APRIL NEWS......MY DAD DIES AT AGE 103 AND THE CORONA VIRUS CONTINUES!!!!!

The new norm for what we carry in our cars.
Masks to wear in public, hand sanitizer and
Clorox wipes for keeping hands and car clean.

It's April and the big news is still the corona virus pandemic that has pretty much shut down our whole world. At the first of the month, President Trump said we were going to be in for an horrendous two weeks as cases and deaths continue to increase. He tried to give us hope that if the models hold, we will then see a decrease and leveling out of this virus. He extended his corona virus guidelines to stay in place through April 30th. He called it '30 days to slow the spread.' We were to wash our hands, social distance, and stay at home as much as possible. We were advised to wear masks out in public for our own protection, as well and the protection of those around us. Our very own little Heber City also basically shut down, except for essential businesses. Those include medical, food, and transportation. That meant at least another month before I could get my hair cut and colored as barbers and hair dressers were closed for at least two weeks. It also meant lunch at home except for the occasional drive through window type lunch...no dining inside, anywhere.


Oregon has been even worse, at least as to the prospects of the state opening up. We talked to Andrea and she said her governor had said schools will not be opening up till the fall so that means all graduations, grad parties, and end of school event have been canceled. Her company lost more than $200,000 worth of business from all of this. She and Casey both applied for unemployment and a small business loan to get them through this mess. Charlotte and Jillian secured jobs at Target and WalMart, respectively. They need to earn money for college tuition and books for when the universities open back up. Usually they are employed with the family business but there's no work for them at this point.

Loved this

Our once thriving economy with 3.4 unemployment, a record for decades, became a thing of the past. Over four million jobs were lost in two short weeks and it got worse every week there after. The government floated a stimulus package for small businesses to keep their employees paid but they also guaranteed unemployment payments that would give the employees more for not working. Go figure. President Trump continued to make his daily news briefings to keep the country up to date and, of course, he was criticized for every move he made. He was also accused of campaigning via these news briefings. He can't win. He could come up with a cure for cancer and the media and left wing democratic party would find fault with it and him.


We decided to drive to the other side of the mountain, anticipating more closures. We needed to pick up our lawn mower from the place it was getting tuned up and sharpened. We didn't want to be without it until things opened back up again. Along the way, we went to take pictures of the home Sam and Kathy bought sight unseen. It was in Alpine and in a very lovely neighborhood. 

We then dropped by Jon's to see the progress on his home. Neither he nor Mindi were there but we stayed outside and visited with Clark and Carly for a few minutes. I felt bad when Carly came up to hug me and I had to tell her we were practicing social distancing. I had a long conversation with Clark after Carly left and it was nice to talk with him. It was then lunch at Mod Pizza - social distancing style which meant going through the drive thru and eating in our car. It still tasted wonderful.


The first Friday of the month, I decided I needed to do a pretty major shop for groceries. Smith's Food and Drug reserved the first hour of business to senior citizens to shop. They did this on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 7 to 8 in the morning. I arrived about 7:30 and I was amazed at how many cars were in the parking lot. The store, inside, seemed more crowded then usual. The good thing is that 75% of the people were wearing masks and the cashiers were behind plexiglass partitions for their protection, as well as ours. The shelves were pretty well stocked and I was able to get most everything I needed except for hand sanitizer. That and toilet paper are still in short supply. Such strange times for sure.


The next week, I went shopping early morning at Lee's, a more locally owned store. There were very few people in the store, except for employees. I wore a mask, just for safety sake, and was able to find most everything I needed. They were still limiting toilet paper, flour, and pasta sauces. New social distancing directions were also apparent - one way signs on the floor of each aisle showing the direction you were to travel so as to not have to pass another customer. At the check out stand, feet print signs were place 6 feet apart to show you how far back you should stand from the customer in front of you. These are popping up in all the stores, now.



Throughout all this, we talked with our children much more than usual. We just felt a need to check in with everyone often to see how everyone was holding up. We loved how each one has been handling this crisis in their homes. Todd has been golfing and working in his yard. Jon has been working on the remodel of his home, Ryan isolated himself in their barn each day so he could continue to work with his dentists, helping them maneuver business loan applications. Andrea's family decided to put on a 'corona virus' musical. In conjunction with the Boreens, they have spent their time rehearsing a homemade version of 'Nemo'. They plan to video it and put the finished product on YouTube. 

Busy making costumes

We received word that of a change in the returning missionary policy announced this month. All missionaries returning home due to this pandemic would be released immediately regardless of the time they had served. They were to let the missionary department know if they wanted to return to the mission field when this situation passes or if they wanted to reapply at a later date. They could opt to not go back out, also. We think they did this because, for the foreseeable future, it would be difficult for the missionaries and their families to maintain mission rules, ie: always being with a companion, no television or social media, etc. At first, they were thinking of reassigning missionaries to a state side mission within two weeks of returning home. With the now extended '30 day to stop the spread' guidelines that would be very difficult to do. 



When all our ward's missionaries finally got home from foreign lands, our ward members held a car parade for them, passing each of their homes honking, waving and holding welcome home signs.





Amid all this, my Dad passed away. He had just celebrated his 103rd birthday and died peacefully in his sleep on April 4, 2020. I can't even express the myriad of emotions that have coursed through my being since that day.....Gratitude for having him with us for so many years and for his incredible example of love and devotion to his family and to God. Sadness because we can no longer turn to him for advice and counsel or to be with him to experience, again, the many fun times we have had as family and extended family. Grief that he had to die at a time when we could not all get together and celebrate his incredible life. Gratitude for modern technology that we could at least all be present virtually for a family prayer and the closing of the casket.Sadness that we have to wait months for a celebration of his life and express publicly our love for our Dad and Grandpa. Gratitude that he could return to his heavenly home to be with my Mom after 50 plus years of being separated but sadness that he had to leave our second Mom, Rita, here on earth. Gratitude that I could see him and speak with him over FaceTime on his birthday so I could express to him my love. Gratitude for all the incredible memories I have of him and the times we were able to spend together. And especially, much gratitude for my  testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and temple ordinances which brings an assurance that we are an eternal family and that I can be with my Dad again.

A Zoom call where all our children were present happened
on Sunday after we received word about my Father.
Our children were concerned about my emotions with the passing of my Dad.
It was very healing to be able to talk with them about Dad and to
feel of their love for me.

I was given the opportunity to write Dad's obituary for the Bakersfield newspaper. I loved the flow of memories that came to me as I contemplated his life and our relationship. Ed and I talked about what should be included and I was able to compose it with relative ease. Thankfully I could email it to Sam's son, Thad, who will get it out on social media, along with a picture. That would have taken abilities in technology beyond my expertise. We were going to put it in the newspaper but they charge an extremely large fee for that service. Social media seemed to work as to getting the word out. I was amazed at the number of responses we received from friends on my Facebook page. Such love and caring shown at this hard time in our family's life.







On April 15, we held of memorial service in honor of Dad - virtually, of course. Mom and only 8 family members were physically present at the mortuary with Dad but over 90 households were in attendance virtually. Many of those tuning into the proceedings had multiple people watching on the same computer so many, many family members were apart of this memorial. Most of Dad's children had an opportunity to talk about their memories of Dad and their feelings of love and admiration for him. I spoke about the time, after Mom's passing, that I went to live with Dad and the boys. It was the time that Dad was dating Rita and I got to be the parent,pacing the floor waiting for Dad to come home from his dates. I also recounted the many trips and reunions to which Mom and Dad joined our family. I spoke, especially, about our San Diego reunion where, one evening, we invited Dad to tell us about our heritage. I recounted how lovingly he spoke of my Mom and also his relationship with Rita and, when asked about what would happen when they both died, how Dad assured us that it would all work out because the Lord was in charge. I mentioned that Dad had a hope that our family's mansion in heaven would be a duplex so we could all be together as one big family. I concluded with my testimony that the Lord knows us and will make everything right for us in the eternities and that we would be one big happy family as we are now. Sam gave the concluding talk which included words that Dad would have wanted each of us to hear. After Sam spoke, Don offered the family prayer and the casket was closed. The closing song was sung by Sam's granddaughter who sang, 'O My Father.' I about lost it at that point realizing that was the same song sung at my Mom's funeral over 50 years ago. We were even able to witness the dedication of the grave by Sam. We were all so grateful for technology that could bring us all together from around the world to honor Dad....a unique but beautiful way to pay tribute to an incredible man.

Finally released from his mortal body.
Dana placed a white hankie in his hand to symbolize
the love his daughters have for him.

The display table at the mortuary honoring Dad

Dad's memorial service through Zoom

Mom saying good bye to Dad.
After telling him how much she loves him,
she said, 'I just want to climb in the casket with him.'

Notice the white hankies on the table.
These were there so we could participate
in the 'Hosanna Shout' at the end of the
Sunday morning session.

A few positive highlights of the month were General Conference, a world wide fast, and Easter Sunday. Conference was held in a small auditorium at the conference center in Salt Lake City. There was no audience. The only ones in attendance, besides the technical crew, were the ones speaking or praying for that session. Though a much different format, it was still very inspirational. The theme of the conference was the 200th anniversary of God, the Father and Jesus Christ appearing to Joseph Smith in the sacred grove. Most of the messages focused on the continuing restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and all bore testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and the reality of God and his son, Jesus Christ. A new proclamation was read. It was called the proclamation of the Restoration in which the Presidency and the quorum of the twelve testified of the appearance of the our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ to the boy Joseph, and of the subsequent restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth today. 


Also at that meeting, President Nelson called on all of us to join in on a world wide fast on Good Friday, April 10. We were to fast for the controlling of the virus, for the protection of the health care workers, and the return of our economy. As soon as the conference was concluded, social media was ablaze with invitations for the whole world to fast. As we participated in the fast on Good Friday, we kept a prayer in our hearts for the things for which our prophets asked us to fast. It was a good day of much faith and hope. 

A great dinner but sadly it was
only for the two of us.

And then there was Easter....not celebrated in the usually way, for sure, but most memorable. There were no new Easter outfits. No large gatherings for Easter egg hunts or Easter dinners. No church services to remind us of our Savior's Atonement. But what was there, at least in our home, was a feeling of peace and of love for Him who gave so much so we could return home to live with our Heavenly Father. Paul and I read the Come Follow Me, Hear Him lesson for the day. We watched the video and listened to the Tabernacle Choir sing. We, then, listened to two conference talks that reminded us of our Savior and what Easter is all about. We listened to Elder Uchdorft's 'Behold Him,' and Elder Holland's 'And None Were With Him.' Of course, the sacrament was a part of our Easter service, too. I fixed a dinner of Cordon Bleu and served it in the dining room on Mom's blue china with matching goblets. Of course, it was just for the two of us, sadly. Our day ended with a Zoom call with our children.

We had a nice Easter surprise on Saturday morning. I got a text from Garrett Fuller telling us to look on our front porch. There, just in time for breakfast, was a box of Easter donuts from Judy's, a local bakery owned by a member of our stake. There were 5 donuts but they were so big they took up a whole box usually meant for a dozen. They were delicious.

I had to laugh at these memes that were posted on Facebook regarding 
Easter fashions. Andrea joined in on the mask obsession when she made each of her family members masks and put them in their Easter baskets, something that has never appeared in an Easter basket in years past. Deon and Gary were also awarded Easter masks from their daughter in an Easter basket.

We drove to Highland the day after Easter to deliver a table saw to Jon. We had purchased one several years ago and it was just cluttering our garage. We figured Jon could use it with all the construction he is doing. After dropping off the saw, we went to Todd and Kailee's home to drop off an Easter donut for Aria and Avery. When I sent a picture of the donuts Garrett had brought us on Saturday, he said Aria would go crazy over the Easter bunny one. We decided she needed to have it hence the trip to their home. Besides, it gave us a chance to see her and Todd and Kailee (Avery was asleep), at a safe social distance, of course.





Another thing that was fun this month was golf. Todd is a member of the Alpine Country Club and so has unlimited golfing privileges. He can invite guests from his immediate family for only $45 per person for 18 holes. Todd invited us to join him to golf 18 holes with him on the second Friday of the month. We had to do it social distancing style which meant Paul and I each drove a cart and Todd walked. Todd's feet were sore by the end of 18 but we had such a great time being with him and out in nature. 

The beauties of nature enjoyed while golfing

Paul taking down the
old blinds.

Before this pandemic and stay at home order, we had purchased shutters for the downstairs bedrooms and the toy room up stairs. We also bought a pull down shade for our bedroom. We didn't think we would get them made and installed until after things opened up again but we got a call this month that they were ready. The installers wore masks while in our home and were in and out within a couple of hours. We are loving them. They look so beautiful and really update the rooms.

By the end of the month, we received word that Andrea and Todd both received a Personnel Protection load from the Small business Association. These loans were made possible because of the nation's shutdown due to the Corona virus. They are meant to help small business stay afloat by using the money to pay employees, rent, utilities and other expenses during this shut down. Andrea also refinanced her home and took out a Disaster Assistance loan from the government. She was thrilled that all those sources of moneys came through. She says now she can relax even with a long term shut down of their business. We have been praying for all our children to be able to make it financially during these times so we feel this truly was an answer to prayer.

Siting at opposite ends of the table for dinner -
social distancing at its best.

Deon and Gary came to town this month. They are wanting to move to Heber and out of California so they have been looking online to find possible homes to buy. One came on the market that they were really interested in so they made a trip here. They stayed with us but we were real good at social distancing....even at the dinner table. The looked at the house and fell in love with it. It was in the Triple Crown development and on an acre of property that backed up to a creek. They made an offer but sadly the counter offer was not acceptable. It included an addendum which said if the sellers had a better offer they could accept it unless Deon and Gary could come up with the money to buy via a bridge loan at 9%. It just didn't feel right so they backed out of the offer, knowing they would find something even better when the time was right.

A guest in our back yard when the Allred family and the Garret
Fuller family came to our home to see Deon and Gary.
We all stayed outside and 6 feet apart.

We love the added care and concern people are showing to each other - neighbors checking in on neighbors, friends greeting each other while walking the neighborhood, and special treats being delivered. We have been the recipient of many such kindnesses. A bag of potatoes from the Wades, a beautiful plant from the Sneddons, and Crumbl cookies from Tyler and Kacee Allred. Sometimes hardship brings out the best in people.

We received this text message and picture from one of our ministering brothers. He is Greg Olson, the well known artist. The message is so beautiful for these tough times. The picture is a new creation he did during this shut down time. We truly must be like the little lamb and follow the only person who can help us through this.



















Paul has been keeping busy during this time. He's out in the yard almost every day for hours cleaning up from the winter. Once he cleaned up the bark and creek bed areas, he started adding soil pep (our answer to bark in our flower beds). We have brought four truck loads home already and will probably need more next month. I am so glad he has something to keep him involved these days.

Loading the soil pep from Home Depot

Beautiful orchid plant and card
from Paul.

Lastly this month, on April 28, I turned 75, three quarters of a century old!!! It was a great day despite the stay safe, stay home advisory. We didn't stay home completely but drove to American Fork to buy two pots for our front yard. That Home Depot didn't have the ones we wanted so we also went to the Orem store but with no more luck. The good thing about the trip was we were able to take out Mod Pizza....worth the trip, for sure. We did find the pots the next day at the Park City Home Depot. My birthday was also a good day because I heard from all our children at least with a text saying nice things about me. I got lots of calls from sisters and friends as well as a couple of visits from neighbors. I so appreciated all the love shown to me on my birthday.

Steak dinner.....at home of course.

From Kailee and Todd

From Deon and Gary, delivered by Kacee

From Connie Snedon

From the Coombs

During this pandemic people find clever ways to celebrate
birthdays. This was our neighbor's birthday recognition
a couple of week before my birthday.

A result of the pandemic......beards have become the fashion. Todd is vowing not to shave until he can go back to work. Ryan, also, now sports a beard but at least his keeps it trimmed.



As for Avery and Aria....we haven't seen them this whole month and we are missing them very much. The only way we've seen them is when Kailee posted pictures of them on Facebook. So sad.
These pictures were taken in Idaho at their other grandparents home - four wheeling and fishing. How fun for the kids.