The Cherokee Nation has already been dipping into emergency funds and using supplies from closed casinos to distribute food to more than 18,000 tribal citizens during the COVID-19 shutdown, officials said Tuesday.
Now additional food supplies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will expand the program to another 5,000 tribal elders, Cherokee officials said.
Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. called it “the largest emergency food distribution in Cherokee history.”
“Addressing food insecurity will continue to be a top priority,” Hoskin said. “We appreciate the USDA’s help to ensure our most vulnerable citizens can continue to social-distance.”
Part economic relief and part disease control, the USDA food distributions will last 30 days, officials said. While feeding some families affected by job losses during the shutdown, it also allows recipients to avoid grocery shopping even as Oklahoma begins to lift shelter-at-home orders.
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“The most important way for our elders to stay safe is to stay home,” Deputy Principal Chief Bryan Warner said. “While many people can make trips to the grocery store when they need to, our elders can’t, and they shouldn’t. We want them to avoid exposure to this virus as much as possible.”
The Cherokee Nation is one of several federally recognized tribes to be approved to use USDA foods from the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations.
The USDA packages include a variety of nonperishable food items such as canned meats, cereal, pasta, rice, soup, canned vegetables and canned fruits. Each packet contains enough food for one or two people, but the tribe will contribute additional food for elders with larger households, officials said. The tribe is also using produce donations from Walmart.
Featured video: ‘Let’s Talk’ with Tulsa County Medical Director Dr. Bruce Dart
Sonnie & Sarah: The social distancing life for two teenage sisters
Sonnie & Sarah: The social distancing life for two teenage sisters
March 17
Sarah in her room on her phone staying in contact with friends.
March 17
Sarah and Sonnie go for a walk in a very quiet neighborhood.
March 17
Sonnie looks for a four-leaf clover during a walk on St. Patrick's Day.
March 17
Sarah draws a picture while watching the free John Legend live concert on Instagram.
March 17
Sonnie unloads groceries.
March 17
Mike Simons, my husband and a Tulsa World staff photographer, packs his car to go cover the story.
March 17
Sarah, Mike and Sonnie play the card game Phase 10.
March 18
Sarah eats ice cream at home during the quarantine. Some friends of mine on Facebook have commented and given Sarah a hashtag of #iamsarah as she seems to convey how everyone is feeling.
March 18
Sarah FaceTimes with her grandma Ginny Simons.
March 18
Sonnie sits outside on the front porch with her dad.
March 19
Sonnie plays a game of catch with her dad in the front yard of our Owasso home.
March 19
Sarah does a free yoga class offered by Salt Yoga in Tulsa.
March 19
Sonnie makes her breakfast.
March 19
Sarah and Sonnie in Sonnie's car in the driveway giggling and listening to music.
March 19
Sonnie looks up at the rain during a much needed car ride to get out of the house.
March 19
Sonnie Simons 17, and her sister Sarah lie in a hammock together March 19, 2020. I decided to document our days of staying home while we practice social distancing. Such strange times as we navigate the recommendations to help stop the spread of the Coronavirus. Taking pictures, as usual, gave me purpose.Photo by Brandi Simons
March 19
Sonnie and Sarah in the hammock.
March 19
They put icing on a cake. Sarah was not taking this as seriously as Sonnie, as usual. Disney Plus was way more interesting.
March 20
Sonnie and her friend (that she was texting with while addressing the envelope) decided to become good old fashion pen pals. I had to teach her how to address an envelope. It was like she had never even seen a piece of mail before.
March 20
Eating lunch in the car outside Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Tulsa.
March 20
Mike's parents live in our neighborhood so we walked over and the girls decorated their driveway welcoming them home from their 3-month trip to their place in Florida. We are so glad they're back in Oklahoma.
March 20
Our neighbor Mark Hrachovec delivers homemade pies to neighbors in a basket on his electric scooter.
March 20
Sonnie keeps running for a high school tennis season that isn't happening.
March 21
Sarah gives a thumbs down on the offer from her dad for a breakfast burrito.
March 21
Sarah decided on cake and Skinny Pop popcorn for breakfast instead.
March 21
Sonnie and Sarah talk to their grandma Ginny Simons from a distance.
March 21
Our church, Boston Avenue Methodist Church, is doing a daily devotional. Yesterday's was about prayer beads so Sonnie made me a prayer bracelet.
March 21
Smoke in Owasso is offering curbside pickup. They were working so hard, literally running orders out to cars. My heart just breaks for these business owners.
March 21
Sonnie does crunches while her sister does not.
March 22
Sarah made a frowny face out of her breakfast.
March 22
Sonnie makes prayer bracelets as her dad and sister watch the online church Boston Avenue United Methodist Church service in the living room.
March 22
Sonnie wears gloves to deliver the prayer bracelets she made as gifts. She sanitized them, bagged them and delivered with gloves.
March 23
Sonnie works on a time lapse of her calligraphy project.
March 23
This was the moment they found out from friends that they wouldn't be returning to school for the remainder of the school year. We totally understand and support our state and local education leaders and agree with the decision but it's hard nonetheless. Like so many kids, both girls work hard all year for their spring activities. For Sarah, it's competition dance and for Sonnie it's school varsity tennis season. These photos are them figuring out on their own what this actually means for them: missing friends, teachers and routine. We have so much to be thankful for and tomorrow will be better even in these uncertain times.
March 24
Sarah decided fixing her hair and putting on a pretty dress would make her feel better and it worked.
March 24
Every morning this school year Sonnie has gotten up at 6 a.m. to babysit two precious elementary girls, getting them ready and to the bus stop before she heads off to school. They are all missing each other and the girls left Sonnie these adorable notes on her car today. It made her so happy!
March 24
Sonnie, Mike and Sarah work on a garden.
March 24
I gave Sonnie the "homework" to research how to compost and do a presentation for us. This was what she came up with.
March 25
Sarah decided to write a story about her sister.
March 25
Mike made himself a little makeshift home office in our bedroom today as he's working from home for now. Such a girl dad to have to work underneath a ballet costume hanging from the ceiling so it doesn't get squished.
March 26
OSSAA officially announced today it would cancel all Oklahoma school spring sports. Sonnie didn't react much when Mike read her the headline letting her know it was official her tennis season wasn't going to happen. Later in the day all the notifications popped up on my phone as she deleted all the tournaments, including state, off of the family calendar.
March 26
Sonnie works on getting her required Personal Financial Literacy credit through the TTCU website.
March 26
I walked into Sarah's room obviously not happy about the mess and told her to get it cleaned up. Her response: "Oh, my nails are wet."
March 26
Sarah doing more of her virtual dance classes using the Zoom app.
March 27
This year Sonnie has had the best time in her pre-calculus class because of what I call the "math gang." They are a group of kids who have just brought Sonnie so much joy this year. Cameron is part of that gang and we were out for a drive and ran into Cam playing basketball outside. They were genuinely happy to see each other from a distance.
March 27
It's not often we get this one home with us on a Friday night. Mike was telling Sonnie that more than 3 million people filed for unemployment since this all started.
March 28
Thanks Mike for taking our photo. It's our 22nd anniversary today and I would have never imagined that day that 22 years later I would be in our driveway fearful but also being thankful for our family's health, soaking up some vitamin D with our two teenage girls during a pandemic. I keep thinking about how this will define their generation and once we're all through this they will have been given the gift of perspective at a very young age.
March 28
Guess who made herself a quarantine routine?
March 28
Sonnie's friend Cam from the math gang came by with a picture he drew for Sonnie's daily doodle challenge on her calligraphy account. She was so thrilled! You can do her challenge too and it would make her so happy @sonniescalligraphy.
March 29
Mike and Sarah watch the live broadcast of Boston Avenue Methodist Church service from our living room.
March 29
Not long after I took this photo:
Sonnie: "Sarah quit touching my face!"
Sarah: "Well quit touching my hair!"
Sonnie: "I'm not even touching your hair."
March 29
My brother Tom talks with the girls briefly from a far distance. Ever since our mom died almost 10 years ago we have eaten lunch together every Sunday. It started with giving dad something to do that he could look forward to. And then it turned into the day we would do our "dad exchange" after dad would live with me on the weekends and with Tom during the week. Dad would take his little Walmart overnight plastic bag and get in Tom's car after we would meet for lunch. Tom used to say we shared custody of an 88-year-old toddler. Now Tom goes to church with us and eats lunch with us every Sunday. It's one of the highlights of my week seeing him and seeing him with the girls. He's a surgical tech at St. Francis so we couldn't get near him at all. I left his lunch on the curb and he only stayed for a few minutes. The leaf blower a couple houses down helped speed up our visit. My heart just breaks for those health care workers who are separated from their spouses and children right now. Praying we get through this soon.
March 30
This was emotional for me, more than I even expected. I saw my students today for the first time since all of this started and it was so nice to see their bright and happy faces and hear their sweet voices. I have missed them so much and they miss each other. They are used to seeing each other for 3 hours a day every day of the week. That's a long time for a high school student. As we were ending the meeting they were doing this heart shape with their hands to me and each other and I wanted to get a photo and I can't show their faces so I had them duck out of view and just do the hearts while I took a photo (middle top). I live with teens and I work with teens. My students are the same grade as Sonnie and while my heart breaks so much for all that is lost for them right now and the uncertainty they have in their lives I know one thing for sure that this generation has got what it takes to make it through this! They are strong, smart, kind, hard-working, socially and environmentally aware and they have heart and grit.
March 30
It was a quiet, rainy day here. I worked and the girls kept themselves entertained somewhat. Sarah listened in this morning when I had my Zoom meeting with my Tulsa Tech photography class and when it ended she said "well you sound fun" in kind of a jealous tone with a bit of an eye roll. I realized she had never seen me interact with my students before. She's gone on assignments with me her whole life but she's never seen me teach. She's already jealous of my students and to hear me talk to them today wasn't her favorite.
March 30
Thank you all so much for supporting Sonnie's calligraphy business. She was so excited to reach 400 followers on her Insta page today she made a time lapse to celebrate 400 followers on @sonniescalligraphy.
March 30
My work view now. Watching Sonnie head out for another run while I prepare for distant learning starting for my photography class next week. Our world changed so fast. My head is still spinning.
March 30
Sarah trying to teach Mike a new TikTok dance and it's going about how you would expect.
March 31
Sonnie killing time blowing bubbles while trying to talk herself into a run.
March 31
They got in the biggest fight unloading the dishwasher. Like they didn't scream or hit but the noises they were making with the dishes and slamming the cabinets did all the fighting for them. A sister fight is like no other. They can fight without saying a word. It's no joke! So much together time.
March 31
Hey Siri, only positive notifications please. Mike was furloughed for two weeks without pay during this quarter and he put the days he's taking off in the family calendar. Unfortunately ad sales are down at the paper, which we knew would happen. We feel fortunate because so many people are losing their jobs and it's just heartbreaking to see. Mike talks to people all day long that are out of work because of the virus. A good friend's husband lost his job today and I've thought about them all day and I will be thankful that Mike is only losing two weeks pay.
April 1
“It was about 10pm last night and I was just falling asleep when I heard the girls. I texted Sonnie “are you guys fighting?” She responded “no we’re laughing, you have to come see how good Sarah’s makeup looks.” I was like wait, what? I’m not sure when she’s showered last and she put on makeup at 10pm....why? I walk into Sarah’s room and she’s in full makeup and hair with her spring formal dress on FaceTiming and dancing with a group of friends while Sonnie facetimes a friend. Her 8th grade spring formal, her first formal, was supposed to be this Saturday. I love the solution she and her friends came up with. April 1, 2020. I decided to document our days of staying home while we practice social distancing. Such strange times as we navigate the recommendations to help stop the spread of the Coronavirus. Taking pictures, as usual, gave me purpose. Photo by Brandi Simons for the Tulsa World”
April 1
The girls each made their own lunch today. The tale of two sisters: The lunch chapter.
April 1
Two things we know: the sun will rise and Mike will always get the morning paper in his driveway. Wednesday is our favorite day because we get two, The Tulsa World and The Owasso Reporter!
April 1
Margie, a hilarious little girl that Sonnie babysits, came by to drop off some creative artwork for her today. They left it in the mailbox but we caught them just as they were driving away. Look at that little hand! Margie stories and FaceTimes give us all joy in this unsettling time.
April 1
My Aunt Chetta, my mom's sister, went to the hospital Sunday night thinking she was having a heart attack. Once her granddaughter checked her in she had to leave her there all alone. The hospital soon called and said she was showing symptoms of COVID-19 and was put into an isolation room until Tuesday when the test results came back negative. It broke my heart thinking of her up there all alone and confused wondering why we weren't calling or visiting. She has pneumonia and was sent home today so we went by her apartment to talk to her on the phone through the window.
April 1
My Aunt Chetta, my mom’s sister, went to the hospital Sunday night thinking she was having a heart attack. Once her granddaughter checked her in she had to leave her there all alone. The hospital soon called and said she was showing symptons of COVID-19 and was put into an isolation room until Tuesday when the test results came back negative. It broke my heart thinking of her up there all alone and confused wondering why we weren’t calling or visiting. She has pneumonia and was sent home today so we went by her apartment to talk to her on the phone through the window. Sonnie made her a get well sign to hang on her window. It was so hard to leave her there while she’s recovering with pneumonia. So many families are dealing with this right now and I just feel like it will get worse before it gets better.. April 1, 2020. I decided to document our days of staying home while we practice social distancing. Such strange times as we navigate the recommendations to help stop the spread of the Coronavirus. Taking pictures, as usual, gave me purpose. Photo by Brandi Simons for the Tulsa World
April 2
Sarah has always been so good at technology and interested in it so she has become our office IT manager lately. She's paid in meals, snacks and alone time. She is preparing to get instruction from her dance teacher during a dance class via Zoom.
April 2
Sonnie and Mike play each other in 8 Ball Pool on their phones.
April 2
Sadly I think Sonnie underestimated how many bubbles she would need to keep up with the updates.
April 2
It seems to be getting difficult to find quiet spaces to be alone. Sonnie found a solution by sitting in her beloved car that she doesn't get to drive much anymore.
April 3
It was another weird day today maybe because it was cold outside. We're all preparing for online school to start on Monday and thinking of so many families who don't have access to internet, devices, food, safe spaces, and so much more. Grace and love is needed now more than ever.
April 3
Mike on his lunch break wearing an apron and texting his boss.
April 4
Sarah holds her nose while Sonnie eats her really stinky cauliflower crackers during a car ride to get out of the house.
April 5
Mike screaming "cheater" at Sonnie as she beats him in a race.
April 5
Left my brother Tom's food at the end of the driveway. Note by Sonnie.
April 5
Seeing these little cuties brought us so much joy today.
April 5
This was a first for us: communion at home during televised Palm Sunday services at Boston Avenue Methodist Church with palms made by Sarah.
April 5
This seems to be a sign of the times lately. I have seen several of these around.
April 6
We all started our online distant learning classes today. Sarah is in eighth grade and is good at technology and handled it all well. She opted not to do her math today. "I want to pace myself." Smart girl.
April 6
Sonnie was in her first Google Meet, a video chat, and she was so happy to see classmates. She likes school, the people, the teachers, the social aspect of it all.
April 6
I wanted to remember my makeshift home office/virtual classroom so I set my camera on a tripod and asked Sarah to just occasionally walk by and take a photo or two while I was in a Zoom meeting with my photo students. I looked over at her one time and she gave me a thumbs up and a smile and I about started crying!
April 6
Sonnie jumped in to help Sarah with some of her English classwork.
April 6
Sonnie, a junior, isn't a huge fan of technology and would much rather be in class with her friends and teachers so this was an adjustment.
April 6
The smile from the Google Meet turned into tears once it sunk in that the school year as she knew it was over. I think all the technology and the changes and the reality of it all just got the better of her. Change is hard.
April 6
Sarah to the rescue whispering things to Sonnie that I couldn't hear but they made Sonnie laugh so it's fine.
April 6
Once she made Sonnie feel better she made Sonnie watch her new pom routine. Several times. I loved having them in my "classroom," which doesn't usually happen.
April 6
This week was supposed to be Varsity Pom tryouts for Sarah for next year. She's watching Owasso Pom YouTube videos to practice when the tryouts do eventually happen.
April 6
"April Distance Brings May Existence." We have seen this saying posted and thought it would be good driveway art. I love how Sonnie did the lettering.
April 6
The owner of Giant Subs & Deli in Owasso asked Sonnie to come chalk their sidewalk today.
April 7
One of our favorite things to do is hang out at coffee shops together for a treat but we can't do that at the moment so we hung out in a coffee shop parking lot instead.
April 7
Sonnie talks with her friend Kennedy this evening from a distance.
April 8
Mike took pictures for the Tulsa World of a welcome home car parade for our friend's son Eli, who was on a mission trip with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The two year mission trip to New Zealand was cut short by about three months due to the COVID-19 outbreak. They have been waiting since this all started to get him home and surprised him with a car parade.
April 8
We took part in that car parade to welcome home our friend's son Eli.
April 9
It has always been a steady stream of kids coming and going around here but now they have started bringing their own food (sushi) and seating. It's amazing to see how quickly they have adapted to this new normal.
April 9
Ever since Sarah was little I could always take her on assignments and photo shoots with me and she was never any trouble at all. She would just sit quietly by my side while I worked. Turns out not much has changed.
April 9
Sonnie helps Sarah with some math school work.
April 9
Sarah is not a huge fan of math obviously.
April 9
It was '80s theme in Sarah's virtual dance classes tonight.
April 9
Couldn't help but take me back to simpler times.
April 10
Sarah FaceTimes with her friend Hartlee while wrapping her hair with thread. Today actually kind of felt like a Friday for the first time in weeks.
April 10
My friend Kari came by to pick up a calligraphy piece she ordered from Sonnie and brought her adorable puppies Harper and Hannah Grace with her. We were all smitten. It was so hard not to get to hold them and only see them from a distance. You could tell they couldn't figure out why we didn't want to hold and pet them.
April 10
When Mike got home from work he went to hang out back with Sonnie who was tanning in the sun. He woke up later wondering where everybody went but not before we all took his photo of course.
April 11
The Zuniga kids the girls babysit left a sanitized Easter surprise on our porch this morning. They hid the eggs all over our porch, rang the doorbell and tried to run off before we got outside. But getting in car seats slowed them down a bit so we got to hear Marjie yell "go hunt them! I love you" from the car. Made our day! We smiled all day about it.
April 11
My first outing to buy groceries since the recommendation to wear masks.
April 11
Photo taken through Sonnie's car as she sits in the back of it chatting with her friend Courtney in our driveway. Courtney brought her own chair, a snack and a tea.
April 12
Sonnie hangs out the window for a car parade for her friend Kennedy's 17th birthday tonight. It was so fun to see everyone line up their cars and how excited the kids were to drive by and honk. Kennedy was happy to see everyone.
April 12
There's Sonnie's friend Kennedy (in purple).
April 12
The line for the car parade.
April 13
Cake for breakfast right out of the pan for Sarah this morning. She said today "I'm deteriorating."
April 13
Sonnie was laid off from coaching and babysitting for the time being so we offered to pay her to help Sarah with her online school work when she needs it.
April 13
Sonnie needs three beverages to start her morning of online school work. From left to right: water, iced coffee and hot tea.
April 13
Sonnie gave up TikTok for Lent so she and Sarah had some major catching up to do today apparently. The way they laugh at some of the videos is so cute and funny. The way they make fun of me when I don't understand the videos is not cute or funny.
April 14
Sonnie's friend Hagen came by to see her tonight. He was in Sonnie's math class this year and they all had so much fun together. She misses seeing them every day and I miss the funny "math gang" stories.
April 14
Field trip to get the mail for Sarah.
April 14
Just another day at the office under the tutu for Mike.
April 15
Sarah had a lunch Zoom meeting with her competition dance team and they all wore a favorite dance costume to show off. The teams work hard all year for the spring competitions, which aren't happening so dressing up for a virtual lunch chat helps.
April 16
Mike decided to let the girls shave his beard so his mask would fit better. They don't ever remember him without a beard so their reaction was funny.
April 16
Sarah was reacting to seeing hair fall in his mouth.
April 16
Sonnie is laughing while Sarah texts friends photos of him without his beard.
April 17
Sarah got all dressed to go nowhere this morning but it made her feel good to put together an outfit. That's one of my dad's old belts she wears which I think is so cute on her.
April 17
The girls have started dancing to videos on YouTube from the game "Just Dance." I got rid of their Wii game system several years ago because they quit playing with it. Whoops.
April 17
Mike's mask does fits better today without the beard.
April 18
Sarah watches Tulsa Ballet's live stream performance on a phone in the car while we wait for Mike to buy groceries. Thank you to our friend Carol for telling us about it and to Tulsa Ballet. It was beautiful.
April 18
Tonight was supposed to be Sonnie's junior prom but instead we were having a picnic dinner at a park, which was wonderful but I couldn't help but think it would have been a gorgeous evening for prom and prom photos. I'm hoping there will still be prom eventually for all the kids. Owasso has rescheduled tentatively for two dates this summer.
April 19
The girls watch TikToks as Mike looks into filing for unemployment for next week's furlough week. We feel so blessed that he's only furloughed for two weeks at this point. We have friends who have lost their jobs and it's heartbreaking.
April 20
We’re all missing sports so much that we’re rewatching Owasso’s football season opener on YouTube.
April 20
Mike loads his kayak up to go fishing on his first day of furlough.
April 21
Sarah has become obsessed with the bunny that lives outside her window. She named her Melon and she checks on her and worries about her constantly. We think maybe she's pregnant possibly and nesting outside her window. Mike thinks she's after his veggie garden.
April 21
Photo of the cute bunny photographed through her window. Sarah was worried if I went outside to take her picture it would upset the bunny.
April 21
We have these helicopters whirligig seeds off our maple tree every spring but lately with the girls being home so much they have become a source of entertainment for both of them.
April 22
The girls attended their church youth group virtual meet tonight. They were asked to bring their favorite things. Sonnie brought her State tennis championship medal from last season and Sarah brought her Harry Styles CD.
April 22
Sarah practices her toe touches. She found out today that pom tryouts are happening and they will be virtual.
April 22
No sign of Melon the bunny today but Sarah kept checking all day.
April 23
Don't mind us neighbors, we're not being nosey. We're just obsessively looking for Melon the rabbit.
April 23
Found her! That's a win for the day.
April 23
Mike has been tending to the veggie garden a lot. He's actually hang drying the tarps he puts over them when there is a freeze. We usually barely have time to eat veggies much less baby them.
April 23
Out for an evening drive. Sonnie will be a senior next year and as much as I pray that life will go back to normal soon I am enjoying this time with her that we wouldn't have if we were in our normal spring routines. She's so fun even in the middle of a pandemic.
April 24
A frog jumped on Sarah's leg and scared her causing a lot of chaos on our peaceful coffee outing.
April 24
This was the tiny frog that caused all of the chaos.
April 24
Sonnie picked up the frog and of course chased Sarah with it.
April 24
Sarah loves bunnies but NOT frogs!
April 24
So Oklahoma of us to play football with a thunderstorm brewing overhead.
April 25
Today was an optimistic day for all four of us. The gorgeous Oklahoma spring weather helps lift all of our spirits for sure.
April 25
Mike got his hummingbird feeders all cleaned and filled up today and spent a better part of the day waiting for them to show up.
April 26
Day 41 of my daily photo project is coming to a close today with the girls seeing their photos published in The Tulsa World paper edition. Of course I'll keep shooting, but for the most part the daily posts will stop. As this crazy pandemic thing drags on I will post photos occasionally as we move into our new normal with the rest of the world.
April 27
The girls hang out in Sonnie's car in the driveway while it rains.
April 27
Hummingbirds — the ruby-throated, black-chinned and the rufous — are an exciting sight for any bird enthusiast.
April 28
Spring time in Oklahoma means crazy weather. Usually the girls are at tennis and dance this time of year on weeknights. I kept thinking I was so glad they were home to see the amazing sky with us after an Oklahoma storm this week. Thanks to the girls former teacher the amazing Barbie Hendrix DeMoss who let us know these are mammatus clouds and they were amazing to see.
April 28
Sonnie came out and said “this is the most beautiful and amazing thing I’ve ever seen.”
April 28
Spring time in Oklahoma means crazy weather. Usually the girls are at tennis and dance this time of year on weeknights. I kept thinking I was so glad they were home to see the amazing sky with us after an Oklahoma storm this week. Thanks to the girls former teacher the amazing Barbie Hendrix DeMoss who let us know these are mammatus clouds and they were amazing to see. Sonnie came out and said “this is the most beautiful and amazing thing I’ve ever seen.”
April 29
The sweet sisters Sonnie babysits came by to show her their new puppy Coconut. They were so happy to see each other and it was fun for me to see Sonnie interact with them.
April 30
Mike waits patiently to get a photo of his hummingbirds.
May 1
Someone from our church, Boston Avenue Methodist Church, surprised us with a driveway message this week.
May 1
This beautiful guy keeps visiting me in the backyard.
May 3
Sarah teaches Mike a dance kick combo in the garage. She's preparing for virtual pom tryouts.
May 16
May 16, 2020. Weekly Update: The Owasso Tulsa Tech counselors and administration treated the teachers to these amazing signs. Photo by Brandi Simons for the Tulsa World
May 16
May 16, 2020. Weekly Update: Sarah doing a live virtual tryout for Owasso Varsity Pom in our garage. A week long virtual tryout that consisted of a live tryout on Google Meet then video submissions throughout the week. We were so happy to see #14 made the team! Photo by Brandi Simons for the Tulsa World
May 16
May 16, 2020. Weekly Update: The weirdest last day of school ever. We officially have a senior and freshman now. Photo by Brandi Simons for the Tulsa World
May 16
May 16, 2020. Weekly Update: Mike had a birthday this month and we've decided from now on we cut the cake then blow out the candle. The other way seems like pure craziness now. Photo by Brandi Simons for the Tulsa World
May 16
May 16, 2020. Weekly Update: We've had so much rain lately the teen driveway chats have moved into the garage. Hearing Sonnie's friend Kennedy laugh from all the way inside is good for the soul. Photo by Brandi Simons for the Tulsa World
May 16
May 16, 2020. The poor people at the Owasso 8th Grade Center had to clean out all of those lockers that have been closed up for 9 weeks. Sarah's locker had 3 coats and 5 lunch bags filled with moldy and very stinky food. Photo by Brandi Simons for the Tulsa World
Michael Overall 918-581-8383
michael.overall
@tulsaworld.com
Twitter: @MichaelOverall2
