Happy Birthday Mom

On Mother's Day, I wrote a tribute to my mom, so I am going to make this quick. I just wanted to let Beverly know that I am thinking of her today on her 58th birthday. Wow, that's OLD! I can hear her replying back to that- "I still feel like I'm 19!" She has always been young at heart and still looks fabulous (when she decides to wash her hair.. jk.) She always made birthdays special for me growing up. I know that wasn't easy with ten kids to buy presents for.. but that's exactly why it means so much to me now. We opened our presents on the morning of our birthday.. as soon we woke up. I believe one reason for this because we got a special box of COLD CEREAL... and we got to pick it out ourselves.. exciting even in our teen years! Of course, the box would only last one morning with all the other kids in the house, so we really looked forward to it!

We didn't wrap any present either... the special birthday person sat in the living room while we all took turns going into the kitchen and put random presents in a brown paper bag. We seriously fought over who got to take what present in the other room. And the "presents" were always things that we needed.. like face wash, hair products, or a new pair of shoes. I can STILL count on my mom to give the most practical presents. For baby showers, she loads us up with diapers, wipes and burp cloths. I think Aaron thought I was pretty weird our first year of marriage when I wrapped up deodorant, mouthwash, and socks for his birthday. He opened them and kind of laughed (and I didn't get why it was so funny!) I love my mom for being so practical and proud to stick to the basics.

Birthday dinners were always special too, but not because we took the family out to a fancy restaurant. My mom would make whatever we wanted... and most of us chose a home-cooked meal instead of pizza. [The day Ben was born, my mom came to our little Provo apartment and asked if she could pick up something for dinner. Aaron and I looked at each other and sheepishly asked her if she would make a roast and mashed potatoes instead. It tasted delicious!]

During birthday dinners growing up, we would sit around the table talking about why we loved the special birthday boy/girl and then my mom would read excerpts from her journal the day they were born.. Then we'd hear the SAME stories every year from their childhood. I could recite some of those stories still.. (Scott saying "it's not Mu-getti, it's GA-SpETTI!" or Debbie leaving off the first letter of her words and following bugs around the yard calling them "Ass-hoppers" And Kristy telling my mom that she couldn't be her mom anymore or that she was going to cancel her 4th birthday.) This was the way we celebrated and I hope to continue the traditions with my children. On my first birthday away from home, my mom photocopied stories from my childhood and sent them to me in the mail. I remember crying in my bedroom that night as I read those pages from her journal.. I was homesick and it was the best present I received.

My mom is such a sweetheart, but she isn't naive. She choses to do good because it makes her feel happy... and she sets such a great example for her kids. Sometimes we joke about not wanting her to come to the movies with us (or sit down and watch an episode of the Bachelor) because her purity will be offended and we don't want to feel uncomfortable around her. But she just doesn't have time to watch something that isn't uplifting. Hanging next to my parents big screen TV is a portrait of my mom. I believe it's strategically placed because whenever we sit down to watch something, she's looking right at us.. and usually we say out loud, "What would BEV watch?" as if she is always monitoring us and encouraging us to CTR.

Well, how's that for taking a quick minute to say Happy Birthday?! I love you, Mom and I am grateful for your loving friendship and your hard-working, steadfast example. And thanks for raising SUCH an AMAZING DAUGHTER!! Hope you have a good day!