter of a rectangle remains the same in different configurations.

Yeah for Saturday!

It couldn't have been better timing to study Jacob 5 this week.  We have done A LOT of pruning, digging, and dunging!

A LOT of dunging.

And A LOT of pruning.

Saturday we spent raking and cleaning out all the leaves and debris so they wouldn't "cumber" the ground.  And we finally finished!

It was a gorgeous day to work in the garden.   Even came away with a few spring sunburns.  And to think last Saturday it snowed!

Homeschool Day #4

Definitely needed to shake it up a bit so we went on a hike up Sagemoor Hill first thing on Day 4.  It was so good for everyone!

Fascinated with the roaring water.

I was so grateful for Bryant.  Rex started to get a blister from the stabalizing shoe he is wearing for his broken toe.  (Guess they aren't meant for hiking.)  I put him on my back for a little ways up the hill but was tuckering out fast.  Bryant came back down and put Rex on his back.  I told him we could take turns but he hiked the whole way up with Rex on his back.  I couldn't believe it.

Without any rests!

It was a long ways up a steep hill.

It was a very rewarding view on a gorgeous morning. 

So proud of all my troopers.  Bryant packed Rex all the way down!

The boys actually found agates on the ditch road on the way home.  Taking a pause here to admire their treasures.

If we have to be quarantined, it's a great place to be.

Thanks to Sariah, our homeschool had some spice this week.  This sign-in made me laugh a bit.

Friday afternoon we broke 60 degrees so of course the water came out.

 Bryant, Sariah, and I enjoyed this meme after our first week of homeschool.