April phone pics

This little sweetheart was born to my younger sister on the 1st day of April.
I got to go to her house the next day to spend some time with her cute kids before

she came home with my newest nephew. This little one is just sweetness.

The day my sister came home with the baby also happened to be my little niece's birthday.

I loved spending a few hours with her and trying to make her birthday a happy one.

Another Jazz game, courtesy of Jacob's work, resulted in Jacob sending this photo

of two of the four older kids he took to the game that night. Fun times as always.

I wish this picture could accurately portray the sheer amount of mud on Matt boy.
The field they played their game on a few weeks ago was literally just mud. I've never

seen the likes and hope to never see it again. And yes, he did slide in it after the game.

Nate had a preschool field trip to the fire station and I grabbed this cute photo.

At the store to buy Annie new racing reins, we happened upon some

new baby chicks. Grace wasn't enamored by them or anything.

Like I said, she didn't want to stay there forever or anything like that.

Jacob sent me this handsome picture of him in the oval office. Well, the one

in the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, but close enough.

And because I am such a wonderful wife, I sent this beautiful one back

to show him the loveliness of me with most of my hair chopped off.

Please don't be jealous of my incredible ability to take such cute selfies.

And my April sky photo. Although, it is a little more than that as I snapped

this one on a Sunday afternoon while letting Campbell practice his driving

skills. So it reminds me of beauty and awesomness. And feeling old.

Luke Mulholland

Matt's competition soccer team had the opportunity to be privately trained by Luke Mulholland, who plays for Real Salt Lake. And to say he was a world class guy, would definitely be an understatement.

Not only was he great with the boys, but he both knew how to have fun with them, as well as work them hard. He was funny and kind and really took the time to talk and cheer for them individually.

And afterwards, he signed whatever the boys wanted him to, without complaint and with total patience. Watching Matt during that hour or training, was one of my favorite mom memories ever.

Kind people (who are extremely talented) are the best!

Introducing himself to the boys.

And getting started.

This brought a huge smile to my face for sure.

A game that was both fun and competitive.

Sometimes he had them messing around.

And other times they were competing like crazy.

This guy is just really cool.

Signing Matt's practice jersey.

Posing with the team.

And kindly taking a photo with our Matt.

And when I teasingly told Matt to "smile like he was crazy happy,"

Luke decided to help him out.

It was just a really fabulous evening. I'm so grateful I could be there to witness it.

And take 653 photos.

You only wish I was kidding. 

(Hey, I only kept 11, give a lady a break.)

Almost there

Remember this post I wrote just one week ago? Well, I saw today that Mary's Meals is now feeding 996,926 children (in their schools) on a daily basis. It just floors me to think about that number and so very many children receiving a meal they might not otherwise get. What a privilege to witness such goodness happening and to be a small part of that goodness. We are so blessed.

I love him

Lunchtime happiness

Beauty

One of our greatest blessings

Oh where to start, where to start? My heart is absolutely overwhelmed with so many blessings that I have and one in particular is just constantly filling my thoughts today.

Years ago, while working in Boston, Jacob was privileged to consult for an organization that feeds children who are living in the poorest communities in the world, a meal each day. And the way they go about it is inspired and beautiful. (I'm not going to explain it in the hopes you will take a look at their wonderful concept.)

Both Jacob and I learned to love this non-profit organization so deeply, we couldn't express it in words.

Well fast forward to a few months after we moved to Utah, when Jacob received a call from the founder of Mary's Meals and was asked to be on the International Board of Directors. I truly can't explain how privileged he felt to be asked and how humbled and honored we felt to be a part of something that we loved so much. Serving on the board for the past two years has truly been one of the greatest blessings Jacob has ever been given.

A couple of weeks ago, Jacob received a package from Mary's Meals and in it, one of the first copies of the book that their founder and CEO (and good friend of Jacob's) wrote. I have begun reading it and it makes me emotional just thinking about what I have learned and felt in the first few pages. (I'm intentionally reading it very slowly so that I don't miss a single sentence or story.)

Combine that with Jacob sharing their new website design with me and then coming across the page that shared about each of their board directors and I just sit here overwhelmed with the blessing of being a small part of this group of incredible goodness.

And to make the whole thing just kind of blow my mind, just yesterday, their founder and CEO, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world for 2015.

It just feels like too much and too beautiful.

Oh, by the way, the name of the book? The Shed That Fed a Million Children. Mary's Meals currently feeds 989,791 children every single day. Just typing that made me cry. They are so close to blessing a million children's lives on a daily basis. I just can't get over it.

Thanks for letting me share. I only did so because my heart feels so overwhelmed with what people are capable of doing with God's help and assistance and direction to guide their lives. And to let you know that there is SO MUCH GOOD in this world. There just is. And I can't get over the fact that the Lord lets us be such a tiny part of it and then blesses us immensely when we do.

It defies logic.

And I'm so very grateful.

Happy Tax Day!

Made me smile

With new carpet going down in the entire house, it has been a little chaotic yesterday

and today. All of our furniture is snugly combined into two rooms and meals, 

homework and just everyday living has been interesting for sure. But we feel so

grateful to be replacing carpet that has needed to be gone for quite a while now.

And then, last night, after a truly crazy day, I came around a stack 

of furniture in the kitchen and saw this sweetness in front of me.

 

What a cute girl. What a darling dad.

What a good life I have.

Anything exciting happening at your house today?

These two

This picture cracks me up. Apparently Grace refuses to be seen in a photo with Mr. Cheesemonger.

(And just for the record, I used that term correctly.
Because someone up above definitely specializes in cheese.)

We call this game...

Hidey, Hidey... 

...Boo!

Our new friends

This past Friday and Sunday, we had one of the most amazing experiences we have ever had
as a family. We have some darling and incredible friends, Patty and John, who we have
known since our time in San Diego. Although we have never lived by each other since
our time there, we have kept in touch and we treasure their friendship so very much.

This past July, Patty and John returned from an LDS mission they served in Botswana and
South Africa. They brought home a love of the people that I don't know if I have ever seen
equaled. And because of that incredible love, they found a way to make it possible for a few of
those wonderful African Saints to come to Utah for a few days, to experience conference,
the Salt Lake temple, Zion National Park and many, many other amazing experiences.

Two particular experiences are what our family is selfishly most grateful for.

The first was when Jacob, Campbell and Annie joined their three incredible youth at the Salt Lake
temple to perform temple baptisms for those that have passed on. Not only did Jacob and the kids
tell me it was one of the sweetest experiences that they have been a part of, but just minutes before
they went into the baptistry, Elder Nelson arrived to drop off several of his own family names
to be used for the baptism. And Annie and Campbell were able to perform the temple work
for those names (the darling African youth had brought their own family names to do).

To say the morning was amazing and filled with the Spirit would be an understatement.

And then the second was last night, when these same youth, along with
their parents and leaders and John and Patty, came to our home.

It was sincerely one of the most touching nights I have ever experienced in my 38 years of life.
Without sharing anything that should just stay in our hearts, I will just say that these people are so
deeply good to the core, it completely overwhelmed my heart. It made me want to be better, to
remove so many of life's distractions and mostly, to completely trust God and His plan for my life.

The blessing of being with them on Easter Sunday has me thinking about little else since that night.

And the photo below, when I begged them to smile like they were actually happy
and not like I was torturing them with a camera, makes me a bit emotional.

Because this is goodness.
And this is God's love radiating from amazing people here on the earth.

I will never forget this past weekend. 

Of that, I am so grateful.

Our Hope

"Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives:
'I know that my Redeemer lives!'"

A permit to drive

Yes, I feel insanely old. Thanks for asking.