This will be a year never forgotten for the rest of History. Early in the year, we were told of a Virus that started in Wuhan, China called COVID 19 or Corona Virus. We have all heard of things like this before... the Swine Flu, Zika Virus, Ebola, SARS... the list goes on and on. But we had no idea how much this tiny little virus would affect not only our Nation but the world. Skyler, Aysia and I were at a Young Men/Young Women's youth activity on March 11, 2020 at the Church History Museum in Downtown Salt Lake when we heard that Rudy Gobert, the Utah Jazz Center tested positive for the virus at the beginning of a game, thus shutting down the entire MBA for the rest of the season. It didn't hit us hard until I had to run to the store for a few items, the lines just to get into the stores were overwhelming. Then when you finally made it in, the horror really struck when you realized there was nothing left on the shelves. Luckily we had a good supply of toilet paper which was the first to go and took months before it was stocked again. Meat was rationed as well as most staple food items such as pastas, grains, baking supplies, etc... The panic was scary and it made us realize the churches push to get our food storage was for this purpose. We no longer had the option of going to the stores 24/7, they had very limited hours which made for even longer lines.
After unnecessary businesses closed (restaurants, gyms, movie theaters, hair salons, entertainment businesses, etc...) masks and hand sanitizer seemed to be a business that everyone wanted in on, including Taylor's business. Hand Sanitizer was going for $10 for 8oz! Taylor's business had the facility and bought the machinery and started mass producing hand sanitizer. We had plenty to go around.
All of the Schools Nationwide shut down, the government said for 2 weeks which ended up turning into the rest of the year. It was hard for everyone, but especially the Seniors who had no idea that March 13 would be their last day of their high school days. Jayden's prom, Senior trip to Hawaii, yearbook signing, graduation, etc... was all cancelled.
If the pandemic wasn't scary enough, God decided to throw a 5.7 magnitude earthquake at us on March 18. Taylor and I were asleep and awakened when we thought we heard someone trying to get into our big front iron doors. They were shaking uncontrollably. The epicenter, about 20 miles North caused some damage to buildings including the Salt Lake Temple where Angel Moroni's trumpet fell from his hands, but there were no deaths thank goodness. Noelle and Janson's family heard a bigger one might come so they loaded up in their car to wait it out. They waited quite a while until they heard it was a hoax, that they can't predict a bigger one would come;) These are crazy times we live in.
We had to be creative with our quarantining. The kids didn't go to a store for at least 2 months. Jayden asked if he could just go for a drive which he did because he hadn't been out of the house for 3 weeks. Aysia was ecstatic at the end of May when she got to go to her orthodontist appointment, it was the first building she had been inside within 2 months. Taylor and I were still able to work due to our careers being essential (medical and nutraceuticals/ sanitizer) so we were able to get out and not feel so trapped like the kids. We made a 4-square court in the sports court where we played many tournaments. We were lucky that on cold days, we could still get our exercise indoors.
Because the schools shut down, the kids had online school which was difficult for many families. Luckily Jayden, Skyler and Aysia were all self sufficient and able to figure out what they needed to do. I needed to help Auri quite a bit, but her teacher Mrs. Johnson did an incredible job transitioning the kids. Most parents that had more than 1 child in elementary really struggled to keep up. Alpine school district announced in early April that they would not fail anyone. Everyone had the option to pass or take the letter grade. The kids were ecstatic until I told them they would be taking the letter grade because they had no excuse not to get all A's since everything else had been cancelled. They all did great and lived up to their goals even though many of their friends and peers took the passing grade without doing any homework or taking any tests for the rest of the year. I'm proud of all 4 kids! It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.
We traded puzzles with friends since they were all sold out at stores. We always had one out and ready to be put together.
Thunderidge Elementary staff and teachers hosted a parade for the kids. The teachers decorated cars and dressed up waving to the kids as they passed by the neighborhoods. It was a fun way to stay connected with the school.
The healthcare workers were overwhelmed with the sheer number of patients coming in with the virus, needing ventilators. Utah didn't see the numbers at first, but New York and other large cities were over maximum capacity in their hospitals and large ships were brought in and made into traveling hospitals to deal with the large amount of patients. Because of this, many companies offered medical staff free food, discounted merchandise and essentials. Krispy Kreme donuts was one of the businesses that gave out free dozens of donuts to healthcare workers every Monday. So I definitely used this faithfully and only missed out on a couple of free Mondays. The lines weren't always the shortest, but they were always worth it!
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