My sweet girl

Last week, toward the end of our first meeting in church, Annie leaned over and
handed me this note. This little girl is beyond sweet. Always thinking of others.
Always wanting to do what is right. She has had an incredible sweetness about her
from the day she was born. I am so grateful for her. What a privilege to be her mom.

One more about our Annie

Jacob and I mention to each other, almost daily, the fact that Annie is incredibly observant. Very little
gets past that girl. This morning she asked me to help her count her tithing money—all in coins. And
as we began counting, she casually said aloud, but almost to herself, "Pennies have smooth sides, but
 dimes have rough sides. What about quarters and nickles?" And my thirty-one-year-old self sat there
 in awe. How could I never have noticed this? Am I the only one that has been in the dark all these
 years? Nothing like your six year old bringing up a detail you probably should have seen twenty-five
 years ago. Oh well. When we were done counting, I taught her how to add money on paper.

Just so you know, I knew how to do that before she did.

Family

We are so grateful for any time that we get to spend with family. And the kids love being with
their cousins. Here is a picture of our kids with Gwen and Tai. They belong to my little brother,
Ben, and his wife, Krystal. It was great fun to be together and we hope they come back soon.
Oh wait, we hope they come to Boston soon. We can't promise a five minute drive to the beach,
but we can promise four kids and two parents who sure miss being around family.

Our ocean

Memorial Day

I feel so very grateful for those who have sacrificed everything to protect the

freedoms that are ours. Can we ever truly be thankful enough?

These pictures are of the memorial service for my great-uncle, Stanley Campbell. His remains

 were found sixty years after he lost his life in WWII. It was an honor to be able to attend his burial.
And to become friends with the man you see below.  Dick Korthals. The last person to speak to

 my Uncle Stan in this life. The pilot flying alongside him just minutes before the accident.

An incredibly kind and sincere and Christ-like man. The sacrifice he made to honor an old friend
will not soon be forgotten. He became like family to us. And for that, we will always be grateful.

My beautiful ankle

Look what I did.

Nice eh? And this is after some of the swelling has gone down. The bruising isn’t too bad (the blue color is quite lovely), but the fact that my whole foot is swollen, and not just the ankle, is a fun bonus.

Approximately thirteen years ago, I tore the ligaments in my ankle while playing basketball. Back when I was a superstar player, of course. During the next four or five years, I kept re-injuring it and when Campbell was a year old, I decided to have surgery to fix it. Jacob claims I started walking on it way to soon. He is imagining things of course. And then six months later, and completely unrelated, I was walking on a perfectly level sidewalk and my ankle turned. In an instant, I knew all that had been fixed during the surgery had been undone. It was bad.

Since then, I have hurt it several times, but it had been many months and I had almost forgotten about my crazy, uncooperative ankle. Last night, I was headed out the door with a basket of laundry to be washed. I was walking the same path I always walk, but this time, as I was cutting a corner between the sidewalk and the grass (had I gone to BYU this never would have happened), my foot stepped in a hole dug by some delightful child (probably one of my own). I went straight down. And so did the laundry. Boy was I glad it was dark. There I lay, amidst a pile of dirty laundry, wondering how to get myself back to the house. My knee on the opposite leg was killing me, having provided my body weight with a place to fall. All the remaining intact ligaments were now saying their goodbyes to my ankle. And my laundry was now even dirtier than when I started out (a hard task to accomplish). I managed to limp myself and our dirty clothes back in the house. Jacob took one look at my face and knew something was pretty wrong. My next attempts at steps helped him figure it out completely.

I’m better today, thanks to the brace the emergency room doctor gave me thirteen years ago. Apparently it’s not just for basketball, my friends. Motherhood also falls under duties that can be accomplished while wearing this fancy-schmancy contraption. I’ve decided I’ll be completely healed tomorrow. I think my ankle just wanted a little attention during church today. We’ve both had our fill and are done with all of the silliness.

On the bright side of things, I got out of doing the laundry last night. And being a former Cougar, Jacob is brace-free. All his ligaments remain friends with his ankles. Lucky man. But sadly, no attention for him during church today.

Overwhelmed

This morning I was out exercising and I came around a corner near our house. 

And I literally stopped in my tracks. The site in front of me was so beautiful. 

The trees seemed huge in front of me. And the clouds appeared to be hanging right

 above them. The sun was barely peaking through one corner of the clouds. It was 

just awesome. And suddenly I felt overwhelmed. Surprisingly, I was not overwhelmed

 with the fact that in just over two months we need to find a way to move our little 

family three thousand miles away. Nor was it the fact that my list of things to get

done is quite crazy as the kids near the end of school. It wasn’t even the fact that out

of the next thirty days, Jacob will be in another country for twenty of them. 

It was the fact that I was overwhelmed with how much I love life.

I couldn’t believe how much I love my amazing husband and my four incredible children.

I couldn’t believe how blessed we have been to live in this wonderful place for the past

four years. I couldn’t believe how blessed we are to have a wonderful job and new adventure

awaiting us across the country. I couldn’t believe how much I love the gospel and how 

much the church means to me. But mostly I couldn’t believe that no matter how difficult

things get, and how many times I feel like I am going to snap (and it has been way

too many times lately), that everything is going to be okay. And this feeling came

to me without words. And it was wonderful to be reminded of all that is good and

all that will work out. And I remembered how much I love feeling overwhelmed.

One in the bed and the little one said...

Ben rolled over for the first time yesterday. It doesn't get old. Even with the fourth child.
This boy is darling and we love him so much. Just an added bonus that he sleeps
every night from nine pm to almost seven am. I think we'll keep him.

A conversation with Cam

"Mom, did you know that in France, Victor is really ten years old?"

"Victor from your class?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, really. Isn't he lucky?"

"And did you know that in Korea, James is really nine?"

That is sure good to know. Not only are our children among the few in their school not from another
country, but they are also among the few that are actually the age listed on their birth certificates.

I love this man

There are many, many reasons that I love my husband. Too numerous to mention right now. But one of them is because he came home early. Not twenty minutes. Not an hour. Not even two hours. But three days early.

Jacob flew to Mexico on Monday night to do some research on his dissertation. He was scheduled to fly back this coming Tuesday morning. Friday night I called him via the computer. A few minutes into the conversation he said, "I have something to tell you." My heart dropped. And my mind started to race with the possibilities. He then followed it with, "I'm coming home tomorrow." I could have cried. Oh wait, I think I did.

He was blessed beyond anything we could have imagined this past week and accomplished all that he needed to get done and more, in a very short period of time. And he changed his flight so that he could be home with us. His family that could have made it without him for three more days. But are so very glad we don't have to.

Grandpa Wally

Grandpa Wally was one of the kindest, most gentle people I have ever known. The way he faced
the trials and challenges that came into his life, especially in his last years, was incredible to me.
Such a good man. And such a privilege to have known him and to be called his granddaughter.

Angels

I am so excited. Saturday morning the kids and I are participating in a walk-a-thon. It is to benefit
the Angelman Syndrome Foundation. Campbell’s teacher has a daughter that was born with
this genetic disorder and his teacher let her class know about the walk-a-thon so that those who
wanted to participate could sign up. Mrs. Evans is very well-known and respected nationally
and internationally with the Angelman Syndrome Foundations. We are just thrilled to be able
to participate. Jacob was planning to walk with us, but his current trip to Mexico leaves the
kids and I to go it ourselves. I stayed up way too late last night reading all about AS and being
in awe at these sweet children (they are known as Angels) and their amazing parents.
What a privilege to have a small part in it. We cannot wait.

Feeling cool

So this morning I checked the visitor traffic on my blogs for the past month. I don't check it too often, but every once in a while I like to see who is interested in our lives or in my organization tips. And I was shocked. There are a lot of people that seem to want to know about us. Or are amused by us. Or who cannot imagine what in the world I might say next. Anyway, here is what I found for the past month.

Our family blog had visitors from 6 countries (the United States, Austria, Canada, the United Kingdom, Turks and Caicos, and Mexico) and 23 states within the US.

And my organization blog had visitors from 10 countries (the United States, Canada, Australia, Austria, Norway, Mexico, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Turks and Caicos, and Japan) and 30 states within the US.

You people made me feel a little cool this morning. Thanks. And please keep visiting. And encourage your friends to visit. After all, there are 50 states in this fine country. Wait a minute, why don't the rest of you like me?

A mother's love

I do not think my day could have been better. Jacob made me feel so loved and so valued.
 It is not an easy task to take over everything, while insisting your wife does nothing.
 And thank you to my incredible children. I did not know love could be so deep, nor
life so happy. And when I sometimes wonder if I am making a difference, I realize
that my love for them is so great, that even when I am far from perfect, they
 are going to be okay. Because this mom loves them like crazy.

Four months

Ben turned four months old last Sunday. What a sweet boy. At his well check on Wednesday, he
 weighed 16 pounds and was 24 inches tall. I probably wouldn't use the word dainty to describe him.
We think he is incredibly darling, but here are a few pictures so you can judge for yourselves.

One great job

We've had several requests for details on Jacob's new job. So thanks for caring and here you go.

Jacob will be working as a consultant for a company called The Bridgespan Group. They are located in Boston, San Francisco and New York. He will obviously be working in their Boston office. They are a nonprofit consulting company and well-known and respected in the nonprofit world. Bridgespan was created several years ago by Bain and Co. and are considered their partner company. Bain works in (for-profit) strategy and management consulting while Bridgespan does similar work, but for nonprofit organizations. For example, a typical project might include developing a growth strategy for a nonprofit organization that wants to take a successful local program to the national level. In the past, Bridgespan has provided work for organizations such as The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Goldman Sachs, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sesame Workshop, the Hewlett Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Packard Foundation.

Bridgespan is an incredible opportunity for many reasons. It is the type of work Jacob loves and is extremely good at, they are remarkably family-oriented and have incredible perspective when it comes to work-life balance, and the people are just amazing—so capable but also very kind. We are extremely excited for this opportunity and while we do not know for sure how long we will be there, this is the type of job that could well cause our children to grow up in Boston.

Cavity free times three

All three kids had a dentist appointment today. Happy day—they were all cavity free. I feel
like when it comes to their oral health, I spend A LOT of time encouraging, reminding,
helping. And sometimes out of laziness, I just want to give up. Today made me think
maybe it is worth it. Three kids old enough to go to the dentist, five years of
appointments and only one cavity so far. It really can't last much longer can it?

You three are fabulous!

Thank you so much Tara, Madison and Kennedy! We loved being with you and it was so
nice of you to let us join your vacation. We love you and can't wait to see you again soon!

Disneyland ~ Day 1

These kids are ready for Disneyland!

Apparently my iron stomach elected me as the chaperone for all rides that spin rapidly and with little control.

The roller coasters were definite favorites. The kids were super brave and rode on every single
one their height allowed—even if Cam exited a couple with his face as white as a sheet.

These girls were so incredibly sweet to Ben. He absolutely loved them!

This fountain outside the front gate was almost as big of a hit as the actual park.

Exhausted, but so very happy, after the first day.

Disneyland ~ Day 2

A couple of the characters we were able to meet.

These kids had SO much fun together!

Exactly which part of this vacation is fun?

We absolutely loved the parades.

One of us in particular was in parade heaven.