Ada the Diva

So I don't know what is up with the video on my camera. It is all messed up. But here is my little Princess doing what she loves to do best . . . look at herself in the mirror. Usually she looks and says things like, "My hair's so pretty . . . " or "I'm beautiful . . . " But this time I caught her singing to herself. Pardon the terrible visual.

Treated like a Queen . . .

I remember it like it was yesterday . . . I was hanging out with my family on a Saturday. The phone rang and someone said, "Mary the phone is for you."
"Who is it?"
"It's a boy."
I was immediately filled with dread. I was almost sure it was a certain boy who had been calling lately asking me out, a boy that I wasn't too interested in. But no, instead it was Lamon Mack. Would I like to go to the BYU football game that day with him? Oh my Cow!!! When I hung up the phone I didn't even say a word, I just started dancing around the house screaming. Lamon (only I thought his name was 'Lamond') had asked ME out. It was too good to be true. A cool, extremely hot, good boy had asked me out? This did not happen. I had plenty of boys asking me out, they just happened to mostly be strange men in their late thirties . . . So I was extremely excited.
In the weeks that followed I was swept off my feet. Lamon was the real thing. He was respectful. He was as handsome as I'll get out. He was fun, talented, could sing, he was a family man, and he also was a gentleman. I had been on plenty of dates where the boys would attempt to be gentlemen by opening doors etc. but it was sort of awkward and unnatural. Lamon was the real deal. He helped pull out my chair at restaurants, helped me with my coat, opened doors . . . the works. I felt like I was in the movies. I was completely in La la land.
Deep into our courtship I remember being at home one night with my family and my brothers were talking about what they wanted in a woman. Attraction was extremely important to them and they wanted a girl who could keep up with them in different physical activities like . . . biking . . . snowboarding . . . etc.
After listening to this I became a little disheartened. Lamon was an athlete. If my brothers cared about having an athletic girl . . . what about Lamon. I was not athletic in the least . . . unless you considered a night with Jane Fonda or Billy Blanks as being athletic. I fretted the entire night and wrote Lamon a lengthy email in which I explained that perhaps he should rethink dating me because I was not athletic like he was. I wouldn't be able to keep up with him in any of those sporting activities that he did. And it might not matter to him now . . . but maybe he would regret it later. I wasn't really sure how he would respond to this, but the email he sent back to me exemplifies who Lamon really is.
He told me that it couldn't have mattered less to him whether or not I was athletic. That is not why he wanted to date me. He told me that he was impressed with who I was as a person and my testimony in the gospel. He told me that someday I would have children and that my body would change and it didn't matter to him what I looked like as long as I was healthy. He then told me, "I want to treat you like my Queen in everything."
I will never forget that. That meant so much to me to know that he loved me for the most important reasons, and strangely enough his not caring about my athleticism actually encouraged me to want to become more athletic. And I can honestly say that I have come a long way since the Scottish Jig with Jane Fonda! :)
He is one of a kind. And this is just one example to show the kind of man he is.
I love him so much. He HAS treated me like a Queen. I love our little family and I so look forward to being with Lamon for eternity. I hope I do my part to make that happen! I love you Lamon!
From Last Year: Glimpse of my Man

Mother's Day Gift

I got some great Mother's Day gifts this year. Two days before Mother's Day Hayden kept making comments about how excited he was to give me my Mother's Day present. He kept saying, "You are going to love it Mom, but it's a surprise." And I should have left it there, but honestly I had to endure him saying this all day. I kept thinking, "I'm going to love it huh? . . . Could it be running shoes? . . . Something I'm really going to love." I started asking Hayden some innocent questions like, "Did you go with Daddy to buy it?"
"No."
"MMmmm . . . Did daddy show it to you?"
"Mom, it's a secret . . . but you are going to LOVE watching it."
I felt bad then because I totally knew it must be Tangled. I smiled at Hayden and said . . . "I think you might have just given it away!"
Hayden looked at me seriously and said, "Mom . . . all of those things I just said? They're not true." I thought that was funny. I know . . . I am terrible.
Tangled was a fabulous present. I love that movie and the kids were ecstatic to give it to me. But the best present I received on Mother's Day was that the kids did fabulous through two different sacrament meetings, one of which I had them by myself since Lamon was on his way home from St. George. I told them repeatedly that that was my favorite gift.
I really enjoyed this little book that Drew made for me at school where he filled in the blanks. I think he knows me pretty well. The first picture says, "This is my mom. Her name is Mare Mack but I call her Momee. " In the picture he drew me and the words "love" and "God" and then God is the person below it he says. He said he drew that picture because I loved God. That pretty much melted my heart. The second picture says, " She is beautiful! She weighs 35 pounds and is 34 years old." I'm just going to say that he was pretty close on that one. :) The third picture says, " I love my mom. If I could I would like to give her Tangled." The fourth picture says," When I am at school she does mom stuff. But when we are together I really love to play kobe (which he misspelled, but is a game that we play outside where you try and knock over the other teams sticks across the yard and the king in the middle.) The fifth picture says, " My mom is smart. She knows all about Cooking." Oh my deprived children. J/K I guess I am an award winning cook . . . :)"
The last picture says, "My mom loves it when I am Good. But she doesn't like it when I punch people." I'd have to agree with you Drew! :)

Tribute to my Amazing Mother

• Mother . . . it's the identity that I hold most dear. It is what I want to be truly good at it. I am a mother! And I love it. It is challenging and very often tiring. But why does it bring me such incomprehensible happiness?! I love my children, and I can't think of anywhere in the world I would rather be than at home playing with, teaching, learning from, and being entertained by my children. Why?? Why do I love these little munchkins so much? I know that partly it is just inheritantly me. It is a gift from Heavenly Father. I am sure that I came to Earth anticipating being a mother. But I am also pretty certain that a huge part of my love of being a mother, and my love of children comes from watching my own mother.Here are some of the things that make my mother so wonderful:



• She is fun! Sometimes if I need to get away for a little while I head over to my moms to hopefully play games, maybe do a puzzle with or just talk to my mom. She is the funnest to play games with, and she taught me everything I know about cheating at cards! :)


• She is very talented and has used those talents to bless our family. I am amazed at all of the clothes she made for us . . . our dolls . . . our barbies, all of the costumes she sewed, the dolls she made and sold for years. She is an amazing decorater. Our house was always beautifully decorated. My favorite time of year was always Christmas time. The house was always decked out in Christmas decor from November until January. The Christmas trees she decorated over the years were complete masterpieces.



• She knows how to celebrate. She made holidays absolutely unforgettable. My mom went to such great lengths to make holidays memorable. Christmas's were amazing at our house. The Christmas before I got married I still waited up with my sisters to see what Santa brought for me in my stocking. And that is the truth. She makes holidays fun by sending cards in the mail for the grandkids on almost every holiday, full of stickers, confetti and balloons. She is amazing.



• She had fun with us. She bravely took us on road trips all over the country. Boy have we had some unforgettable vacations.



• She has always listened. I love to talk to my Mom! I could honestly talk to her for hours! And when I go to her house . . . I do. She should get an award for the amount of time she has put in listening to me in my life!



• She was always frugal and taught me to be frugal too. I owe my love of garage saling to my dear old mom, and I just hope that there are many years left to go garage saling with her.



• Mom has spent her life sacrificing for her children. She has seen us all through many challenges. She has loved us unconditionally as she has watched us at different times in our lives make mistakes, suffer heartache, go through divorces, suffer serious physical trials, suffer financially etc. and through all of these times Mom has always been there loving us.


• My mother loved kids. She often has said that there wasn't a day gone by that she didn't want a baby at home. And she had 9 of us! Wow!


• Perhaps the most important characteristic that I admire in my mother is her unwaivering faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. My Dad is a master teacher. I owe so much of what I know of the gospel to my father. But I also owe so much of my testimony of the gospel to my mother. Through all of the obstacles that she has gone through in life she always has relied on the Lord for personal revelation on behalf of our family. And when it has come, she has never doubted it. I admire her so much for that. She is a great example of faith to me.
I love you Mom!!! You are amazing. Thank you for helping me WANT and LOVE to be a mother!