I’m serving in the Relief Society presidency right now and I just love the sisters I serve with. We met today to make some ministering changes and I just love how well things came together to get it all figured. It can be such a hard calling at times, but the ladies I get to go through it all with make it fun.
It’s been hot but the heat brought a beautiful sunset tonight!!
Tenley had volleyball camp from 9 am to 3:30 pm. When I picked her up she was exhausted! I don’t think she ate enough food today. After she came home, showered and ate she was back to her old self. But she definitely loved camp!
We had our Elders over for dinner tonight. They are both leaving our ward tomorrow! We will miss them!
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!
We got to host the stake missionary transfer dinner tonight. It’s so much fun to see all the missionaries get together and get to hang out with each other. They’re all so happy, so kind, and so full of light! I love them all! My kids were such big helps with getting everything ready for the dinner. I couldn’t love them any more. I’m grateful for their willingness to serve and to be at the church for an additional two house tonight!
Brad had such a busy day today. I felt so bad for him. He left just before 8 to attend a Ward conference, returned home at 2, had a meeting at 4 to prepare for the Stake audit, and then had another meeting from 7-9 to discuss Stake communications. But he made the best of it. We were happy to have time with him for dinner.
The rest of us enjoyed sleeping in and going to our afternoon church meeting. When Brad is so busy with his calling I’m always so happy to have my kids around!
The kids have been enjoying Christmas break although it really does feel like they have been fighting with each other more. I think it’s because they don’t have a schedule so they’re bored and when they’re bored they fight! Kade drove them down to play basketball at the church eventually and I think they all really enjoyed that. They’ve also been having fun delivering gifts for the twelve days of Christmas to someone every night. So if I think about it they may be getting along more than they are fighting!
This morning the kids and I minus Kade met up with our friends at the Salvation Army to help organize gifts for families in need. They had a lot of donations! I think Luke was more interested in the toys than helping but he was still very helpful!
Tenley and I spent most of the rest of the day getting presents ready. I think things will calm down after this week but it’s definitely a little crazy right now.
Kade had his holiday choir concert tonight. It was a nice program and Kade is so handsome! I went alone because Brad had church meetings and Tenley, Ryder, and Luke were at a Christmas party.
We started the day off watching BYU football play in the conference championship and although the first quarter was exciting and gave me hope, the rest of the game was not fun to watch at all. It was a sad loss. The Elders serving in our ward know we’re big BYU fans because they are too. I’m not sure how the knew the outcome of the game, but they dropped off some treats at our house tonight with a note saying they were sorry about the game. It was so kind and thoughtful of them! I’m grateful we have such good Elders in our ward right now for my kids to look up to.
We left Kyle and Hailey’s house early this morning. The kids were exhausted and slept the whole two hour drive to Mesa. We had plenty of time after getting through security before our flight left so we spent it in an outdoor area soaking up the sunshine. We knew we’d be coming home to several inches of snow and negative temperatures. The flight went well and we arrived home to a shoveled walk way! Our amazing Elders came over and shoveled our driveway for us. It was so nice! It may be freezing but the snow is beautiful especially with the Christmas lights shining on it!
We made it through our first stake conference with Brad in the stake presidency! They saved our family a bench right up in the front which was different. We’re used to sitting on the hard chairs. I was hoping the kids would sit perfectly and not fight, but of course that didn’t happen. They’re just kids. But they were pretty good for the most part! It was another good session and a great weekend. Hopefully we’ll be better at this the next time.
All of the Christmas lights that Brad owns are now on the house or in the yard. We turned them on tonight to check it all out. It looks pretty amazing!
The kids had their primary program at church today and it is one of the best Sundays of the year! They were all so adorable and the songs they sang were beautiful. My boys looked so handsome and sang so well and spoke their parts so well! On the second to last song they had some siblings sing solos together and then all the primary kids joined in for the chorus. It was beautiful! And then all the youth went up to sing “I’m a Disciple of Christ,” which is my favorite. I lost it seeing all of my kids up there singing my favorite song. It was such a good program.
Tonight we hosted the missionary transfer dinner. I cooked a ton of meat and I don’t even think half of it got eaten! But I’m glad we had plenty of food. I always leave these dinners feeling so uplifted. Our missionaries are incredible!
I’m really sad that I didn’t get a picture of all my kids together or all the missionaries. I’ll do better next time!
Brad had to leave at 7 am to drive two hours up to Cut Bank today for their branch conference. It was a long day for him but I think everything we went well. We missed him at church. It’s hard to describe how lonely it feels without him. But at least I have four cute kids to sit with! I am so grateful for that!
We had a nice afternoon together. The kids rode around the neighborhood a lot together. We are still enjoying this nice weather and are not ready for summer to end!
It was a really long day at the church for Brad today. He had Bishop duties until 2 and then stake duties from 3 to 7:30. I know it won’t be like this often but it was such a long day. I was grateful to have four amazing kids to hang out with all day! I’d be so bored without them.
Brad was sustained and set apart as the first counselor in our new stake presidency today. I’m honestly not sure what my feelings are at this point. I feel sad that he won’t be our Bishop anymore as much as I never thought I’d say that. Our family has been SO blessed these last four years as he has served as the Bishop. It is sad to see that time in our lives come to an end. And I have no idea what this new adventure will be like. But I’m grateful for our Savior, I’m grateful for Brad’s strength and his testimony. And I’m grateful for our church leaders who do their best to help others come to Jesus.
After stake conference ended we were walking back to the high council room for Brad to be set apart and a lady from our ward said to Brad, “See you in 9 years!” Ryder heard that and started crying more than I’ve ever seen him cry. We finally realized that with all this change Ryder thought that Brad was actually leaving us for 9 years. I hadn’t had a chance to explain this new calling to him and I’m still not sure he understands what it means but he at least now understands that Brad will still be living with us and he doesn’t have to leave us.
We were emotionally exhausted after the meetings today and we came home and crashed. I’m grateful our home is such a refuge for us. It’s my happy place and I needed that today. And I needed Lynda Morin’s cookies which she of course stopped by with. She is just one of the sweetest people ever.
It was such a beautiful day today! The sunshine and warmer temperatures felt amazing. I did have to spend most of the day inside the church helping with a funeral though. It was a great service for a wonderful lady so it was worth it. Judy lived a full life. She was committed to her beliefs and loved her family. That’s a pretty good life right there!
When I got home I did take Keena for a walk and then the little boys and I had a picnic dinner in the backyard. I had plenty of time to enjoy the sun!
Tenley was off babysitting all night and Brad and Kade were in Helena for a soccer game. Kade got sunburnt poor kid! Why do I have such a hard time remembering sunscreen?! Hopefully it fades soon.
