Our Spain and Switzerland trip ~ Day 1

After a lengthy three-year delay due to one worldwide pandemic and one beautiful mission,
Jacob and I were finally able to take Annie on her 18th birthday trip.

And we started in Spain.

Our first day in Madrid, we quickly fell in love with it. I don't say that lightly.
Beautiful and clean and calm and just so much more than I even knew to expect.

I was a huge fan. We all were actually.

I cannot wait

Two months from today and the excitement is almost more than I can handle!
Love these two so crazy much.


Photos by the amazing Mad Marie Photography.

A full heart

That beautiful girl on the right reported her mission to several stake leaders this morning.
And not long after, she and her handsome dad spoke together during a sacrament meeting in
a nearby ward. And all of it was tremendous and good and filled my heart to overflowing
and my gratitude to overwhelming. We have the most loving God. Always and forever.

Grace's district book battle

The district book battle was today and this darling girl did a truly amazing job.
She was focused and upbeat, all while keeping her team calm and moving along.
She's just a sweetheart. And I loved watching her do something that made her so happy.

So very glad

I really love the temple. I'm so glad God gave it to us.

My favorite third grader

 
Planetarium field trip today with the sweetest little third grader ever.
I'm so grateful for this darling girl and feel beyond thankful to be her mom.

ALL here

 
Although we were all in our church clothes at one point on Easter Sunday (and loved worshipping
our beautiful Savior), we are more of a come-however-you-feel-comfortable-because-all-that-
matters-is-you-are-here kind of people. Which is why this picture makes me absolutely burst
with happiness.Because they were ALL here. And nothing matters more to this momma's heart.

Easter morning

 "He is risen! He is risen!
Tell it out with joyful voice.
He has burst his three days’ prison;
Let the whole wide earth rejoice.
Death is conquered; man is free.
Christ has won the victory."

Kelsey's bridal shower

We had the best morning at a bridal shower for this beautiful girl--thrown by her mom
who is now officially one of my favorite humans ever (after dinner with most of their
family earlier this week and being together at today's festivities). Oh those Johnsons
are the best and I am counting the seconds until we can be linked to them forever.

And speaking of the best, these Allen ladies are truly just the sweetest and most
supportive. It meant so much to have so many of them there to celebrate Kelsey.
I'm so thankful for each of them and love being a part of this amazing family.

What a fun and memorable way to get even more excited about
Campbell and Kelsey's marriage. If that were even possible.

These incredible boys

And speaking of these two handsome boys and their incredible Dad. They are the coolest
of skiers. And I love that they had today together--alongside Jonathan and Caleb, two of our
favorite people and family members. It was kind of the perfect way to end a ski season.

These darling girls

I spent the day with these two darlings, since Jacob took the younger boys skiing, and it was the best.
They are hilarious and happy and grateful and full of light and life. And being their mom is the greatest.

Our Nathan boy

I'll skip on my lengthy and pitiful whining about why in the abominable snowman they would
be holding a first outdoor soccer game with this much snow on the ground and the temperature
enough to freeze each one of us attending. Twice. And instead talk about this boy.

Who happens to be absolutely amazing.

And not just because he scored a goal during the game and a penalty afterwards (guest playing
for a team that is a year older than his regular team), but because he's just so plain good.
And kind and sweet and thoughtful and hilarious and talented and full of faith and light.

I'm forever the luckiest because I get to be his mom.

The kindest of people

I've said it before and I'm pretty positive I'll never stop saying it...when people are kind
to me, I am so grateful. When they are kind to my children, I will love them forever.

Tonight, Annie got stuck (along with a whole lot of other people) on the way to taking her
friend, Katherine, home. And like the good and amazing people they are, Katherine's parents
and sister came to her rescue (along with several others who were stuck). I'm so grateful Annie
was close by their home when it happened and mostly, I'm just so thankful for the incredible
friends we have and how willing they are to be there for my kids. They are truly the best!

On a related note, this weather is unreal. It's the fourth day of April and we are experiencing
the craziest winter storm I've seen in a while. Jacob drove home from the airport tonight and
said it was some of the scariest driving he had ever experienced (and he is not someone who
gets nervous in bad weather). And Campbell and Kelsey had a crazy scary ride back to Provo
last night, where they had to wait on the side of the road until after midnight with the hopes that
when they braved the roads again, they would actually be able to see two feet in front of them.

I think my favorite part of it all (and if you couldn't tell, that was my sarcastic typing)
is our three youngest are off school this week for spring break.

Har to the har plus har.

Now then, I think I speak for everyone when I say, "That will do Mother Nature. Why so angry?"

Oh my heart

The very sweetest moment, captured by Annie. I love it so much.

I truly cannot wait

Just adore these two more than I could say.
And counting down the seconds until the middle of June.
Eek, I'm so excited.

Reunited

Back together again. Sure love these two friends, roommates and
hermanas who served in the same mission. Oh man, just the happiest day.

Our darling dancer

This incredible girl had a dance recital last night. And it was something else to watch.

I feel like I often forget what a beautifully skilled dancer Grace is and what she
is able to do at such a young age. Until I see her on stage. And then it makes me teary
to see the amount of joy and talent she has for something she loves so much.

Oh it was a good night. I'm grateful for it, for the absolutely outstanding dance company
Grace performs with and mostly, for our darling dancer girl. How I love being her mom.

A huge accomplishment

This gorgeous girl. I'm so proud of her I could burst! She's just amazing.

This {almost} daughter of ours defended her thesis for her Master's today and passed.
Big time. (In fact, I think my favorite part was when her committee members mentioned
they should send her out of the room and talk about if she had passed, but she had done
so well, they didn't need to.) As I watched on zoom, I just felt so amazed by who she is,
how hard she has worked, how many students are going to benefit from what she is
choosing to do...ack, we are so honored that we get to have her in our family soon.

Yes indeed. It was a good day to witness this next step for Kelsey and Campbell and their
happiness and greatness. They are truly incredible as individuals and as a couple...well, look out.

We love you Kelsey! Congratulations times a million.
Not sure it is possible to be more proud of what you've accomplished.

Denali girl

Just feeling grateful for this little sweetheart and for the five years she's been with us. She's starting to
slow down and show some signs of old age and it's harder for me to watch than I ever imagined. But we
will take her for every second we get her and be thankful for every bit of it. She's such a little love.

This incredible boy

This handsome boy gave his very first lesson in his young men class at church today.
And according to Jacob, it was pretty awesome. I'm not surprised in the least.
He's honestly just incredible and amazing and I'm so deeply grateful to be his mom.

Grace's first voice recital

There are few people I admire and adore more than Jacob's sister, Angela.
Who also happens to be Grace's voice teacher. She's been such an incredible
teacher and cheerleader to Grace and we are so thankful for her.

And today, alongside Angela's niece on the other side of the family (some other
people we think are pretty fabulous), Grace performed in her very first voice recital.
At a care center for elderly residents. It was truly just the sweetest and the best.

Grace did an amazing job. She's unusually calm and confident for her age and watching her sing
and perform did something melty to my heart. And I know Jacob and Annie would agree.

Oh talented people are something else to me.
Especially talented, kind, amazing people who bless the lives of our kids. 

And a fun recital seemed like a great excuse to stop for a milkshake on the drive home.
Oh this Gracie girl is something else. We love her so much.

Today

An odd day full of unexpected snow, cancelled district book battles, a long nap to counteract the allergy
medicine I took to calm down a cold sore making its appearance and many hours feeling grateful for
the life well lived of someone I love deeply. Mortality is fragile and strange and beautiful and good.

New glasses and district book battles

This little love not only received her new glasses and looks darling in them, but she also
qualified to be a part of the district book battles this coming Friday afternoon. She read
far more books than were necessary and made it by edging out several other teams
from her school. And if you had seen her face when she burst in the door to tell me...
oh I love being a mom. Her mom in particular. This Gracie girl is something else.

A fun night

That darling stud on the left cashed in on his long-awaited birthday gift tonight--
a Celtics/Jazz game with his handsome dad. It ended up being a super exciting
game that went down to the wire and they both enjoyed it a lot.

Sure grateful for this amazing boy and his incredible dad and the fun night they had together.

One of my favorite photos in all of forever

The happiest of nights

Not sure I could have possibly been happier for my girl when she sent
me that first picture late last night. I mean, are you kidding me?!

This whole post courtesy of beautiful Alexa (in the second photo), who texted me weeks
and weeks ago to see if I knew if Annie had plans on a particular day in March, because
Alexa wanted to surprise her (after Annie came home from her mission) with super fancy
Joshua Bassett tickets. Seriously, that level of kindness pretty much blows my mind.

What a fun night for my girl and her friends. And how I love watching my kids' faces
light up with joy when they are doing things they love. It's pretty much the best.