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.