Music

I’ve loved playing the piano for as long as I can remember. When I was eight years old my cousin Amy was my piano teacher and she taught me how to write my own songs. Composing music has been one of my passions ever since. I love it. I usually compose piano solos but there have been a few times where I’ve been asked to write a choral arrangement for primary programs or funerals. I’ve posted them all to my little music blog and share them for free. It’s fun for me and I love that other people actually use and play my music.

A few weeks ago I got the coolest email ever from the Church asking if they could use my arrangement, “The Family Medley” for an upcoming Roots Tech meeting. It was so unexpected and I was so excited! I remember I read it on my phone while I was sitting in the lobby at Tenley’s dance studio with a bunch of strangers. I wanted to scream, jump up and down, and cry. But I had to hold all of those emotions in. 

Tonight I was able to hear the beautiful performance as it was streamed live on LDS.org. It was amazing. It was surreal to hear an apostle actually say my name. And the singers and pianist did an incredible job. I’m so humbled and grateful. ❤️

On top of all that today was a wonderful day as most Thursdays are. Ryder met a new friend at playgroup whom he loves, I credit my off-roading skills to getting my car unstuck from a snow pile on the side of the road, Ryder discovered how to draw on pictures from my phone, and we spent some time at the mall as a family.

Door Stoppers

Luke is moving around so fast these days! He loves to army crawl but I noticed him trying out his knees today. Crawling might not be too far away! His favorite toy is the door stop. He could sit there (and has) for an hour just playing with it. 

I decided to look up the weather in Antarctica since it seems so ridiculously cold here and thankfully it is not as cold as Antarctica! I’m grateful! Keena really loves the deep snow and it’s been fun to watch him play and dig.

Keena

We were supposed to get the biggest storm of the year last night. I was ready to keep the kids home from school for our own personal snow day (they never cancel school!) but it really wasn’t as bad as was predicted. I was still up early shoveling over 6 inches of snow, but it definitely wasn’t worthy of keeping the kids home from school. Our snow piles are huge! They’re definitely way taller than Ryder! As I was pushing the snow off our tramp I sunk in up to my waist! Super crazy.
But thank heaven for Keena. (I never thought I'd say that). He is a really entertainment for Ryder. Ryder loves playing with him and feeding him his food and water. It really makes Ryder happy to be a helper with Keena and Luke. I'm glad the dog and the baby keeps us busy or we might be going stir crazy!

Basketball

Kades last game of the season was tonight and he made another shot to top it all off! He had a lot of fun and was happy to be on a team with his friend. 

In other news this weather is just getting crazier! I’ve stopped looking ahead and hoping for above freezing temperatures because they aren’t coming! I’m pretty sure it will be such a big event when they do come that it will make national news. We are expected to get 6 to 12 inches tonight. But as Brad said tonight we can either complain about it or embrace it. Looking at the positive, the snow really is beautiful! 

It's Great to be Eight

Tenley will be turning eight this year which means she has the opportunity to be baptized and become a member of The Church. They had a special meeting for her and the other kids at church turning eight this year to teach them about their special day and what to expect. It was nice to have a night out with her and see her excitement! She’s such a special girl!

Breaks

Tenley and Ryder had fun making art projects this morning in their pajamas. Tenley would give Ryder an idea and then Ryder would run back and create it and give it to Brad or me. It was sweet.

I took Tenley to a birthday party today. She got to go swimming at the Peak. I left all my boys home and while Tenley swam I sat in the lobby and read a book. It was so relaxing and a needed break! 

Our fun family date consisted of Cafe Rio and finishing watching the America’s Got Talent finale. Such a good day!

Dog Walks

It was sunny and twenty degrees this morning...perfect weather to take the dog for a walk! Honestly, the temperature is going to drop again for the next week so I took advantage of this warmer weather and took Keena out. We had to walk through a lot of snow which he actually loved. On the way back home we had a head wind and that was really cold! At least he got a little bit of exercise today. Right when I got home Brad and Kade headed up to the ski hill again. They had lots of fun. And the rest of us enjoyed being in our warm house!

Kade's Teacher

I got to meet with Kade's teacher tonight and found the cutest pictures of him with his classmates. He has such a great teacher! She is so sweet and I feel like she really understands Kade and cares about him. We’re lucky to have her!

Target

Luke is always such a great napper in the morning but for some reason he wasn’t willing to sleep today. He cried for over thirty minutes and I finally decided we should go for a drive because he always falls asleep in his car seat. So we went to Target. That store is always bound to make me happy! He didn’t fall asleep on the way there and he still fought it so hard while we walked around the store but he did finally fall asleep and stayed asleep for a few hours. Thank heavens. And the shopping therapy helped me cheer up too. Lol

Ryder's Energy

Ryder is a ball of energy! We played baseball and danced to music a lot today. He also played with Keena and Luke. He insisted on making his very own sandwich for lunch. It was messy but he did a pretty good job. He’s a fun one!

Holidays

Brad doesn’t normally take this holiday off, but he did this year and it was really nice to have him home with the kids and me. He origanlly took it off to go snowmobiling with his brothers but that was trip was canceled so he was stuck with us. :)

We drove down to Helena and enjoyed seeing all of the snow and beautiful scenery. We went to Costco and weren’t able to do much else because a lot of things were closed for Presidents’ Day.

We made it back home in time to watch Kade's basketball game. They played against a really aggressive team but Kade's and his team did a great job!

Imagination

Sunday’s are so much better when Brad doesn’t have to work on Monday! We had ward conference today and a lot of relaxing family time. The kids played for a few hours downstairs. I tried to ask them exactly what they were playing but they had a hard time explaining it to me. Their imaginations were working that’s for sure!

Indoor Activities

We woke up to seven more inches of snow this morning! It was beautiful! And we are so grateful for a good snow blower. We wanted to take the kids to play in Helena today but decided not to make the long drive in this weather. Luckily we have several fun indoor activities here in town that we decided to take advantage of. We went skating at the indoor rink this morning and then bowling this evening. The kids had a blast! I even decided to skate with the kids. I am not a skater and I never have been so I used the walker but it was still a blast!

Snow, Snow, Snow!

We got about five more inches of snow last night. I felt like I was off-roading when I took Tenley to school this morning. The side roads weren’t plowed at all. It was fun. Brad and Kade went skiing and had a blast in all the fresh powder. We are loving the snow but we’d love it even more with above zero degree temperatures!

Valentine's Day

I’m so lucky that I have so many people to love. It may be a silly holiday but anything fun and different to break up this frigid winter is more than welcome! Kade and Tenley had fun parties at school and Ryder had a fun little friend party as well. They got the cutest Valentines from Grandma Woodruff. We had a delicious dinner. And I spoiled them with a few gifts as well. Such a fun, simple day!

My Man

I am so grateful for Brad today. He supports me in my hobbies, helps me with hard questions, and cheers me on when I need him. I love being able to talk to him about anything and everything. His point of view is usually so different than mine and I need that different perspective.

He also got a million points tonight for coming to my rescue. Wednesday nights when I need to leave to go to mutual can be tricky with a baby. Normally Luke is so happy and perfect, but he wasn't tonight. He wouldn't eat any of his dinner and I couldn't calm his crying. Brad took him without complaint. I felt so awful leaving a messy house and a crying child all for Brad when he had just walked in from his own long day at work. And then I came home to a clean kitchen and a happily fed, sleeping Luke. I don't know how he did all of that in an hour and a half, but I couldn't be more grateful!

One of my favorite things about our relationship that we started very early on was to never keep score. For example we'd never say, "Well, you got to go skiing all day yesterday so now I get to go shopping all day today." We're a team. And we're excited for each other when we get to do fun things even if we aren't together. We have different opportunities sometimes and with little kids we can't always do everything together. We also have our different roles and they compliment and help each other. Once in a while he or I may need help with our 'roles' and we'll step up and do that without hanging it over each other's heads. It all evens out and neither one of us feel like we do more than the other. He does so much for our family and for me. I couldn't be more grateful!

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Right when I went to pick the kids up from school the snow started falling hard! Tenley’s hair was covered in white. It was beautiful.

Tenley's Facial Expressions

I had fun one on one time with Tenley tonight as we drove to and from dance. On our way out of our neighborhood we came across 9 deer! It’s always fun to see wildlife in the middle of the neighborhood. Then she chose to listen to the Frozen soundtrack the whole drive while she lip-synced and danced in her seat. She had the best facial expressions to go with it all as well! Dance has really helped her come out of her shell and I love it!