A family hike

Ancient

These two attended mutual together a couple of nights ago.

I'm old.

Sisters

I've never used that title on our blog before.

It makes me a bit teary just typing it.

Love my girls.

Headed south

Fall soccer

Ben was beyond thrilled to not only be playing soccer this season, but to have his dad as his coach. 

Our boy did so well and absolutely loved playing a more "realistic" version of soccer than the past
couple of years. And I even remembered to bring the camera to his last game. A tiny miracle for sure.

Unfortunately, I didn't remember to take the camera to the many games I attended for

 Matt and Cam (newborn brain I guess). So I thought I would take a photo of all three 

soccer boys instead. And boy, do I love this picture. So all is well that ends well, yes?

Brotherly birthday love

Except Nate. But then again, he finds joy in being a rebel.

Annie Linn

TWELVE words to describe this darling girl:

 • Patient • Loving • Beautiful • Fun • Smart • Happy •

 • Helpful • Funny • Kind • Creative • Sensitive • Caring •

Happy Birthday our incredible Annie! We love you so very much.

Annie's 12th birthday party

Our kids get friend birthday parties when they turn 5, 8 and 12 and it has worked really well for our family. So with Annie's 12th birthday approaching, she knew it was her turn to have a friend party. But after thinking about if for a while, Annie decided on something a little different.

She decided she would rather have a girls' night out with her mom. And believe me, I was more than willing to make it happen.

So this afternoon, Jacob came home from work a bit early and not long after Annie got out of school (hooray for early release days!), we took off. And spent the next seven or eights hours having fun, shopping, talking, laughing, eating dinner and just enjoying the time together. It will forever be one of my favorite memories.

By the end, we were both so tired from all of the intense fun and were laughing so hard we could barely breathe. In fact, just a few minutes from home, at the end of the night, Annie had me laughing so hard I couldn't see the road through my tears and I couldn't even take a breath. (Yes, I'm aware it was a huge safety issue, but I couldn't see to pull over. And Annie made it all the worse by announcing, "Just drive straight, Mom, this road doesn't curve too much!")

As I  mentioned, we packed it a whole lot in those few hours, but I'm pretty positive her two favorite moments were captured by my phone:

Before.

After.
Notice anything different?

And what she wanted so very badly for her birthday. To use during these.

I was thisclose to buying my own boots, because I love Annie's so much.

But I love this girl even more. So much more.

This boy

This boy is growing up so fast. 

This boy still has more energy than any person I know.

This boy makes incredible choices. Even when they are hard.

This boy laughs and teases and loves life.

This boy makes our family just as it was meant to be.

This boy makes his mother so very happy.

One month

The way to a mother's heart...

...is definitely through kindness to her children.

Which is exactly what happened tonight. And it still makes me a little teary to think about.

Annie's birthday is this Saturday. She will be twelve. In our church that means that she starts attending classes with the Young Women. She has been waiting for this day for a long time.

So when the teacher over the twelve-year old girls texted me to find out if these girls could come and decorate Annie's room to welcome her to their Young Women's class, I felt so deeply thankful.

Our kids are doing well. Really well, in fact. But moving to a new home, starting at a new school and attending a new ward has not been overly easy. It has been an adjustment and has been a bit of a heavy weight on this mom's heart. So the fact that these leaders and girls wanted to do something so kind for our Annie, made me a bit emotional.

We were able to get Annie out of the house without her suspecting anything. And she came home to this:

Her very own "heart attack." 

And a mother whose heart was bursting with gratitude.

N&G

To celebrate our baby's dute date...

...these pictures taken of Grace by her big sister. Seriously, can you

handle how darling they are? Because I'm not sure I can.

(Annie girl is becoming an amazing photographer, wouldn't you agree?)

B&G

Bathtime

Fifteen years ago today...

...Jacob Allen asked me to marry him.

I said yes. And have been grateful every day since.

September phone pics

Gracie girl was only a few days old in this photo. She looked so small in her car seat.

Just waiting to pick Ben up from Kindergarten. Usually I walk up to get him, but every once

in a while I wait in the pick up line. I drive back and forth to the kids' schools five times a day.

I'll refrain from writing about how much I love it and how crazy it makes our days. Did I refrain?

A riveting photo of our new car. Well, at least a small part of it. We finally have a car

that fits all six of our children at once. Good job us. Actually, good job Jacob. He picked

it out, bought it and brought it home to a bunch of excited kids. Happy day at our house.

This handsome guy received a Robin van Persie soccer jersey for his birthday. But the delivery

didn't make it in time. So when it did arrive, a few days later, Cam was in the backyard. 

We grabbed the package and the kids and I took it out back to Campbell--singing our family

birthday song with great gusto. Those are the moments that make being a mom the best.

These are some of the trees in the backyard. And I have no idea why I included this photo.

We spend large amounts of time at soccer fields like the one you see above.

And...a photo of the sunrise the other morning during my walk. Which has

happened like once since Grace was born. Be impressed. Be very impressed.

Gracie girl

Grandma Cammy

It was so nice to have Jacob's grandma come and see us for a little while this week.
It was fun to introduce Grace to her and to visit for a few minutes. Thanks for coming Grandma!

A final game of numbers

After this post almost two years ago, I've had several of you ask me if our Grace fit into our birthday pattern.

The answer is no.

The answer is also yes.

As some of you might remember, our family birthday pattern, after Nate boy arrived, went a lot like this: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14. A lovely pattern indeed. So it stands to reason that we were all hoping that Grace would be born on either the 2nd or the 16th. Except in truth, I wasn't.

Because in order to be born on the 2nd, she would have to show up five weeks early, on September 2nd, which was not worth it in any way. (Technically she could have arrived October 2nd, but we have done this enough to know that was definitely not happening. Yours truly was not having a baby two days before her due date. Not possible.) And the 16th was only two days after our Campbell's birthday. And because I like to make such a big deal out of birthdays, I sure am grateful to have as many days between them as I can. So I was just hoping little Grace would show up on a day that was already in our birthday pattern and we could call it good.

Just over two weeks ago, on September 9th, I woke up feeling strange and like something wasn't right. Which is a funny thing for someone who has had painful contractions for almost 20 weeks, along with a million other crazy pregnancy problems. I couldn't really verbalize why, but I knew without question I needed to call the doctor. I did and and made an appointment for later in the afternoon. And even though I knew I needed to go, I felt a bit silly. I had just been in four days earlier and had another appointment in two days. But off I went.

And about thirty minutes into the appointment is when I was told I would be going straight to the hospital and that our baby girl was coming that day. As I mentioned in a previous post, I called Jacob to let him know and then just kind of sat in the car trying to wrap my mind around the fact that our little girl would be here soon.

Not many minutes later, Jacob showed up at the parking lot of the doctor's office and the first words out of his mouth were, "So are you okay with our baby being born on the 9th?"

And without hesitation, I replied, "Absolutely."

You see, in those quiet moments I had spent in the car, I had been thinking and praying. I was feeling so overwhelmed with the privilege it was to be a mom and for the five children I already had that I adore beyond what I could ever convey. And while this pregnancy had been the hardest I had ever had and I was just oh so very exhausted, I knew, with every part of my heart, our little girl was worth anything it took to get her here. She was supposed to be in our family and both Jacob and I knew it, long before she actually joined our family on this earth. And I couldn't wait to meet her. Because I knew, absolutely knew, that this was the day she was supposed to be born. No, I don't think the Lord cared one way or the other that her birthday was on the 9th, but I did know that her day to come was that exact day and He had protected her and kept her safe so that she could arrive when she should have. So whether it was the 2nd or the 16th or the 9th or the 23rd...it suddenly didn't matter in my heart.

So to answer the question several of you have asked me...does our little Grace fit within the birthday pattern I originally planned? Not like I thought might be the case. And yet, like each of our other children, she fits perfectly.

Just exactly where she belongs.

(And I guess I really should mention, if you really think about it, she technically does work 

right into our birthday pattern quite well. 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14. See how she fits right in the

middle there and makes our pattern complete? Just like she does for her momma's heart.)

We proudly introduce...

My Gram

I am so grateful my grandma was able to visit for a few days and see baby Grace.

I'm so thankful to my Mom for making it possible for her to be here.

I seriously love this picture of my grandma and little Grace together.

Some photos that make me laugh

 This one cracks me up. Milk on the face and a look that says, 

"If you could knock it off with that camera, I would greatly appreciate it."

And I can't decide if I love this one or if she looks like a little elf.

I think both.