The Stepan family: June 2020

Monday, June 1, 2020

End of May happenings

Believe it or not, our house is under construction again.

I can hardly believe it myself.

It all happened so fast :)

Originally I wanted the wall between the arches bigger so I could have an entry table.

So, the workers came in to deconstruct the arch, build a wall, and then reconstruct the arch.

The problem was- when I saw the squared off arch, I decided that I liked it. Rather than reconstruct the arch, we squared off the other arches in the house.

The contractors hadn't scheduled enough time at our house for this bigger job, so now we're living in a construction zone again until they can come back.

Oh well! It will be worth it.

Doing third grade math with Sara.

Michael doing his calculus school work.

Luke doing his school work.

Ben doing his school work.

Michael and I went to his school at our scheduled time to pick up his cap and gown for graduation.

Todd got a new phone and passed his old phone to Mary.

Even new phones are purchased curbside these days.

My parents had us over to celebrate my birthday.

I had a lovely birthday.

Memorial day is one of my favorite holidays.

I love to visit the cemeteries with our family and talk about our ancestors.

Grandpa and Grandma Stepan's grave was decorated beautifully this year.

Our picnic at the park on Memorial Day.

Todd and the kids built a craft cart for my multipurpose room downstairs.

I love that my new cart has wheels so I can use it to fold clothes or scrapbook or roll it out of the way when I exercise.

I also got a bookshelf for my scrapbooking.

I love my multipurpose room.

Todd and Michael put together a cart for my kitchen mixer.

Now I don't have to lift the mixer- I just roll the cart from the pantry to the plug in my kitchen island.

One evening we were relaxing in our pajamas at home when Todd's brother and his wife and kids knocked on our door. We didn't know they were in town from California. It was such a great surprise!

Brooke and Sam stayed over night and our kids were thrilled!

It is so fun to spend time with cousins!

Since a traditional graduation is not possible this year due to COVID-19, our school did a senior walk. The driver (me) stayed in the car while the senior received a diploma cover and had a picture taken by the miner statue.

Our neighborhood had a parade for graduating seniors.

It was so fun to see the neighborhood support for these kids.

Todd helping Sara with her math homework.

Luke finished his school work and now he is done with 6th grade. On to middle school. Unbelievable!

Some stores are starting to open again.

I tried to take Michael shopping for mission clothes but we didn't have a lot of luck (with pants).

Only one fitting room was open and I can tell already that finding pants long enough and small enough around the waist for Michael is going to be a challenge!

Our air conditioner stopped working for 2 days.

Thankfully Todd was able to find someone who was able to fix it one evening when the temperature in our house had climbed well into the 80's.

It was wonderful to see the COOL sign again. Hooray for air conditioning!

Mid-May happenings

Ben started working at Chick-fil-A.

After Ben had been on the job for a few days we went to visit the boys at work.

It was fun to see them working together.

Mary returned to dance classes with restrictions.

The dancers must stay 6 feet apart in their square of the studio, they can't use the bar or any props, and they must wash their hands before and after class.

The Relief Society presidency from my ward came to visit me. It was wonderful to see them since we haven't been to church together since early March.

They brought their own chairs to my backyard and we kept our distance from each other.

Mary made this amazing triple layer chocolate cake after she finished school work one day.

(Notice my beautiful Mother's Day flowers from Todd and the kids).

I went on a walk with Sara one evening. She wore socks with her flip flops and she took two of her puppy stuffed animals in her stroller. Just me and Sara and her three puppies.

I loved the amazing snowball bush above this fence.

Todd and I are reading 'Out of my mind' with the girls.

Our favorite reading spot is the swing on our back patio.

Ben's student body officer advisor delivered this letter 2 days before he could open it.

I was so impressed with his determination to follow the rules and not try to peek inside.

It contained his student body officer assignment for next year.

He was finally able to open it during a zoom meeting with the other elected student body officers for next year. He has been assigned the Vice President of Assemblies.

Way to go Ben!

Mary ran for 9th grade student body officer at her middle school.

Unfortunately she didn't make it.

One of her cute friends brought her a little 'bag of sunshine' treats to help her feel better.

Mary did something similar for another friend of hers when she didn't make the dance company.

I'm so grateful for friends that support each other especially when things get hard.

Our whole family hanging out in the boys bedroom one evening.

These are the sweet moments that I will miss when Michael is on his mission.

Mountain biking practices haven't been able to start due to COVID-19.

Ben is training anyway on his trainer or rides with Michael.

Sara started taking tennis lessons.

She liked it so much that Mary signed up too.

Hooray for Mary and Sara!

Michael worked hard and took 3 AP tests at home.

It was an exciting day when he was able to return his textbooks to school- a sign that school work was coming to an end.

One night when we were eating dinner, the doorbell rang.

We went to the door and found a goldfish.

What?!

We had no idea who the fish was from or why it was left there.

We watched our doorbell camera and saw 3 giggling girls who dropped it off.

Ben recognized one of the girls. He texted her and sure enough she admitted to bringing the fish to Ben.

We haven't ever had a fish before so we didn't have supplies or food.

Ben and I grabbed our face masks and ran to WalMart to buy a fish tank and some food.

The next day the boys went to the pet store to buy some rocks and a plant for the fish tank.

They named their fish Demetrius.

I had no idea a fish would be so entertaining for them.

They love their fish!

Mary has been helping me work on Michael's school scrapbooks that I hope to give him as a graduation present.

May happenings

I have no idea how the month of May passed so quickly. Even though life has slowed down in some ways due to COVID-19, I am busier than ever. I did 36 loads of laundry during the month of May. I also read 242 e-mails (mostly school related) and ran the dishwasher 34 times. I didn't count how many times I made or cleaned up meals but it was a lot. I loved all of it. I love having everyone home.

My blog posts in May were non-existent. This is partly due to a 'May everyday' scrapbook that I have been working on. Apparently it's hard for me to maintain a blog in addition to my regular duties, when I'm also working on a daily scrapbook, working on Michael's school years scrapbook (a graduation gift), and helping with school assignments at home. I'm going highlight the month of May over the next few posts. Let's hope that I can be more consistent in June.

Here are the highlights from the first 10 days of May;

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot eat inside Cafe Rio. Instead, we order our food online and our food is brought to our car.

One of our Saturday trips to Costco. Face masks are required and only 2 people are allowed per membership card. The kids said they don't want to come anyway since the samples are discontinued.

Hobby Lobby finally opened again on May 2 after some COVID-19 quarantine restrictions were lifted. I waited in line for 15 minutes (6 feet apart) to enter the store since only 150 people were allowed in the store at one time.

Church at home is a delight. We love to sing Hymn #169 before the boys bless and pass the sacrament to us.

We were finally able to pick up Mary's locker contents.

Disneyland released their Dole whip recipe and it has become a family favorite treat.

The girls doing art during a break from school work.

My grandma moved to St. George.

We visited my grandpa's grave with her before she moved. It was hard to say goodbye to her while maintaining a distance. When I told her we couldn't hug her in case we were carriers of the virus, she said, "Oh! If I get it, I would die and then I'd get to be with grandpa again!"

Our elementary school teachers paraded through the streets to wave to their students.

A few days later our neighborhood did a parade for the kids with police, firetrucks, motorcycles, etc... Parades are a fun way for us to see each other while maintaining social distancing.