Missionary inter-mission.

Mar's inter-mission activities:

(1) Saying hello

March 28

Our ward did a drive-by welcome home for the missionaries.

It was so great to see ward members and get to chat - from a distance - for a few minutes.

**this is just a representation of those who came by - I couldn't get all of them in one collage**

We love these people!

(2) Being creative/learning new skills

April 6

Mar made a cake for our dear neighbor and friend, Laura Nielson, for her birthday. She was one of Mar's YW leaders, and has been such an amazing influence and shown so much love to Mar.

April 11 (start) to June 2 (finish)

One of the things Mar was interested in doing during our quarantine time was piecing a quilt. I had tons of fabric sitting around waiting for such a time as this{winning}. Both of us worked on our own blocks (my first time doing a log cabin, too), sewing away while we listened to musicals and old movies. It was the best of times.

I have yet to sew my blocks together. We wanted to get Mar's quilt done before she headed back to the mission field... which literally came down to the wire. We bound it the night before she was leaving. She has since told us that her quilt brightens up her shared missionary bedroom. I'm so glad we were able to finish it.

(3) Being the best auntie

April 16 {making slime}

May 6 - {playing the uke with Evie}

May 13 {backyard water fun}

May 17 {loving on Nora Jane}

May 22 {marvel beads with Ellis and Scarlett}

May 24 {snuggling with Ellis}

May 29 {prepping for Scarlett's birthday party}

Mar whipped out these balloon pillars like nobody's business. I was so glad she was there to help!

There were other inter-mission activities, too:

(4) family time (upcoming posts on that)

(5) zoom Institute classes

(6) almost daily group chats with her CTM district

(7) speaking at a ward fireside {via zoom}

(8) missionary discussions with non member friends

(9) helping beautify our yard

(10) camping with high school friends home from college

(11) a mission reassignment {Colorado Denver South Mission}

**you know I have some stuff to say about that... another day**

Before we knew it, it was time for

(12) Saying Goodbye

June 2 {re-set apart as a missionary}

We met our Stake President at the church, where he had some sweet and inspiring insights for Mar. Afterwards, she wanted us to walk home together.

June 3

We were instructed to take Sister Syddall directly to her apartment in Evergreen, and to have her there at 7pm. That gave us the day to pack and say our long goodbyes.

We grabbed dinner at Chick-fil-a on our way. The drive was beautiful.

Once we arrived, we met the owners of the house where the Sisters' apartment is (super nice - not members of our church), and we got to chat for a few minutes with her new companions.

Sister Syddall's new area happens to be in the ward Nae's family lived in for many years. {Crazy}

She remains optimistic, but is anxious to get out of the apartment. They can have in-person district meetings (wearing masks), and can now do outside service (with restrictions). Colorado is doing well as far as the virus goes, so we're hoping soon there will be opportunities for in-person teaching.

Easter love.

I have a whole lot o' catch up to do, 

so let's get to it.

**I have, in general, not taken as many pictures as I usually do, probably because everyone has been pretty home-bound due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It's been a difficult time for so many. I go back and forth between loving to socially distance - the introvert in me - and wanting things just to get back to how they were before it all started. Hopefully after I get caught up on the personal history-keeping parts I've missed, I can share my thoughts on the craziness going on in the world right now. But that will obviously be... later haha.**

I don't have a lot of Easter decorations, so I decided to make a banner to hang for Easter week.

It was a bit tedious to cut out, but I thought it turned out cute. Once "non-essential" stores started opening up (mid May-ish) I found some great deals on Easter items - one of which was palm leaves at Hobby Lobby at 90% off. Those would have come in handy for my banner haha.

I also wanted to try making red eggs (idea from Don't Miss This).

They are made from the skins of yellow onions. Cool, huh?

On Easter Sunday, TayNae&Fam came over.

This was the first time we had seen Nora since Mar came home from Brazil. Needless to say, we were all excited to love on her :)

After the sacrament (I have loved having it at home, btw), we did this fun Christ-centered Easter lesson with Evie. I've had this little set FOR YEARS (think 20-25), and have done this lesson so many times with my own children. It is actually a beautiful lesson for all ages.

It was nice just being together... finally.

I have to share a couple pics of some of the other grands, too.

I had sent an Easter creche set to the grands, and Britt said that Scarlett immediately made the connection to the creche pieces and the Easter Week chart they put up each year. Love that!

Family truly is my greatest blessing.

I Will Go and Do (+ a bonus Brielle pic).

Mar recorded this video while she was still a set-apart missionary. I love this song, and love that she sang it in Portuguese. Enjoy!

And I can't help sharing a bonus pic of sweet Brielle:

Love that precious girl, too!

Meet Nora Jane.

Sweet Nora Jane made her appearance on Friday, March 20.

She was born by C-section and weighed in at 9 lbs. 2 oz.

A big, healthy, beautiful girl.

She came in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic, so only mom and dad were allowed in the hospital. We had to patiently wait to meet her in person, but loved the pictures and videos we received.

She spent a night in the NICU just to make sure all the liquid was clear from her lungs, then spent the rest of her hospital stay with Tay and Nae.

 Hello, precious!

Bill and I watched Evie while Tay and Nae were in the hospital. I had asked for time off work, and Bill was able to work from home. They dropped Evie off [in the middle of a snow storm] Thursday afternoon because they had to be at the hospital at 5am the next day. Within a couple hours after being dropped off, V threw up all over. Needless to say, she was sick most of the 4 days and nights we had her. She had a temp a few of the days, but it would go down with medication. She would go through spurts of energy, and we would color, make slime, play, but most of the time she just wanted to cuddle and watch a show. Hey, at least I got to snuggle a lot with her - she usually doesn't let me. She only threw up a couple more times haha.

Tay and Nae got home from the hospital late Monday night, and because we were picking Sister Syddall up at the airport the next morning, we drove V back home that evening where we all got to meet Nora Jane in person for the first time.

She is so beautiful.

So... because Sister Syddall flew in from a foreign country and is living in our home, we have to quarantine for 14 days. We definitely wouldn't want to spread the devil virus to Tay and Nae and their little family, should Mar have brought it back with her. 

We have considered the possibility that perhaps V had the virus, and although she hadn't had a temp at all on Monday when we took her home, she was sick the following day, and Taylor has not been feeling well either. Since their symptoms are not "serious," there really is no way to know for sure. We can speculate, though, and conclude that it's a possibility, as V's favorite places (the park and the library) are very public. So far at our house, only Bill has felt slightly under the weather, and Mar and I have felt healthy. Knock on wood.

Nae sent these adorable pictures just yesterday:

Ahhh.... I love those two girlies!

We feel sad that we haven't been able to help more as Tay and Nae adjust to their sweet new addition. They haven't been able to have any help with V due to the virus (no Gigi/Little Billy/Auntie M playdates, no park, no library, no grocery store runs, no nothin'), and haven't had the usual help with meals. Both of their new baby experiences have been really rough. I think we are all looking forward to being able to get together again!