I haven't done a regular update in awhile!
I'll start back in January, with ski season! Jeremy, Bridger, and Beckham go skiing every Saturday at Showdown from January to April. The boys do the youth ski league and Jeremy usually ski with Tyler Knudson and other friends he meets up with up there. The three of them have excelled and learned so much! They take videos and pictures to show us when they get home, and I love that. They ski from the beginning of classes to closing, so around 9 AM-4 PM every Saturday. They usually get a few runs in after the kid's classes end for the day, just the three of them. Skiing is their favorite sport now!
But I have a miracle to share that happened on one of their ski Saturdays. Jeremy was skiing with Tyler Knudson, and another friend, Robert Yost (another helicopter pilot on base, he works with Tyler). Anyway, they were going down a black run and Tyler had gone way ahead, Jeremy and Major Yost were both trying to avoid a lady and her daughter and Major Yost ended up slamming into Jeremy really hard. They both fell and started sliding diagonally across and down this run. Jeremy was sliding head first, and Major Yost was feet first, and their faces were close enough together that they had this "conversation" as they were sliding. Major Yost told Jeremy that his leg was broken and asked him to please stop them. Jeremy was doing everything he could, but his awkward position and the steep hill made it really difficult. When they finally stopped, Jeremy dug in and held Major Yost in place. Another friend saw what happened and went for ski patrol, and they took over an hour to arrive. It was horrible. Jeremy helped Major Yost stay really calm, and he asked if he could pray with him, and he did. Major Yost finally got to the hospital and he's still currently recovering, but here's the miracle...Jeremy didn't receive any injury. Besides a slightly sore clavicle, he was completely fine. Major Yost couldn't believe it, his ski pole was bent at a 90 degree angle, and he broke two bones in his leg, and Jeremy didn't get hurt at all. Major Yost said it felt like he hit a truck! And while they laughed about it later, we believe Jeremy was protected, his garments covered him from wrist to ankle that day.
Jeremy was the ward clerk since we moved here, and was released several months ago, and was then called as the adult Sunday School teacher. He taught maybe four times (so a few months) before he was then called to the High Council a few weeks ago. He's enjoyed all of his callings and we are grateful he has the opportunity to serve as a High Councilor now and learn this new position. We are still figuring out what that entails for our schedule and things, but we're very grateful. I've served as a primary teacher for the CTR 11 class for the past 1.5 years and have really enjoyed it. I taught CTR 10 and moved up with them with the new year, so I've been teaching the same four girls for this entire time and they are a really awesome class. Just today I was asked to accept a new calling as 2nd Counselor in the Primary presidency, and I accepted! This will be my first time serving in a presidency, so I feel like there's a lot for me to learn and I feel a little nervous, but I'm grateful for the opportunity.
Our kids are doing great with going to their church classes now, and Bridger is really enjoying being in Young Men's. They travel to the Helena temple to do baptisms about once a month, and Jeremy always goes with them, it's been so good! We want to be in the temple with our kids. :) But our ward has been really amazing and each of our kids have really good teachers and good friends.
Our four boys have all been playing soccer this summer and it's been SO BUSY. My goodness. We have two overlapping practices at different parks on Monday nights, games on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and more practice on Wednesday evenings. So four days a week for the entire summer has been filled with soccer in the evenings. But the boys have all enjoyed it and are doing great, they are learning a lot and I see them improving even in just the past few weeks.
We are still loving Montana. The winters are like eight months long and quite severe, and the mosquitos in the spring, summer, and fall are absolute monsters (I'm also allergic to them so my bites get HUGE), but the people here are so humble and good, and the summer temperatures are relatively mild. We love going to the state fair in August every year and eating really delicious ice cream in the dusty barn, haha. We've enjoyed walking on the trail beside the Missouri River, and we've really loved going on field trips to different places with our homeschool group. Jennifer Clark (a sweet Christian lady who used to be in the Army) really took our family under her wings and included us in her co-op she started. She's amazing.
Jeremy leaves for the month of August in a couple of weeks (he's going to SOS), so we're all feeling sad about that, but grateful he can go now instead of when we PCS next.
And my very best friend, Andrea Knudsen, and her family, are retiring from the Air Force and moving to Logan, Utah. My heart is breaking a little knowing that they are leaving in just one week. We went on a double date to get pizza last night with our husbands and it was so fun, and so bittersweet. They are a strong, stalwart, Christlike, and steady family. Andrea reached out to me when we first moved here and really pulled me out of my shell, she's been a true and selfless friend, one who I can truly trust and talk to. I keep reminding myself that it's because of the Air Force that we've met, and even though their time in the AF is done now, I'm grateful we had these last two years to build our friendship. I'll miss our afternoon chatting on Saturdays during ski season, our kids playing and trick or treating together (we both homeschool), going out to breakfast or dinner on Saturday mornings and nights, sitting together at RS activities and girls nights, and before she had foot surgery, we'd get up early on Saturday mornings to walk. And after she had her surgeries, I spent hours at her house chatting with her when she couldn't leave. We also ran together at one time, and walked almost daily together after our workouts at the gym. She introduced me to the gym, helped me feel more comfortable, even on the track and treadmill area, and even a little with the weights. She even taught Anderson's primary class for a few months before they got released to move this year. I'll miss her so much. I feel like we are soul-sisters. I feel so sad she's leaving, I'm not sure how to handle it, honestly. It's been a huge blessing to feel like I have a true friend for the first time in years. I'm praying for both of us, a lot. Everytime we see each other we hug and get sad because we know they are leaving so soon!
