This is What I Know

The Spring We Stayed Home turned into The Quiet Year. The pandemic has only intensified during 2020 and state and work restrictions have kept us grounded. In all, we canceled four family vacations involving air travel this year. We have kept close to home as we learn to better appreciate the simple things of Minnesota life. 

We actually had an incredible midwest summer! We went tubing on the Zumbro, Cannon and Root rivers several times and enjoyed many nice days boating on the Mississippi River. We all love the water, especially when Jason is the captain of a boat and Bereket is being pulled in a tube.

Bereket was thrilled to be able to go back to school in a hybrid learning fashion. She "attended school"  from home three days a week and then physically went to school Thursdays and Fridays, wearing her mask almost the entire day.  In November, when Olmsted County's COVID-19 numbers went up, Bereket and her classmates reverted back to full distance learning. Needless to say, the school situation hasn't been ideal for anyone, but we all try to keep learning and growing.  

Fall brought the heartbreak of canceling our much anticipated trip to Palm Springs, California. We had purchased a travel package two years ago to take Bereket there for her final 3-week fall break. However, travel restrictions meant we had to pivot to a staycation. Fortunately, the weather here was mild and we made some great Minnesota memories.

Bereket, it's time to print some of these memory blogs and put them on paper. The publishing company is having a big sale and today will be the day to send these stories off! 

So for now, I leave you with these final thoughts. The uncertainty of this year has been exhausting. Planning has been impossible. Embracing change is the norm. But these things I know with certainty:

God is good. He loves us and will see us through anything, we just have to rely on him. And, you are loved beyond measure. God loves you and so does your family. We always will. 

In my eyes, there will never be another girl as beautiful, unique and special as you. I am so thankful for my blessing, my Bereket.

  

The Spring We Stayed Home

2020 started off as a year of great promise. As my husband and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary with friends at a downtown happy hour on New Year's Eve, there was a sense of optimism for the months ahead.  We were leaving for a family vacation with Jason's parents in just a few days. The forecast for Cabo San Lucas, Mexico was pure sunshine and we were ready to bask in it.

But that vacation wan't meant to be. A serious illness took a fatal turn for Jason's cousin and we canceled our trip. We tried twice more to re-book our family adventure, this time in coastal California. But both of those trips also ended before they began. Almost every other planned event for the first half of 2020 met a similar fate from seeing Kenny Chesney in concert at U.S. Bank Stadium to simply going to church on a Sunday morning. Once COVID-19 surfaced in America, it became evident that life simply wasn't going to be the same.

For the past couple of months, our state (like most) has been under a Stay at Home order to prevent the spread of the Novel Coronavirus. I am an essential worker, so I leave the house every day to go to work. However, Jason and Bereket stay home. Jason has worked remotely for several years so the main change for him is that Bereket is homeschooling at the kitchen table along side him. It's not an ideal situation for either of them and I'm proud that they're both giving it a shot, even though many days are frustrating.

Only essential businesses are open right now. It has been heartbreaking to watch the small businesses suffer. Agriculture was already hurting before COVID-19, now it is in a tailspin. We wonder which family farms and small businesses will be tough enough or lucky enough to make it through to the other side of all this.

In the uncertainty of our current situation, a lot of people are struggling with anxiety and the blues.  I think we've all felt that. We miss my parents who aren't leaving home right now and wonder when we can hug them once again.

As we learn to take life day by day, I've come to look forward to the simple weekends we spend as a family. The state and county parks were allowed to remain open during the pandemic so we've gone on lots of hikes over the past couple of months, and the weather has been great for that! 

Every weekend I look forward to a fire in the backyard and take out as we try to support our favorite local restaurants. 

This morning, I woke up to a clean kitchen and some lovely Mother's Day decorations. Even though I have no idea when life might look a little more like it used to, I feel blessed.  I am so grateful that Jason, Bereket and I are all in this together.