Happy Mothers Day!

Lindsay has done all the posting on our blog for so long that I need to warn everyone that this is Sam posting and not her. I just know that people are so used to her posts that there might be some confusion if I didn't at this explanation right up front. So...

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms in my life, but especially to the wonderful mom that I get to see every day! Lindsay does so many things in our home and for our family. I'm thankful for Mothers Day, because even though it would be impossible to express all the gratitude my wife deserves, I at least have this day to remind me to tell her that I at least have some clue how lucky I am to have her.

Lindsay is the photographer in the family, so pictures rarely get taken of her, and good pictures of her are even more rare (because it's so hard to take pictures of yourself), but I've dug out a few pictures of her so I can tell you ten things that I love about the awesome mother of our home. The pictures sometimes go with the comment and sometimes they don't. That's just the kind of post this is.

She's dedicated to our children. Lindsay spends approximately 80% of her waking hours thinking about ways to make our childrens' lives better. She's always trying to think of ways to teach them more, help them develop skills and talents, overcome challenges, have fun and meaningful activities, and are generally the best they can be. It is easy to see how much she loves them.

She's dedicated to our family. Lindsay is the driving force behind everything good in our family. She keeps us on track financially, is constantly finding ways to improve our house and our quality of life, and is always thinking of ways to make our family better. She is constantly thinking and optimizing our schedule. And even when it means uprooting her entire existence to trek off to an unknown part of the world, leaving behind good friends and comfortable surroundings, if she thinks it will be the best thing for our family, she won't even hesitate.

She's dedicated to the gospel. There is nothing Lindsay does that is not somehow related to her love for the gospel. She is constantly pointing our family towards the Lord through teaching and example.

She worries. What? That's a bad thing? No way! She is always worried about others and helps us understand how to do it right. Reed mentioned a kid at school that was different and she began immediately to help Reed think how this boy might feel Reed could help him feel more welcome and accepted. Her worrying has saved me from offending more than a few people (though she can't always stop me) and has likely saved us from several accidents and countless other disasters.

She forgives. I make a lot of mistakes and so do the kids, but she forgives and moves on and we love her for it.

She's a good friend. One of the things that make her such a good friend is she is constantly thinking of others and never wants to put them out. Her goal in social settings is to look for people who might feel left out and fix that. Lindsay is never thinking about herself.

She's talented. From the very beginning I have always been impressed with Lindsay's many and varied talents. If you follow this blog at all, you already know she's a talented writer and photographer. Her Mom has helped her know what kind of effort it takes to develop talents, and she has applied that knowledge over and over.

She's funny. I once told her that she's gotten funnier since we've been married, but I'm not so sure that's true. People probably know that I try too hard to be funny--Lindsay hardly has to try at all. If you've ever thought you were laughing at something that Lindsay said that was unintentionally funny, chances are it wasn't unintentional at all. She has a very quick wit.

She's adventurous. Near the end of my first year of graduate school, I found out about an internship opportunity with Pfizer in Connecticut. I remember shouting the description across the house to Lindsay and saying, half jokingly, "Should we go to Connecticut?" She responded seriously and enthusiastically, "Yes!" Lindsay's not afraid to do things like that. I might have passed on the opportunity because it seemed to crazy to try to make arrangements to take my wife and one-year-old son out-of-state for the Summer, but she's always willing to make things like that work.

She's beautiful. The first words she ever heard from my mouth were, "You're the most beautiful girl I've ever met in my entire life!" Those words are as true as ever almost fourteen years later.

She's perfect. For me anyways. Who else could tolerate me like she does? Our life works because of her. (Okay, that was more than ten things, but I've never been able to do math exactly right when I'm around her.)