Annie and Shylo

Our beautiful Annie

Annie was asked by a professional photographer in the area to model for a photo
shoot. And include the horse she rode for a couple of years in the pictures. Pretty much a
dream come true for our gorgeous cowgirl. It was so fun to be a part of it tonight. And after
it was over and the light was still amazing, I took a photo or three hundred of my own.
I can't wait to share a few because well, that light. And that beautiful girl of mine.

Little G

March Gladness

Could you just die from excitement? Because I could just die from excitement.

Now time to write in the teams.

Matt's 13th Birthday

Happy Birthday to my incredible Matthew! How he could be a teenager
already, I can't figure out. He is handsome and athletic and hilarious
and brilliant and good. And it is an absolute honor to be his mom.

Jacob's 40th Birthday

Forty years ago this very day, this handsome man was born. And I count it as one of the
greatest blessings of my life. My Heavenly Father knew that I needed to be married to
Jacob Allen, so that my life could be as joyful and wonderful and adventurous as possible.
Jacob makes me laugh harder than anyone else, think deeper than I would ever chose
to on my own and love more than I knew possible. Marriage to him has exceeded
my expectations in every way and I thank the Lord every day that Jacob chose me.

Happy Birthday Love! You mean everything to me.

A whole lot of gratitude

These two lovely people are some of the best humans I have ever known. They are good and
kind and so fun to be around and the fact that I get to be related to them is truly a privilege.

They acted like it was their pleasure to tend our kids this past week and not only made
life fun and wonderful while we were gone, but we came home to an incredibly
clean house and everyone perfectly happy. I'm so grateful for both of them.

 And thank my Heavenly Father everyday for their oldest son and how they raised him
and loved him. And how their incredible goodness and kindness blesses me constantly.

Our Mexico trip ~ Day 6

Spending the last five days (six including today's day of travel) in Mexico
for our 40th birthdays will always be one of my favorite memories ever.
We had an absolutely incredible time and I just feel thankful to the bottom
of my heart for the experience and to my kind in-laws for taking care of our
kids so wonderfully well and making it possible. I have such an amazing life.

I'm so very blessed.

And I love Jacob Allen something fierce.

Our Mexico trip ~ Day 5

Our last full day in Mexico was spent at the ruins of Ek Balam and visiting the fabulous pueblo of
Valladolid. Both were incredibly wonderful. From what we learned about the ancient Mayan people,
to Jacob taking a sweet opportunity to share about the gospel of Jesus Christ with our guide there,
to spending quite a bit of time in such a neat small town...I really loved it all. It was such a good day.

Our Mexico trip ~ Day 4

The theme for our fourth day in Mexico was definitely snorkeling. We spent some time in a gorgeous
lagoon, as well as the ocean, and it was just beautiful beyond words. Jacob took all of the underwater
photos, as well as some amazing video, and I love it all. What a great reminder of an incredible day.

Our Mexico trip ~ Day 3

Our third day was absolutely fabulous. Jacob reserved several hours with an adventure
company called Selva Maya and it was just awesome. Usually they deal with at least
a couple of dozen people in a group and we were literally the only ones in our group 

that morning. We went on several zip lines, rock climbed, rappelled and swam in two
cenotes. It was all amazing, but the cenotes were unreal. Especially the second one
that was completely underground. It was one of my coolest experiences ever.

Our Mexico trip ~ Day 2

We decided to keep things extra calm and relaxing on the day after we traveled
and I'm so glad we did. It was nice just to drive around the area, take several walks

on the beach and see one of the small pueblos close by. I really loved the whole day.