Happy Mother's Day

Every Mother's Day is a reminder to me of just how blessed I am to be a mother. It is always bittersweet because I remember the years when Mother's Day was the hardest day of the year. I still feel some pangs of sadness as I think about the wonderful women I know who long to be mothers but are not yet or would like to be mothers again as they wait for more children to join their family. However, we got to celebrate a happy ending today with our neighbors on her first Mother's Day and attend the dedication of their baby boy at their church. I feel grateful for all the mothers in my life. I couldn't ask for a more amazing mother or a kinder mother-in-law. I am thankful for all my friends who are mothers and give me help and encouragement when my own mothering experience gets a little rough.
Yesterday, I asked my boys what it takes to be a mommy. Elijah said mommies are just born, but Gabriel said you have to be blessed and baptized before you can be a mommy. Elijah said, "What!?! You mean before they get blessed and baptized everyone is a boy?" I laughed and explained that everyone is born a boy or a girl but not all girls are mommies. Gabriel then added, "Yeah! Some of them are Aunts and Uncles and Grandmas." Oh dear, I can tell we have explaining to do about how families are made.
This morning, Gabriel and Elijah made me some beautiful Mother's Day pictures without any prompting from Marc. This is Gabriel's picture. I'm in the center, surrounded by happy faces and hearts. I like the sky which has a sunshine, clouds, rain and rainbows. Gabriel still draws me with a ponytail in all his pictures and keeps asking me when my hair is going to grow back. He likes my ponytail better.

Elijah's picture has a big rainbow with three flying butterflies and one butterfly perching on a flower. The garden includes roses and bluebells and pumpkins with happy faces. I just love it.

Here is our family at the Kirtland Temple last Sunday. I love all these boys, the big one and the 5 small ones. Some days are hard, but I love being a mother.