One For the Books

I had the best Mother's Day! The fun started on Saturday. Jeremiah and I worked on our lawn for a bit, which I actually love doing, and then we went to pick up our Bountiful Basket. While we were out Jeremiah said, "Let's go pick up your Mother's Day gift." So he drives us...straight to Wal-Mart. He had never asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day so I was pretty curious what we were shopping for.

Our store was just remodeled and as he walked I wondered if he knew where he was going. We walked past the clothing, housewares, toys...and then I thought, "Oh yeah, I've been talking about getting a new blender. He must not know where to find the small appliances." Just then he stops at the last toy aisle, right next to the bikes! I have wanted a bike for over a year and I was as happy as a kid in a candy store! I picked one out and gave it a test drive in the store. So I didn't just get a bike, I got to be a kid again! (Power play, Babe.)

We came home and got cleaned up, since we were all shopping in our yard work clothes, and headed over to my parents for a BBQ. We stuffed ourselves silly on some fat hamburgers and hot dogs, played some games and talked with family and the missionaries my parents are housing. We had a great time but had to leave a little early to make it to a graduation party.

As we were driving on the highway we could see a storm coming and it looked like the place we were headed might be the epicenter....it was. The party was outside on some undeveloped property but even with the wind we had a blast. We ate (again) and got to talk with Sean and Tammy and their families. The kids loved playing in the "forest" and I got to poke around in a campfire while Sean's dad wasn't watching. Isaac got brave and swung from a rope out of a tree while Kenley declared everything to be "Awesome!" Jeremiah and I even had time to enjoy ourselves as Jack and Hewitt slept in the van for about 1 1/2 hours after we arrived. It was a super great party and we're so happy that Sean is finally done with school...even if he's not a Doctor. :)

Sunday morning Isaac gave me the gift he'd made at school: a marigold and nasturtium planted in a pot he'd colored, some service coupons and a booklet in which he'd filled in the blanks about me. We enjoyed church and came home with some flowers. My parents came over in the evening and we had a BBQ. Dinner was delicious (baby back ribs, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, fresh watermelon) and then we had a terrific strawberry pizza for dessert. By the end of the evening I think we were all fat and happy. The kids sang a song to my mom and then Gammie and Bucka left. I took a quick ride on my bike (which was eventful enough to deserve it's own post) and then Nana and Papa stopped in. We fed them some dessert and the kids sang a song to Nana, too.

After everyone had left Kenley, Isaac and I found ourselves at the table. I absentmindedly began singing a mother's day song and then Isaac looked meaningfully at Kenley and prompted her to, "Come here." They went over to the piano, took down the children's songbook and Isaac said, "Mom, we've already sung to the Grandma's, but now we're going to sing to you." It was so cute! They sang "Quickly I'll Obey" and while I know they're more likely to quickly forget, it was the sweetest thing because I knew they thought of it all on their own. By the time the kids were all in bed I was pretty wiped out from all the fun. I fell asleep while Jeremiah rubbed my feet.

What a perfect weekend! I'm still smiling.