For Cynthia

     Another Mother's Day has come and gone.  I'm not going to pretend that part of me isn't glad.  But I tried focusing on the good things that happened this Mother's Day and here's what I came up with.
     Annie made a mother's day letter for me.  In it she reminded me that mother's day is to celebrate all the women in your life who you 'appresiate' (I love it when she spells things wrong, it's so cute) whether they're mothers or not.  Then she included the following:

Part of Annie's mother's day letter to me

     Bless her sweet little heart!  I love that kid!

Lyle, Annie and Paul

Josh and Reed

Tempura veggies.
 Lyle was real sad to have an
excuse to buy a deep fryer!

     Second thing that made me feel good is that my siblings and I coordinated a surprise mother's day dinner for my mom.  Allie and Paul came up with the recipes for a Japanese dinner, Paul helped me cook it, Mike and Wendy brought the flowers and Kurt kidnapped mom and brought her to my house the night before mother's day.  Reed and Heather, Josh and Landon came too.  We had yakisoba noodles with mushrooms and garlic and butter sauce and edamame and tempura vegetables for appetizers.  Mike brought a German chocolate cake for dessert (yeah, so it wasn't Japanese, but it was still good).  Oh, yes and I can't forget about the rice candy!  It was so much fun to see each other and talk and celebrate my mom.  She's the most fantastic mom ever (not that I'm biased)! 

        Cynthia was born not so many years ago in Massachusetts to my grandparents who already had 2 sons and a daughter.  Their oldest son had contracted polio so they decided not to have more children.  Then they met the missionaries and were baptized and felt that their family wasn't complete.  Thank goodness!  My mom and her younger sister were added to the brood.  They moved to Utah.  My grandpa was a chicken farmer and he continued to do so after they came here.  But the demand wasn't the same that it was back east so he ended up having an apple orchard.

     Mom went on a mission to Japan (hence the Japanese dinner) and married my dad a few years later.  They had 6 kids together and a year or two after Kurt was born they divorced.  During the divorce proceedings, my mom's mother died.  Now she was grieving and a single parent of 6 kids.  She worked full time and for a while went back to school.  We as kids took care of each other (Amy did a lot of being mom when mom was gone).  We all had some growing pains and hard years.  My mom almost single handedly raised us which meant that she was the only parent who dealt with kids who had depression, got into drugs and other trouble.  Her house burned down in a fire and she buried a child as well and all while trying to take care of us on jobs didn't pay nearly what she needed.

     The thing I love the most about my mom is that through it all, she's been a rock.  She's been so faithful and trusting in the Lord and has shown me what a Christlike person really is.  My mom is a giver, she's constantly trying to do everything for others, even when it makes her life harder.  Currently she works a full time job, works at the temple on Saturdays, visit teaches 10 women (part of those are voluntary because they were sisters she was concerned about who weren't being visited) and has 3 church callings: organist, visiting teaching coordination supervisor and youth Sunday school teacher.  She's given a kidney to someone she didn't know, donates blood on a regular basis (and has for years and years) and still manages to check with all of her kids and help them with whatever's going on in their lives.

Landon and Paul

Mike and Wendy

     My mom may not hold much value in the eyes of some; she's never made much money or had any real power or worldly influence, but I've never seen someone who loves people more genuinely than she does.  She's my angel.

Heather and Mom

I love you Mom!  Happy Mother's Day!  

Me and Kurt

Mom and Harper