COVID-19 and Grandpa-Great Walker

Remember this post in June 2019?

This is a post about how cool my dad is. #familyhistory This past week he, a couple of his siblings, and his dad, went on a road trip from Lyman, Wyomong to Gardner, Montana and then through Yellowstone - all on Rangers! (Small ATV type vehicles.) My dad kept us updated through Marco Polo (all these pictures are just screenshots of his adventures). I loved watching them drive through the mountains of Wyoming and Montana and hearing my dads commentary on their trip (including being stuck in a 45 minutes traffic jam due to some Yellowstone buffalo). My Grandpa Walker (Grandpa-Great to my kids) always says "Hi kids, Wish you were here." In his gruff cowboy voice whenever my dad Marco Polos us while with him. Such a neat adventure and I wanted to record it.

 

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What I didn't realize then was that the road trip they went on was actually a piece of a greater goal, to drive their Rangers all the way from the Canadian border to the Mexican border. They did it in several different pieces, but in the end all those smaller drive-trips connected into one big line from border to border. On October 23, 2021 they finished their trail! This was such a cool experience for my dad to be able to do with his siblings and especially with his dad. Grandpa Great and my Dad were partners in the traveling and I can only imagine the experiences they had while they got to spend so much time together. 

I mention this because only a couple of weeks later,  in mid-November, my Grandpa was infected with Covid-19 and got really sick. (I should note: I'm writing this weeks and weeks after the entire ordeal and so my post will be much different than it would have been if I was writing as it was happening. So many emotions and so much up-and-down.) 

My dad went to stay with him in Wyoming to help get him through the sickness. (My Grandpa was not vaccinated but my dad is and we all hoped that his vaccination would keep him safe). He stayed with him for about a week but my grandpa's health was deteriorating rapidly. 

They made the decision to take him in to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a blood clot in his lungs and was emergency-life-transported to the ICU. They had to call three different hospitals before they found one that would accept him because all of the hospital ICU beds are full. He was admitted and soon after was put on a ventilator. The doctors weren't very hopeful but were determined to do everything they could to help. However, my grandpa HATED the ventilator. He has never wanted to be on life support and the experience was horrible for everyone. He kept writing messages expressing his desire to be taken home so that he could pass away in peace. My dad set up a voice call with all of my siblings to explain what was happening and you could tell that he was just heartbroken.  

It was especially hard because my Uncle Marti was also infected with Covid and he was basically incapacitated at home while all of this was happening. He was taken to the ER every time but with their support he was always able to come home without having to be admitted to the hospital. I originally wasn't going to go to the hospital because I really don't want to risk getting Covid or passing it to my children (there are more and more cases of kids getting Covid and getting really sick). However, I decided to go to the hospital to support my siblings who were having a really hard time and ended up going up into Grandpa's room to hold his hand and tell him I loved him after speaking with medical professionals who stated that because he was intubated, there was 0% Covid transmission because all his breathing was going through the machine. I was able to snap these photos in the few minutes I was there, as soon as I left they made the choice to remove him from the ventilator.

I have never seen anyone intubated and on a ventilator before. It was horrible. Probably the most awful medical intervention I have ever seen. I can see why my grandpa hated it so much. His eyes conveyed his feelings and it was as bad as a torture device. Now, I know that ventilators do MUCH good and that they have saved countless people - but in this instance, it was horrible and I fully agreed with the decision to remove him from the ventilator even though it meant allowing my Grandfather to pass away. The doctors warned that it would be only minutes to hours before he died, although there was the possibility for a few days. However, when he woke up the next morning he asked for breakfast and some nasal oxygen.

 Miraculously, he kept improving enough to be taken home on hospice (so he could pass away at home). He came home with round-the-clock care, and the doctors warned that he might seem to start to get better but the outcome would certainly be the same and he would pass away soon, but he (slowly) steadily kept improving. First he was able to eat a whole can of sardines (!), then able to get out of bed and walk for a minute, then while using a walker could walk around, (my dad even sent a video of him racing his walker through the family room at a run). His oxygen was holding steady so they started taking him out for some drives. 

My dad sent this pictures with this caption: "Here is a pic of dad today after a ride at the summer range. It's too good not to share. The photo hides the O2 tank and the walker he's using. But he just looked so cool in his riding coat and hat. I couldn't pass it up. Love you all." 

We were so sad that Granpa was sick, but one of the most heartbreaking things about the whole thing was that my dad is retiring this year to be able to spend more time with him on the ranch. It was so sad to think that opportunity would be taken away and we are so glad that we have more time with him. 

My Grandpa's 86th birthday was on December 23rd. He's steadily improving and living on his own again now. He is driving his truck around the ranch and seems to be healing from the after-effects of Covid. Although we don't know how much longer we will have him here with us, we are grateful for the extra time we have with him. We had a zoom-birthday party for Grandpa and it was just so surreal and so happy to be there together. The last time I had seen my cousins was when we were all at the hospital saying goodbye to our beloved grandfather. Grandpa had a great birthday and said that he was looking forward to his birthday next year. 

My dad sent our family group a Marco Polo this morning while I was writing this post. It showed him and my grandpa out on the ranch doing chores. My grandpa was driving the truck and he leaned out the window and called his cows "Come, Boss!" and just like the sheep that follow the shepherds voice, they turned and came right toward him. He said the the camera "How are you doing kids?" My dad said "They are doing good, they want to know how you are doing." His response?  "I'm doing alright. For a grumpy old man, I'm doing real-good." 

(Screenshots from this morning, picture from last year at his 85th Birthday.) 

Changes in Church Schedule

 We have just passed one year of unusual church circumstances. I thought it would be fun to highlight a bit of the transition from one form to another in a condensed blog post. 

(Jan 2019 church changes from a 3-hour block to a 2-hour block plus a home-centered gospel study.)

March 8, 2020: Attended our regular two-hour block of church. Sacrament Meeting, Primary, Adult classes (I wish I could remember if it was Relief Society or Sunday School or what the lesson was about.) 

March 15, 2020: Gatherings of Church Members Suspended Worldwide - We were authorized to hold sacrament meeting in our home with David being able to bless and pass the sacrament for our family. 

August 2020: Our ward was assigned one week per month and our congregation was split into three assigned times on that specific day. Come, Follow Me was held at home in families. The sacrament was authorized for the weeks not attending in person. 

October 2020: Alternating each week, half of each ward meets in person at the Chapel for the 1st Hour and the other half watches the Sunday Worship Service remotely via technology.  Immediately following the Worship Service, those at the Chapel participate in the Sacrament and those at home (where authorized by the Bishop) administer the Sacrament in their homes.

November 2020: Virtual Primary Meetings are approved. (Some begin Zoom primary, some pre-record a lesson or song to distribute to primary kids.) 

February 2020: Updated Primary Meeting Guidelines-Under the direction of stake presidents and bishops, stake and ward leaders are asked to counsel together and seek new options and times — including weekdays — to conduct virtual or in-person Primary classes, singing times and activities. (Nothing changes in our ward at this point.)

March 2020: Plans are being made for primary to begin meeting in person for a shortened schedule, but much is uncertain, and masks and social distancing will still need to be considered. 

A lot has changed in the past year and it's neat to see how even the changes in 2019 were preparing us to create "home-centered, church-supported" gospel learning habits. We have been encouraged to make our homes sanctuaries of faith and gospel study and it is clear that we have needed that this year. 

It's been challenging but also incredibly powerful as we've brought our sacrament service into our home. To see David kneeling at our small side table in our family room blessing the sacrament for our little family. For my kids to take turns sharing testimony and singing primary songs for our sacrament songs. 

We don't really know what the next year will bring, but we are hopeful that things will return to normal. (and that temples will open, we hope soon!)

But we will be grateful for the support and strength from the spirit we have felt as we have worshiped the Lord this year. 

Sacrament Tray

 One of the blessings of having church at home is the opportunity to partake of the sacrament at home. It is very different from church and I think really helps teach children about the sacrament. Last month, Lydia was so thoughtful and had a big idea to make a sacrament tray that we could use at home. She worked on a cardboard sacrament tray and was keeping it a big surprise (I really had no idea what she was working on). However, she kept having trouble getting the handle to stay. Shantel and the kids went up to Morgan one day and Lydia convinced Scott to help her make a sacrament tray. Scott spent a whole day with Lydia making a beautiful sacrament tray. It is a beautiful wood tray with a metal handle. 

A few weeks later Lydia surprised me with her gift. It means so much to me. First to Lydia who was so thoughtful to give it to me. I love that she was thinking about the sacrament and about how to serve and be kind. Also to Scott who spent a whole day working with Lydia to make this try. We were so excited for our next "church at home" week so that we could use the tray. I know that the sacrament helps us to become clean each week as we continually try to improve. Sometimes trying to be "perfect" each week can seem overwhelming. However, I like to think that as I take the sacrament, I promise to keep trying and not give up when I do make mistakes. If we keep trying, if we don't give up, then little by little we can become like God. I love this picture with Lydia and am so grateful for her. 

Church --- @ Church vs @ home

What we are doing for church right now is that our ward is alternating each week; half of each ward meets in person at the Chapel for the 1st Hour and the other half watches the Sunday Worship Service remotely via technology. Immediately following the Worship Service, those at the Chapel participate in the Sacrament and those at home (where authorized by the Bishop) administer the Sacrament in their homes.


That means that we are attending church in person and having home church every other week. As I was looking through these photos it was amusing to me to see the stark differences in the two meetings.


Church @ Home
We are still getting dressed in Sunday clothes (mostly). We try to make sure our family room is clean for the Sacrament, with peaceful music playing and we sing a Sacrament Hymn from the Primary Music Book. After that, things usually relax and we end up snuggling on the couch while the kids listen/play nearby. 

Church @ Church

These kids really know how to clean up when it's time to go to Church! We went back to church for the first time since August, now that our holiday quarantine (and the lengthy lead up) has passed. We pack a sacrament meeting bag with notebooks, The Friend, small toys, and - of course- granola bars. We wear masks and aren't really able to talk to anyone else, although it always feels really nice to be worshiping with our Ward Family. 




Even though our Sundays may look different week-to-week we are blessed to have the spirit of the Sabbath with us regardless of where we are worshiping. I'm grateful for the Sacrament and the blessing that it is for us and for the way that it has sanctified our home during this special time of being able to do church at home half of the time. 

Of other note: The kids primary teachers have been amazing at reaching out and connecting with each of the kids. Lydia's teachers have started sending out videos with discussion questions and a challenge each week. Austin's teacher, Andrea Wardell, has consistently brought by coloring pages/lessons with a small toy or treat almost every week for most of the pandemic. Caleb's teachers brought him by a Sunbeam welcome kit with yellow playdoh and a yellow sucker (a Sunbeam!?), and Lucy's nursery teachers just barely brought over a little snack with a note attached. She loved it. 

I've been so grateful for those who are stepping up to fill their callings and connect with my kids so that my kids will stay connected to Primary. 

A few Covid-thoughts from Shantel

David has been doing a great job at keeping up with all of the Covid-post updates. 

I have a million things I could say. But not many things I really want to say. Or at least not type. My thoughts are too much for even this space, at least today. 

But I did want to post a few things. 

-I love David working from home. I love it. I didn't ever think that we would be a great fit for a work-from-home job. I just love being with David so much that I always thought that it would be too hard for him to get any work done. Now, he might disagree with me - but I think we've done a really good job of making sure that he gets dedicated, undistracted time to work what he needs to work. Of course, there are times that I still go in and talk to him, or ask him to help with something or other - but I try to keep it to the same level as when I would previously call him on the phone during the day if I needed something. And I KNOW that when we was working in the office, his coworkers would come in and talk to him - so sometimes I try to fill that role, too. But mostly, he's been able to get good work done and I LOVE having him there. I love being able to bring him lunch when he's supposed to eat lunch (often he would "forget" to eat lunch at work). I love having him roll out of bed and start working in our room while I'm snuggled in bed instead of him having to get up an hour earlier and drive to the office to start working at the same time. I love being able to leave Lucy in her crib for a nap while I run an errand (and occasionally I've left ALL of the kids and just had Lydia be in charge downstairs- the best!). I love his commute home from work. I love that he is still willing to "leave work at work" and be with our family after his work day is done. I love being able to hear him on his phone calls/video meetings - I'm always so proud of him. I love that he gets to wear casual clothes, and I love that when he dresses up for big meetings, he still wears his sweatpants on bottom. 

I just love him and I love that this work-from-home thing means I get to see him and be with him more. 

 2020 has been rough for a lot of reasons. But I will not complain about the slowed-down family time that we've had. (Although I have REALLY missed our outdoor family time - darn all those other people that used to do other things and took over all our spring/fall hikes. And boo - no swimming this summer.) This meme made me laugh out loud (there have been a significant lack of good memes after about June when 2020 became too heavy for a lot of reasons). I'm glad to see a few memes coming back. It's especially hilarious because everyone and their dog was planning to have 2020 be the best year yet. 2021 is just around the corner and we're all going to just ride in slow and hope for the best. (Not THE best. Just like... any sort of best.) 

This is another thing that has made me laugh much more than it probably should have. I have a friend named Sarah, and she posted a conversation with one of her friends who does a trivia contest every year.  In case the picture is too hard to read it goes like this: 

My friend does a trivia contest every year and spends the whole year writing down questions. One of her early questions is not going to be viable anymore. 

J: Some of the questions wrote in the first quarter of the year did not age well. 

Sarah: Do tell!

...

J: What is the name of the virus in Wuhan China?

Sarah: Haha (I don't' know if I want to insert a laughing or crying emoji)

I've read this at least a dozen times and told it to at least 5 other people and I'm still dying about it. For future understanding. The Covid virus started in Wuhan China and appeared in small news blips occasionally. My mom would talk about it sometimes and I absolutely did not consider for a minute that it was something that I needed to be worried about. Even when it started spreading in Asia and into Europe, I wasn't aware but wasn't particularly worried. It just seemed so far away. But of course, no where is "so far away" anymore and now the tiny little news segments about a random virus in China have completely changed the way we live our lives. It just feels crazy. I would never have believed it if December 2020 Shantel had appeared and mentioned it to 2019 Shantel. 

But here we are.

Masks. Social Distancing. Restaurants barely starting to open up. Church at home every other week to allow for our ward to be split. Immediate Family Only Stake Baptisms. Zoom Meetings. No Homeschool Coop. Limited friend interaction. Limited visits with grandparents. Civil unrest. An awful election cycle (that can't be blamed on Covid, but still). Toilet paper shortages. Temple closures. (And I almost forgot about the earthquakes!)   

But I'll never be able to talk about 2020 without also acknowledging the silver linings, too. Homeschool blessings. David working from home. Increased reliance on the Lord and faith in His purposes and plan. Our four children that we've managed to take care of and who have thrived throughout this whole year.

Thos are just some of my thoughts.  

Zoom Nights from 2020

 I was cleaning up my computer desktop (I really should have taken a screenshot to add to this post. It had layers and layers of icons - it was out of control) and I found a bunch of screenshots that I've taken over the past year. I thought that they deserved their own post.

I am so grateful for Zoom. 

This year, when things shut down and we were encouraged not to gather for social events - among the many MANY more pressing concerns was an immediate cessation of our monthly date nights. We have had a babysitting swap group for several years now that coordinates swapping babysitting for each other. One family babysits the other two families' kids once a month then gets two dates while the other two families take their turns babysitting. It's THE BEST. But without that, our Friday nights became much more open. We instigated our Family Pizza and a Movie night with the kids, but that still left our after-bedtime hours free. Luckily, we have a great group of friends that didn't miss a beat. We started meeting regularly for game nights. The four of us: the Peadens, the Perkins, the Wards, and the Olsens (our four couple group started with the Rossels, but the Olsens quickly stepped in as the perfect fourth for our group). We've played countless games of Secret Hitler, Code Names, and Among Us. We even put together a murder mystery party. It's a simple thing and at times it was easy to take for granted, but looking back - I can see that it was such a huge blessing to still be able to connect with our friends on a regular basis. 

In addition to our group game nights - we've connected several times with the Perkins family over zoom. Sometimes just chatting, sometimes playing games, and my favorite times were the ones when we participated in the Utah Taste Off together. That is a company that gives you a box of food items from various brands and then you taste test and rank them according to your preferences. We loved going through each one and determining which were, in our professional opinions, the best. It was even more fun to do together, even if it was over zoom. 

Zoom church and zoom church meetings have been interesting but such a blessing. When everything first shut down, we were doing church at home completely on our own. Slowly they started adding broadcasted church back in and now we are doing church at home every other week and watching it streamed on our off weeks. It's been a blessing to still be able to connect with our ward family - and it's amazing how productive church zoom meetings can be. This is a screenshot of a Stake Council zoom call where we were trying to figure out how to safely start attending church again. 

Speaking of our ward family, I was able to help put together a couple of game nights for the sisters in our ward, which was fun. That was months ago - but now we are able to meet as a Relief Society every other week, via zoom. I'm grateful to stay connected to my ward sisters. 

We've had a good amount of family zoom game nights, too. Lots of game nights with the Peaden family playing Secret Hitler and Code names. My family has gotten really cool and we started playing Dungeons and Dragons or Risk together. I couldn't find a screenshot of the Walkers, so I'm adding a screen shot of the entire extended Walker family "gathered" for my Grandpa Walker's 85th birthday, which was also a great zoom gathering. 

I'm probably missing loads of different examples of zoom nights that we've done this year. A quick ransack of my brain reminds me to add: Lydia zoom calls with Zachary Peaden playing a dice game called House of Fire, Zooming Lydia's baptism to all of our extended family and friends, zoom piano lessons with Sister Lewis, zoom Speech Therapy for Austin, zoom presidency meetings, and zoom hangouts with friends (both kids and adults). If there was one thing that I was the most grateful for this year, in retrospect (falling behind Faith, family, financial stability, health, etc... of course) it would be Zoom. 

COVID-19 Update: October and November

Oh how time flies in a pandemic (It's a joke). But- I did completely miss the October Pandemic update. It was more due to a busy work schedule. So here you get a two month pandemic update. 

I think the best description of things right now is captured in the last week of COVID-19 case count headlines. Thursday (2,807) and Friday (2,987) both set record highs for new cases in Utah. Governor Herbert called it "discouraging" and has had to call emergency meetings to try and address the issue. The spread has been dramatic over the last two months. It primarily has come from different family and friend groups spreading it to each other. The governor has called on us not to have groups larger than 10 people and to avoid contact with those outside our own immediate household. The large majority of Utahn's are acting as if COVID-19 is over. People wear masks to the store, but they continue to do Jr. Jazz, football games and family activities. For the most part, people are not willing to make the changes necessary to slow COVID-19 in Utah. Utah has become one of the 5 worst hotspots in the country. Our hospitals are nearing capacity and that is before the expected hospitalizations from the significant cases over the last 10 days. Worse, is that we do not have adequate health care workers to treat all the patients. I'm disappointed in our state. We should be more willing to do better. 

The country as a whole is not doing well either. Here are the numbers. 

Yesterday had a record high 127,067 cases nationwide. Total cases now top 10 million. 

There are 424 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Utah. The rate of positive tests in Utah has steadily grown and the 7 day average now exceeds 20%. 

As noted below. Utah has one of the highest rates of cases per 100,000 people right now. 

There are still hopes for a vaccine, however, as of yet, there is nothing certain. For a long time people talked about just getting through 2020 and that 2021 would be so much better. I think people are starting to realize that in terms of COVID-19 and getting back to normal, 2021 is not likely to improve. 

Amidst this dire news I am so grateful for our Heavenly Father who has watched over and blessed our family. We have had the blessing of a mother who is willing to homeschool our children. We have the food we need and the money to pay for things. I have been really blessed in my work. Our kids are growing spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally and are THRIVING. 

We have been missing my parents and have made a plan to fully quarantine from December 6-December 20th so that we will be able to spend Christmas at their house. 

Okay- a few pictures as well to see what COVID life is like. (Which is mostly just any picture we take at home since we don't really leave much.)

One week Lydia and Austin decided to set up church in the basement with rows of seating and everything. 

At Lucy's eye checkup (we'll do that in a separate post). 

Shantel at the doctor with Caleb (also, a separate post). 

Us with the new church schedule. Starting after general conference we moved to an every other week schedule. One week we attend sacrament in person and then have zoom relief society or Sunday school classes. The next week we watch Sacrament meeting on TV (and do the sacrament at home) and then do zoom Sunday school and relief society classes. We are still adjusting. I love still being able to do the sacrament at home every other week. 

Shantel on a rare trip out with the kids. 

Watching Stake Conference at home. 

I am so grateful for Shantel and our kids. I can't imagine a better life than being with them. At times, it is discouraging to see how things are going. It is discouraging that we can't do all the things we want or would normally do. Shantel and I decided not to enroll Lydia and Austin in Jr. Jazz (which I am bummed about), we can't go to the park, and there are a million other things we can't do right now. But we can continue to have faith and pray to our Heavenly Father who I know hears us and loves us.