Head Down Arms In Knees Bent

This is the part in Tangled where Flynn is about to unknowingly be catapulted through the air.

This is how I feel 

as we're about to embark on another adventure into the unknown

in about a week and a half

Flynn had two things going for him: he was catapulted to freedom and a horse took him there.

Hopefully we fare as well:)

I'm excited

and a little nervous
This is our house at the moment:

Once again, we've never seen the place we're moving to

(Our friends in Oregon looked. They're just finishing vet school...yea! and boo for us!)

Let's hope it works out better than this last time around

Although if I'm being honest, I've kind of grown to like our house here

That being said, I'm even MORE excited to move out!

Toothpick Lunch

The kids had a toothpick lunch today -  a bunch of bite sized foods with toothpicks and dip. Super entertaining conversation began:
*First Cody got really upset because he just knew when he got bigger he wouldn't live with me anymore. I told him he could live right next door to me and that seemed to make him, and me, happy.
*He said he wanted to marry Macey. He has said that several times. I'm not sure if he would be happy about reading that later, but it's so sweet that they are such good friends.
*He expressed a deep desire to NOT have a beard. Several times.   ...?
*He very seriously told me that Braden, Brigham, (two good friends) and him had decided that if Macey went back to being a baby that they would be in charge again. HA HA! (although not true because I remember her as a baby:))
After that Macey tripped walking in my flip flops. She was not hurt but it was cute so I laughed. She shot her finger at me and said don't laugh at me. ("Don't waff at me!") I couldn't stop so I had to look away but she was an-ger-y.

Maceyisms

Macey held a stick out like Harry Potter would hold a wand and said "I'm going to weapon you!" Then a minute after she had impressed me with her sword she instructed me: "If I be mean, you take the stick away."

Every time she gets a Star Wars Gogurt she asks who the picture is. When I tell her - Obi Wan kenobi, R2D2, etc - she will look at it and thoughtfully say, "I would like to call him... boof." Every time. I have no idea why.

Just A Day. But Mother's Day!

Mother's Day started earlier than usual with Mackayla waking up. As I went to feed her Ben kissed me goodbye to go do treatments. Later that morning as I was getting ready Cody asked me if I had put Mackayla to sleep and I ran in the living room to see her snoozing away after she had tipped onto her belly. That is only unusual because being on her belly is not unlike torture in her world.
Ben got back and just as we were loading up to go to church was called in again and we haven't seen him since...and it's night! They were able to give me their cards they made me while their dad was home. Ben even made me one! He told them to draw something I would love. Priceless:
Cody commissioned Ben to draw the horse and he made me a rainbow.

 I'm not sure what the top inside is, but the bottom is a robot with some sort of electricity or fire or lightning coming out of all the arms. Upside down. And a heart.

 For some reason I couldn't get the front of Macey's card to show up but she had written {heart} Mom Carrie.
Then inside drew this: two people inside our house with a heart and a chair. Plus a rainbow on the other page.

Cody and Macey were in a rather obnoxious mood during church if I'm allowed to say that. I was playing the piano for the primary to sing for moms and they both came up clinging to me, kind of crying (unusual at least for Cody). After several clunks on the piano keys by Macey I had a really hard time even sitting at the piano, so I gave them a stern lecture, then realized the bishopric heard the entire thing. Perfect - and happy mother's day:) Mackayla miraculously let the bishop's sweet wife take her while I played in primary then 3rd hour we were treated to delicious cheesecake that Mackayla helped me eat. Or rather, she insisted that I feed her.

We came home to a half boxed house and had an elegant dinner of hot dogs and macaroni and cheese because I decided for mother's day I would treat myself to easy cooking!

I just wanted to document my day because even though some was a little crazy, it was perfect, normal, every day life with a little built into the day reminder that I signed up for this and it's a blessing. Sometimes even a blessing in disguise;)
 This is a quote that I love:

"The greatest job that any mother will ever do will be in nurturing, teaching, lifting, encouraging, and rearing her children in righteousness and truth. None other can adequately take her place....[A]s the years pass, you will become increasingly grateful for that which you did in molding the lives of your children in the direction of righteousness and goodness, integrity and faith. That is most likely to happen if you can spend adequate time with them."

--President Gordon B. Hinckley

Having kids has done wonders for the level of appreciation I have for my own mom. and my mother in law for my sweet husband. Thank you for dedicating your lives to us kids. We love you!

Here's to New Year's Parties. And Marriage!!

The first time I ever met Ben was at gym class at Davis High School.

We also had food's together. 

look sideways

We were in the same cooking group. 

Neither of us remembered that, except our food's teacher is a family friend and she gave Ben's younger brother this picture. 

It is not a mystery to me why we did not date in high school.

He also signed my yearbook "We should hang out sometime."

Ha. Let's get married.

Seven years and many events later, I met up with Ben at Gold's Gym in Provo.

The first time we hung out was at a fake new year's party sometime in January.

Who doesn't love a reason to "party" in Provo?:)

I gave him a random party favor

and he gave me one.

We didn't know it, but we each kept them.

I decided we are going to take pictures each year on new year's together. 

(It's almost the only pictures we have together!)

Christmas 2003

 early 2004 - engagement pics

Christmas 2004

 2005

2006&07??

jan 2008

end of 08 or jan 09

 2010

2011?

 jan 1 2012

16 years since I first met Ben.

9 1/2 since we started dating.

8 years ago {today} that we were married.

It really does get better with time, and we still have a lot longer together.

Forever actually:)

Love you!

Night Night

Mackayla has really gotten smart the last couple weeks. I have a calendar to mark her progress instead of a baby book and I have slowly been putting on the "firsts" stickers, but it seems like lately I have been putting on sticker after sticker. Drinking, waving, teeth, mama, dada, crawling will be soon enough (if she so decides she wants to). Tonight as I was taking her to bed I told her to say goodnight to daddy. She LOVES her daddy and she got a huge grin and giggled a little. Ben waved "night night" to her and she very animated-ly waved back and said "Ni Ni." This would technically be her first word aside from mom and dad. It was the sweetest thing. Definitely one of those rewarding, fleeting moments of parenthood (as opposed to the consuming what am I doing feeling. ha ha.). In all seriousness though, she is so happy and sweet. We love you!