Almost there!!!

It's been a long time since I have updated the blog. Well I am super pregnant and ready to pop :) We are both ready to have our little guy join our family and move on to the next chapter of this adventure. We had waited until the last couple of weeks to get Maximus' room prepared but now we have it and are waiting on him. We thought he would surely join us weeks ago. I dropped about 3 or so weeks ago and have been graced with the Braxton Hicks.
Here we are trucking along at 39 weeks and almost 1/2 weeks. The contractions are coming more often then they were so it can't be too much longer! Lana is pretty excited about the baby and tells us all the time stuff is for the "little baby".

To eternity and beyond !!!

We made it!!! Larry, Lana and I were sealed together on January 2nd in the Albuquerque, New Mexico LDS temple. It was such a wonderful and beautiful experience. It was worth every moment in our lives that lead up to getting there! Larry and I did our endowments the same day as the sealing. Although it was a long day it was worth it and the time seemed to fly. Both events were beautiful and worth all the work it has taken to get there!

        Larry and I were lucky enough to have two wonderful people who have impacted our lives in many ways, go threw with us as our escorts. We appreciate the love and support Vicky and Sebastian have for us and for their wonderful spouses who allowed us to stealing them away for the morning. We feel so grateful for them being there with us. We are grateful for all the people who attended the endowment and the sealing. Having that support there is priceless.

We have spent so much of our life together dreaming of this moment. It is the one thing I wanted more

then anything since I was a little kid. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful and loving man in my life that I have been able to share this great experience with! He is one terrific guy who I love more the anything!         

We were even more grateful for our little angel! She is the cutest little angel ever! She was so well behaved and calm while she was with us. Although we only saw her briefly, she was being so good. She looked so beautiful in her little dress. I loved even more that the first words out of her mouth when they opened the door was "mama". What wonderful words!! She didn't want to leave when it was time, which really touched my heart :) She loved playing outside and looking at the "waterfall". She is a cutie pie. We take occasional strolls at the temple and she loves it!                          

I was so excited and thrilled to have my childhood best friend come down to be with me on this journey. I kept crying all the way up to her arrival because of how grateful I was for her being there.

We are so happy for our little family. This was an experience worth everything we have worked for. Its an experience that we can only agree with Spencer W. Kimball on when he said "It wouldn't be far to crawl if one knew what he was getting and what he was missing if he didn't go." What a blessing to our life! We love our life and only want to continue changing for the good.

Merry Christmas

           We hope everyone is enjoying the season and remembering the wonderful blessings that come from the gift the Savior gave to each of us. Our year has been full of blessings that have brought us closer together and closer to the Savior.
           Lana is growing like a weed. She enjoys everything life has to offer and takes advantage of all there is to learn about. She has started to sing along to songs and enjoys playing the piano and drums. She is also our little artist who spends countless hours drawing and coloring. She loves the idea of her baby brother and enjoys kissing my belly. This year she has really taken in the Christmas season and has found a love for Christmas lights. We have taken her out a couple of times to cruise around Albuquerque to see some well decorated homes.
          Larry has spent most of the year as a full time student. The company he was working for was sold and we decided there is no better time for him to gain an education. He has declared his major in Psychology and is still deciding if he wants to be a counselor or get his doctorate and become a clinical psychologist. The expected graduation date from UNM is 2011. He is our A student who enjoyed most of his classes. He is very active in the church and doing service. He has been a great dad spending a lot of time working with Lana. He has been pretty successful with potty training Lana so far.Larry was called as a Sunday school teacher of the 12 and 13 year old. He loves every moment of teaching.
        Nina has been a busy bee as well. In June we found out that we are expecting our 2nd child. We have enjoyed the pregnancy and are excited about the new baby boy that is joining the family. Nina is still in school and should have her associates by the end of Spring term 2011. At some point she will finish up at Highlands University. She is still working as a pharmacy technician and plans to work up to her due date. She is looking forward to the break from doing both work and school. She loves being mom and tries to find time to do fun things with Lana. She was recently called as a Young Womens adviser for church. She has enjoyed teaching the classes and working with the girls.
        All in all it has been a fun year full of adventure. We look forward to the coming year with all the blessing we have coming. We look forward to being sealed together on January 2nd and Maximus coming in February. We hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday season.

Big news!!

Larry and I are very excited to announce that we are going to the temple on January 2, 2010. We have worked so hard for this and are very grateful for all the preparation we have taken to get here. We are ready to take this next step in our lives and make the life long commitment that is involved. We are also very excited to be sealed together as a family, which we are doing on the same day. It's an exciting moment in our lives that we can barely wait for.
We are very grateful for all the love and support we have received from family and friends. We know how important this moment will be for the rest of our lives. We are blessed with so many wonderful people that have contributed to the happiness we feel in our lives.

November

November has been an exciting month. Our pickle bug celebrated her 2nd birthday with lots of friends and family. I couldn't believe our little home held so many people. It was a great time and wonderful company! She really enjoyed being sung to and eating her cake.
The picture of the car above is from November 28th from the Twinkle Light Parade in Albuquerque. It was a lot of fun. The rain was a little bit of a bummer but we all stayed pretty warm and dry.


Of course it's that wonderful time of year when joy, thanksgiving and thoughtfulness is in the air. There is something about Christmas time that just makes the soul sing. For the McCracken household its time for lights. We have our house decorated and are sharing our joy with all who want to see it. We are hoping each year it can get bigger and better. Larry really enjoys putting up the lights and did a pretty fantastic job! We plan on putting our tree up here really soon. We seem to keep our selves so incredibly busy this year. Good news is that the semester is almost over for a nice little break!

We were able to spend Thanksgiving with my parents, sibilings, The McQuarries and Larry's parents; all at one time!! It was great. It was a feast with a lot of people. I couldn't imagine life any other way. I love being surround with people that I love and love me. After the big gathering, Larry and were able to make it to his Grandma Smith's house to again, be surrounded by wonderful loving company. We showed up a little early and were able to visit and hear cool stories from Grandma. it was a great Thanksgiving and we truly are grateful for all the blessings in our life. Our 1 1/2 kids, who have really brought us joy, for the gospel, for repentance, for family, for school and the support we give each other to make all our dreams come true.

YUM!!

Since I have been pregnant, Larry and I have been a lot better about our time management. I have tried to incorporate more baking into my time. I really love cooking/baking and being in the kitchen. The best part is Larry gets such a sweet tooth when I am pregnant so all my goodies have a place to go. I found this website on my friend Jessica's blog and took a look at all the cute ideas for treats. I found this recipe for pumpkin bites that look so magically delightful. I thought I would share it with everyone, since they look so dangerous. I hope to make them here soon. When I do I will let everyone know how they are.

http://www.bakerella.com/pumpkin-pie-bites/

I'm blue.......

So there is nothing like doing your homework and thinking your child is quietly playing or watching the T.V. I suppose for the first rule of parenting is: If you can not hear your child check on your child. A quiet child is always bound to be getting into something.

Larry and I were busy doing our homework the other day thinking how well behaved our little angel was being. Larry was on the phone when little miss angel comes up to me with blue hands. I was far from happy that she had colored her hands and left her in the living room with her daddy to get a baby wipe to clean. Needless to say a baby wipe was far from what we needed. When I made my way back to the living room I found Larry laughing as hard as he possibly could and Lana as embarrassed as can be. Not only did she manage to color her hands, and her mouth, she decided to color from her chest down to her pants. I couldn't believe her. She was a huge mess.




Our little artist in training. Why she had to pick herself as her the canvas I don't know.