September 29

In my attempt to keep my life well documented, I'm going to play catchup for just a minute.

Monday was my mom's birthday and my grandma's (my dad's mom). Sunday we had a party for my mom. She had been out of town so we surprised her and brought all the food and got it all ready so she wouldn't have to be part of the preparation for her own birthday dinner. So I have no pictures from the party, but it was really fun and I'm glad we were able to get together and celebrate her birth. Once again, I suck at remembering to send birthday shout outs, but it doesn't matter because my grandma doesn't do computers and my poor mother, bless her soul, is quite technologically challenged. Oh, we've tried, but it's all I can do to help her figure out how to send an attachment when she emails someone. Let me just say something though. My mother is the best mom I know. Honestly she is. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love her. We tease her and have a very relaxed relationship, but in all seriousness, I would not have survived without this lady. I consider myself to be a fairly happy, well-rounded adult, but I doubt I would have been without my mom. I was an obedient child, but nervous about a lot of things. Go figure! When they taught us about stranger danger, I was convinced I would get kidnapped. When we had earthquake drills, I would have nightmares that I couldn’t get out. Oh, the things she had to deal with, but she is brilliant. She taught me not to worry about things that were beyond my power to change and it worked. It took a long time, but I can pretty much shake off things that I have no capacity to change now and leave them in the Lord’s hands. I was never really rebellious, but I came with plenty of challenges. I was definitely strong willed, just like my dear, sweet Dylan. They say it’s a great quality to have as an adult ☺ Anyway, I needed a mom with lots of patience, love and understanding to become anything close to a well-adjusted adult. When my parents divorced and my sisters and I were so angry with my dad (and later with my step mom) she was the one that convinced us it was the right thing to go to their wedding and that we would regret it if we didn't. She made us visit and taught us to be kind even if things were hard, life wasn’t fair or others were mean to us. She never spoke negatively about my dad, even when we told her she should. I definitely would not be able to be as strong and Christ-like if put in the same situation. She teases that I was the responsible one (being the oldest) and that I helped raise her, but it's all in fun. Yes, I thought I was in charge and she did rely on me quite a bit to get things done, but she was always responsible with what truly mattered and always put her girls first. I am forever indebted to this awesome woman who showed me the way and taught me how to live. If I can only be half the mother she was, I will feel good about my life.

Monday we were going to go down to see my grandma Betty in the evening as part of our family night to celebrate her birthday with her. When I called her, she said my great aunt Carol was coming over that evening, but she didn't have plans that day. So even though I had Anthony with me which always adds to the chaos, I decided I'd better go see her and take her lunch. It was a bit chaotic, but I know she appreciated it. My grandma has always been a great example to me too. We spent a lot of time at their house growing up and loved it. We had fun slumber parties, played skipbo and helped grandpa with whatever he was working on. My grandpa passed away three days after Dylan was born. I know she's lonely and misses him terribly, but she's a trooper. She continues on every day and has such a strong testimony. Every time I tell her something, she always manages to sneak in a little testimony-building statement about tithing or keeping the Sabbath day holy or whatever we're talking about. I love that about her and am grateful for her love and friendship. Here are a couple of pictures from Monday. I never got all three kids in the same picture. It was WAY too much running around to bother with. I just took what I could get that day.

So here's my belated shout out to both of them. Happy Birthday Mom and Grandma Betty (GG).  I love you both more than you will ever know!