The Moms in my life

First of all, happy Mothers Day to all the Mothers that read my blog!

Here's a conversation Elaina and I had a few days ago:

Elaina: Is it Mothers Day yet?
Me: No yet, but it in a few days it will be. Is that going to be my special day?
Elaina: No.... it's my special day because I have a Mother.

I love it! I think it's great to have a perspective like that. So it gets to be Elaina and Erin's special day too because they have a Mom that loves them more than anything. :)

The primary kids sang to the mothers today and for the first time I got to be sung to! Elaina practically shouted it, and I loved it. She was so happy to be up there singing for everyone. One song that the primary sang is called "I Often Go Walking." I love this song, and it actually reminds me of my Dad - I guess I kind of consider it "our song" because he and I both remember when we learned it in primary together - back when I was a Sunbeam and he was a primary teacher. One of my first memories is going with him to buy my Mom flowers for Mother's Day when I was three years old and singing this song together. Every time I hear it, it brings tears to my eyes, so you can imagine the state I was in today when my little Sunbeam sang it to me.

So, on this mother's day I feel especially grateful for both my Dad and my Mom. My Dad because he taught me how important my Mom is. President Kimball said that the most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their Mother. I cannot think of a better example of this principle than the way that my Dad esteems my Mom in his life. I'm grateful that he helped me realize how blessed I am to have such a wonderful mother. She is deserving of every bit of praise that he gives her. She is an absolutely incredible person. She always puts her family first, even from halfway across the world, and even when her kids are grown up. I'm amazed at how well she can mainain a beautiful (organized!) home, devote time to her many interests and often-demanding callings, and still make sure that her priority is her family. And she was even able to do this when her kids were young. I'm realizing as I get older that she has sacrificed a lot in order to make her family happy. All mothers do, but I'm amazed at what my own Mom has done for me. I have been feeling overwhelmed lately with the responsibilities of motherhood and the feelings that if only I could be a perfect mother, for my childrens' sake. Well, if not perfection, I wish I could be as good as my own Mom. Trying to be that good really overwhelms me, but I'm glad she set the standard so high because I have a have an example to try and live up to. I'm at least trying to live up to it :) I have along ways to go.
I'm also blessed to have such wonderful in-laws. My Mom says that when your kids get married, they just get another set of parents to love them. I'm lucky to have married into such a good family and to have such an incredible Mother in law. I'm not sure how she was able to raise 7 kids and still be as patient and composed as she is (seriously, I feel like I'm going to go crazy sometimes...and I only have 2!). She is one of the kindest people I know. I'm amazed at how wonderful she is and how welcome she makes me feel in her family. I feel like the luckiest person in the world today because of the two great Moms that I have and the 2 wonderful children I've been blessed with.

Happy Mothers Day!

P.S. My Mom was so sweet and made this photo montage for me for Mothers Day and I wanted to share. Click on the link below the picture to watch it. Thanks Mom!

Happy Mother's Day Allison 5/10/09