Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day everyone. I am so lucky to be surrounded by amazing mothers and women in my life. Of course there is my mom. I am so grateful for all the sacrifices she made in raising me and for all of the lessons that she taught me throughout my life. She is serving a mission in the Philippines right now and is setting a great example for me and Rebecca as well as our children. We all got to talk to her on skype today. Then of course there is Rebecca. She is amazing. I am just so impressed with who she is (how she thinks, talks, and acts) and I can't imagine anyone better for our children. In addition, there are my sisters, my mother-in-law, my grandmothers, Rebecca's grandmothers, and Julia and Agnes, who have all had such a positive influence on my life and the lives of everyone else around them.

There is a poem that I like about motherhood that I have heard quoted a few times here and there. It is "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world". You can read the full thing here (http://www.potw.org/archive/potw391.html). In the world right now it seems like so many forces are working against mothers and belittling the important role that they fulfill. I am so grateful for Rebecca, and all of the other mothers out there, for the work that they do. I know that I am a better person because of the influences of these women and I am so grateful for that.

We started off the day by letting Rebecca sleep in a little - 8 am is sleeping in in our house. Then we had breakfast. Rebecca requested an omelet and we just happened to stubble on some free donuts yesterday. Church was wonderful, especially the children's mother's day song during sacrament meeting. Christian gave a talk in primary and did a great job and Elliott said a prayer. For lunch we just had leftovers. Then for dinner Rebecca requested french dip sandwiches. I also took a stab at making her famous strawberry pie. It was pretty simple (I did have her help though) if anyone wants the recipe. Rebecca got several cards from the kids throughout the day and her big present actually came on Friday - she got a piano. That was no surprise though since she bought it on our trip down to Salt Lake the weekend before. It is a 5 ft 2 inch Young Chang baby grand in a slight gloss black. She has been loving the piano ever since it arrived and we are both excited to get the kids back into their lesson routine. Plus, with the piano in the front room, we now officially have furniture in every room of the house. We still need lots of additional pieces of furniture throughout the house, but at least there is something in every room.