Mother's Day

(I know this post is a little late but we have been running 100 mph for the past 3 days and this is the first chance I've had to sit down at my computer!)
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there!
I am surrounded by many wonderful mothers, but I have to talk about my favorite one-my mom.

{when I flew to Arizona last October for my cousin's wedding and we stayed up til 2 am talking the first night we were together}

I have been called a mama's girl and it is definitely true.

My mom is my best friend; she is amazing.
I spend more hours talking to her on the phone than anyone else by far. I can (and do) talk to her about anything and everything, and I love that!

If I were to describe my mom in one word, it would be classy.
She always looks good, is always very tactful and always takes care of herself and her things.

She is so beautiful and elegant.

She is a health nut and a gym rat. (that's a good thing mom!)

This was when we said goodbye before leaving for Oregon. As you can tell my mom wasn't too happy and I look awful from crying. Saying goodbye to my mom that day was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. It was awful.

I kept telling Chris that if I didn't have to say goodbye to my mom, moving away would be 10,000 times easier.

My mom is an amazing cook, and is amazing at making things low-fat and still taste good.
Quite often I have to call up "Cathy's Kitchen" to ask questions about cooking and she ALWAYS knows the answer.

She is an amazing swimmer and spinner on bikes...? ha. She gets up before work almost everyday at insane hours of the morning to go work out.

She's a pretty good driver, but she freaks me out when she parks her car! She whips into those parking spaces so fast that I have to cover my eyes from fear of hitting another car!

She is quite impressive at texting for her age.

She is always stylish....much more so than me. (No one's really sure how both her daughters are such Plain-Jane's when she is so stylish)
She is so much fun to tease and she takes it really well. She is also pretty good at giving it right back to ya.

She has always been a great example to me and encouraged me to what's right.

She has always encouraged me to get an education, even when I would've rather had babies and I am so glad that she has. 

{Christmas 2006}

When I feel like all my friends have forgotten about me (out of sight, out of mind) and that no one misses me, it is comforting to get calls from my mom and know that she misses me and hasn't forgotten that I'm alive.

When I have to leave to come back to Oregon and I feel like no one cares that I'm leaving, my mom always does and it's nice to know that she does care.
And when I feel like nobody misses me as much as I miss them, I feel comforted knowing that my mom does.

{don't worry mom, your secret's safe with me ;) }

My mom is always there to laugh with me, freak out about something with me, cry with me, groan about something with me, be dramatic about things with me, mourn with me, be excited with me, help me with anything and take my side.

For Mother's Day this year we gave my mom the best surprise.
For over a month we have been telling her we would be coming home on May 15, but secretly planning on driving home May 8 (yesterday).
 We missed Mother's Day last year and wanted to surprise both of our mothers this year. We left Oregon at 5 am yesterday (Saturday) and drove 12 hours home.
We had my sister in on the plan and we were surprised with how well she helped pull it off!
We arrived around 6:30 pm while my Mom was running some errands.
As we got off the freeway in Murray I couldn't stop grinning and I had butterflies in my stomach and my heart was racing. I was SO excited to see my mom and surprise her.
 We parked a street over to hide our car and ran to my parents house. We had about 10 minutes until my mom got home and when she was pulling in the driveway we hid behind the kitchen island.
When my mom walked in my sister said "Hey, let my take your picture with my new camera" (my phone) She then said the key word "say cheese" and we popped up and yelled surprise! My mom's face was PRICELESS as she started screaming and jumping up and down! I think we would have both been in tears of happiness if we hadn't been laughing so hard from her reaction as we hugged.
I was seriously on a high the rest of the night!
It was so good to see her again, I have missed her so much!

The next day we surprised Minnie, Chris' mom :)
We did the same thing-hid behind the kitchen island and popped up when they got home from church. Her face was also SO priceless with shock and surprise!
Minnie is a wonderful mother-in-law (#1 MIL) and is so loving and patient. She never talks bad about anyone and is a great example to me. She is so much fun to play games with, which we LOVE to do.
We have a lot in common, we both love ice cream (and both would rather eat it for dinner than most other things) as well as all sweets, puzzles, reading and bejeweled :)
I am so lucky to have such a great mother-in-law!

Happy Mother's Day Mom and Minnie!!!