Happy Mother's Day

Dear David,

Thank you for making me a mom.  I love being your mom!  I love your snuggles and sweet goodnight kisses.  I love watching you play soccer and I hearing you play the violin.  I love driving with you in the car and singing along to the music.  I love that you want to be with me and that you are so great to help around the house - doing the lawn and anything else I ask for your help with.    You are an incredible and loyal friend.  I am inspired by your love for Zach and for anyone else who needs a hand - like Dalynne and Gayle and family support and grandma and teachers at your school.  You take such good care of Douglas and Jessie and Corinne.  You know when they need your affection and especially when your sisters need a gentle reminder that everything is going to be ok.  You have made a significant impact on our family since the day you arrived.  I am a different person because I've had the privilege of being your mother.  Oh, how I love you.  Thank you for being mine.  xoxox
Mom.

Dearest Skibob,

Thank you for making me a mom.  I love being YOUR mom!  :)  I love cheering for you while you are in your 12th hour of homework, I love that you want to go to seminary, I love singing with you and cleaning with you.  I love that you love Jessica so well.  I love watching you be sisters together.  I love that you love a clean house and a clean room and that you pitch in so readily to help the family.  I love watching you keep a goal on the football pitch and hearing you play the flute.  I love seeing you giggle at a text and laugh with your cousins.  I love your squinty nose when you are perplexed or annoyed and I love your determination to be happy. 
You came on to the scene with a willful peace and innate joy 17 years ago.  I know you don't always feel that on the surface, but it's part of who you were before you came here and I'm so grateful that Heaven said you could be ours.  Thanks for coming to play with us and laugh with us and to teach me joy in all things.  Your tears teach us that too.  You aren't afraid to feel. And there is opposition in all things - which means with all the joy, you are willing to feel the sorrow too.  The joy is worth it and you know it.  Oh, how blessed I am to hear you call me your mama.   xoxoxo
I love you,
Mom.

Dear Jessica,

Thanks for making me a mom!  I love it!  I love watching you negotiate life and live with so much determination for good and the pursuit of real wisdom.  I love that you thirst for knowledge and experience - especially within the gospel.  I love that you want those around you to be happy, to feel needed and capable and know that they belong.  I admire both your empathy and your sympathy.  :)  You have powerful gifts with which Heaven is blessing us all.  I love hearing you sing and play the guitar.  In my moments of temporary insanity, please don't let me convince you otherwise.  I love your gorgeously messy room and the fact that it means you can live peacefully in the chaos, that it means you'd rather be with us than hidden away.  I love that you love movies and stories about other people - and that you are feeding the empathy in you.  You have a deep need to know the stories on the planet.  I love hearing you sing at the top of your lungs, I love watching you dance across a stage, I love sitting with you at soccer games and driving with you in the car.  I love cleaning the garage with you and shopping with you and making a meal with you. I love that you came here 19 years ago with a will to LIVE in every moment, to not miss a beat, to see and feel it all.  You love us so well. You are already so willing to forgive me for my humanity.  Thank you for the gift of constant forgiveness.  Thanks for being a better example of what a mom is to me than I could ever be to you.  xoxoox

I love you,
Mom.

Dear Douglas,

Happy Mother's Day!  Thank you for making me a mom!  You were the first, and always will be.  There is something magical about that.  I wonder if the four of you stood in a heavenly circle and did rock-paper-scissors to see who would have to sojourn with us first. You either won or lost.  ha!  From the first day there have been things that have remained the same...  I have loved watching you take in the world.  I love hearing you sing.  I love your passion and excitement for getting on the thrill rides of life.  You want to play and to do it all, to not miss a moment or an opportunity.  I love that you want to be where the action is - with the adults or the big kids or the heavy hitters or the super stars.   You know what people are feeling and you minister to them in kind.  I love watching you with your siblings, with your dad, with your cousins, with your friends.  You are wise and you make me wonder at the beauty of the world and the plan God has to teach us love.   Thank you for teaching me patience, grace, hope, faith and joy.  I wish I was a faster learner - I must also thank you for your forgiveness and understanding.  You are wise beyond your years and you are already willing to forgive this mother of yours for also being a girl, a silly, flighty, irresponsible, emotional and selfish GIRL.  Thank you for coming to save me from my childish ways.  :)

xoxoxo
Mama.