Happy Birthday Mom!

Today on the Ides of March is my Mother's Birthday and possibly to her dismay I want to dedicate this whole post to her and her incredible qualities.

First off, she is great with her grandchildren. After I gave birth to Hayden my mom came out to be with us for a whole 10 days!! This was a huge sacrifice from her because she has a job and two kids still living at home along with my Dad. But she never made an issue of that. While she was here she helped so much with the kids. She read SO SO SO many books to Carter. His favorite were the books about Bats (he has a love/hate relationship with bats). Carter still tells me things that he learned about bats from those books. She also did lots of puzzles and worked on ABCs, etc. And Hayden was facinated by Mom from day 1. She hadn't reacted to anyone the way that she had with my Mom. She started to smile and respond, it was so fun to see and I was so glad Mom was here to be a part of it. (see video below to see her interact with the kids). Also, Mom thanks for all the cleaning and wonderful meals.

My Mom is also a real go-getter. I like to think that I developed this quality from her. Family vacations during the summer time were always a big deal to her. She seemed to always start planning a year in advance and by February she had our summers planned out to a T. My siblings and I are very close and have such love for one another and I know it is in big part thanks to these great vacations Mom spent so many hours planning. And don't get me wrong, they weren't big, fancy vacations. A lot of them were in Utah taking advatage of the mountains, lakes and National Parks of the region. But we spent quality time together and that is what matters (plus we had a ton of fun).

Mom is strong in the Gospel. There was never a moment in my life where I wondered whether or not my Mom had a testimony of our Savior. Something that has always lasted in my mind was her telling me in times when I have questioned whether things were right or wrong. She always said why err in being close to the fence. There is always a safe side and that is where she will be at all times. And that is so true. I can't think of one time that she hasn't "held fast" to her beliefs. Unless you count cursing in the middle of Lake Powell so everyone in a 2 mile radius could hear because the stove blew up on her.

For these qualities and so many more, I love you Mom! Happy Birthday!