Such a happy day

Tonight Ben and I fly to Utah for three days. I am so excited. My younger sister, Megan, is being
sealed in the temple. One year ago tomorrow, she was married to my awesome brother-in-law, Josh.
And as a huge added bonus, she got the sweetest, most darling little guy ever as her son. I absolutely
love little Noah. So tomorrow afternoon, she and Josh are being sealed in the Salt Lake temple. I am
so happy for them and so grateful that I can be there for it. In addition to being thrilled for Megan and
Josh, I am so ecstatic to be going because my dad will be performing the ordinance. He was called as
a sealer last August and was given the keys by President Monson. I cannot even put into words how I
feel about being there when my dad seals Megan and Josh. What a happy time. I am so, so excited!

Sprinklers

Time flies

Remember this picture?

And now. Eleven weeks later.

PS. Why do these two pictures make me laugh so hard?

Ahhh

This is how I feel right now.

I just spent four hours deep cleaning the house. Happy, happy. I can just
 tidy from now until we move to Boston right? Just kidding. Kind of.

Solemn assembly

Today, I sat down at the computer to read through a talk given in General Conference this past weekend. And true to my nature, I started from the beginning.

I was so very grateful to read the words of the solemn assembly that happened this past Saturday morning. I have felt sad for days because for the first time ever, Jacob and I slept in and missed the first ten minutes of conference. (It had been a very hectic and tiresome week. Ben was sleeping and the older kids were happily watching a fun television show. They didn’t even realize that conference had started.) I felt horrible and was beyond sad to miss this incredible event. I also felt so bad that I had not prepared myself in every way to be available to feel the Spirit that would be present at this occasion.

This afternoon, as I started to read the words of the solemn assembly, I was absolutely overwhelmed and the Spirit testified to me that President Thomas S. Monson is the prophet of the Lord on the earth. I know. I know without question. I know without doubt. I am so grateful.

Creativity just oozes

My friend Christy is amazing. And I mean amazing! I would have to start a separate blog
to sing all the praises I have for her, so I will stick with this one. This is the shirt she and
her daughter gave Matt for his birthday. Look closely at the details please. Enough said.

One shining moment

Can you imagine how much I love watching the NCAA basketball championship? I’m not sure that you can. Tonight it was all the better because I watched it with the kids. Campbell especially was just darling. He is so into it and jumped and yelled and got so very excited. It was just fun. My team lost. His team won. My only wish would have been that Jacob did not have to TA a class tonight and could have been with us.

I have watched this particular championship for as far back as I can remember. Every year. No exceptions. And when it is over…and the interviews have been conducted…and the commentators have made their remarks…and even the station has been credited…my favorite part begins.

The song “One Shining Moment” plays and footage from the sixty-three games of March Madness is shown. I love it. It takes me back to being a little girl. When I would rush downstairs to put a tape in the VCR so that I could record this favorite moment of mine. It takes me back to sitting in our tiny apartment in Provo. The one with the green walls. Watching the games with Jacob on our thirteen-inch television. It takes me back to a year in Missouri when I had a baby that was only a couple of weeks old. And I held him and watched game after game after game. It takes me back to the time Jacob sent me to Utah by myself for five days. I watched all of the games that week with my mom. And my dad even joined us a couple of times. I love these memories.

Tonight though, it did more than just take me back. I found myself a little emotional. I saw these young men (they look younger and younger every year) and I saw the overwhelming joy and the absolute sorrow in their eyes. I saw how they gave it everything they had. And I felt proud. I felt proud of these boys that I do not even know because they were working and fighting for something that was good. I saw how they did their best. And even though at times it was not enough—they fought on. And I thought about how proud their mothers must be. And it made me wonder what good things my children would work and fight for. And what kind of joy and sorrow I would see in their eyes. And I knew how proud I would be of them. And I was overwhelmed with how much I love being a mom.

Clown shoes

I am one child away from having to buy clown shoes. No, I mean it. When I was married, my shoe size was seven and a half or eight. Pretty reasonable for someone who is five feet seven inches tall. Guess what size I wear now? Nine and a half or ten. Nope, not lying. My mom, who happens to be two or three inches shorter than I am, wears a size ten shoe. Now I’ve never thought much about it, but she did mention it to me a couple of times, and told me her feet grew with each pregnancy. She had nine kids. I guess she should count herself lucky that she only got to a ten. I’m not sure I will be so lucky if we are blessed with more children. I may be calling a friendly, professional basketball player to see if I can order my shoes when he does and save us both on shipping.

About two weeks after Ben was born, I put on my walking shoes to, well…walk. It was then that I realized they no longer fit. Stinkin’ Lewis. So frustrating. So that night I ran out to buy some new walking shoes. Did you know that buying a size ten and a half (I buy my exercise shoes larger to avoid blisters) shoe for a woman is nearly impossible? And if you are the woman looking for that size, you are usually too embarrassed that you can’t find it to ask a sales associate? After many, many minutes of fruitless searching, I gave up and walked my clown feet toward the front of the store. Just as I was about to leave, I had an idea. Back I went, but beyond women’s shoes and onto the men’s section.

Now in case you are wondering, looking for a men’s shoe in size eight and a half in about as easy as looking for a women’s size ten and a half. Granted I wasn’t at a fancy exercise shoe store (a waste of money for people like me who don’t exercise as much as they should), so I had a limited number of shoe options. So, I walked around looking at all of the men’s shoes, trying to find a pair that I would be embarrassed if Jacob came home with. Of all the shoes in the entire store, I only found one pair that fit the criteria. And the shoemaker must have felt the same about their masculine appearance because they were the only men’s shoe in the entire store that had a size eight and a half. Happy day! So, when I am wearing these shoes and am asked what size of shoe I wear, I can honestly answer eight and a half.

One more happy thought. In the years to come, my children will have constant evidence of my sacrifice in bringing them into the world…the flap, flap, flap of my clown shoes as I fulfill my motherhood duties. Nice.

I love Conference weekend

Three months

This darling boy is growing up too fast. And he is as still as sweet as can be.

We sure love our Ben!

Decision

Prayers have been offered. Confirmation has been felt.
The job has been accepted. We are moving to Boston.

Passed

Jacob had his prospectus defense today. He passed. He is incredible. We are on our way.

The next few months will be intense.

Liberty

I don’t even know how to put into words the incredible experience that we had this past week. A good friend of our family invited us to join his family to tour a Navy ship. Like I said, almost too hard to describe…awesome, awesome, awesome. We had the opportunity to see nearly every part of the ship and it was just amazing. This particular ship was a helicopter aircraft carrier and just standing on the top of the ship, looking down at the flight deck, listening to the incredible expertise of our friend was an experience our family will never forget.

I have always felt incredibly grateful for our country and those that fight for our freedoms, but this brought feelings that were inexpressible. What they do for us is something that should not escape our thoughts and prayers for very long throughout the course of each day. How grateful I am. With all that we saw, my favorite moment of the day was when we were leaving the ship. I just happened to be behind our friend as we walked down the incline to go “ashore.” Just a few steps down the ramp, our friend paused, stood incredibly still, and with great respect, looked toward the flag flying at the mast of the ship. Tears came to my eyes and my heart seemed to stop for a moment. How blessed we truly are.

God bless America!

Delinquent

I have been delinquent. And it is affecting me in a big way. Well, maybe delinquent is not the appropriate word. I am not a “young offender.” Nor do I have an “overdue installment.” (Although, maybe I do and I just don’t know it.) But if delinquent means “neglectful,” than maybe I have the right word after all.

I LOVE to read! Every year, since I was about eighteen years old, I have kept track of each book that I have read. On average, I read a book every week or two. Often more and sometimes less. But since the beginning of the year, I have read three books. Three books! In fourteen weeks. Pitiful. Now, I don’t want to be too hard on myself as four days into January, I did have a baby. And that does give us four children. Which is more than three. But this has been a real dry spell for me. And I am dying of thirst.

For the most part, I have felt good about how I have handed four children. Granted this last one is a dream, but four kids is four kids. The house is sometimes clean, I occasionally have dinner for Jacob when he arrives home, I let the kids watch no more than six hours of television a day…handling it well I think. (For those of you not reading the sarcasm here, go ahead and be appalled. It will be good for all of us.)

So, I decided a couple of weeks ago I would give myself until April. Ben will be three months, he is getting into a great schedule, he sleeps through the night nine times out of ten…could I really ask for more? My excuses have run out and I can’t wait to get my reading-self in gear. Check the side of my blog to make sure a new book is added every week or two. If not, make sure you pester and ridicule. I imagine that too will be good for all of us.

My heart ached with sadness...and then pride

Last night found us at the church for the annual pinewood derby. Campbell’s first. His sweet dad helped him carve out his car. Cam’s choice. He wanted it to resemble a shark. It sure did. Jacob allowed Campbell to make all of the decisions and the car looked awesome. Now would it be fast? Only time would tell.

Our incredible Cubmaster found a spread sheet on the internet that allowed every boy to have the same amount of turns at racing. Someone figured out how to calculate a winner without anyone being eliminated. It was the best idea ever. Every parent was thrilled. Each boy had multiple (and I mean multiple) turns to race. No one was eliminated and sat on the sideline watching everyone else race. It really made the night fun. And yet, there was still a winner. As it should be. And that car of his was lightning fast.

Cam’s name was called for the first race. The other boy smoked him. I watched his face closely and saw a couple of tears come into his eyes, but he quickly gained composure and gathered up his car. And I was proud. A few minutes later, he was up again. And smoked again. A look of disappointment. And then a deep breath. It happened again and again and again. My heart ached for my sweet boy. Now a pinewood derby matters little in the grand scheme of things. But to this darling boy, at exactly that minute, it mattered a lot. And so it mattered to me…a lot.

The races continued on. I found myself praying. Oh please. Just one? And then it happened. He squeaked in a win. No jumping around. No yelling and shouting. Just a look of pure joy. And he found me in the crowd. And I gave him a thumbs up. And I was so very grateful. More races. And without thinking, I got a little greedy. Maybe one more? But it was only one. And that was good for all of us.

Cam has the greatest dad I know. A man that gave him all of the options, likely knowing his car wouldn’t be the fastest, and yet let him choose. A man who took a minute after each race to adjust the wooden car with the hope that next time the result would be different. But mostly, a dad who put his arm around his son. Again and again. To let him know that it would all be okay. After the races were over, I saw them leave the gym for a minute. When they came back in, Jacob had his arm around Cam. Cam’s eyes were a little red, but he had a smile on his face. And I felt overwhelmed with love. And pride. And gratitude. For my husband. And my life. And my sweet Campbell.

And for pinewood derbys that teach us lessons we all need to learn.

Isn't she lovely?

Matt handed this to me a week ago in church. He was SO proud of the job he had done and the
incredible likeness he had captured. He let me know that he had to put the ponytail on top of my

head because you can’t draw it in the back. It was one of those shoulders-shaking-trying-to-keep-

the-laughter-inside-looking-as-pleased-as-humanly-possibly-for-the-little-anxious-face-looking-

up-at-you moments. One word for you all: BEA-U-TI-FUL! Oh, and I’d better get a pair of dangly 

earrings because I currently don’t own any and apparently Matt thinks I would look ravishing in

them. He really is an amazing artist. No wonder though, look at the subject he had to work with.

Another darling boy

Matthew gave his very first scripture in Primary yesterday. Memorized the whole
thing.1 John 4:14. He just stood up there, smiling away, speaking in his loud
and clear voice. Our darling boy.  Jacob and I could not quit grinning.

Way to go sweet Matt! We are so proud of you.

Easter

Oh how much we have to celebrate!

Growing up

Time is going way too fast.
How I wish I could freeze it...just for a little while.

A Saturday afternoon at the beach

This day I LOVE

MADNESS!! I love love love it.

Covetous

cov·et·ous
1. Excessively and culpably desirous of the possessions of another.
2. Marked by extreme desire to acquire or possess.

Is it that terrible if the item is owned by Amazon and is currently on sale? I could save $810.12.
Isn't there a rule that if you save more money than you spend, it is not only justified, but actually wise
and good? If anyone has $589.88 lying around and wants to cure me of this offense, let me know.

A conversation with Annie

"Mom, what do you mean you have to fill out a bracket?"

"For who I think will win the basketball games tomorrow. It is just something fun and kind of silly."

"Oh, you mean like voting for President?"

Over the river and through the woods...

The kids and I are headed to my grandma's house in the morning. Off we go to a little town called
Pioche. One of my favorite places in the world. The excitement is immense. Jacob has a trip to
Boston and a great amount of work to accomplish, so he won't be able to join us. Wish me luck
on the eight-hour drive. With four kids. Have a wonderful week though. Be back Tuesday.

Here we come Gram!

Can I brag?

I love my kids. Five hundred seventy-eight days ago, Jacob and I decided we really wanted to find a way to make sure and read from The Book of Mormon everyday as a family. We were doing fine on the whole, but letting it slip more than it should have. What do you do when you want something done right? Put your kids in charge of it. So we sat the kids down, explained what we wanted to do, and asked them to be in charge of making sure that we read our scriptures every night before going to bed. I made a simple chart to keep track of our progress.

Two hundred twelve days into it, we were still going strong. We had not missed once. Then on a trip home from Utah, we decided at the last minute to keep driving instead of stopping for the night in St. George. We made it home at 2:00am and completely forgot to read our scriptures. Didn't even think about it until the next morning. Although the kids (and their parents for that matter) were pretty devastated, we decided it was good for us and started from the beginning again.

Tonight we sat together in our family room and talked about our favorite stories from The Book of Mormon. Jacob read a few verses from each person's chosen story and then that person had an opportunity to bear their testimony if they wanted. When we were finished, we had read together as a family for 365 days straight. One year. I am so proud of my kids. As I type this, I find myself with tears in my eyes to think of what they have done. I love the Lord. I love The Book of Mormon. I love my amazing children. I love that tomorrow is three hundred sixty-six.

Smokin'

So, I was reading the blog of my friend Michelle today, and she had a post for a typing test. It appears that she and some friends and/or family members have a little friendly competition going on. Love it. Anyway, I hadn't taken a typing test in a very long time and thought I would try it out. I've always typed rather fast, but wasn't sure how fast (or at least haven't known for quite a while). My friends, this particular test tells me I type ninety-six words per minute. Yesiree. That is a 9 followed by a 6. Felt a bit of pride creeping in there. Yes, I might be feeling a little cool right now. So, for those of you who want to humble me a little...here you go.

FOUR

Dear Matt,

Happy Birthday sweet boy! Your dad and I love you so much and are so
grateful you are a part of our family. You make us laugh, you are so very
kind and you are one handsome guy. You are always happy and try so
hard to choose the right. You are amazing. I love you Matthew!

Love,

Mom

Sandwiches and salt

While making a sandwich for Jacob's lunch the other day, I decided to add avocado.
A birthday sandwich has to be fancy doesn't it? After cutting up slices of the avocado and
placing them on the bread, I sprinkled a little salt on top to give the avocado some flavor.

Matt was watching me carefully and suddenly exclaimed,
"Daddy likes salt on his sandwiches? I SO didn't know that!"

And I so laughed.

Legoland field trip

Photo shoot continued...

Here is Cam's wonderful photo of Jacob blowing out his birthday candles. Look closely.
Can you see the flame remnants? Cam was thrilled. Just what he was trying to get.
Do you see Jacob?  Not the point my friends. Focus on the flame remnants. I love that kid.

Jacob's day

Dear Jacob,

Happy, Happy, Birthday Sweetheart! How I hope on this day of days, you will
know that you mean everything to me. And that I love you so very much.

With my love,
Linn

Interesting insights by my children...

...when they don't know their mother is listening.

Cam: "I don’t get some songs."

Annie: "I know."

Cam: "ABCDEFG…why is there a song with just letters? That doesn’t make any sense."

Annie: "I know. Just letters? Everyone knows their letters."

Cam: "Twinkle, twinkle little star. A song about stars?"

Annie: "I know."

Cam: "How I wonder what you are? Why would you wonder what a star was?"

Annie: "I know."

Cam: "It’s a ball of gas that makes its own light."

Annie: "I know."

Cam: "Why would you want a song about that?"

Annie: "I know. Everyone knows about stars."

Cam: "I don't get some songs."

Nothing

And suddenly it was a little too quiet...

Mom: "Matt, what are you doing?"

Matt: "Nothing."

Mom: "Maatt?"

Matt: "Well, I’m doing nothing now."

Why I oughta...

Don't mess with this boy. Or you may meet his fist of fury.