Over and out

Last day of school for my three loves. I truly cannot believe these youngests
of mine will be headed to 4th, 6th and 10th in the fall. Proud of these darlings and
their hard work, their amazing grades, their kind hearts and who they choose to be.
And so happy I get them around a whole lot more for the next several weeks.

Beauty and missing

My word I miss our Matt. But love how happy he is in Florida. And that he
often sends me sunset photos. Love that boy of mine something fierce.

Tonight's recital

A spring piano recital for these two incredible boys, their fabulous cousin and
the most amazing and darling piano teacher in all the land. Having my sweet Dad
there to support the boys was just icing on the cake. It was a good evening for sure.

Goodness and light

"My intention is only to challenge a commonly held myth that child hunger is inevitable--
that the scale of the problem is too enormous to solve. It very clearly isn't."

This past week, Jacob spent several days in Glasgow, alongside an amazing friend and the founder
of Mary's Meals, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow. The very same man who gave the above quote.

And these two men, along with several other incredible women and men, gave hours a
day (something they do on a regular basis over technology, but only occasionally in person),
doing everything they could to make child hunger just a little less prevalent. A little less horrific.
A little less overwhelming. And a little less of something that makes our God weep.

Just shy of two and a half million children are fed, every single school day, in their places
of education, in around two dozen countries where it is needed most, by the Mary's Meals
organization. That is truly incredible and wonderful and good and right. And feels deeply
to my heart like something that makes our Father so grateful.

But it isn't enough. Not even close to enough. Which is why Jacob and Magnus
and so many others (including an incredible number of you) keep giving and
reaching and searching and wanting to be a part of the solution.

It brings tears to my eyes, on a regular basis, to see what God's children are willing to do for
each other. As does this picture of two men who keep trying, keep working, keep sacrificing
and who never take no for an answer when it comes to feeding one more child.

I'm so honored to know them both.

The light they carry is a beautiful reminder to me of how much I want to become the person I promised
my Father I would become. And caring and loving and helping others along the way is a huge part of that.

What a blessing to give. What a privilege to love. What a mighty God we get to serve.

Madame Curie

Sweetest little love as Marie Curie in her third grade wax museum debut. She's just the most darling.

Just the happiest

One more month. I want to cry with happiness.

And may or may not have done exactly that in the last 24 hours. Twice.
Because I'm just so thrilled. And so very grateful. And love these two something fierce
and can't wait until their day is finally here and they are married. Just like God intended.

My goodness, I'm just so thankful to Him for bringing them together.

And love them so ridiculously much.

You know, if I haven't mentioned that before.


Photos by the incredible Mad Marie Photography.

Another District Olympiad

Not only did this darling boy take third place today at the school district Science and Math Olympiad
in Krypto, but he also saw his fourth grade teacher (truly one of our favorite humans ever), after not
seeing her this past year because she became a district math coach back in the fall. Not sure which
one Nate was more excited about, but both of them together made for a really wonderful morning.

Love this boy and his brilliant mind a whole lot. And feel so thankful I got to watch him compete and
then witness his excitement when they announced that he and his partner had taken third place, out of
many dozen fifth graders participating in Krypto, from more than twenty elementary schools in the area.

I don't know of much better than seeing your boy push himself so hard mentally
and then experience that much joy. I just really love being a mom.

Especially Nate Allen's mom.

Eternal happiness

I've long believed, to the deepest part of my heart, that I was put on this earth to be a mother.
And I don't know how someone as undeserving and imperfect and chaotic as myself could
ever be granted that blessing. Or be trusted with these seven souls that mean everything
to me and are, along with their incredible dad, my favorite humans in all of forever.
But I will never stop thanking God for them. And for the sacred calling I've been given to
be their mom. I'm so honored that we are a family. For this life. And the next. Without end.

Which is a mighty good thing...because it could never be enough.

A happy mother's day indeed. My word, they just make me so eternally happy.

Beyond words

Sometimes you attend an important event and all the way there and all the way back,
you are just overwhelmed with so much emotion and joy and gratitude, you feel like
you can hardly breathe. And there is so much history and happiness and light and love
surrounding who these people are to you, that you could write for pages and it would
never be enough. And you could never do these relationships justice.

So instead, you post two pictures. And you keep all of the warmth and gratitude and joy
deep instead your heart. Because they know. And you know. And mostly, God knows. After all,
He is who brought you all together. So that you could both be a part of days like today.

And then spend the rest of your life trying to thank Him adequately for the privilege.

Even if, you are well aware, it will never be enough.

Absolutely the best

 

This right here is a photo of an entire soccer team of fifteen and sixteen year old
boys, after practice, walking across the street, to buy every last cup of lemonade,
from a bunch of little kids running a lemonade stand on their street corner. I just
cannot even with these darling boys. Or their young coaches who paid for every cup.
I thought I was a fan of Ben's team before today...you should see me now.

And can we also talk about those cutest two girls on the left who were sweetly
standing in the background, making sure their little siblings and friends were safe
and treated fairly while trying to sell some lemonade? I thought they were going
to hyperventilate when an entire team of handsome older boys showed up.

I cannot handle how much I adore teenagers. They are absolutely the best.
And no one will EVER convince me otherwise.

So much kindness

A beautifully green field, a gorgeous grazing horse and an almost-ready-to-be-dedicated
temple very close to our home. Our God is so incredibly kind.

Lucky Florida

So proud of these two, but already missing them so much, I can hardly stand it. Ugh, even
when I can feel how right something is, I still really like having my kids close by.

But a few months in Florida for summer sales will be really good. And originally Matt
was planning to go on his own, but a spot opened up on the team last minute and there
ended up being room in the girls' apartment, so Edie is joining. And I'm so very glad.

Now to quit being selfish and stop wishing them back in a day or two. I'll try to be
patient until the wedding, when at least Matt can join us for the weekend.

I'm already counting the days.

A second spring dance recital

This beautiful little love had her last spring dance recital last night.
And honestly, watching her dance made me smile so big, for so long, my face
ached a little after. She is an absolutely amazing dancer and just loves it so much.

And then to have so many come and support her--her grandparents, Annie, Matt and Edie,
Nate and her darling friend, Daniel. And her sweet Dad of course. It meant so much
to Grace. And to me. That much love and support is something else to witness.

It was a happy night. I feel so thankful for it.

And finally, a few photos I took of her on Tuesday night during her rehearsal.

Oh, this Gracie girl is just goodness and light for sure.

AP tests and one incredible boy

This amazing stud finished his AP Human Geography test earlier today. And I immediately
checked him out of school, in order to give his brain a break and mostly, so I could tell him
in person how incredible he is and how proud we are of how hard he has chosen to work
this entire school year. He's something else. Love him and his darling self something fierce.

Elementary color run

Out of winter storage

Just a guy, standing outside a barn, waiting for his favorite child to emerge.

Our Spain and Switzerland trip ~ Day 7

Our last and seventh day of our trip was spent eating the best pastries in all of forever, driving
around Lake Brienz and wondering how water could actually be that color and obsessively
thinking about the incredible pastries we had eaten earlier that morning. It couldn't have been
a better ending to an absolutely amazing vacation. I'm so thankful for every second of it.

Our Spain and Switzerland trip ~ Day 6

Our sixth day of the trip was spent driving around Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald, the most
fairytale-like Swiss villages on the planet. Oh, and paragliding off the Alps. As one does.