A
Covid-19 shut down the world and changed everything. We missed going to church but at the same time really enjoyed the new experience of "home church." Having Matt bless the sacrament and Caleb pass it was really special, though admittedly there were some weeks where there were some giggles. In August 2020, we were allowed to go to church again as long as we followed some safety procedures such as masks worn at all times, sitting every other row, sanitizing after church, bread in cups, any socializing after church had to be in the parking lot, no singing, online RS and SS. We were grateful to partake of the Sacrament again with our ward family again though; it was so nice to worship together. Church was broadcasted so there was the option to stay home and watch it, but we felt it was important for us to be there every week. Singing in Sacrament Meeting started to be allowed again in March as long as you wore a mask. In April, with the vaccine more readily available, masks started to be optional. We also had several ward boundaries get realigned in April and the creation of a new ward in the stake. We lost many good friends from our ward, including Jared and Kari. A 30-minute 2nd hour started up in June where I was finally able to teach Singing Time in person again instead of making videos every other week. I love teaching in person and being with and interacting with the kids again! This is my favorite calling I've ever had, and I've been so happy to throw myself into it again. Our building has 4 wards in it and the wards were not allowed to overlap, which is why we've only had a 30-minute 2nd hour. I taught Singing Time for those 30 minutes to a combined junior and senior primary. The primary presidency did ask the nursery singing time leader to teach the Sunbeams and CTR 4s to help transition them into primary again since they have had no practice with that due to Covid. On July 11th, we will be allowed to overlap wards again and will move back to a full 2nd hour. I'm excited to teach junior and senior primaries separately!
Caleb has done very well about wearing a mask to school this last year. I made sure to wash his masks frequently, and he usually changed out between two masks throughout the school day. Masks were a big reason I chose to homeschool this last year, so I'm excited that masks are optional next year and that school will feel more "normal" again! I know the students adjusted just fine last year, but I also know that school felt very different last year. I'm glad that Carter and Bryson were able to skip out on all the changes the schools made due to Covid-19 (not ever seeing their teacher's mouth/smile, sitting every other person at lunch, no parent volunteers in the school, no parents visiting for lunch, no field trips/class parties, etc.)
Matt and I both felt the same about masks--we hated them and didn't feel like they did much to protect the spread of the virus. We were compliant however, except when we sat in our pew at church with our family spaced out from other families, we took our masks off. We both had a lot of questions about the vaccine and whether we trusted it as there was no research about the effects. In the end, I decided to get it for a variety of reasons, some of which include following the prophet's example, recognizing the vaccine is an answer to prayers, and knowing getting it would continue to help things open up. I planned on getting the Pfizer, but it was unavailable on the day I scheduled my appointment, so I went with the Johnson and Johnson. It is less effective, but I was okay with that. Another perk is that it was only shot instead of 2.
March 2020-March 2021 was a rough year on a lot of people. We were grateful that Matt kept his job, though he did take a pay cut in order to help keep employees at work. We also really enjoyed the increase of family time in those first handful of months. As Elder Holland said in Conference, it was interesting to see such a microscopic virus bring the whole nation to its knees. It will be interesting to see what Covid-19 protocols stick around this next year.
Mid-June, Caleb attended a High Adventure Camp with the Young Men to Buffalo River National Park in Arkansas. I was nervous for him because he can be quite helpless at times and scared of germs/bugs most of the time, but he survived! I didn't hear a peep from him the whole trip because cell service was horrible there. Matt couldn't take off as much work as the other leaders so he drove up after work on Thursday night with another leader that needed to leave late as well. He was there for Friday and Saturday's activities, then they drove back early Sunday morning. Ticks were supposedly extra bad while they were there so everyone made regular checks. Fortunately, we didn't have any incidents.
Bryson had a great baseball season. He was very consistent with his batting and only struck out twice the whole season. His throwing improved a lot over the season, initially throwing a big arc to being able to throw harder with less arc. He still needs to work on being aggressive on defense and charging the ball. He works hard though and enjoys playing with his team.
Carter finished up with the highest batting average and on base percentage on his team. He was voted the team defensive MVP and had many great plays at short stop. Matt enjoyed coaching him and loved that he is a heads-up player. Out of 164 11 and 12-year-olds in his league, Carter was selected as one of the top 14 players to be on the Major All-Star team. His team won the District level and now is heading to Regionals, which will be in July in Buna, Texas.
