Boo!

Halloween started out fun.  Ben made the kids orange pancakes before Lily headed off to school.  Then I had an appointment with my OB and two of the doctors were dressed up.  One was the karate kid and the other was his opponent.  It was great!  I can only imagine what a surprise it will be for the women who deliver their babies today...

 

Ben and I almost decided against carving pumpkins this year just because of how it takes a whole evening for Ben and me to do it.  But in the end, we decided to surprise the kids.  We carved out images of what they were each dressed up as.  Lily was Tinkerbell and Skyler was Bumblebee aka a Transformer aka an autobot to those of you who don't have young sons.

 I needed a drill to do the fairy dust and Ben's battery was dead.  So I got to use his Grandpa's old fashioned drill.  It was fun!

 Ben made all of our Halloween decorations.  We have loved our huge web and spider.  The ghosts have been awesome on windy days because they actually look like they're flying.  Not too shabby for being made from a bed skirt from Goodwill...

 Ben was even dressed up as a storm trooper to take the kiddos trick or treating.  I kind of couldn't help buying it for him when some website had all of their Halloween costumes on sale for $10 in April.

I've always called Ella my little pumpkin.  And that's just what she was tonight.  She sat on the porch with me and waved at everybody who came by for candy.  She was in heaven with all the socializing.  When she saw the kids (but really just Ben) come back she just about died from excitement.

 

This year has been different.  I purposely bought Halloween candy that I hate so that I'm not tempted to eat any of it (although don't ask me whether or not I have stolen any Reese's or Kit-Kats from the kids...)  Never have a baby before the holidays, y'all.  You're never going to lose your baby weight.

 

We hope that everyone had a spooktacular Halloween!



HOW DID I GET SO LUCKY!?

There are days when the thought comes to me, "How did I get so lucky?" 

 

 

I have been blessed in so many ways.  I have a good job, a home, the gospel, good friends, great parents and siblings, 4 of the cutest kids in the world.  But most importantly, I have an amazing wife.

 

The Lord has given me this amazing woman who I can say is my best friend, soul mate, and whatever term you can think of that is more super humanly stronger than those already listed.  How did I get so lucky!?  She could have picked anybody and that person would have been the luckiest man ever, but she choose me!  I actually get to love and share my life with her.  Now, that is pretty spectacular all in itself, but it is so much more than that for me.

 

How can I ever explain to her what she means to me?  How she has changed my life?  How much I respect her and love her? How grateful I am for her and the sacrifices that she has made?  I know that it has not been an easy 7 years and how much we have struggled, but I know that she will always be here for me as long as I am trying my very best to be worthy priesthood holder and husband.

 

I have an awesome wife, a Savior who has already done everything in his power to redeem and help me, and a Heavenly Father who has blessed me and my family in more ways that I can count. 

 

How did I get so lucky!?

Thad's Blessing Day

Thad was blessed on October 20th.  Thank you Mum for getting these pictures when I somehow managed to not remember to take any!  You're a lifesaver!

 

Ben and I have had the tradition of blessing our kids in the outfits we were blessed in, so Thad was dressed up in the tux that Ben's grandmother made for him 30 years ago.  And FYI Thad is a replica of baby Ben.

 Keepin' it classy, Lily.  Ben, how do we have four kids???

 Us with my parents.

 With Ben's parents.

Ben's parents with our kids and Trina's.

 

 

It was a special day.  I will forever count my blessings that that was my first normal day after my anaphylaxis and so I was able to remember it all.  Thad is a special little man and we are grateful that he is part of our family.  I am excited to see what becomes of him as he grows.  As a mom, I've been able to get a small sense of who each child is before they're born, and I'm intrigued to see if my feelings about Thad are right.  I love this little guy.  I can't wait to keep him forever.

Mini Macbeth Reunion

WARNING: Picture overload times a hundred million.

 

Ben's parents are almost done completing their mission papers.  We don't know for sure if we're going to be able to see them again before their mission but we're grateful they were able to come out to NC to meet Thad.  We had a great week with them and the kiddos were (as usual) sad to see them go.

 

 Meeting Thad

 Grandmum and Pop Pop were sweet and brought pomegranates from their trees in Hurricane.  We have little pomegranate addicts who ask for arils every meal now (including Ella!)

 Trina was sweet and braved a trip all the way down here from PA with her four kids.  She's a tougher woman than me!  The kiddos LOVED spending time with their cousins Lindsey, Alan, Blake, and Claire.

 Just a note - most of these pictures of all the cousins were taken either while I was in the hospital with anaphylaxis or when I was at home on a super high dose of Benedryl.  When I was drugged my mind was so foggy that at one point I tried remembering all 4 of my kids' names and couldn't do it.  So I'll let the pictures speak for themselves since I wasn't really present for any of this.

 Claire, Trina, and Thad

 Lily and Alan are only a couple of weeks apart in age.

 



 Lindsey (7) and Thad.

 Claire and Ella.  Also only about a month apart.

Pop Pop brought his water rockets from UT.  The kids LOVED it!  The next few pictures were taken in slow motion.

On Saturday our neighborhood had a Fall Festival and so everybody but me and the babies took off for some fun.  Again, I was on a super high amount of Benedryl and can't really give you any details.

 Ella and Claire were uberly cute together.

 Lily and Lindsey were also super cute together.  They may be two years apart but they really clicked.

 Skyler and Blake.  Only about 6 months apart.

As usual, the kids had to make smile cookies with Grandmum. 

 

It was a good visit even though it was made slightly crazy with my allergic reaction.  But I'm beyond thankful that they were here for it because even with my parents living only 35 minutes away, they still wouldn't have made it here in time to take care of the kids before my throat started closing up.  It was a huge blessing that Ben's parents were here and able to watch the kids right away.  And then I was really out of it the next few days and they were able to fill in where I just seemed unable.  I am so thankful for parents who are so understanding and loving.  We hope to see them this spring before their mission!