mother's day...

mother's day was a special day for me and for the multiple generations of great mothers that i celebrate on this day.

the day began as most sundays do at our house, mark wakes up SUPER early and gets ready to go to church to begin band rehearsal at 7:00 am. he usually leaves the house around 6:45. later the kids and i make our way out of bed and start getting ready for church too. while we were in the middle of our "typical sunday morning routine" my first surprise of the day-- mark came home with breakfast tacos for everyone!! yummy! then surprise number 2-- he stayed home and helped get the kids ready for church and we all rode in ONE car to church!!! i know this doesn't seem like a big deal, but this was the best gift for me. thanks babe!! before we all got in the car he took a few pictures with kids and i. yay for surprise number 3!! i never think to take pictures WITH my kids. :)

then after church we {our little fam of 4} had a lovely brunch/lunch on the patio. it was a perfect sunny afternoon and so relaxing. the food was pretty good too. i loved being together with all my favorite people. surprise number 4!! (sorry no pictures!)

then we were off to celebrate with my family for the evening. we had a low-key afternoon hanging around the house and then about 4:30 the grandmothers arrived. olivia and jack played in the pool, we sat around and chatted, and the guys {my dad, mark, and my brother} made dinner. i am pretty sure my mom helped with the meal too, but the guys did most of the work.

me, gram lois, gram millie, and mom

my mom and her mom. (i love this picture and all that it represents to me.)

olivia and uncle sean. (just a cute pic of them after o got out of the pool.)

we sat down and enjoyed the yummy lasagna dinner around the big dinning room table. we thanked god for the His many blessing especially the moms sitting around the table. there were 4 of us- me, my mom, my dad's mom, and my mom's mom. i am so blessed to have each of these woman in my life. each of their examples have played a HUGE part in the woman that i am today and especially the mother that i am to my children. what an honor to have them in my life and to celebrate with them today. after dinner there was dessert and a few gifts exchanged to each of the mom's around the table.

what a great day! after we got to my parents house, i stopped counting the number of surprises because there were too many. i am so grateful and blessed. :)

i can't end this post without a mention to my mother-in-law, marsha. we did invite her to spend part of the day with us, but she and danny had the chance to go to the maverick's game so it didn't work out. i am so thankful they went because they were able to witness the mavs beat the lakers in a 4 game sweep. it was a great game!! all that to say, my MIL is the BEST!! i truly feel like a daughter to her, not a daughter in -law. she is an incredible mother. i am so grateful to have her wisdom and example as i raise her grandchildren. she always has an encouraging word to give and you always leave her presences knowing that you are deeply loved. i think that was her secret to raising such great children herself. today i thought about her often and celebrate the fantastic woman, mom, and friend that she is to me. love you b!! :)

to all of my friends that are mothers, i hope that you were pampered, loved, and honored today. to those of you who are missing your mom today, i pray that today was not filled with too much sadness and you were able to recognize the numerous ways that she impacted your life and the person you are today.

happy mother's day!!