Macy's Special Day...Wearing Her Second White Dress

Macy was baptized on December 5, 2009 and it truly was a beautiful and miraculous day. To give some background, Macy's grandparents (Mark's parents), are in poor health. Her Grandpa Everett is especially frail and weak on his bad days and we weren't sure if he would be able to attend the special day. I had a feeling that the tremendous amount of love he has for Macy would give him the strength he needed that morning to get to the church. Bertella, Macy's Grandma, is a little stronger, but has other health issues that make it VERY difficult for her to be places before noon. She struggles a lot in the mornings. But we knew what a wonderful speaker she is and asked her to give a talk, hoping she could get there by 10:30 to attend the service. We were SHOCKED and so thankful to see them walk in only five minutes late. It really was a miracle, truly! Macy was beaming! In fact, the whole day she glowed!

I couldn't help but think about what that day will be like, in the VERY distant future, when she will once again wear another white dress. I also reflected on the day that seems like yesterday, when she was blessed in her first white dress as an infant. I look forward to loving her until that special day when she will kneel across the altar from a handsome young man and becomes his eternal companion. She is such a sweet child and I am so thankful to be her Mother. I am truly blessed to have this privilege and honor to raise my cute little monkeys. Her baptism day was by far one of the greatest days I've had as a mother.

We had over 60 people in attendance; my parents, Uncles and Aunts, cousins, Mark's brothers and parents, and friends in our new ward. I'm going to post pictures of Macy in her dress before the big day that my cousin's husband took and then the ones from the big day.

Thanksgiving 2009

So I have to write about Thanksgiving before I can post about probably the best day of the year...Macy's baptism. Before I get to that, I want to highlight our first Thanksgiving in Utah. We were asked to host, because we had nothing else to do, (I swear I'm not bitter), and I gladly took it on! Everything went fairly smooth despite the arrival of 9 guests an hour and 15 minutes early...anyone who knows me well knows that equals disaster! I didn't handle this situation very well, but after a minor tantrum, we regrouped and the rest of the day was wonderful! Mark's fabulous brothers, his gorgeous older sister LaRetta and his parents came and the cousins really enjoyed being together. Probably the most interesting thing that happened was when Mark decided his brother needed a haircut. It went well for Mark, but Jeff wasn't feeling it quite as much. Looks like Mark wanted Jeff to join the "no hair on top of your head" club. I think barber Mark did a fine job, but Jeff took it pretty well. What else could he do?

I felt pretty bad because it was kind of obvious that Jeff wasn't real thrilled about his haircut. So later that week, we gave Jeff a homemade hat that said "I love Mark". We also made him a shirt that said "I went to my brother's for Thanksgiving and all I got was a bad haircut". The peace offering made Jeff smile and when he immediately changed into the new outfit, I knew everything was fine between the two brothers.

Thanksgiving was a bittersweet day, mostly sweet, but my heart was a little sad. Across the country in the great state of North Carolina, all my siblings were feasting together around my parent's table. I am grateful to be here in Utah and for the chance to get to know Mark's family better, but we did miss the annual "Tucker turkey Bowl" (football) game that is always so much fun. We know we were missed in NC but were thankful that day that our little family of Aldridge monkeys was together.

My Most Beautiful Daughter Macy Turns Eight!

My baby girl turned eight years old on November 26th which also happens to be Thanksgiving day. She had a birthday party with her friends the week before where she had a movie night which included a concession stand and a red carpet. Everyone at the party seemed to have a blast and Macy was oh so excited to get presents! We love her so much and are thrilled that she will be baptized by her Daddy on December 5th. Included below are pictures of her "friend" party and her actual birthday on the 26th with lots of family! I mean 18 guests...that doesn't include her own siblings and parents.

Discovering Utah

November was a busy month for us getting settled into our new home. Jack and Evan started a new preschool that they absolutley love. We reconnected with family and started to explore some attractions that only Utah has to offer like 13+ temples, the church distribution center, etc...There are already so many things we love about Utah, but I have days of extreme homesickness (like yesterday) where I feel like my "vacation" in Utah must surely be over by now and it's time to return "home". But then I remember that home is where you hang your heart!

On The Road Again....Our Journey to "Zion"

We left on a Monday from North Carolina to make our trek out west. We felt like pioneers without the handcart...thank goodness! Jack stayed behind with Grandma Karla so he could be flown out instead of having to be strapped in his carseat for 40 hours. We missed our Jack but were very grateful that he was not in the van with us...none of us would of been happy! So we headed North from Western North Carolina into West Virginia. The "mountains" were gorgeous! I think it was the prettiest state we saw! I thought they were "real" mountains until we got to Colorado! That afternoon we arrived at the "Holy Land"----The NFL Hall of Fame! The kids had a blast and we enjoyed it too.





Tuesday was a fairly easy driving day. We went from Canton Ohio to Iowa where we stopped and had a wonderful visit with Mark's niece Jessica. I don't know why we didn't take pictures! Her husband is in chiropractic school there in Davenport and it was fun to talk "chiropractic" with them for a while. Along the way we did see Norte Dame and that was pretty cool. Iowa is not a place I would want to live, but our stay there was nice. The hotel was on the Mississippi River and it was neat. We actually stayed in Le Claire Iowa, about 2 hours from Nauvoo.


On Wednesday we spent the morning in Carthage Jail and in Nauvoo Illinois and headed down to Kansas City that afternoon. Carthage was amazing! The spirit was so strong and the kids really enjoyed the narration about the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Nauvoo was also really cool. We visited several little places in the town, saw an interesting movie about Joseph Smith, saw the temple, and saw the spot by the Mississippi River where the saints left Nauvoo to go west. What an amazing sacrifice they made to leave their beautiful temple to go into the unknown! They had amazing faith! We got to Blue Springs, Missouri that night and had a lovely home cooked meal with Anne and Jay Leake, some friends of ours. The kids went over to my best friend from Missouri's house, Jennifer Noland, and played with her four boys while Mark and I had a wonderful visit with Jennifer and her husband Eli. The Leakes let us stay at their house and they were so kind! I forgot to take pictures of our dear friends! Sorry guys!







Thursday we went from Missouri to Colorado. It was probably the most boring driving day because we went through Kansas. We did get to see "Arrowhead Stadium" where the Kansas City Chiefs play. Luke was born there and that's his favorite team. When we got to Colorado Springs that night, Mark's brother Brian and his wonderful wife Mindy and daughter Krista fed us a great dinner and let us stay there for the evening. Their oldest daughter Marissa came to chat with us too and we had a great visit with her. Mark and his brother look a lot alike and they had a great "brother bonding" experience while we were there.



Our final day we drove from Colorado Springs to Utah. If I would of known the route we were going to be taking, I would of had my pharmacist friend Melissa hook me up with some valium! I'm not kidding!!!! We drove on 70 and it takes you over mountains that make the Smokeys look like ant hills. The road felt like it was teetering off a cliff and I was terrified! I literally put a pillow over my face and laid down in the back seat. I almost had a panic attack FOR REAL! But we survived and I will never go that way again. We did get some gorgeous pictures. We arrived after a long day relieved and a little tired. I will post pictures of the house and our latest adventures soon.