Mother's Day

I had such a wonderful day yesterday and I hope all of you moms did as well!  My husband and family took great care of me and made it such a special day.  I always have a tough time figuring out what to do for my parents on holidays because they can buy whatever they need/want.  I decided my mom and I would have fun getting a pedicure together (my treat, of course) so I made us an appointment at her favorite nail place with her favorite nail friend.  We had lots of fun!

I'm not sure which magazine she was reading...

Sunday morning/afternoon was great!  Before church Logan surprised me with a new camera bag I've wanted forever but haven't had the guts to splurge on and after church he made a delicious lunch.  That boy is quite the chef when he wants to be!  We made a visit to the cemetery which is always my favorite thing to do.  There's such a special peace that fills my heart when I'm there.  We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out and talking about how blessed we feel that Eli chose us to be his parents.

We went to my parents' for a delicious dinner prepared by my dad and had such a great time hanging out with everyone.  I love these ladies so much!

Staci and Krystal are both expecting this Summer and I can't wait to meet their baby boys!

My sister-in-laws are some of my best friends and I feel so fortunate to have them in my life.  They are the greatest examples of the mother I strive to be and I hope they know how much I love them!  Here's a picture of all 4 of us together.  We sure miss you, Cheryl!

Those of you that I'm Facebook friends with may have already seen my post about my mom but I need to document how much she means to me on my blog as well.  I was trying to think of a word yesterday that describes my mom but I was having a hard time because SO many great words describe my mom.  In the end I settled on CAPTIVATING.  The definition of captivating is "capable of attracting and holding interest; charming".  That describes my mom to a T.  My mom has a wealth of knowledge to share with everyone she meets and I often find it hard to believe I'm lucky enough to be her daughter.  My mom has an endless amount of qualities I could talk about but the thing I admire the most is her knowledge and love of the gospel.  The one thing I have known my entire life is that my mom loves the Lord and has a testimony that's as strong as anyone's.  Thank you, mom, for sharing your love and dedication to the gospel with me--it is the greatest gift you have given me.  I love you!

Like everyone else, the thing I cherish most about Mother's Day is the sweet reminder that I have been given that great calling.  I dreamt of having the title of "mom" since I can remember and it's even more wonderful than I could have imagined.

 
Only a mother can understand the love I have for this little angel and I still can't believe he's mine.  Some of our dear friends lost their little girl a couple weeks ago and my friend's husband wrote the sweetest words on their blog yesterday.  Quinn and Kristi, I hope you don't mind that I share them here.  In a post to Kristi, Quinn said: "I would give anything to get our little girl back so I will do everything to get back to her."  Those are my thoughts exactly.  Whatever it takes in this life to ensure I get to be with Eli again, I will do it.  I'm so grateful I have his sweet spirit and memories giving me strength to continue on each day.

Happy Mother's Day to each one of you!