My Mama

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BUT NOW ON TO MORE IMPORTANT MATTERS...

Today is my mom's birthday.  She is awesome.  See if you can tell from the pictures and captions what theme I picked out this year...

cake I made...

Cake and her present...

Opening her gifts (a horse wind chime, horse deck of cards, and some horse figurines)

Trying to decide where to cut so he doesn't get hurt...

If you can't figure the theme out by now, you don't deserve to know.  :) 

Anywho, since today we're celebrating her life, I thought I'd reminisce a little and tell a few of my favorite memories/qualities of my mom...

(1) When we were little, there was a summer when she read Where the Red Fern Grows to us every day out in our yard.  Once we finished it, we got to rent the movie from the library.  This is one of my favorite childhood memories!

(2) Mom has a playful side that, once in a while, she indulges. One summer when everyone else was gone and it was just her and me at home (we worked together at Alcoa while everyone else got to go to the Nauvoo Temple open house...), she told me to get in the car and we'd follow a rainbow to dinner.  Which is exactly what we did, as the rainbow led us to Ruby Tuesdays. 

(3) When we were kids, Mom always made time for herself.  She was a good wife and mother, but she was her own person, too.  She took correspondence courses for children's writing and veterinary assistance something-or-other, learned how to decorate cakes, did a little woodworking in which she and my dad built all of our household bookshelves, pressed flowers into beautiful collages, and more.  Once we were all in school, she worked at the school as a special education paraprofessional, chaired the town Halloween party, and volunteered with the STPS (our PTA).  Even now she has taught herself amazing computer skills that have earned her promotions at work, and she's ALWAYS giving money, advice, and support to her children, even when they don't deserve it.  She is always trying to better herself and better the world around her.  This is perhaps my favorite thing about her and the one thing I most want to achieve in my own life!

(4) I cannot help but love John Denver music, because of her.  Also, chocolate, horses, and 90s TV.  A lot of my tastes have been molded by hers, which I suppose is natural, but it's still really cool to think about!

(5) My mom is an honest person.  She doesn't pretend to be anything she isn't and she is a person of her word.  That sort of integrity and the level of self-confidence it takes to live a truly honest life aren't easy to come by these days, and it's set a great example for me and my siblings.  I'm still working on that myself, but I aspire to it.

For these reasons and more, I love my mother.  And I'm glad she was born so that I could be, too!  Happy birthday, Mom!  Hope it was a great one!