Priesthood preparation

This incredible guy had an interview with our bishop yesterday, in preparation
for receiving the priesthood in a few short days. I'm so proud of our Matt
and the person he chooses to be. Being his mom is one really cool job.

February phone pics

I loved listening to my amazing mom speak about the temple to a group of girls Annie's age in our
church at the beginning of February. It was so kind of my mom to take the time and of course,
she had a beautiful table setting to go along with her touching presentation. Also, hearing my
cute niece share what the temple means to her was equally as wonderful. Oh, and I definitely
can't forget my darling dad who sat with my {mostly} sleeping littles so I could be there.

This is the cute picture I took of Annie the day after she had found out that she had been chosen as
one of only two 8th graders to represent her junior high as a National Junior Honor Society officer.
I am so incredibly proud of Annie's good choices and her hard work and mostly, her amazing heart.
It meant so much to her, and to her mom, that so many of her peers would vote for her. And as I
already mentioned, the talk she delivered at the NJHS induction night was pretty fabulous. 

I've never really been one that is traumatized by getting older or thinks too much about my age.
Until the moment I saw this photo. Sweet chicken, we are lucky the house didn't burn down.

Only you can prevent wild fires. I'm looking at you Linn Allen.

This handsome guy was asked to Sadie Hawkins at the beginning of February.

And the cute girl had asked in such a creative way. Spoiler alert: He said yes.

Jacob and I don't buy each other gifts for Valentine's Day. (My fault, I think it is silly.)
But I couldn't resist buying this lovely guy and putting him on our bed while Jacob was gone to a
church meeting the morning of Valentine's. Oh man, it made my day. Yes, I do think I am hilarious.

It was a Connect Four kind of morning this particular day.

And this, as you can clearly see, is the coolest 6th grade DARE graduate I know.
Love this boy something crazy. And his good heart and the great choices he has always made.

All the credit for this picture that I love so very much goes to Annie and
her fabulous photographer self. And the cuteness of a little two-year-old I know.

Family history birthday celebrations

A fabulous friend shared the most amazing idea a few weeks ago (thanks Adri!) and I knew

immediately it was something our family wanted to do. So tonight, we held our very first family
history birthday celebration and I don't have words for how sweet the experience was for us.

This Thursday would have been Jacob's grandma's birthday. And in honor of her and her amazing

self, we spent some time tonight learning more about her, looking at pictures of her and eating some
of her favorite foods. I was not prepared for how sweet it would be for our family to share that or to
remember the incredible kindness and goodness of Grandma Alice. More than one of the stories
shared by her sons (I had sent a questionnaire out to each of them) made me emotional. And the last
story neither Jacob or I could read, because of how it made us cry. We had to ask Campbell to read it.

I'm so grateful for the wonderful idea of a dear friend and the prompting that our family should
follow her lead. And I cannot wait to celebrate the life of each of our eight grandparents throughout
this year. I can't think of anything better to do with my time. What an incredible blessing.

A girl and her horse

More dance photos

I mentioned that Campbell went on a dance date this past Saturday. With a cute girl that attends
a different high school and invited him to join her for their Sweethearts Dance. Well, a few days
after it happened, the mom of his date sent some really darling photos she took before the dance.
And I wanted to share a few because they were just really well done. And someone in this
family happens to love photography and wanted them as a part of our family history.

Would you like to venture a guess as to who had the idea to do the Dab behind
these unsuspecting girls? Yeah, that oldest child of mine. I seriously love him.

My Valentines

Sweethearts Dance

Another dance. Another cute girl.
Another reminder of the handsomeness of our Campbell.
And my oldness.

This can stop any time now. Thanks in advance.

National Junior Honor Society

Tonight, Jacob and I attended the induction ceremony for the National Junior Honor Society
at Annie's school. Which would be neat, in and of itself, but the fact that Annie was elected
as one of only two eighth graders to be a NJHS officer for her school, made it all the
more fun. And hearing Annie deliver her talk at the ceremony was even better. 

We adore this girl. A lot. She is darling and funny and brilliant and hardworking and beautiful.

 Waiting to begin and hiding her nervousness well.

 And listening to the other speakers.

 It was finally her turn and her talk was fabulous.

 You can't tell she was relieved to be finished can you?

And one last picture of these three close friends.

It was a good night. With a darling girl. We are so proud of Annie and the person she chooses to be.

Ben's special day

 

 

 

Today was one of the sweetest days of my life. I'm so grateful for our darling Ben and for
how prepared he was to be baptized and to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. I could tell how
important it was to him and talking to him afterwards about how he felt made me cry. This boy
is incredible. I'm so thankful for him and for his five siblings and their dad. I'm truly grateful
for friends and family who supported our Benjamin today. It was just a wonderful, wonderful day.

Ben's 8th birthday party

Last Saturday, Ben has his long-awaited eighth birthday party and it seemed to be a hit.

The boys that attended were hilarious and fun and our darling Benjamin was so happy.

A rousing game of pin the basketball on the basketball hoop.

These cute boys had fun trying to build the tallest structure
they could with toothpicks and marshmallows.

And then on to some sports bingo.

Followed by a crazy game of sticker tag in our basement rec room.

Planning an indoor birthday party is not for the faint of heart, but everyone seemed to
have fun and Ben was as thrilled as can be, so we will call it a win. Fun times for sure.

Partner

This handsome guy was promoted to partner at the beginning of the year.

I'm so incredibly proud of him. He is one of the hardest workers I know. He just
goes about it quietly and humbly, so few people know just how much he puts into
his career. He loves his job and every single day, he helps good to happen in the world.

It is the privilege of my life to be married to him.


(And maybe someday he will forgive me for bragging about him. I can't help it. He is something else.)

Another round of stitches

Just minutes before church began today, Grace fell forward, without catching herself,
and hit her chin on the church pew in front of us. Hard. I think my mother's heart
knew the minute it happened, I wouldn't be attending church that day.

I got her out into the hall and within a few seconds, the blood started. When I got
a look at her chin, I was pretty positive we were headed for stitches. But I asked
Jacob to get our friend from church, who is a doctor, to make sure I wasn't
imagining things. A couple of minutes later, we were headed to InstaCare.

And this baby girl, did absolutely amazing. We were there for more than two hours
and she truly only cried for about a minute, throughout the entire thing. She even fell
asleep while waiting for the doctor. And during the actual stitching, she never even
flinched. She held completely still, like I asked her to, and she didn't need
to be held down, like the doctor was sure she would be.

 The nurse that helped us initially was so, so kind to her. I'm so grateful for good people.
She just kept following his every move around the room, more curious than nervous.

I wanted to get a picture of this little darling and when I tried,
she automatically smiled. Honestly, this sweetheart...

 I was so grateful she slept through about 30 minutes of the waiting.

Honestly, this child. I think she was as relieved to be home as her mother.
I'm so grateful that exhausting/sweet experience is over. We are so blessed.


{Our first experience with stitches is right here for anyone interested.}

January phone pics

This is me with sciatica at the beginning of the month. No, I've never had it before.
Yes, it is every bit as horrific as you have heard. Laying still to rest or use a heating
pad was everything I thought it would be. Geriatric lady, losing her mind, party of one.
My hand just shot straight in the air for those who couldn't see me.

I love this baby girl. And her perpetually messy hair.
(For the record, she was looking at a picture of her daddy.
She might love him a lot.)

I left the room for literally 37 seconds. And apparently in those
37 seconds, laundry basket lunch dining became a thing.

Someone has a dad who introduced him to Khan Academy. And he might be a little into it.

Have I mentioned I really love the sky?

Apparently Grace has decided she no longer wants to be the youngest and the smallest.

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, my goal in life is to raise nerds. And it appears to
be going swimmingly. You know, just tutoring his brother in computer programming. For fun.

Campbell boy was asked to a Sweethearts Dance by a cute girl from another school.

Only this darling girl would not only decide to make cookies, but then invite her little sister
to join her. And while putting on her apron, would realize that little miss didn't have one and
take the next several minutes fixing that problem. This girl is just really cool and really kind.

This pictures makes me smile and a little emotional at the same time. Jacob took his first
business trip of the new year (and quite frankly, the first in several weeks, which we were
so very grateful for) a few days ago. And when he got on the plane, who would also be on
his same flight? An amazing young man who is in our ward. Jacob was able to take a few
pictures and then text his parents to let them know their missionary was doing really well.
I know from this elder's mom and from being a mom myself, this was a huge, huge deal
on a morning when his parents were missing their boy. The Lord is so very kind.

Klondike derby

Jacob sent me the following text as he and Matt lay in their tent, ready to go to sleep:

You know those times when the pattering of rain as you
lie in bed is comforting? This isn't one of those times."

I seriously love my husband.

Matt makes everything exciting, because he truly enjoys the moment and has fun.
He is willing to try anything and especially if it involves the outdoors, he is in heaven.

Freezing cold, but happy. Matt really loves life.

I'm so grateful for Jacob and for Matt. They are amazing and good. And I'm also really grateful
for my warm bed and for not being invited to the Klondike derby. Happy day for this mom.

Ben's first pack meeting

I'm so proud of this boy and how hard he worked to earn his Bobcat. It was such a fun
night and we are so grateful for so many good scout leaders and how they help our boys.