A former Spokane resident living in Italy is choosing hope when faced with COVID-19 and the lock down of the country.

Sarah Wells lives in Aviano, Italy with her husband and four children. She says she agrees with the government's decision to restrict activity in order to fight the spread of the virus.

"My husband can go to work and we can go get groceries," Wells said. "If there was an emergency we could leave, but other than that we're pretty much supposed to stay within our house and yard," Wells said.

She said one person is allowed to leave the house at a time to get groceries, as long as they have the proper paperwork. Her family is still adjusting to the situation, and are finding a calm in the storm by exercising their faith.

"It can be scary, wondering how you're going to provide for your family," Wells said. "Every time my husband brings in a new load of groceries I kind of let out a sigh of relief because it is scary, but I'm trying to choose faith over fear."

The couple has four children, ranging from one to eight years old. Wells homeschools her older children. While their educational experience hasn't changed much since the lockdown started, the level of cabin fever definitely has gone up.

"It's hard, they miss just going out. Going to music lessons and activities and missing their friends, but I think they also recognize the importance of it," Wells said. "We're all working together to make the most of it."

One of the ways her children are making the most of it is by putting their music lessons to good use. Her two oldest children decided to stand on their balcony and play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on their violins for the world to hear.

Wells said those kinds of moments remind her that this time with family is still precious, and there are still messages of hope to be found.

"My absolute favorite thing that they're doing is the children are making rainbow signs with the saying " andra tutto bene” which means everything's going to be fine," Wells said.