A Delayed Mother's Day Post

We were out of town for Mother's Day, so I get a pass for posting this so late! I just think of it as extra time to celebrate our moms! :)

We are so lucky to have such a young, fun mom. She was (and still is) energetic, active, and always going ten different directions at once. She made sure we had lots of fun family time boating, watching movies, and visiting family. My mom is the glue that holds together family relationships. She always hosts big family gatherings at her home and makes sure extended family is always connected. She is the first to remind us to call our family members on their birthdays and to keep in contact. My mom has said she knew all she ever wanted to be was a mom - and she is great at it. She raised six children and taught us how to serve others, to be grateful for the blessings we had, and not to judge others. I also learned compassion from my mom. She is always adopting stray animals and doing whatever she can to help others in need. She has become the most amazing grandma to the grandchildren in our family and we are so lucky to have her in our lives. Happy Mother's Day! We love you!

How can I not love the woman who raised the man I love so much? I have the best mother-in-law in the entire world! She has been my other mom since high school, so when I became an official Milloy, it was so exciting to have claims to her as my REAL mother-in-law. The earliest memory I have of Peggy is of her speaking in sacrament meeting about Emma Smith and the qualities of a wife and mother. I was so impressed by her talk, I went home and wrote about it in my journal. I was 13 then and as the years pass, I have been priveleged to see her raise my husband and all of his siblings, organize & host beautiful weddings, and now my favorite, I get to see her become a grandma. A job she was born to do! Peggy has so many amazing qualities as a mother, but one of my favorites is her devotion to her children. She is the biggest fan of her children. She celebrates in their accomplishments and shares the sorrow of disappointments as if the world has stopped and nothing else matters. She is the ultimate care taker and as our family grows, her heart just expands to include the next family member. I am eternally grateful for the wonderful qualities she has passed on to Brandon. I see her compassion, her home making skills, and her unconditional love of family members in Brandon and for that, I am indebted to her forever. Happy Mother's Day Mom! We love you!

This is my second Mother's Day and I feel incredibly blessed for my sweet baby girl. Maddie is literally the center of our world. I have never felt as close to my Heavenly Father as the moment I looked into my daughter's beautiful eyes and saw the most perfect combination of Brandon and myself. My soul changed the day I became a mother. I never imagined I could feel so much love, feel so fiercely protective of, and feel so connected to anyone. I feel the weight of what it means to be a mother and I try every day to be the kind of mother I have seen modeled by those I look up to.

I hope you all had a beautiful Mother's Day!