My Mother

(My Mother on her wedding day)

Reasons Why I Love My Mother:
She is the best Mom ever and is AMAZING with kids. No joke. She just has that natural gift. At my wedding reception in Arkansas, a little boy she had never met before latched onto her and was her best friend the whole evening. Kids just love her.

She raised five kids, and I can hardly remember her yelling at any of us. The one exception that I recall was my sister and that was maybe once or twice when my sister was a teenager. Although, now my sister has realized that she was a brat a lot of the time growing up, especially after she has finally had a child of her own. I remember hearing from my brother about how my sister called my Mom up one day crying and saying, "I'm SO sorry! I don't know how you did it with five kids. I can't even handle one!" I'm sure I'll probably break down like that one day when I have my own kids. But I know that I can call my Mom up for advice and comfort.

She is always giving. This last time Jon and I went to visit my family, she offered to pay for Jon's and my tickets into Disneyland. She has also offered to pay to fly my brother and me out to California later this summer before my youngest brother leaves on his mission. Last Christmas, both she and my Dad offered to pay for flights out there, so we could spend Christmas with family (we didn't end up taking them up on that offer though). I think that growing up with a family of seven, we weren't able to afford things like that.. and now that most of her kids have grown up and moved out, she wants to be able to use the extra money my parents have now to give those gifts that she couldn't always give us growing up. I know that she can't wait for more grandchildren, so she can spoil them because, right now, my niece is the only grandchild, and she IS spoiled! :) Also, she always put her family before herself.

This is so much more I could say about my Mom, but I don't want to get TOO mushy and boring.

I'm so grateful for my Mom, and I am happy to have her in my life. I am also grateful for all the other Mothers in my life that have inspired me throughout the years. Happy Mother's Day!