Fun Mother's Day!

Mother's Day always starts with a fun breakfast in bed. Don and the kids bring breakfast into me and all the kids pile on the bed and eat and giggle. Don has gotten so good at this, he and Michael made brought in extra bagels so we are weren't eating the same 1/2 slice this year. The bagels were accompanied by a big bowl of watermelon and a bowl of strawberries and kiwi. The kids gave me some cute gifts and cards they made.
MY "MANY HATS OF MOTHER" CHARM BRACELET

Today our family was asked to speak at church about charity and mothers. The kids were all really excited to speak. So we headed over to the church a few minutes early and the younger kids all took a turn practicing at the pulpit before the chapel started to fill up. Jake actually gave his talk then if you were one of the lucky 3 people to hear it. He was a little off today and wasn't a real happy camper during much of the meeting. Thank goodness for good friends and grandparents to help out. It was so great that Don's parents were able to come to hear the talks. Jake perked right up when Grandaddy took a handful of change out of his pocket to console him while I gave my talk. He is really excited to go to the store tomorrow to buy toys with his newfound wealth. Poor boy is in for a disappointment when he finds out what 23 cents really buys!

Hayley started off the meeting talking about charity, then ways we can help our mothers. She did an awesome job - a 2 1/2 minute talk for a 5 year old in front of so many people, I know I couldn't have done something like that when I was her age. Then Michael followed her with a great talk on charity. Trevor rounded out the kid talks by telling the story of the Army of Helaman and the warriors who had "mothers who knew". He then talked about important things mothers know today and gave some great examples. After he finished, he joined the older primary boys and sang "We'll Bring the World his Truth" and then the rest of the primary joined in singing "Love is Spoken Here". They all did a great job. Personally, I was all for ending the meeting there but since there was still 15 minutes left, I spoke for a couple of minutes and then, being the charitable person I am, gave the majority of the remaining time to Don! After the meeting was over, it was a sweet experience to have Michael come straight to give me his first flower as he helped the youth pass out the Mother's Day flowers for the ward. I even got a hug out of it! It was definitely a proud mama moment this morning, listening the kids giving their talks so calmly, watching their sweet testimonies grow.



This afternoon we made some great desserts and chocolate covered strawberries and headed over to Don's cousins, the Meiers, for dinner. Don's parents came too and it was a fun evening. We always love going over there and the kids absolutely love playing with their dogs. Of course, I always forget to take any pictures when we are there, and there are always fun shots of someone "accidently" falling in the pool and getting wet that I seem to miss.

I am so grateful for all the wonderful mothers I have in my life who teach and love me...my mom, Don's mom, Tracy, my awesome sister/sister-in-laws, friends...there are just too many to name! Being a mother is an amazing blessing and definitely a fun adventure with our gang!



JAKE KONKED OUT AFTER A LONG, FUN MOTHER'S DAY!