Hooray for Mother's Day!

So we've been celebrating Mother's Day all weekend!  What a wonderful weekend!  I loved spending time thinking about our moms.  I was blessed with just the right mother for me, and so was Doug.  It's amazing how things like that work out.  I'm eternally grateful for the gift of our mothers.

We spent much of the day Saturday working outside getting the soil ready for the garden, planting seeds, and planting flowers.  I don't think I could ever plant a flower without thinking of my mother.  Everything I know and love about flowers came from her!

So, I saw this infomercial for a leaf blower that you can reverse and it will suck up the leaves and sticks into a bag AND IT MULCHES THEM UP!!!  Well, I couldn't pass that one up, so I ordered it, and the dad mulched up all the leaves.  You wouldn't believe the amazing mulch we added into the gardens this year!  (Every once in awhile, my informercial obsession pays off.  It's too bad no one will let me watch them anymore.)  I hauled mulch and manure, and Dad tilled it in.

The most exciting part of Mother's Day, for me, is getting to talk with my babies.  I got to talk to ALL of them.  Now that make's for a great Mother's Day. 

Mother's Day, when you're the mother of a missionary, takes on new meaning.  We got "THE CALL" yesterday!  It was great to hear Amy's voice!  She's still Amy, which I knew she would be.  But she's a more confident, more powerful, stronger version of herself!  I love what missions help the missionaries become!

This is me talking on the phone to Amy.  (I'm not sure how Susan actually took a picture at that angle.)

This is Susan talking to Amy.

Now for some other things that happened this week.  It's been a whirlwind week.  The end of the school year is like that.

This is Susan at her CCTE graduation.  (That's the UNM Culinary class.)  She's sitting by Dennis D'Orazio.  Do you remember him, Amy?  He's Kathleen's little brother.

This is Susan serving refreshemts AFTER the graduation ceremony.

It's time for the old Ward Talent Show again!  Susan sang "Happily, Happily, Happily Ever After" from "Once Upon a Matress."  She really shines when she's in front of an audience singing.

So as not to disappoint our fans, our family performed "Sandwiches" accompanied on the nose flutes.

The music, singing and choreography left the crowd in tears.  It was touching... believe me.