My Dad, Brad

 My family had to head back home today but it was nice to be able to wish my dad a happy Father’s Day in person this morning! We were sad to see them go! We had such a great time with them.

Our church service was so nice today. Ryder and Luke sang a few songs with the other primary kids. It was the sweetest thing ever. They sang so well!

Kade gave a little talk about fathers which was really nice as well. And then Brad was released as a bishop after almost four years! It was definitely a bittersweet feeling but I’m also so relieved. It was getting hard having him trying to fulfill both callings. This was necessary. But the blessings we received as a family while he served as a Bishop were so worth it. I’m grateful for him and his willingness to serve.

And I’m so grateful for my dad. 

Milestones

 Kade was able to bless the sacrament for his first time today at church. Brad was with him and Kade did a great job. He said he was nervous but he didn’t sound nervous at all. And then Tenley spoke in church again. She wrote her talk all by herself and really did a great job talking about goals, sharing good quotes from President Nelson and sharing her own personal stories as well. She even started off with a little joke about finally being able to sit by her Dad during sacrament meeting but then he left her to go sit with her brother! “Love you too, Dad!” She said. It was so so funny. 

Seeing my kids pass these milestones is fun and exciting in a way but it definitely makes me so emotional! I really do want them to be little again!

Blessings

 I try to keep my thoughts pretty light on here and normally I just talk about the day to day but since this is a record for our family I didn’t want another week to pass without sharing our scare and eventual good news with Brad and skin cancer. 

Brad had been wanting to go to the dermatologist for a while now. His Dad had stage four skin cancer and Brad has several moles that he needed to be looked at. The wait to get into the dermatologist that he wanted to see was over two months! But he finally made it in. She took a few samples of skin tissue and then gave him radiation treatment in cream form to take care of a concerning spot on his left temple. He had to apply the cream for three weeks and he got a noticeable burn spot on his face and it was painful! Then he got the news that they did find cancer cells from the skin they took from his leg and he was asked to come back in so they could take an even bigger sample to be sure it hadn’t spread even further. The next sample they took was huge! He will definitely have a gnarly scar from it. When the kids saw it for the first time, Luke called it a hot dog because that is kind of what it looks like! But we did find out last week that no more cancer was found. Technically he has to report from here on out that he has stage 0 cancer though. And he’ll have to have much more regular checkups. But at least he’s on top of it now and they should be able to treat anything serious before it progresses too far along. So that’s definitely a blessing. I consider it a blessing from his service as a Bishop. Just tonight our family plans were canceled due to someone needing him. That can be sad and disappointing, but I’d take that everyday over him having cancer. And I’m grateful that he’s healthy and willing to serve.

Outdoor Movies

 Tenley has been planning her birthday day for a while now. She wanted to watch an outdoor movie and tonight seemed like a better night weather wise than tomorrow so we set it up tonight. It was cold but I layered up and didn’t feel cold. She chose Avengers which is a long movie but Brad made us all popcorn and it was a fun night!

Earlier today we received several boxes from the church. I guess they’re the new study books for the scriptures next year. It’s just crazy that they sent us so many! Ryder and Luke worked as a team to get all seven boxes in the house!

Joy

 Tithing settlement for Brad has begun so we don’t get to see much of him on Sunday. My kids are pretty good though and we did what we could to make the best of Sunday anyway. Kade even went outside to play catch with Ryder because Ryder had been begging to. These kids bring me joy!

Bradley Ricks

 We celebrated Brad's birthday today! It was actually a really busy day so it was hard to fully celebrate but we definitely tried. I did get to take him out for a fancy dinner tonight which was so nice and so delicious. We will do more celebrating tomorrow! 

Since Brad never asks for anything, I got nostalgic with his presents. Both of his grandparents had fun traditions for each birthday. His Grandma and Grandpa Hobson would always roll up a dollar bill for each year you were turning so Tenley helped me roll up 42 dollar bills for him. Then his Grandma and Grandpa Ricks would give each grandchild sugar cookies in an old school lunch pail, which obviously wasn't old school to them. Brad's little brother has the lunch pail now, but I found a similar one on eBay to gift to Brad. He thought it was pretty funny. 

His birthday present to himself was to turn his phone on do not disturb. haha. Oh the life of a Bishop...he's been dealing with some problems lately and he just needed a break. But then, of course, 3 major problems came up today. One was finding out that our old Bishop's house burned down. He had been burning weeds and thought the fire was out, but an hour later it got so big so quick that they had to run out of the house and watch it burn. It's so sad.

Tenley and Kade both had basketball games this morning out in Simms. Straight from there we went to their piano festival where Kade, Tenley, and Ryder all played so well! I love hearing them play. I'm so proud of them. They got a lot of feedback so they're a bit nervous that they didn't get superior but we will have to see. I think they nailed it.

After the festival we went to the house of our old Bishop. Brad spent a lot of time with them. They have a lot of support and they realize it's all just possessions anyway, but I am still so heartbroken for them. It is true though that it's our relationships that matter the most. Everything else is just stuff. It was a good reminder for me to be grateful for the people in my life. And I'm definitely grateful for Brad. My Mr. Fix it, problem solver, hardworking husband. He's a good one. 

9 AM Church

I actually loved having church at noon last year because it was so nice to always have that day to sleep in. But then Brad was always home around dinner time from serving at the church. With church being so early this year he was actually home by 1! We got to spend so much time with him this afternoon and it was really nice.

We finally woke up to snow on the ground. Its pretty but it is cold! Hopefully the ski hill will start getting a lot more snow now.

Happy Kids

We had a good day at church. Great messages were shared. Unfortunately Brad was at the church until 6 because of tithing declaration but luckily the kids were so good and played so well together! That made my day so much better.

Luke’s Snuggles

It was a crazy long day. Poor Ryder threw up all night last night.We've had friends dealing with this sickness and I guess it has hit us. Maybe by some miracle no one else will get it! Tenley was sweet enough to take care of Ryder and Luke all day because Kade was working on the farm and Brad and I were at the church for four hours for a funeral. I helped with the food and he conducted the meeting. It was a good funeral for Ted Robbins who lived a long and full life. He was a good man and he raised a great family. 

Kade and his friend Nathan found some deer nearby the farm while they were working and decided to do some hunting. I pulled up to pick up Kade and found them loading the deer on to a truck bed. Boys are funny. 

Kade and Tenley both got to go to a fireside tonight and then Kade got to stay for a dance. They had a great time. And while they were gone my sweet baby fell asleep on me. I’m so glad he’s still willing to do that. I love Luke’s snuggles! He really needs to stop growing up!

Sunday

Sunday can be busy with Brad’s calling but we were still able to enjoy some relaxing time tonight all as a family watching The Chosen. It was so nice!

Christmas Day

The kids weren’t too excited about Christmas Day falling on a Sunday this year but I actually loved it. We even got to drive to church all together! Our sacrament service started an our later than normal which gave us time to have our omelette and cinnamon roll breakfast. We enjoyed lots of beautiful music for the service. I got to play one of my favorite Christmas hymns, Joy to the World, and then Brad as our bishop shared his thoughts of Christmas at the end of the meeting. He shared how in Spanish ‘mas’ means more so we can think of Christmas as more Christ. I like that thought. We can always use more Christ in our lives. Having more Christ in our lives means more joy, more peace, more understanding, more love. 

We came home and finally opened presents! The kids were so patient. They loved their presents and enjoyed playing with them the rest of the day. We hung out downstairs all day and really enjoyed being together! It was the best day. 

Christmas Tree Moments

At our Relief Society activity last week a friend shared her tradition that she calls ‘Christmas Tree Moments’ with us. After hectic days they take time to pause by turning all the lights off in the house beside the Christmas tree and then listening to quiet Christmas music. I loved the idea and after our crazy day I decided to try it tonight. We have definitely seen blessings for our family as Brad has served as Bishop but the holiday season with tithing declaration is busy and we miss him! He left for church this morning at 7 AM and after all of his meeting we saw him at 3 for an hour. Then he and I had to go back for a meeting about FSY for Kade next year at 4. We came back home for dinner and then left again for a meeting at 6 for Tenley’s temple preparation night since she’ll be going into young womens next year. It was a long day! 

So after we got home and the kids got in their pajamas we had a Christmas tree moment. Ryder played the piano for us at first which I loved even more. It didn’t last long but it was a great end to the day.

Brad

Brad is at church most of the day these Sundays so he can meet with the members in our ward for tithing declaration. It is busy but we’re getting through it. When he did make it home the kids had fun playing board games with him. I don’t know how he goes from being at the church for seven hours to then playing games with the kids but somehow he does it. He’s a rockstar. 

28 Letters

Our stake youth get to go on trek in a few weeks and the Bishops of the wards were asked to write a letter to each of the youth from their ward that would be attending. That meant that Brad had 28 letters to write. Brad never does anything half way so he took time preparing a well thought out letter and hand wrote every note to each youth. It ended up taking him several hours over this past week. I hope they appreciate his words and wisdom! 

Afternoons with Friends, Packages from Grandma

Travis left early this morning along with Brad and Kade. Brad and Kade were headed to Billings for a youth temple trip. Everything went well! They had a great time.

The other kids got to sleep in. I made crepes for breakfast and then they all played board games together. We got to meet up with friends at the jump place and then had dinner with them at McDonalds. Except the girls and I got Cafe Rio. It worked out perfectly.

The kids also got a fun package from my mom today. A card for Ryder, pretty earrings for Tenley, and candy for everyone. Yum!

The End of the Day

The end of the day always helps bring clarity and gratitude to an otherwise circus. Sundays are a bit of a challenge now with Brad gone. And with tithing settlement starting he was gone from 9 am to 6 pm today. It feels like another work day although I know the work he’s doing is important and I love that he’s willing to serve in this way. But the kids are definitely more behaved with his presence. Especially our little three year old Luke. Everyone seemed to fight at one time or another, before church, during church, and after church. A sister did come up to me after sacrament meeting to tell me I had such good children so I guess we all hide the frustration well. Lol.

I did get Luke to cheer up for a bit, though.  We took Keena for a walk and then he helped with dinner. And then Brad came home and we had a good night as a family eating dinner and watching a cute movie. It all ended well. 😊

Apostolic Blessings

Kade didn’t feel well at all this morning. He would get winded half way up the stairs. I haven’t seen him this sick for this long since his stay in the ICU in Indiana. He knew he wouldn’t be able to go to his morning soccer game. We did a treatment and rested all morning hoping that he’d be better for the afternoon game. Luckily he seemed to be doing ok even though his blood oxygen levels are still around 90. So we went to the afternoon game and he played goalie the whole time. He did well and looked almost like his normal healthy self. Since this was the last game of the season, the team all went out for pizza afterward. Kade was happy to be with his team.

Brad was away in Missoula all day for a Bishop and Stake President training with Elder Gong. He had to leave at 5 am to make it in time for the 8 am meeting. And he made it back just in time for Kade’s afternoon game. He enjoyed the meeting though. One neat thing that he shared with us tonight was that at the end of the meeting Elder Gong gave them all an apostolic blessing and blessed them and their families with help to overcome any health challenges that they may be struggling with at this time. Brad’s thoughts went directly to Kade and he felt peace that Kade would get feeling better soon. It was such a sweet and tender thing to hear. I hate seeing Kade struggle in this way with his breathing and tonight after his game he really took a turn for the better. We didn’t even have to give him a treatment tonight. It was such a blessing.

The Primary Program

We had the primary program today and all of the kids did such a great job! I enjoyed being on the stand with my class and my kids. The last song they sang was “My Own Sacred Grove.” It’s one of my most favorite songs and the kids sang it so well! I was holding back tears as they finished. We have some amazing primary leaders and teachers and amazing kids! I love being apart of the primary.

Brad got some yummy cookies from a sweet family in the ward. It means a lot when people think of Brad and are kind enough to do something nice for him and for us. The little things, like delicious cookies, make a difference! 

My Kids

Sometimes I think it’s sad that we have such little kids while Brad is Bishop and so busy and consumed with other things. Like tonight, we sat down to watch a movie as a family and less than a minute into it he had to leave to take a phone call. We just have to laugh about it all now.

But most of the time I’m grateful that our kids are little because they are my little buddies right now. We are getting through this together. I’d be super lonely without them.