"Nathan, where are you?"

"I'n in the bafroom. Just playing wif the water."

April sky

All of my April phone pics were limited and lame. Except the one above.

At least to yours truly who will never get over this beautiful world God blessed us with.

Sweet baby girl

Easter Sunday

Because He Lives

Because He Lives.

All photos from this past week found here.

Easter week ~ He lives!

“I love Him. I speak the name of Jesus Christ in reverence and wonder. He is our King,

our Lord, our Master, the living Christ, who stands on the right hand of His Father. 

He lives! He lives, resplendent and wonderful, the living Son of the living God.”

~ President Gordon B. Hinckley

Easter week ~ Of Him I am a witness

“I declare to you that I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that He lives. 

He was born in the meridian of time. He taught his gospel, was tried,

was crucified. He rose on the third day. He was the first fruits of the resurrection.

He has a body of flesh and bone. Of this I bear testimony. Of Him I am a witness.”

~ Elder Boyd K. Packer

Easter week ~ Even born again

 “I witness the reality and divinity of a living Savior who invites us to come

unto Him and be transformed. Through faith in Christ, we can be spiritually

prepared and cleansed from sin, immersed in and saturated with His gospel,

and purified and sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise—even born again.”

~ Elder David A. Bednar

Easter week ~ He will ever be at our side

“I bear my solemn witness that Jesus the Christ lives. He is the Savior 

and Redeemer of the world. He is the promised Messiah. He lived a 

perfect life and atoned for our sins. He will ever be at our side. 

He will fight our battles. He is our hope; He is our salvation; 

He is the way. Of this I testify.”

~ President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Easter week ~ Let us emulate His example

 "He is our Master. He is our Savior. He is the Son of God. 

He is the Author of Our Salvation. He beckons,'Follow me.'

He instructs, 'Go, and do thou likewise.' He pleads,'Keep my commandments.'

Let us follow Him. Let us emulate His example. Let us obey His words.

By so doing, we give to Him the divine gift of gratitude.”

~ President Thomas S. Monson

Easter week ~ The only lasting joy and happiness

 “I know that God sent His Son to the world, to be an atoning sacrifice for all mankind.

 And those who embrace his gospel and follow Him, will enjoy eternal life, the greatest 

of all gifts of God. I know that the only lasting joy and happiness we will ever find 

during our mortal experience will come by following the Savior, obeying His law

 and keeping his commandments. He lives! This is my witness to you.”

~ Elder L. Tom Perry

Seven months

You would be surprised how often my children leave me speechless

During one of the hymns being sung yesterday, Matt turned to me and said,

"I like the outfits the Mormon Tabernacle Choir wears, 

but maybe next time they could wear t-shirts that say,

 Go President Monson! #generalconference."

I seriously love General Conference

March phone pics

Grace meeting Grandma Dawn for the first time. So sweet.

 Jacob wanted to order Thai take out for his birthday and while we were waiting for

our food, we took a good look at this wood carving in the lobby of the restaurant.

It was honestly incredible! This was a very small portion of the whole thing.

This baby makes me happy. She is growing up so much and so fast.

My March sky photo. I took it one evening as I was out on a walk. I love the desert.

 Matt had an eye appointment for new glasses. And decided to try contacts (so that he

could actually see what was happening on the soccer field). He is an expert already.

The weather is warming up and Annie has started to have some of her riding lessons

in the outdoor arena. She has improved so much. I honestly love watching her ride.

And the view from the arena isn't too bad either. Darling girl, beautiful mountains...I'm a fan.

One of the horses at the equestrian center that I am in love with. If I were

a thiefing person I would find a way to steal this lovely thing. And if I

had a place to keep her. And if I had no conscience. Isn't she a beauty?

We sure miss these guys

Our friends, Kathy and Bryan, were here in Utah visiting family and stopped by 

to say hello. To say that we miss them would be a huge understatement. 

They are so good to us and were one of the best things about Massachusetts.

It took Nate about 42 seconds to decide Bryan was his best friend. It was

absolutely darling and he talked about him for many days after they left. 

He actually was ready to leave with them when they had to go. For real.

We miss you Bryan and Kathy! A lot. 

Thank you so much for coming and please come again soon.

Zoo visits and otter obsessions

These cute kids and their mom decided a trip to the zoo would be a fun thing.

So off we went. It has been a long time since any of us visited a zoo and some of these

poor, deprived children you see above never have. Shameful. Actually, not at all.

On the way to the zoo, I asked each of the kids which animal they were most excited

to see. All of the classic answers were given, except for with Matt. Because Matt 

wouldn't give you a classic answer if you paid him. He told me "vultures" in reply 

to my question. Everyone just laughed, because that is our Matt. About ten minutes 

into our zoo visit, I snapped this photo. Who is laughing now? Well, all of us actually.

And the elefantes. Those fellas are big.

Brown bear, brown bear what do you see? A small enclosure with a bunch of crazy

people looking at me. Sometimes I feel like I shouldn't be okay with visiting the zoo.

And then I remember I'm pretty positive I'm not okay with it. I confuse even myself.

Care to try a caption for this photo? Man, I loveth this picture.

And now the fun begins. See that animal there? The one in the water?

A certain little boy was obsessed with a capital O. Photographic evidence?

Why yes indeed. Even with a sibling head in the way. Nate went cray with a zee whenever that
otter came by. His laugh was a mix between sheer pleasure and maniacal. I've never heard the likes.

 Nor had anyone in the area, who quit watching the otter and all stood around watching Nate boy.

The joy lasted a long time. A very long time.

 If you look closely you can see the joyful hysteria on his face.
This boy can be crazy happy, but this surpassed anything I have seen.

And one last wait for the otter to swim by. Nate probably told us 142 times after we left
the otter enclosure, "Otters make me super happy!" Who knew? Not this mother.

And after asking him if he wanted a picture with the otter statue, this is what he did.
Both sweet and creepy, all at the same time. As you can clearly tell from the otter's face.

And this about sums up the end of our zoo trip. At least for the lady pushing the
occupied, double jogger. Good times for the Allens. Good times for sure.

We are going for a different look

(And if only the photo would show how it really looks.  

Blogger, you are driving me absolutely batty.)

You like? Oh man, I do. For years we had a different version. And it was great.

But I decided this year that I wanted something I could print out each year, write in

the names and not have to set up myself each time. So I created the bracket you see

above. And had Kinko's print and mount it. And then wrote in the teams.

And we are ready. Crazy ready. Bring it on.

March Madness people! The excitement I feel cannot be normal.
 

And I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Guatemala and blessings

Jacob was in Guatemala for 10 days earlier in the month. It was a long ten days for us. And a long

ten days for him. But he also loved it. He is doing incredible work. I am ridiculously proud of him.

Even when his travel schedule is crazy cakes. And lest you think I am referring to the above

trip, I am not. I'll share in a few months. When it has calmed down and I can do so without tears.

(Kidding, kidding. I'm getting used to it. Which actually makes me quite sad.)

And yet, whenever I feel overwhelmed by his travel, I remember that I have a husband that works 

extremely hard. Both to take care of his family and to allow me the privilege of being at home.

I'm so very grateful.

Saving daylight, destroying my sanity

Daylight Savings? No, thanks for the

offer though. It has been less than

a week and I am beyond done with it. 

If someone could pass me the petition to

sign to either get rid of it altogether or to

individually skip on it, I would be grateful. Incredibly grateful. Thanks in advance.

7th grade

Our Annie registered for 7th grade earlier today. 

I cannot believe it. How I have two children who will

be attending junior high this fall I cannot figure out. 

She will do amazingly well! She always does.

Ten

Happy, Happy Birthday darling Matt! 

 Your joyful, laughing, brilliant, good self makes our family complete.

We love you like crazy!

Guess who is ready for tomorrow?

Or ready for bedtime? Both work for me.

March 6th

Today this man turns 37 years old. Boy howdy, I am a huge fan of him.

He has given me most everything that matters to me on this earth...

the privilege of being married to him, six amazing kids

and a life I could not have dreamed up no matter how hard

I tried. I am truly a better person because of him and

 am thankful to him and for him every single day.

Happy Birthday Love! I adore you.

District science fair

As mentioned before, this cute girl made it into the district science fair. So this morning,
I drove her to a neighboring town (yes, I know they are cities, but in Massachusetts
everything was a town and I like that better, so I'm altering reality) and we got her all set
up to spend the day telling judges about her project. And sitting. And more sitting. At one
point, Annie, who had borrowed Cam's phone for the day, texted me. She didn't realize that
the six hours she was required to be there meant approximately five hours and thirty-eight
minutes of just sitting. (There are a lot of projects there and the judges have to make it to
everyone.) But she made friends with the kids next to her, played a few games and read a little.

When it was all over and she called to ask me to pick her up, she let me know with a huge amount
of relief in her voice, "Mom, I got an honorable mention." I thought at first she was relieved she got
some kind of prize, but learned after that instead, she was so grateful she wasn't moving on to state.

Apparently, she didn't like the idea of another day of sitting.

(And as one of the worst sitters in the universe, I can hardly blame her. I can barely sit
through a movie without having to get up several times. Just ask Jacob. He loves it.)

We think you are amazing Annie girl! And sure love you.