When we left school for Spring Break, we thought it was just going to be extended by one week, but before those two weeks were up, the orders had been made to shelter in place which meant you stayed home except for necessary items like groceries and medicine. We spent the two-week "Spring Break" trying to have a normal break with fun activities to keep the kids entertained even though we weren't allowed to travel. Trying to explain to the kids what a virus is and a fast-spreading one like the Corona Virus was a little difficult, but we answered questions the best we could. I just kept thinking about this board game we have called Pandemic that we played and used to help explain what was going on in the real world. It helped us explain what a pandemic is and how it was pretty similar to the board game that had spreading outbreaks and infections. Board games became one of our go-to family activities as we looked for things to do inside our house.
Since everyone around the world was beginning to shelter in place, there were a lot of free resources online of activities to do. A lot of famous artists would do free drawing lessons, or famous authors would read their books aloud. We did a drawing/sketching lesson with Mo Williams one time but found that he talked a lot more than he drew, so the girls only lasted about half of one session. We toured some museums online and did Disneyland virtual rides. We watched the animal cams at the San Diego zoo and spent one morning watching the polar bears play for hours.
Our city's recreational department suggested a "Chalk the Walk" day where you decorated your sidewalk with positive messages so that when you went out for walks or jogs (which was allowed), you could be uplifted by the messages others had written since you weren't allowed to stop and visit anyone. The girls and I each took a square of our sidewalk and wrote our positive messages like "The world needs people like you" and "You are loved." We were low on chalk at the time so we ended up making our own chalk with food coloring and cornstarch, but they turned out really cute and we got a lot of compliments. During our second week of "Spring Break," Tyler's work closed down as well. During this shelter in place time, all businesses were to close except for essential workers like doctors and grocery store workers, so because Tyler works in an elective surgery center, they were not deemed "essential" even though he works in a hospital. So Tyler was home with us all day too. One day, he and Abby decided to work on a project and Tyler made Abby a jewelry holder that she had designed. He even let her help drill the holes in the plexiglass that would become her earring holder.
In the middle of March, the church even canceled all church services and activities. We started having church on Sundays at home. We were asked worldwide to keep group gatherings to less than 20 people at first, but less than 8 people after the first week. Luckily, the prophet had introduced home-centered, church-supported church in Jan 2019 so we were able to easily move into church at home. The first two weeks my parents joined us for sacrament in our home. Tyler and my dad were able to bless and pass the sacrament for us and it was a great experience. I am so grateful for the priesthood that they hold so that we could partake of the sacrament on a weekly basis. My dad helped Aubrey learn how to lead music as the girls took turns picking hymns to sing and leading the music. We also take turns bearing our testimonies and one of the weeks, Aubrey learned I am a Child of God on the cello so she could play a musical number for us. It's been very spiritually uplifting for me to see my family doing church reverently and happily on our own. I love being able to feel the spirit so strong and have these teaching and spiritual moments with my family in our home. After two weeks, with the shelter in place initiative, my parents started staying home on Sundays too, but we each continued our sacrament services on our own.
Tyler and I did a lot of puzzles and I decided to keep track of all the puzzles we put together during the quarantine. These were the first two puzzles that we worked on during March. After doing most of the ones we owned, we started swapping puzzles with my parents so we'd each have new puzzles to work on.
Being outside is encouraged as long as you stay in your own neighborhood and follow the social distancing rules of staying 6 feet away from others who are not in your family. Most days during our "Spring Break" I would have the girls go outside to play - either to ride bikes, do chalk, or just play. One day the girls each had a different mode of travel, and I took a picture because it looked like a Mario Kart race as they each rode up and down the hill of our cul-de-sac. I thought it was pretty cute. After the two weeks of Spring Break ended, with the shelter in place started, schools decided to begin online school for the foreseeable future. Teachers set up classes and assignments online and everyone had online conferences with their teachers and classes on platforms like Zoom or WebEx. The kids are resilient and quick to learn new things and had the online school mastered within the first week or so. Homeschooling was the new norm as parents helped students with assignments and teachers had "office hours" where students could Facetime them or find them on Zoom to ask questions and get help. Taryn's PE class had assignments that included scavenger hunts and outdoor obstacle courses, so we had fun trying some of those. Here she is marking off one of her scavenger hunt items since she was supposed to find a fire hydrant. It was another good reason to get out of the house and get a little exercise, so the PE classes were good for that.
Right as we shifted from a long spring break to shelter in place, Tessa's birthday approached. The Sunday before her birthday, we had our final Kasibbons dinner together. So we were at least able to celebrate her birthday along with Tony and Grandma V's birthdays who are couple days before Tessa's. Audrey provided the dinner, so we were in charge of the dessert, but with three birthdays, we decided to make three different desserts since they all like different treats. We made a cherry cheesecake, a key lime pie, and a chocolate pie. Then they each had a dessert to blow out a candle, so it worked perfectly. And there was enough dessert for everyone. It was fun, and we enjoyed our time together. After doing Kasibbons dinners for almost two years now, it was hard to realize that we had to stop because of the gathering restrictions. With just our two families we have 13 people and we usually invite other families to join us, so we definitely were too large of a group to get together. I'm glad we were able to at least celebrate these last birthdays together before being forced to stay in our own homes.
At first, Tessa was excited about the extended spring break which meant that she'd be home for her birthday and could have a birthday party without the problem of school the next day, but by the time her birthday rolled around, the shelter in place was put into effect and no one was allowed to have large gatherings so a birthday party was no longer an option. However, on Tessa's birthday, our friends and her church young women leaders planned a surprise drive-by parade where the families decorated their cars and drove by our house honking and singing and giving her gifts and posters.
It was so fun and such a surprise. There were so many cars that just kept coming around the corner.
What made it even better was the fact that we live on a cul-de-sac, so once they got to the top of our street, they turned around and passed by us another time. It was so fun. I videoed the entire parade so I just saved some pictures from that as cars passed by. Tessa's arms was full of gifts, balloons, and candy by the time they all left.
Abby also wanted to do something special for Tessa. Usually, in middle school on your birthday, your friends decorate your locker so everyone in the school knows it's your birthday. Tessa was a little bummed that she didn't get that, so Abby decided to decorate Tessa's bedroom door. Aubrey and Taryn helped too. They wrapped it with wrapping paper and then painted it with flowers and the message. The girls printed off and colored turtles to add to the decor. Tessa loved it. She chose pudding and toast for her birthday dessert this year and luckily the candles survived in the pudding long enough for her to blow out the flames.
The girls added the posters and balloons that Tessa got from the parade in her bedroom to decorate the room too. Unfortunately, the balloons didn't last very long because one of Tessa's main birthday presents was a new desk for her bedroom, so we had to move out the balloons that night so Tyler could work around the furniture and build her new desk which she loves. Tessa got other things that she asked for like a BYU "yeet" shirt, journals, mechanical pencils, and gift cards. She was very happy with all of her presents. The big thing I did for her was creating a slideshow of pictures and videos that I had her friends and leaders send to me so that they could wish her a happy birthday virtually since they couldn't do it in person. I had all the cousins and grandparents send messages and even used one of her friends who's mom I know to reach out to all of her school friends so Tessa was really surprised every time a friend from school showed up with a video on the slideshow since Tessa had no idea how I'd be able to reach all of her friends. It turned out really cute and I hope she'll remember it forever. Celebrating birthdays with a drive-by parade during the quarantine has become a norm, so Tessa likes to say that she is a trendsetter because her birthday was one of the first to be celebrated this way. This made her happy and a birthday she'll always remember.
Abby took Tessa outside on her birthday for a photoshoot and these are some of my favorites.
I had decided that 13 would be an age where I frame a picture to hang up of each of the girls, so I knew I needed pictures to choose from for our wall. There were so many good pictures, it was hard to decide which one I wanted to print.
I'm glad I have the blog to be able to include more than one picture of this cute new teenager. Tessa is still our bubbly, outgoing, happy girl even if she has some sassy, "teenager" moments. She's always willing to help and is great at overseeing her sisters and being in charge of activities and games. She likes to play board games and video/computer games, and she loves to write her own movie scripts and direct the kids to be able to video their movies. She's a straight-A student and she loves to smile and be with her friends. She still loves the color green and turtles. We're so proud of her and I'm glad she was able to have a fun birthday in these new, different circumstances. We love Tessa!
Happy Birthday, Teenager!
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