It Happened in 2020

This is a traditional post that I do at the end of every year. It was surreal to look back on 2020 and make this list. I'm glad I have it documented because there is so much I want to remember. 

It was a challenging year, for sure. But for us, it wasn't a "bad" year. I have mixed feelings about making that statement because I know so many people for whom this was a year full of adversity and tragedy. My heart aches for so many people right now. That is true for any year, though. This one just has the additional pile-up of a world-wide pandemic, an ugly election, and the turmoil of Mother Nature. I would be amiss to look back on my own experiences of 2020 and say I had a bad year. Despite the challenges, this year was still wonderful for my family, and wow! Was it ever memorable! Yet, I feel guilty for having so much good to praise while others struggle.

Here are some of our experiences from 2020:

January

• I turned 36
• I joined a book club
• Scotty, Nicky, Daisy, and I saw Seussical at Hale Theater

February

• Zoe had six teeth pulled
• Nicky had a bad case of croup and was prescribed "vocal rest"
• Our garage spring broke for the third time since we bought our house
• I finished the requirements for the Honor Bee before it was discontinued 
• I read the Book of Mormon
• We bought a new couch for our basement and stored it in the garage for six months

March

• COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization
• School was dismissed 
• Scotty started working from home
• Church was canceled
• Dance classes were canceled
• Piano lessons were canceled
• The library closed
• Disneyland closed
• We had a 5.7 magnitude earthquake and hundreds of aftershocks (lasting for months)
• We planted a garden
• A stay at home order went into effect in Salt Lake County
• We canceled a trip to Moab

April

• Our neighborhood began doing a weekly scavenger hunt
• Eva turned 5 and had a drive-by birthday party
• General Conference was held with no congregation
• No Easter parties and no church
• Scotty fixed up an old riding lawn mower
• Baby birds started hatching in our yard
• We finished our first 2,000 piece puzzle
• Zoe started doing speech therapy online
• We got stir crazy, so we camped out in Grandma's backyard
• Scotty's annual "brocation" had to be rescheduled

May

• The school did a teacher parade
• The last super moon of 2020 took place
• We refinished a picnic table
• We canceled our anniversary trip to Disneyland
• Scotty and I had our 17th anniversary
• Dance classes resumed outside on a tennis court with masks
• Stores and restaurants started reopening
• School ended 
• Nicky passed me in height
• I started doing chalk art
• We camped at Wallsburg over Memorial Day weekend
• Riots and protests started all over the nation following the death of George Floyd, Salt Lake City included
• Some stores (specifically Walmart) started closing at 5:00 pm for the safety of their employees
• The kids resumed piano lessons on FaceTime
• I broke down and started drinking soda after being sober for 135 days

June

• Our power went out for a night
• We bought some new dutch ovens
• Our trip to Mount Rushmore was canceled
• We went camping over Father's Day weekend at the Spruces
• We did lots of hiking
• We bought a bidet
• The girls had outdoor dance performances
• Hamilton came to Disney+
• Church started again with just sacrament meeting and the ward was separated into small groups to attend. We chose to wait a little longer to go back

July

• We camped over the 4th of July
• Scotty's grandpa's property up the street from us caught on fire
• We had a Disney themed party at Grandma and Grandpa's
• Salt Lake County issued a mask mandate
• We hung out at the lake a few times
• We finished our basement and got new carpet

August

• Nicky did his Eagle project - refinishing an amphitheater at Wallsburg Camp
• We spent a weekend in Wyoming with friends
• We spent more days at the lake
• The kids went back to school in-person with masks
• Eva started kindergarten
• Scotty took the kids on adventures almost every weekend
• We harvested and froze a lot of raspberries
• I finally got to go to Cafe Rio with Christie for the first time since February
• Scotty's "brocation" had to be rescheduled again (and eventually canceled)

September

• I quit soda again after my final Dr. Pepper on Labor Day
• We went camping for Labor Day weekend and helped get Wallsburg Camp ready for the winter
• Daisy turned 11
• Scotty was supposed to go back to work, but they changed their minds because the COVID cases kept rising
• The library opened back up
• My mom had a combined Easter and Halloween party 
• Dance classes started again, this time indoors with masks
• We started going to church again

October

• Scotty's mom had an "autumn party" while it was warm enough to gather outdoors
• We had our second COVID General Conference
• Sacrament meeting resumed weekly, but then we had to go back to every-other week
• Zoe started taking piano lessons
• We took a road trip to Gandy and Fillmore
• Nicky challenged us to not eat out during October, and we succeeded!
• We celebrated Halloween with minimal trick or treating

November

• Zoe turned 8 - we didn't have a party because COVID cases were getting even higher
• The governor issued an executive order that mandated masks state-wide and asked us to not mix households for two weeks
• We took a spontaneous trip to California with Tim and Amber
• We had our first Thanksgiving dinner at our house

December

• Zoe was baptized
• Our van went kaput (but we got it fixed)
• Nicky had his Board of Review to become an Eagle Scout
• Jupiter and Saturn were closer than they have been in 800 years - people called it the "Christmas star"
• Nicky turned 14