OKC Zoo and Cute Cody

Some good friends of ours from Utah State went to Colorado State for vet school when we went to WSU. We haven't seen them since then, but they went to Texas and he works with his clinic at shows in OK City...so we got to see them this last weekend! We went to the zoo one day.

Right as we walked up a woman grabbed us and got us in free because she worked there and was just going for the day. Love that!

It's a way cool zoo. There was even a baby elephant. They had the biggest snakes I've ever seen. Cody was of course loving that. It was around 95 degrees=HOT.

Afton is Cody's age, just three months younger and now he is her boyfriend:)

This is his impression of the chimps who were chillin in the hot afternoon.

Today we were doing some yard work out front. I got out the clippers to trim some branches. Cody wanted to try. Next thing I know he cut a huge portion of a rose bush. I reprimanded him a little and told him to ask me to cut anything down. I turned around to throw some stuff away and turned back around and he had cut down a TREE. The entire tree. It wasn't defiant, just pure excitement over using the clippers. I got after him a little and he felt SOOO bad. But really- pretty funny.

OK Reality

My parents made the LOOOOOONG two day drive here with us. We made it late Monday night and looked at our house. To say it was disappointing would be accurate! We looked at other apartments online that night. But we decided to clean it and fix it up and see. It's so much better now! My parents are amazing. They put in 12 to 14 hour days cleaning, working, moving, doing yard work. (Gobs and gobs of cat hair and dust everywhere.) Basically moved us in in 4 days. The owner also put in a new sink and toilet and fixed things up nice. I'm pretty sure we would have been moving in still next year about the time we move out if it wasn't for my parents. THANK YOU thank you thank you. The day of their flight it was cancelled because of a bomb threat at the airport and it was closed. Crazy. They flew out the next day.

This is us fixing up the yard.

Oklahoma so far:

Today is was hot and sunny, like every day. At around noon it stayed that way, but hailed. They don't say "rain" for the weather when it rains. It's "thunderstorms," because it is and they are intense. But it has been in the mid 90s the last couple days.

The humidity is stifling and it's apparently not bad this year.

People in our ward kept looking confused when they would ask where we lived and I would tell them the roads around us. While I probably got them wrong, I finally also realized it's because all the neighborhoods here, or neighborhood estates, are named...except ours. We live in a little ghetto just north of the main town:) Edmond is a super nice town.

Our house layout is basically exactly like our apartment in Pullman. It makes it feel like home, but the trim is dark brown and for some reason I love that so much more.

One of the first days out exploring we found the cutest museum for kids (it's free, even better!) They have a play store, garden, trains, dress ups, art tables, and a play jail inside. Cody and Macey got in the jail and I asked them what they did. Cody said: "I hit someone." Age appropriate and sweet.

Macey said, "I killed someone." Wha?

Between States

Our stay at Utah went from two to three weeks due to some changes with housing in Oklahoma. We enjoyed our time there!! There were a few nice days that we spent playing outside. Here are the kids at the castle park.

One of the MANY times we ate out...this time without kids. The way it should be (for me to really enjoy it:)) But then again, good prepared food with no clean up should always be enjoyed.

Ben's parents threw a graduation party for Ben at the "farm." Cute Jessi gave rides to all the kids for I'm pretty sure 2 hours straight. What a saint.

The grad

The mostly eaten cake.

Macey sat on my dad's lap with her eyes closed while my mom spooned her cake. For some reason this hit me as funny simply because it is so Macey.

Micah turned FIVE while we were there. They had potato sack races, face painting and fun! Micah is so cute with Macey, she treats her like her own little baby! Macey adores her.

Hogle Zoo now has DINOSAURS throughout the park. Cody loved it. He also loved the snakes.

Cody, grandpa, grandma and Clayton went fishing. We even got to cook up some of their catch. For some reason Cody loves fish, which is a good thing!

One of Macey's favorite people is Ryan. It is so funny.

Ben and I, thanks to the good graces of Ben's parents, took a little getaway to Midway for a stay. We also got to go to the temple-Bountiful which was perfect since we were married there seven years ago. It's so nice to have grandparents to babysit and literally have a 15 minute drive to the temple.

Hmmm, what else. Ben got to see Sam and go golfing with him one day. Which started a short lived addiction to g0lfing the couple weeks we were there.

Back on the Map

Graduation and moving was exciting and crazy. Saturday night was graduation and then we pulled out Sunday morning, off to Utah for a stopover before we headed to OK.

Goodbye house. We knew we were lucky to live there, but now that we're here...BOY were we lucky. Good friends and good neighbors surrounded us.

Goodbye cougars.

Graduation pics...we did it! (Okay Ben did, but I did too.)

Reasons to Celebrate

We are losing our internet today, so I had to sneak this in amidst the chaos of packing boxes. I need a break!
We've grown so much as a family in our short four years here. I'm getting a little sentimental. May 7 is graduation and it's also our anniversary...7 years!
Here's just a couple pictures of our journey starting out in Pullman.(Graduation from USU)
(White Coat Ceremony beginning vet school)
(Vet school open house 2008)

(Cute boys)(The arrival of Macey our Pullman baby...best hospital ever)
(Summer 2009)

(Aug 2010 in our Pullman wheat fields)

(Dec 2010)

Last but not least, I'm so proud of Ben. He is one of the most dedicated people I have ever known. I have loved the last seven years and look forward to many more! Happy Anniversary and CONGRATULATIONS Dr. Crosland!!!!!

Making a Marriage Fly

“To be married in the sense that God expects us to be married, we must fully invest all that we have and all that we are in this person who has been bound to us through the power of the holy priesthood,” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles declares. “Of course some days are going to be more difficult than others, but if you leave the airplane’s escape hatch open because you think even before take-off that you may want to bail out in mid-flight, then I can promise you it’s going to be a pretty chilly trip less than fifteen minutes after leaving the ground. Close the door, strap on those seat belts, and give it full throttle. That’s the only way to make a marriage fly.”

Love it! Put your whole heart in!