Dad got us pumpkins and we decided to paint them instead of carving them this year. Carved pumpkins do not last long in the Florida heat!
Rachel and Mom painted this Twilight (books/movies) inspired pumpkin:
Lizzy and Mom went for a Shrek (movies) inspired pumpkin:
Mom painted these too:
October 28th, 2020
Halloween costume and outdoor movie night at the church tonight:
A Wolf! Yes, more Twilight theme. Mom did the face painting today.
Mom joined in as a momma wolf:
Lizzy was Bella (from Twilight) – Covid pandemic style with the mask.
Family Costume Reveal:
Team Edward (a character in Twilight)!
Mom and Dad are “Team Jacob”! (a character in Twilight)
Movie time at the church:
Movie “Coco”.
October 31st, 2020
Happy Halloween!
We went to a couple of places for trick-or-treating that did social distancing. The neighbor at the end of the street put a bowl out at the end of her driveway:
This house (two streets over) advertised online that they had a pully system where they sent the candy down to you:
We walked up to the drop-off zone.
It worked!
Then we went home to watch a scary movie, “Alien”.
It was definitely different having Halloween during a pandemic, but we still had fun. Mom also bought some extra candy for us; thanks mom!
The Covid19 pandemic really impacted the start date of school (2 weeks late) as well as how the girls would attend school. They were given three options: in-person school, digital academy, (online school) or traditional homeschool. We decided to start off the school year doing digital academy and assess the situation after the first 9 weeks.
For digital academy the girls had the same teachers they would have if they were going in-person for each class. The teachers were actually teaching in-person students at the same time as digital academy students!
This year Lizzy is in 8th grade:
Rachel is in 6th Grade:
Patricia is in 7th grade and she was also doing digital academy so she joined us most days:
September 6, 2020
Fostering a Dog
When were finished fostering all the kittens and found them all forever homes mom was feeling the loss too so she said we could foster again sometime! Well here we go again, but this time we fostered a dog. Welcome Quinn:
Quinn had the same coloring as Luna but she was very strong and we think she was an American Staffordshire Terrier mix.She is super-sweet. loves attention, but is not so good on a leash (pulls very hard and drags you along).
Quinn has heartworm so we will have her for a while until she finishes all her treatments and she gets a forever home.
September 29, 2020
Happy Birthday Franklin!
We are always happy to celebrate our friends!
Pastry desert – yum! Make a wish. . .Birthday cards.Luna wants the candy!A kitchen slicing tool (he said “How did you know I wanted this?!”).
Happy Birthday Franklin we are so glad to have you and your family in our lives!
October 3rd and 4th, 2020
General Conference
Once again we prepared some yummy food for our general conference weekendand this time we helped out a lot with all the food prep:
Lots of healthy choices here!Some less-than healthy choices over here.Some of us were pretty excited!Let’s start with the healthy options.Conference is starting!They were socially distanced and there was no audience.We were so happy to hear from our dear Prophet, Russell M. Nelson!!
October 18, 2020
2020Family Pictures
This year we took our family pictures right on our own street!
Rachel was having headaches the last couple of days on vacation. On our scheduled last night of vacation Rachel got a headache that would not go away. She is prone to headaches/migraine so we gave her Ibuprofen (which usually helps) and then Tylenol and neither seemed to help. She also has allergies so we gave her Benadryl and that didn’t help either. She was throwing up throughout the night. The headache remained as we drove home. After falling asleep in the car she woke up and said she was feeling better and was ready for lunch. We were all pleased she was feeling better!
Less than an hour later the headache returned. By the time we got home (7:00 pm) her headache was unbearable so we called the after hours pediatrician and they sent us to the after hours clinic. Her condition worsened. She threw up at the clinic and then her mental status began to decline as well. We took her to the hospital emergency room!
Because of the pandemic only one of us was allowed to go into the ER with Rachel so Mom went in and Dad had to wait in the waiting room. Rachel had a lot of tests: Covid19 (negative), EKG, blood tests, urine test, CAT scan, and a lumbar puncture. It was a very long and scary night and Rachel was in a lot of pain (across the front of her forehead). We were admitted to the pediatric unit at 6 a.m. the next morning.
Rachel had a fever and was on IV meds. Despite being given very strong medications, they barely touched the pain. The blood draws and fluid from her spine were sent off to labs around the country. They were trying to rule out Lyme’s Disease and Meningitis (Bacterial, Viral or tick borne was in question). The lack of answers for a diagnosis and poor pain management were significant challenges we faced throughout the hospitalization.
Because of the pandemic only one parent was allowed on the pediatric unit at a time. Mom took the night shift (sleeping on a pullout chair) and dad took the day shift. They met each morning at the entrance to the unit to share updates and exchange car keys. Patricia was able to stay with Lizzy at our home for the entire length of the ordeal. It was truly a blessing to have her there to help and support Lizzy and our entire family! Friends brought us plenty of delicious meals and offered much prayer and support:
From Brother and Sister Lewis
By day 7 Rachel was starting to feel better but they still did not have a diagnosis and they decided to get an MRI. Although she was too sick to use any of it until the last couple of days, there were video games, movies, games and art supplies available on the unit:
Picking out a movie from a huge list
Rachel spent a total of 9 days in the Shands Pediatric Hospital. She continues to follow up with a neurologist for Migraine management/treatment. Although there was never an absolute diagnosis, they settled on viral meningitis (although bacterial nor tick borne were completely ruled out) cause unknown.
2020 Vacation Day Fifteen- Our Final Adventure: Old Mitchell Trail to Mt. Mitchell and Setrock Creek Falls. Final hiking mileage for the vacation: 71 miles!!
The trailhead looking into the sun.This trail was very muddy and rocky and ruddy!The upper trail quickly got steep and strenuous.Nice!We met back up with the other trail.Climbing fun .We reached the summit!!On top . . .beautiful!Lizzy thought this was funny:Quite a few wild flowers on the trail we took back.We made it to the top at a campground.Rain clouds were forming and the trail was a bit muddy and slippery already so we took a shortcut.We just barely beat the rain! End of this hike and on to the next!We had lunch and rested while the storm passed over. We had the trail to ourselves when the rain stopped.Prepared just in case it started raining again.Very easy trail.One more turn.We made it and had the falls to ourselves thanks to the storm.Time to explore. This is our last waterfall of our trip!Two happy girls.One last view!We were so happy to have this brave and courageous one with us .Our final hike of the entire vacation! A total of 71 miles of hiking this vacation.
2020 Vacation Day Fourteen Adventure: Linville Falls, Diggers Falls and Wiseman’s View.
There are more people at this location so we are masking and social distancing.Cool climbing tree!Beautiful double waterfalls!!Very cool feature behind us.Short but sweet and on to the next falls (same location).Easy hike up to the next falls.A must climb area!Nice little falls.Oh, and more climbing!That was nice but now let’s climb a mountain!I gave them Pixie Sticks for motivation!Beautiful!There were mountains and mountains.Daredevil Lizzy (Dad had a very good hold on her!).The next viewing spot.A great view from the edge!I can fly!Dad was not so sure about letting mom go close to the edge.She convinced him she wouldn’t fly, jump or fall.Luna has been spectacular on this vacation!!One last visit to the edge.Happy as can be!Back at the campground there is a place to swim.The water was too cold for her!Roasting dinner on the campfire and smores of course. . . can’t get much better.A great day!
2020 Vacation Day Thirteen Adventure: North Harper Creek Trail and Upper Falls Trail.
All smiles and ready to go!There were several (some challenging) creek crossings.Steady. . .About 3/4 of the way on the trail we came to this cascade water slide!No way are we sliding down this!A little further down the trail we came to this beautiful waterfall!A ginormous leaf!Refreshing!Having fun .One last look .Back to the creek crossings.This was a challenging adventure but worth the effort!We had some lunch and rested up for hike #2.This started off as an easy hike.We had one slightly challenging creek crossing then came to this waterfall!This was as close as we could get to this one.This was a major water crossing, but we made it!It had rained earlier and it was slippery along the trail and our fearless leader took a bit of a hard fall. It’s swollen and sore, but he’s was okay thankfully.*Later we realized that it was probably fractured but it healed on its own.That was an action packed adventure!Off to set up camp!We had a hammock incident. The girls were in the hammock and the tree it was attached to started to fall!! We moved the hammock two more times before finding a secure location.
2020 Vacation Day Twelve Adventure: Roan Mountain- Round Bald, Jane Bald and Grassy Ridge Bald. Lastly, Roan Mountain State Park.
We stopped at a pullout on the way to the trail. Wow!We found the trailhead. It rained last night and into the morning so it was a little chilly this morning.Half of the trail is in Tennessee and half in North Carolina.All of this hike except the last peak (Grassy Ridge Bald) is on the Appalachian Trail.Entering a magical looking forest.The first view!Heading up to Round Bald.Beautiful!Round Bald (the first peak).Heading to Jane Bald.It was a rainy morning so the air was cool and the ground wet, but gratefully we stayed dry.Peak #2.A nice place to relax and enjoy the view!Spectacular views indeed!Happy x4.The conqueror!!With all the rain last night and this morning we had to hike up a creek running down the trail.Briefly leaving the Appalachian Trail to go on to Grassy Ridge Bald.Another cool looking natural tunnel.The greenery was so lush in this section.We made it to the last peak on our hike.More beautiful views.This pretty lady was up there too.Conqueror#2.Having fun on the way back down.The fog was lifting.There were plenty deer!We did it!
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We moved the hammock two more times before finding a secure location.
