Cattle Branding

 Our Stake President invited us to his home with the missionaries in our area to help with cattle branding. It was our first time being apart of something like that and we all had a great time time! Tenley helped give them vaccines, Kade helped hold them down, and Ryder and Luke tried to ride them! It was a fun adventure and we feel a little more like true Montanas now! And it’s always great to be with the Giles and the missionaries. Such great people!

My Mom, Easter, General Conference Weekends

 It was a very special day today! We got to wish my mom a happy birthday, celebrate Easter, and enjoy General conference and all the yummy food that comes with that. We had cinnamon rolls and Brad’s omelette for breakfast and then a roast turkey with homemade rolls, a salad, and mashed potatoes for dinner. We ate well today! We also enjoyed being able to watch General Conference together all weekend. Usually the Saturday of General Conference we’re on the side of the soccer field cheering Kade on or at a volleyball tournament for Tenley but this weekend was free of any other activities and it was so nice. The only responsibility was one that Kade had. He was taking care of a friend’s farm animals for the weekend while they were away. The rest of the kids enjoyed going to help him as well. I love spring, I love General conference, I love Jesus, I love my mom, and I love a restful weekend so it was a pretty perfect day!

Over the Door Basketball Hoops

 Kade played basketball with the boys on their little hoop in their room before they went to bed. Luke tries to get him to do that every night and his face lights up whenever he can talk him into it. He’s lucky to have such nice big brothers!

Screen Savers

 I recently switched my phone screen saver to change every hour with a new photo from my library. I have loved seeing all the wonderful memories pop up! Tonight an adorable one of Luke playing tennis popped up. Good memories and pictures of my cute kids really brighten my day.

Brad and Kade went skiing today on seven inches of fresh powder! They loved it. They said the hill was even groomed this time. Our experience last time there was that much powder and the mountain wasn’t groomed at all kept me and the little boys home today. They did not enjoy all the powder at all. And Tenley had volleyball practice. But to get out of the house we went out for lunch together and had a great time!

Kade’s Thoughtfulness

 Kade has been getting through the pain as good as can be expected. The other night when I woke him up at 2 am to have him take some ibuprofen he asked how I was doing! He feels bad that I’m getting up every three hours to help him. I thought that was sweet of him to even ask. He’s such a thoughtful kid. I hope his recovery continues to go well!

Tenley’s Pranks

 I wonder if we’ll ever have an April Fool’s day around here without a bunch of pranks. Maybe someday we will but today was not that way. Brad stayed up late playing tricks on the kids, writing on their mirrors, putting socks on Luke’s feet while he slept, putting little toy dinosaurs on his steps to get down from his bunked, trying shoes together, throwing their sweatshirts on the ceiling fan, dying their water in their water bottles blue, putting trip wires at the door to their rooms and hiding their Wii remotes. The kids loved it and laughed a lot. 

Brad’s staff pranked him by wrapping most of his office with plastic wrap. And Tenley decided to try and trick Brad as well. She changed the time on his alarm clock, wrote on his bathroom mirror, and put a fake spider in our toilet paper roll. Sadly, I was the one who found the spider and I screamed so loud! She thought that was hilarious! I did not. 

Moral Support

 It was Kade’s turn to get his wisdom teeth out today. Poor thing! He wasn’t near as entertaining as Tenley was under anesthesia. He was really loopy and very quiet. He rested a lot and after the boys finished math I let them watch movies with Kade. Sometimes we all need a movie day! And I know when I’m on the couch feeling miserable it’s helpful to have someone else there with me. Hopefully the moral support helped Kade. I can tell he’s hurting but he’s doing his best to get through it.

Family Night

Luke was in charge of family night tonight and beside Luke, no one was really happy about that. He consistently chooses chicken and rice for his dinner and the family is sick of eating it. He also chose to watch a National Geographic show about dinosaurs. Beside Luke, everyone was bored by it. But the whole point of this family night tradition that we’ve had for years is for each one of us to have a night picking our favorite dinner and activity. I hope it helps us learn to appreciate eachother and our likes and to find a way to like what someone else likes just because we love that person. We’re obviously quite far from this ideal but hopefully we’ll get there! At least we’ll keep trying! And honestly, for the most part everyone had a good attitude about it but there were some not so great moments! 

Easter Celebrations

 Our stake combined with the Great Falls East stake tonight to celebrate the beginning of the Easter season. It was a night filled with beautiful music and wonderful words. Kade sang in the bi-stake choir and Ryder and Luke sang in a little choir together. It was such an uplifting night! I’m so excited to celebrate Easter!

Volleyball in Great Falls

 Tenley had her volleyball games in town today at the high school. It was so nice not to have to wake up super early and I loved being able to come home in between her games. They played well and got third place in the gold bracket again. Brad, Ryder, and Luke were able to be there for a lot of her games as well which made it more fun for both Tenley and I.

Tenley and Ryder were apart of a scholarship recital tonight. Tenley played her flute and Ryder played the piano. They both graduated, Ryder from level one Suzuki in the piano and Tenley from level 2 Suzuki on the flute. They work hard and I love seeing them share their gifts. All of the kids the participated did such a great job!

Kade made it home last night! I think I sleep better when I know all of my kids are home sleeping under our roof. I only get such comfort for a few more years. But I need to stop thinking about that! 

Kade enjoyed his trip! And I’m so happy he’s home!!

Non-windy Days

It was so nice to enjoy without crazy strong winds today! The wind has gotten old! But today was sunny and calm and beautiful. Ryder and Luke were either in the front yard playing basketball or in the backyard jumping on the trampoline. They never get bored when the weather is this nice and I love it. 

Tenley got to go to the temple with the ward today. It was a late night for her but she had a great time.

We haven’t heard a lot from Kade but I think he’s still enjoying his trip in Utah. We’re anxious to have him back!

Trolley Square and The Old Spaghetti Factory

 Kade is off on another choir trip. This one is just for fun. They’re actually in Utah and they went to some very nostalgic places of mine today. They had dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Trolley Square which serves their spumoni ice cream just like they used to. He also saw where I used to go country swing dancing with friends all the time. Then they got to see the Tabernacle choir rehearse and take a tour of temple square. He said the weather has been beautiful and he’s been having a great time! I wish we were with him!

Hard Work

 The kids had piano lessons today and they found out that they all got superior! I know that always the best feeling to hear that your hard work paid off. Luke especially worked hard the last week. His song Allegro was no where near ready for festival but I promised him that if he let me help him and he practiced the song three times every morning and three times every night that he would have it ready. He did all those things and he got a perfect score! I’m glad he trusted me and worked hard!

Golden Eggs

 We had our Easter party at co op today and the kids got to do an Easter egg hunt. I was happy the weather cooperated and we had a perfect sunny spring day for this! Ryder ended up finding a golden egg with $10 in it! He was excited about that! 

Team Dinners

 Tenley got to have dinner with her travel volleyball team tonight. She’s been having a great time making new friends!

Primary Devotionals

It was a busier Sunday than normal. Brad was in Cascade for a branch conference, Kade had multiple choir practices for Palm Sunday services next week, Tenley had flute and piano festival after lunch since she missed it yesterday, and the stake primary had a devotional out on by the 7-11 year old primary kids. The devotional was adorable. Ryder and Luke sang multiple songs and Ryder had a speaking part. All of the kids did such a great job! And the weather was nice and sunny and hardly windy so it was a pretty great Sunday!

Volleyball Tournaments, Festival, and Prom

 We had a busy day as a family today! Tenley and I were in Helena all day for her club volleyball tournament. They played great and only lost two sets all day long. They got third place in the gold bracket. It was fun to watch them play. And Tenley and I had a lot of fun together.

The boys all went to piano festival today and they all played so well! They practiced so hard for months especially this last week and I’m so proud of them!

Kade went to his first prom tonight! I was so sad to miss this!! But luckily there were some awesome moms taking pictures of the boys. He isn’t back yet but I can’t wait to hear how it went!

March Madness

 We have been having so much fun watching all the March madness games as a family. Except having to watch BYU lose last night. That was a huge bummer. But it has definitely become a family affair to watch the games and check our brackets. Luke may be into more than anyone else. He has been so excited to watch Duke and Florida play. 

Before the games we had a lot of errands to run and we spoiled the kids with yummy soda from the soda station. It was a sunny day and the warmest day ever in March in Great Falls. It’s such a weird winter!

Choir Concerts

 Kade had a choir concert tonight where they joined with the Great Falls High school and both middle schools in town. At first I was a little sad to be missing the BYU basketball game, but after how that game turned out I couldn’t have been anywhere better! They sang great songs and I loved it. And apparently Kade’s friend that’s a girl (I don’t think I can use girlfriend in this sentence) came and brought him flowers. That was so sweet of her.

Practice, Basketball, Cake Wars

 Piano and flute festival are this weekend and the kids have been working hard on their songs. Luke in particularly has struggled with his Suzuki song but I promised him on Sunday that if he would practice it three times in the morning and three times at night every day before festival that he would get the song down and he already has! He has worked so hard! I can tell how satisfied he is with himself that he can play the song well now. Tonight for practice he, Tenley and Luke all played the song in unison for n different octaves on the piano. It was a fun way for him to get more practice in.

Ryder got to go to a basketball camp with his friends Otto and Thomas today. The semi pro team in town put on the camp and Ryder had a blast!

Tenley’s activity at the church tonight was ‘Cake Wars’. She made a cake based on the scripture she was given. She got Jonah and the whale and her cake turned out pretty awesome!

Elder Petty

 We got a surprise visit from Elder Petty today. He was in Great Falls for a zone conference and he took the time to stop by and say hi. It was so good to see him and catch up! We miss him!

Brad

 Brad turned 44 today and we lived celebrating him! I got out his baby book and mission books and the kids enjoyed reading through those today. Kade even made a fun video about it to show Brad tonight. He was creative! Tenley cleaned our bathroom for Brad and scrubbed the shower really well which was so sweet of her. And Ryder and Luke made cards for Brad. We got to see him for lunch which we always love and then we took him to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. It was so busy and so loud, Brad’s least favorite combination, but we still enjoyed it. We were happy to be home for presents and dessert which was homemade waffle cones and cold stone creamery ice cream. It was so yummy!

Selection Sunday

 We had fun watching the selection of basketball teams for the NCAA tournament today and then the kids got straight to work on their brackets. They love this tradition!

Luke’s knee seems to be doing a whole lot better. He even played in the snow with Ryder after church and he’s dunking on his over the door basketball hoop again too. 

Safe at Home

 Tenley had big plans today that she had been looking forward to for over a month. She and her friends were going to go to Helena to do temple work and then go to a tri stake dance. But then a crazy blizzard hit us and her plans were cancelled. She was sad and I was so sad for her. But the conditions were so bad that it was dangerous to even drive across town. They definitely made the right decision to cancel but I hope they can reschedule their fun plans for another time!

Instead we hung out at home as a family in our warm house and to me, that was a perfect night.

Powder

 We woke up to a lot of snow this morning and the ski hill had 12 inches of fresh powder! We headed up for a fun family ski day. The roads were covered in snow and pretty slick in some places but we made it safely. The powder made skiing a great workout lol! My legs were very tired by the end of the day. Luke definitely didn’t love the powder that much. He got stuck a lot and we all took at least one tumble. Luke took the worst fall and twisted his knee so much that it’s swollen now and he’s limping. I hope it heals quickly! We still had a great time. The mountain and pine trees were beautiful covered in snow. I loved skiing in the trees on the fresh powder. 

We burned so many calories that we decided to go out to the pizza buffet restaurant so we could eat just as many calories! It was delicious!