Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day today. My family did their best to make me feel loved and special--what more could I ask for? The boys woke up like it was Christmas morning eager to tell me, "Happy Mother's Day!" and give me a hug. Reed made a beeline to his "secret hiding place" to get the Mother's Day card/book he made for me at school. It was all about what he thought my favorite things were. It was very cute--definitely a keeper. I think my favorite line was. "If my Mom could go anywhere she would go.... to Idaho." "They are famous for potatoes." I guess he knows I'm looking forward to our trip to Cascade this summer...although I better let him know for next year that Tahiti would probably top my list.

I told Sam that I was really hoping to get a picture of the kids and me today for Mother's Day since, although I take a ton of pictures, I am almost never in them. We took quite a few and I must say as I looked though them I thought they were a pretty good metaphor for my experience as a mother. "I try hard, but I'm still oh so very far from perfect."









People sometimes say that Ruby looks like me. I don't really see it, but I'll take it as a compliment. I think she is pretty cute.


Mother's Day mostly just makes me feel thankful. Life is often so crazy, but when I stop for a second and see how blessed I am to be a mother to these three amazing children I am overwhelmed (in a good way this time). Being a mother is not exactly what I thought it would be (and I really did think I knew what it would be like). It is a million times more wonderful and A LOT harder than I thought. I blame the second part of my misconception of motherhood on my own mother. She never made being a mother look hard. I can honestly say that I can never really remember her being tired, overwhelmed, or put out by the demands of having to care for three children. She really seemed to enjoy most everything she did for us. I don't know if she did or not, but she certainly never made me feel like she was doing anything but exactly what she wanted to be doing. In fact I owe a lot to my mother for some of the best things in my life. Since it is Mother's Day I will list what I think are the 5 best things about my mom.

1. She would do just about anything to help me or my sisters. This is a broad statement, but I can't think of a truer one. Throughout high school my mom would often (more than often actually) meet us at school to bring our lunch or any number of things we needed or had forgotten. Even now as an adult with a family of my own living on the other side of the country I can feel that same willingness to help with anything on a moment's notice.
2. She has a steadfast testimony of the gospel and taught us with her example. I don't remember very many specific "lessons" or "talks" about the gospel with her, but I do recall observing her steadfast testimony and a desire to keep all the commandments. It was evident that the gospel was important to her and she held that same expectation for her children.
3. She always encouraged us to do and be the best we could be. Whether it was running for student council when we didn't stand a chance or trying out for dance or cheerleading I always assumed I could do it because my mom never expressed any doubts. I was quite shy growing up, but looking back I am amazed sometimes by all the things I did as a "shy girl". I know having my mom behind me pushing me along is a big part of the reason I was able to do what I did.
4. She never gives up. In junior high I had to come up with a family motto. I remember my mom helped me and we decided on, "Evelyn's say it CAN be done." This is definitely true for my mom. She always thinks there is a way to work things out...and I am surprised how often they do work out. Even now when we are flying down the road to the airport and we have 5 minutes to get there and 15 minutes of road to go she will often say, "Well--we aren't late yet."
5. She loves me and my family. At this stage in my life I don't think there is anything more I could want from her. Even though we have lived in North Carolina for 6 years now I have never felt like we were not as central or important in her life as her other "more local" family. Someday I hope that we do live closer to family, but until then I appreciate all of the effort she puts forth to make us feel like we do.

Thank you Mom for all of the effort and sacrifice you have made on my behalf. As a mother myself I am only now starting to gain a true appreciation for all you have done. I love you.

I know this is going to be the longest post ever now, but I would feel guilty if I didn't give Sam the same opportunity to record some of things he loves the most about his mom. I'm sure he'll have a list a mile long, but I'll limit him to 5 as well (he wants to use a different font so no one gets confused).

1. She loves to talk – Only very rarely is she ever too busy to talk to me and she’s prepared to talk about anything, no matter how mundane, and make me feel like I’m important to her.
2. She knows everything – I feel like I can call my parents with any question I have and get advice I can trust. My mom is the first person I call if I have a question about a sick child.
3. She’s pretty – When I was on my mission I had a picture book that I would share with people and I was always proud to show people pictures of my mom because I knew I’d get comments about how young and pretty she looked (“You are the son of her?!”).
4. She’s great with children – I can count on my mom to be the one person that is guaranteed to get newborn babies to babble happily back at her. In fact, she seems to always know just how to interact with children to immediately put them at ease and get them to like her.
5. She can tickle my back for hours – Seriously, for hours. This is a real talent that I wish more people had. If more people could strive to be more like my mom in this one aspect of their lives we would be much closer to having peace throughout the Middle East.

Happy Mother's Day!