Manchester United

Our family is a huge fan of the Manchester United Soccer team. Especially Jacob and the kids. (I have nothing against them, I just don't cheer as loudly during soccer games. I think March Madness exhausts me and I don't have as much left over for soccer.)

Anyway, a few weeks back, Jacob had a business trip to England. And the kids were convinced (or just really, really hopeful) that he would run into Wayne Rooney. They begged him not to forget to take a picture with him if he did happen to see him on the streets.

Well, Jacob didn't have the pleasure, but he did the next best thing--a tour of the stadium where the team plays. He took several photos with his Blackberry and you'd better believe the kids thought it was pretty awesome. It may have even caused me to take my feelings for the team up several notches. I mean really, how clean and organized is this place?

Easter Sunday

My favorite Easter photo ever

Decorating eggs

We love our cousins!

Jacob's younger brother, his wife and their four kids came to visit and it was honestly the BEST! I don't think anyone who has had our family of six for several days would say that they were hoping we stayed longer, but I can honestly say that about Jonny and Taunya and their incredible kids. It wasn't long enough and we are trying to figure out a way to get them to move to Boston.

We loved talking and playing and having an Easter egg hunt and just being together. And that baby, I could have held her forever. She is one little sweetheart. We miss them all and hope we can get together again in the next few months.

Thanks for coming all of you! We sure love you guys!

Best purchase EVER

Next to the children, of course.

My mom

My mom came to visit last week. And it was wonderful! But then she left. And that wasn't wonderful.

We talked and laughed and watched basketball games and watched General Conference together and ate out too many times and she made sure to spend some fun time with each of the kids and on and on and on. And while my mom will be thrilled with my next statement (apparently she isn't a paparazzi fan, can you imagine?), my tired pregnant brain forgot to take a photo. A single one. That has got to be a first. You will all just have to take my word for it that we loved having her so much and that we all miss her like crazy. I guess a photo can't show that anyway.

Thanks Mom! We sure love you and hope you can come back soon!

Wow

I just had to write and thank you all for your incredible kindness. I tell you, between the blog

 and Facebook (not to mention phone calls and sweet words in person), I could not believe 

how many comments of support and congratulations we received. I was seriously blown away.

We are just as humbled, just as thrilled, just as overwhelmed with gratitude for this 

amazing miracle we have been given. And to feel so loved on top of it all, wow.

Thanks sweet friends.

Gratitude

How many feelings can you feel at the same time? Absolute joy, complete shock, overwhelming humility and total gratitude to our Heavenly Father and His amazing goodness. We are expecting baby number five. And are so very thankful.

Happy Spring!

How Ben talks to his dad

When Jacob happens to be traveling out of the country.

Testing, testing...

:::tap tap tap:::

Is this thing on?

:::tap tap tap:::

Wow, looks like it hasn't given up. I'm sure I can't say the same for several of you.

The good news? I didn't die, have a funeral and not invite you.

The bad news? My need to share my innermost thoughts apparently did.

Is that bad news? Don't answer that.

Okay, let's get you caught up.

I was born in a little town...

Not that caught up.

Life is good. The biggest news of late definitely being that my team (cue beautiful, heavenly choirs singing their name) BUTLER has made it into the Elite Eight. That may mean nothing to many of you and I feel sad for you. But for those that get it, you have felt March Madness joy and it feels good doesn't it? Was I sad that BYU didn't make it? Very. That game last night gave me stress the likes of which have not been seen for some time (and that is saying a lot about yours truly). It was horrible. I was so sad. And I tell you it must have wiped me out, because as the Butler game started, all I remember is, um, nothing, until I woke up five minutes before the entire game was over. Gratefully Butler was winning by a good amount or I would have felt horrible. Their #1 fan sleeping during a game? That isn't right people. Not right at all. But all is well. They play Florida Saturday night and you'd better believe I got all of my sleeping out of my system. Well, during games. Believe me, sleeping is never out of my system.

What else? Oh yes, I have children. That are pretty darn funny and amazing. And you know how people always say, "but I'm the mom and I'm biased"? In my case, so not true. (Well, I am the mom, but I was talking about the biased part.) They really are the four greatest little people (some taller than others) that I know. Come spend seven minutes with them, I promise you'll agree.

Cam and Matt are starting soccer this spring. We haven't played spring soccer since we moved here, because we couldn't find a league that didn't have games on Sunday. Looks like we didn't look far enough. It was in our own town. (Long story, don't judge.) Anyway, I have to say I really love going to soccer games, so I'm pretty excited to be watching my boys this spring. They are such good boys in every way, athletic and otherwise.

Annie decided to skip on soccer (she likes it, doesn't love it) and focus on piano and running during these months. She is really getting great at both. I love to listen to her play, but my word, you should watch the girl run. I would pay large amounts of money to run as smoothly and effortlessly as she does. The first time (many months ago) she decided to try a mile she did it in something like nine minutes. I was proud people, incredibly proud. She will only get faster and I cannot even imagine.

Oh Ben, little Ben. That boy is growing up. Jacob is working from home today and spent some great time with Ben. After Ben had gone upstairs for his quiet time (turned nap), Jacob told me, "He is such a good boy." And that about sums it up. He is three and he can give you a run for your money, but his sweetness makes up for it over and over again. Plus, his dance moves make you sick from laughing.

Jacob/Bishop Allen is doing well. He has so much on his plate you might mistake it for my dinner. But do you know what? He is learning this incredible balance that seems to give his work, his calling, his exercise what he needs to and always makes sure his family has his best. Always. It is something else and honestly, I pray each day in gratitude to be married to him. Plus, he doesn't laugh and jeer when his wife falls asleep during an important basketball game. He just smiles and says "good morning" when she finally wakes up at 11:42pm. And his smile is almost not a smirk. See why I adore him?

Well, there you go. Don't you feel caught up? Don't you feel like you can now go on a better person? Don't you wish this dumb cold weather would go away and spring would bust its way out? (If you live where that has happened, I do not need to know. Do. Not. Need. To. Know.)

Take care wonderful friends. Thanks for sticking with me, even through the sparse times. I'd like to think I'm worth it.

Even with narcolepsy.

Let it begin!

Now I'm ready.

Cracking up

Throwing rocks

Darling boy

Matt's day

Our Matthew is seven years old and his mother cannot believe it. So in honor of our
handsome, happy, funny guy, here are ten things we love about Mr. Matt.

Matt was such a good baby. He was so content and so very sweet from
the very beginning. He made having three children quite a breeze.

And this boy's hair—curly as can be and reddish. I loved it so much I could
hardly stand it. Until his first haircut took it away. I mourned for weeks.

And perhaps my favorite picture of Matt. It represents everything
about our boy...light and carefree and always full of joy.

Not only has he always been so cute I could squeeze
him, his blue eyes are something else.

Matt is one smart cookie. He was excited about school from the
first second. He still loves it and still has an amazing mind.

Our darling boy has the best smile and the best laugh. When Matt gets
laughing hard, everyone becomes hysterical. He finds so many
things funny and makes life good for all of us.

Matt is himself. No matter who is watching or what is going on, he just lives how
he wants. Which is why he is such an obedient soul, he does what is right and
doesn't care what others think or what happens around him.

And this boy is athletic to the core. From the time he was very young,

he could run, jump and kick a ball like you wouldn't believe. He still can.

When Matt puts his mind to something, he goes for it. Whether it be soccer or
learning to ride a bike or solving a hard math problem, there is no stopping this boy.

Matt joining our family was, without a doubt, one of the greatest days of my life.
It is a privilege to be his mom and to have him in our family.

Happy Birthday Matthew boy! You are loved.

Repentance

Yesterday, I taught Ben's class in Primary. The kids are obviously quite young and the lesson was on repentance, so I wanted to make sure and teach them well, but knew many of the concepts were over their heads. I had prepared the lesson ahead of time and it went better than I thought. Even though the kids were only three and four they participated and were really good.

I taught them the steps of repentance on their level—we need to feel sorry, we need to ask the person to forgive us, we need to try to fix it and then we need to try not to do it again. I went over the steps several times, several different ways. To illustrate them, I told a story in the manual. It was about a little boy Ricardo who goes to the store for his mother and while he is getting what she asked him to, he sees some candy he wants. When the storekeeper isn't looking, he puts some in his pocket. On the way home, he eats it and starts to feel bad. He ends up telling his mom what he did, going back to the storekeeper to apologize and giving him money to pay for the stolen candy. The kids were really into it all and seemed to be listening and I was glad.

Last night at the dinner table, Jacob asked everyone what they learned in Primary. When it came to Ben, I asked him who his teacher was. He pointed to me and smiled. I then asked him if he learned about repentance and he said "Yeah, I did." Knowing he had really listened to the lesson and that he had a good memory, I said, "And what do we do when we need to repent, Ben?"

He replied, "We give people money."

Nice.

I think that went well.

Happy Birthday Jacob!

There are literally a thousand reasons that I love and adore Jacob Allen. I cannot even
express the privilege it is to be his wife and how grateful I am that thirty-four years
ago, he was born. And because time and space wouldn't let me list a thousand
reasons I adore him, we'll go with twenty-two. (No reason, just me being
miscellaneous.) And add many a picture to back up my claims.

1. He always takes care of our family.
2. He is incredibly adventurous and extremely athletic.
3. He is smart beyond what I knew was possible.
4. He is a fabulous bishop.
5. He makes me laugh.
6. He truly cares about others.
7. He is an absolutely outstanding dad .
8. He plays the piano.
9. He tells me (and means it) that if I am happy, he is happy.
10. He is very good at his job—and just keeps getting better.
11. He loves to joke around and makes us laugh.
12. He absolutely loves soccer.
13. He teaches the importance of education by example.
14. He speaks Spanish (very well).
15. He has awesome dance moves.
16. He is a lightning-fast runner.
17. He has a red goatee.
18. He is incredibly handsome.
19. He honors his Priesthood.
20. He loves the Lord.
21. He knows the scriptures.
22. He chose me.

Happy Birthday Love! I'm so grateful for you.

With my love, Linn