Football with Kade

 Life has been so busy every night that when the kids had thirty minutes to play football with Kade in the backyard they were so excited! And I just heard giggles from them. Those are the best sounds to hear. I love it when they’re playing and enjoying time together in the backyard. It makes me want to cancel all of our other plans! I heard the best quote today from Elder Shumway, “We cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything!” I couldn’t agree more. I want to free up our lives for more family time at home.

Ryder and I did have to leave for his football game and Tenley came with me. Kade also had to leave for soccer practice. But at least we had a little bit of time all together at home!

Baccalaureate, Elder Petty

 We had to say goodbye to Elder Petty for the third time. Luke gave him the biggest bear hug. He’s definitely one of our most favorite missionaries and we will miss him! He’s headed to his last transfer area. While we were talking with Elder Petty and Elder Taff, Kade came home from tracting with Elder Braby and Elder Trottier. He looked like a missionary sitting with Elder Petty and Elder Taff! 😆 The elders had some great mission advice for Kade which I really appreciated.

Kade said he had a great time tracting. They knocked on 20 doors but only five people answered. They let Kade knock on a door and when they answered he said, “Hi, we’re missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, would you like to hear a message about Jesus?” The lady was nice but did say no. It sounded like he did such a great job! I’m glad he got to have that expression.

Tonight Kade sang with his choir at Baccalaureate which is a traditional non denominational church service for the seniors before the actual graduation ceremony. The school has asked several different religions in the city to host before, but this year they asked our church to host it. Our Bishop spoke and the youth we know shared scriptures. Kade’s choir sang an arrangement of Homeward Bound by Mack Wilburn with the orchestra accompanying them. It was amazing!! It really was so uplifting and all those who participated did such an amazing job. I’m glad we were able to be there.

Seminary Graduation

 Brad and a high counselor were in charge of putting seminary graduation together tonight for the seniors graduating from seminary this year. Tenley and I went early to help as well. We planned for 150 people and about 120 ish came! It was a good turnout. Brother Adams took care of all the food and made my life so much easier! I was grateful for the help. Brother Williams drove up from Bozeman to be here as well and I always love hearing from him! I loved hearing from Brad as well! It was a busy evening but it was also great to celebrate with friends and spoil the seniors and their families!

Pops Concert

 Tonight was the high school choir pops concert. This is my favorite concert of the year. It’s so fun and upbeat! Kade did a great job and even handled the dance moves he had to do very well! It feels like I see a different side of him up there on stage! He’s just such a cute kid and I need to stop thinking about how quickly he has grown up and how soon he’ll be leaving the house. I’m not ready for that at all. He lettered in choir this year and will be apart of the top choir next year. He loves it!

Soccer and Piano Recitals

 Kade’s state soccer tournament is this weekend here in Great Falls. He had a game at 7:30 this morning and at 7:30 tonight. It was a weird schedule. We had a lot of fun cheering him on even though it was so cold! The team won the first game and unfortunately lost the second game. 

The kids all had their end of the year piano recital this morning and Tenley also played her flute. Tenley, Ryder, and Luke had all practiced their songs 100 times! Kade practiced a lot as well and they all sounded so good! They got to play at the history museum on a 1925 chickering 9 foot piano. It was beautiful! Luke got a flower for graduating from book one of Suzuki!

Luke’s 8th Birthday

 Luke turned 8 today! I can’t believe my baby is 8 years old. He planned is whole day out and we all had so much fun. We had crepes for breakfast in the morning and then we packed a lunch and went for a hike to Memorial Falls. Luke loves hiking and being in the mountains with a lot of trees. The last time we hiked Memorial Falls was when I was actually pregnant with Luke! We all loved the hike. Afterwards we decided to drive by our ski hill since we were so close to it. It was weird to see it without any snow! 

For dinner, Luke wanted to go out to Chili’s. It was delicious and we had a nice time out. Then we came home to open presents, eat cake, and watch Super Mario Bros. Luke said it was his favorite birthday yet!

Late Sunsets

 I went to work today for the first time in 17 years! It was a crazy feeling. I’m learning how to do the receptionist job at Brad’s office because Jayden is on maternity leave and Ashley will be taking a vacation soon. There is a lot to learn but it was kind of fun to be out working! Although I definitely felt a lot of mom guilt and I definitely missed my kids. 

Tenley had a volleyball party tonight and Ryder and Luke both had football games. I was running around like crazy but the kids all had such a great time with friends and playing their favorite sports.

The kids were outside playing until after 9 pm which is normally their bedtime. But the sun was still out and when my kids are all playing happily together, I never interrupt!

Mom and Daughter Lunch Date

 Tenley took me out to lunch today at our favorite restaurant Qdoba. It was a late Mother’s Day gift and it was so much fun! She had leap up day this morning at the high school and I’m realizing how sad it will be when she’s at school all day this fall. We need to have several more lunch dates before then!

She joined the middle school for leap up day and had planned to tag along with her friend Addie. We were sitting in the auditorium while dozens and dozens of middle schoolers streamed in from three different directions. We were scanning the crowd for her friend and she ended up walking right by us! I was so grateful that worked out so smoothly. She seems excited to start high school!