Christmas in Quarantine

 Christmas in quarantine. We did it! We survived! Thrived? Well, maybe not that far. Everyone in the family ended up getting Covid. Clark and Dana tested positive on Monday (extending our fun family time another week) but we all got some symptoms. Poor Char spent Saturday morning like a zombie. Clark spiked a fever on Sunday and slept his off by afternoon. Mom kept it strong with a clogged nose for a week and no energy. But Dad took the cake for weirdest symptoms - stuffy nose and loss of taste and smell. Yup, he can't taste anything. Like - ANYTHING! We even got extra spicy Thai food on Christmas Eve and nope, not a tickle. 

We tried to keep our Christmas spirits high with lots of board games and a few fun outings to see lights. We stopped the Trees for their display and then the Christmas trucks swept through town, terrifying Charlotte and dazzling Clark. 

Dana upped his sweater game one day when he got the chills and transformed into his Father. 

Christmas Eve we pulled out the gifts and realized just how very blessed we have been this year!

And in the morning, the carnage ensued! We had Elsa dolls, board games, monster trucks, crayons, Buzz cars, Blokus sets, footballs, boogie boards, and sweet Christmas jammies. 

Dad got a paint set which should let him try his hand at being Bob Ross for a few weeks. 

But the highlight of the day had to be that secret, stashed present waaaaay in the back. The only present Mr. Clark wanted all year long. A giant remote control Megaladon monster truck. It is very huge. Perhaps too huge. But look at that face. 

And I was spoiled by the Woodburys with a sweet Knife block and a real as seen on TV Roomba!! It's already gotten stuck under our dresser and we have yet to name him but I LOVE him. Love, LOve, LOVE! 

The aftermath was pretty fantastic! 

Oh we also got our Dot set up and it didn't take the kids long to become task masters, yelling for song after song after song. We had to have some etiquette lessons with Clark and sadly until Charlotte learns to say "Alexa" better, her commands will go unanswered:) Later in the day, after a cozy nap, it started to snow. And kept on snowing. 

So we went outside on Saturday to make snow angels in the street (not kidding, thanks Char) and sled around the block. And some of us may have gotten hit in the face by Dad. 

Christmas was different this year but I feel like we got a lift from nature and neighbors. People brought goodies I was too sick to bake myself. We had the Byers carol to us. Sonny and Sue showed up Christmas Eve with gifts and stood outside our window to wish the kids Merry Christmas. It snowed. We read the Christmas story on Christmas Eve and opened our last little box and listened to The First Noel on our new Alexa dot. It was pretty fantastic after all. 

Gailan Christmas Letter - 2020 Edition

 

Merry Christmas Family and Friends,

We won’t rehash all the craziness of 2020, except to say it was no picnic! But a lot of good and amazing times were had this year so we will highlight just a few.

Dana – still loves life with his amazing coworkers at Ritchie Reiersen Law. He tackled his first 14er mountain this summer with the Washburn+ crew and found out he gets suuuupper weird at high altitudes. He logged gobs of miles when the weather was nice and ran his own half marathon in a very sketchy part of town. He continues to be the best playmate around for the kiddos, who like to jump out and scare him when he comes in the door each night.

Kelli – has unwillingly embraced online learning and even bounced around the idea of homeschooling Clark before sanity won out in the end. She has a new sense of gratitude for teachers and the (nope, can’t say that word) they put up with every day. She got away for a few girl’s trips during the shutdown, met some amazing new friends, and soaked in every sunshine filled park day of the summer.

Clark – turned 6 in May and started 1^st grade virtually this fall. He currently loves basketball, soccer, Legos, cars, teaching his sister to count, pushing mom’s buttons, fart jokes, memory games and dropping the occasional fun new swear word in the house. He brightens our days and turns our hair grey.

Charlotte – turned 3 in July and has mastered being the drama queen/best thing ever! We cut her hair for the first time ever this summer, but it is already halfway down her back. She loves Minnie mouse, her minkie, anything Clark likes, following Mom around and refusing to eat any fruits or veggies. She discovered swimming this summer and can hold her breath underwater for a truly uncomfortable amount of time. She is our sunshine, lady-baby, sneaky little miss.

Despite Covid, we still got away for some adventures this year including:  Cancun in February when life was normal and innocent, Bear Lake Kitchen cousin crew time in June, and some truly incredible food and hiking in Kanab, Utah with the Woodburys in October. Along the way, we logged hours in the car as we continue to train our kids not to complain because Gailans drive a lot, so just deal with it, and stop touching your sister. We also improved our Moxee dwelling with lovely new floors throughout the house and new plants around the perimeter. And we only killed one bush and a few flowers so maybe there is hope for us yet!

We won’t be sad to see 2020 go, but at least we had some laughs! We are truly grateful to have a home, a job, friends and family and for this time of year to celebrate our Savior, Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas to you all! And a happy – and most importantly – NEW year!

The Gailans 

It's beginning to look a lot like Covid

 Whelp, it's one week until Christmas. What did you miss? Oh, my friend...buckle up. 

Charlotte and Clark love making forts out of my pillows and they have both gotten very sneaky at hiding like ninjas inside. One afternoon Clark and I vanquished the evil dragons to save the fair maiden who, it turns out, didn't want to be saved and it us both with her minkie. You win some, you lose some. 

Clark came home with this gem one Tuesday. It's me. And Charlotte. He said i was the peach one and she's the brown one. Spot on kid. It goes on the fridge! 

One week we got into a Toy Story kick and they became obsessed. Char calls Clark "Buzz" now and he calls her "Char":) They sit on the back of the couch and pretend to be on Bullseye. Fantastic. 

We purchased some new artwork for the kids rooms and I'm obsessed. Love seeing the Savior in all depictions and colors. We want to make sure our kiddos know all heritage is divine and colors are beautiful. 

Mrs. Sanders needed a picture of Clark in any pose for a project. Any pose, she said. Challenge accepted, said punchy punch Clark. 

And...I don't remember how this happened but this does not surprise me. 

We skipped the ward Santa sitting because of some covid concerns so I dressed the kids (ahem, one of the kids) up fancy on Sunday to take some photos. After the shoot they sat at the piano and played harmoniously together. Just kidding - they started punching each other, but I snapped these and that's the story I'm sticking with. 

Speaking of those cute photos...

Clark gave us the best smile with Gerald and Piggie. Naturally. 

And finally...Mr. Clark showed up one day in the car with the most amazing/slightly unsettling Elfie (get it?). The mask may be what makes it a wee bit demonic but it's pretty adorable and now hanging proudly in his room. 

And as for Covid...it got us. We had a scare earlier this month when Char got a cold which turned into a wicked cough in her bro. Clark got bounced from school and we all went for our first covid test. It was pretty painless and quick, just a little q-tip up your brain. Charlotte did NOT approve. We came back negative and figured that was that. Back to school; back to life. Ha!

Fast forward a week and the Moxee ward started dropping like flies. Penny lost her sense of smell. Lexi Grow - positive. One of the Barfus' - positive. The mangy cat down the street...no idea, but probably positive! One by one they toppled and with them our holiday plans. My girls party called off. The ugly sweater party cancelled. It was a dark week folks. And then...I got a headache. Then chills. Then the sniffles. So once again, we made the voyage to have our brains tickled but this time - boom - positive! Clark and Dana still came up negative but it means we will be quarantining for Christmas. 

To be honest, we aren't that bummed. Clark got to finish out his school week and his teachers dropped off an adorable stocking today. We are pushing the Gailan family gathering back a week and just snuggling down and embracing the utter and complete dumpster fire train ride that was 2020.  Here's to a healthier 2021...and a little trip to Cabo:) 

Charlotte's 1st Day of Preschool

 We did it! We made it through the beaurocratic nightmare of appointments, paperwork, and assessments (all given by lovely East Valley ladies) to finally qualify Charlotte for a free speech therapy preschool. She will be attending Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:40 to 10:30. Which mean, if I speed, I get a whole 1.5 hours of kid free bliss twice a week. It's been heaven. And she is loving it and hopefully it will help her speech progress. We are so thankful for this amazing program and Miss Trina! 

She jumped out of the car and slipped into her backpack like it was no thang on day one. Didn't even give me a glance backwards. This girl is ready to be big!

She came home with a cute lanyard of her own and a cute Letter J packet. Mom felt a little sad. Charlotte...not so much! Look how big she is getting!!