Mother's Day

It wasn't until I had my first child that I realized all that my Mother had ever done for me. All those years of small, medium, large, and extra large THINGS. Just things. They were things that were not rewarding. They were exhausting at times. They happen over and over and over and over again, and you can't control them. You just deal with them. Gracefully.
While doing these Mothering things, you are also trying to teach your children something, make sure they have food to survive, a home to live in, and develop a love of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.



And now I finally GET IT!

I have learned so much from my mom, and continue to learn everyday.
It's amazing how much smarter she seems to me now than I thought in high school!

She helps me be a better wife. No matter what complaint I tell her about Chris, she's either been there or advises me on what I should or shouldn't do about it. When I got married, her first piece of advice was "Don't go to bed angry." I wish I could say that it's never happened, but I can honestly say that those words go through my mind when I'm lying awake trying to sort out what I should or shouldn't do to resolve the issue.


She shows me how to be a better mom. When Dillan was first born, I didn't want to make any mistakes. I was worried about changing, bathing, dressing, feeding, everything. He just seemed so fragile and everything was so new. My mom stepped in like a pro and showed me how to do it. She made silly sounds and faces at him, not worrying about who was watching. She held him perfectly so that he slept on her chest for hours. She was never too overwhelmed or too busy to drop what she was doing to hold him.

This is how she took care of me. That's how I've learned how to take care of my family.
It's amazing to me.

Mom, thank you for everything you have ever done for me. Even those THINGS that weren't fun for you or made you worry for me. Those THINGS that were tedious and boring, yet necessary. Thank you for all the times you've prayed for me. Thank you for all the places you took me and all the things I begged you to buy for me even when you said no the first time. Thank you for all the words of wisdom you have shared with me, even when I told you I didn't want to hear them. Thank you for being my perfect example of love, charity, forgiveness, and motherhood. Thank you for being the best grandma and mother in the land.
I love you so much!

Happy Mother's Day!

And to my own children, who have made me into the person I am today and for being the reason to become the person I want to be, I am so proud to be your mom.
My favorite quote from President Gordon B. Hinckley:

"You have walked the sometimes painful, sometimes joyous path of parenthood. You have walked hand in hand with God in the great process of bringing children into the world that they might experience this estate along the road of immortality and eternal life. It has not been easy rearing a family. As I think of you and your circumstances, I think of the words of Anne Campbell, who wrote as she looked upon her children:

You are the trip I did not take;

You are the pearls I cannot buy;

You are my blue Italian lake;

You are my piece of foreign sky."

I love you!