She is still riding...

And loves it like crazy. As does her mother.

Here we go.

Warming up.

And adding a little speed.

This was just perfection.

I'm not sure if her smile is because she is proud of herself for that jump

or if she was reacting to her mom's huge goofy grin. Maybe both.

Oh I love watching her do barrels.

Love this picture, love this girl.

Kindness

(I originally wrote this on December 2nd, when it happened, but didn't post it until today. Whether it was on the correct day or not, I wanted to make sure it made it on our blog, in order to remember such a sweet experience.)

Today was a really rough day. Actually, beyond rough and painful. And as I was backing out of the driveway to take care of one of my children's needs, I noticed a car coming from one direction. I let it pass and then without thinking and without looking, I backed onto our street. As I did, I noticed (but too late), that someone had turned the corner and was coming the other direction. I backed right in front of them and completely cut them off. If this person had not been paying attention, it could have had a bit of a sad ending.

It was totally and completely my fault and I was so embarrassed to have done what I did. I waved apologetically and even mouthed "I'm so sorry." I shouldn't have done it, but honestly, because of the day I had had, I just wasn't thinking straight. I felt so ridiculous and silly. I felt like I could cry

And then this women--this kind, kind woman--drove up closer to me and gave me the most sincere, genuine, gentle smile I think I have ever seen. I have seldom had anyone look at me with that much kindness and sincerity, never mention someone that I completely cut off and risked their safety. I smiled back (mine more a smile of grateful embarrassment) and drove on.

And then I did start to cry. All of the difficulty and pain of the day definitely made me emotional, but that wasn't why I was crying. It was because someone had an absolute right to be frustrated with a dumb decision I had made and they chose kindness. They chose to make me feel cared about and loved, even though they were a stranger and even though I had acted unintentionally unkind to them.

I know it seems like something simple, but it felt so much bigger to me. I can't imagine ever forgetting the look on that woman's face. And I have thought about it 1829 times today. And prayed that Heavenly Father would bless her because of her actions toward me.

Every part of me wants to be a kinder person after today. If for no other reason than to make someone else feel how I did today. That woman had no idea I had been struggling so much today. But she didn't care. She responded in a way that made me feel God's love for me in a moment when she had every right to feel frustration and annoyance instead. And it changed me.

Now to make sure my actions show just how much.

Surprise!

I have a friend named Julie. She is seriously fabulous. She is one of the funniest people I have ever
known (hands down) and we happen to share a birthday. And because she makes every person in the
neighborhood feel loved (or mortified) on their birthday, I decided she needed herself a surprise party.

And surprise her we did. Oh man, we pulled it off and I was pretty thrilled.

(I'm two for two now, just for the record.)

So I wanted to share some photos to remember the awesomeness of tonight.

(Side note: I truly believed that only Julie knew we shared a birthday, but apparently, Julie mentioned
that to one other person a while back and she remembered. So when I sent out the email to ask
everyone to be a part of Julie's surprise, this sweet friend (hi Jess!) and her partner in crime (hi Jana!)
sent an additional email and had others bring me a funny gift in addition. It was so incredibly kind
of them, but oh man, I was sad I didn't keep that one under wraps. I managed to keep almost all
of the focus on Julie, but still, it was so very nice of these sweet people I call my friends.)

Okay, back to the fabulous photos.

The decorations are up and food laid out. It is go time.

So many fabulous friends attended. I was pretty overwhelmed at the response.

And while I didn't get a photo of the actual moment (as I was too busy pretending to invite

Julie in for a second before we headed out to dinner together), I did get a photo of how good

these wonderful women are to me and to our kids. Jacob was out of town on a business trip, 

so the kids hung around at the party for a bit before heading to bed. Everyone is so ridiculously

 kind to our children and it means more to me than anything else. I'm just so grateful.

Time to open the humorous gifts we all brought for Julie.

Another group shop of everything enjoying the unwrapping and Julies' hilarious commentary.

And the birthday lady. The tattoo sleeves, the fake teeth, the hat...she is the best.

Happy Birthday my twin! I seriously adore you.

Shoulders

Apparently they weren't kidding

So...this arrived today. Um, crazy cakes.

January phone pics

One of Jacob's brothers received a book during our Allen family white elephant
exchange. And decided that it would be funny to add it to a group of our books
before he left for the night. You can't guess which one doesn't belong can you?

Hilarious, Justin. My OCD heart can't quit laughing.

These boys needed haircuts big time. Oh the handsomeness.

Oh our little Grace. She had a few rough weeks when her sleeping vacillated anywhere
from 22 minutes a day to 36 minutes a day. It was great. And didn't make her exhausted
or anything. As evidenced by this temper-tantrum-turned-nap early one morning many days
ago. And since you can't tell, I'll just mention this photo was taken under the office desk.

This bag of chocolates has been sitting in our panty for well over four weeks.
Which seems wrong on so many levels. And definitely isn't related to the fact
that I haven't had a single bit of chocolate in 30 days. How sad is that thought?
Chocolate lasts at our house about 14 minutes in general. Yours truly goes off of it
and it sits in plain site for 30 days and still going strong. Apparently, I might have
some issues and going off chocolate isn't the worse thing I could have decided to do.

This little lady is obsessed with sitting in small containers.

It makes her abnormally happy. Oh the weirdness.

Did I mention that Annie will be competing in 4-H horse shows this spring and summer?
And watching her during her lessons with the other girls is some of my favorite time all week.
Here they are getting ready to do showmanship. Oh man, I have so much to learn with all of this.

Run

Remember when I found out my foot was a little broken? Well, the healing process didn't go quite as smoothly as we had hoped. But since no one cares about the details (including me), I will just say that the five weeks we were hopeful it would take, turned into about nine. And one day. But who is counting?

Last Thursday, I had an MRI ordered by the doctor and the next morning I met with said doctor. Who told me that the scans showed that my foot does not have a single broken bone in it. {Cue the loud rejoicing!} Unfortunately, it apparently does have extra fluid around the bones that is causing pain, but seriously, if it isn't going to make anything worse, who even cares about that?

Not I, says the Linn.

Because I have officially received permission to start running again. Which is exactly what I did this past Tuesday morning during my exercise time.

And again this morning, when I ran two miles. And while that may not seem like much to most people, after almost three months of no running and almost no exercise for a good part of that, I could not be more thrilled! Even when I fully realized how ridiculously out of shape I am (about mile 1.27) and wanted to lay down and eat a doughnut.

But I didn't. Instead I finished those two miles and got a little teary at the end. (Emotionally unstable, aisle 4.)

I love my life.

I haven't transferred my 13.1 over to my new shoes. But when you do finally see it
on these laces, you will know that I am feeling like a runner again. I. Cannot. Wait.

Preschool field trip

The preschool co-op that Nate and I are a part of went on a field trip earlier this 

morning. Between a tour of a local grocery store and a Krispy Kreme excursion, 

we had a pretty wonderful time. I sure love spending time with our sweet boy.
 

Apparently she warms up to the camera quickly

Campbell's Eagle project

Today Campbell completed his Eagle project. Obviously there is still paperwork to do
(and the box of collections to mail off), but our boy is finished. I can't wait to share more
details about his project and how much we all loved it, but just wanted to document his
amazingness on this specific day. When he did something good (with the help of so many
incredible and generous people in our ward) and made his mother so very proud.

Which isn't anything new.

Handsome

Called to serve

Last night and this morning, and because of Jacob's parents currently serving a mission
in Lebanon, we had the privilege of having an incredible young man in our home.
This particular young man will be leaving to go on his mission in just a few days.
And while that is pretty common these days (and yet, still amazing and miraculous
and inspiring), what is not common is the fact that as far as we know, he is the first
missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called of Syrian descent.

I can't stop smiling just thinking about it.

How I wish everyone could sit with this almost-full-time missionary and listen to his story and
feel of his goodness and be overwhelmed with how positive he is about life. He shared so
many things that have been running through my mind all day. But I think the thing he said
that touched me the most was in response to one of us mentioning how incredible his story was
and how it made us realize, once again, how blessed--even spoiled--we are to have what we have.

To which, this amazing young man replied with a humble smile on his face,

"Everyone is blessed. Just not all in the same way."

Homesick

Jacob flew to San Diego earlier this week to defend his dissertation and be that much closer to being
finished with his PhD. (Just a final revision on his dissertation and he is finished. Happy, happy day!)

When he returned, he shared with us some photos he took while he was there. We loved
looking at them, but I was truly not prepared for how they would make me feel.

It has been a very long time since I felt such a deep homesickness. The four years
we spent in San Diego were, without question, some of our happiest. So seeing
those pictures brought back feelings I had tried not to let myself feel for a long time.

When I look back on my blessings the past 16 years (and there are so very, very many),
San Diego is near the top of the list. Even after six and a half years, I still miss it like crazy.

Little wonder though...I left my heart there.

This boy

Love them

Sunbeamer

Oh this sweet boy. He had a pretty exciting day in church yesterday.

 And from past years. One more to go...

Seven

Happy, Happy Birthday Benjamin Jay! You are so very loved.