Wednesday, February 12, 2014

IT'S A MOM CELEBRATION




My prettiest Mom turned 30 last week!
So we celebrated by blowing up the world's biggest birthday cake,
and forcing her to wear a homemade party hat I made with random items I found at work ;)
(Lucky her)





And let me tell ya - it was way more thrilling than these people make it look:


Even Callie was stoked out of her mind...

But, mostly me.

But, on a real note, my mother is fun and young-at-heart. She plays "Sorry" with us on Sundays and laughs her head off every time Jake even speaks. She once ran 2 stop signs, because she couldn't stop laughing way hard at the THOUGH of the movie "Date Night". (Yes, it was the scariest day of my life, thank you very much). Every time something funny happens to Cole or me, Cole will say: "Call your mom, she'll think it's funny". She is just my teenage mom, and I'm really lucky. She plays co-ed softball with 20-year-olds, and coaches random 8th graders in basketball. She's selfless and hard-working. I'm not kidding, if there is such a thing, she is TOO selfless and TOO hard-working. I'm obsessed with my mom, and freakishly needy, so I even find myself getting mad at her for cleaning too many ward member's houses, and spending too much time at Mutual with her Young Women. (I'm clingy, shut up). She spent my entire life telling me I would feel better if I could just get up and think about someone else, and guess what? It saved me. She wakes up, puts mascara on IN THE CAR, and somehow looks like she's "my sister". ...Amanda, your sister's here to pick you up. Amanda, you look exactly like your sister. I DON'T HAVE A SISTER, STOP. I steal all her clothes, all her shoes, all her hair products, and all her jewelry. Most kids would get highly offended by the words: You dress like your mom - but I eat them up. She is quick to point out the good things about us, and, in return, it makes us notice the good things about each other. One time, seriously like 2 years ago, Toby was bugging me beyond belief, so I was being annoyed at him. And my mom responded to my (overly exaggerated annoyance) by saying: "I love how happy Toby is. He is just happy every second of every day and I love it." And ever since then, I have noticed how happy Toby is, and we have become better friends because of it. We have had Family Home Evening every Monday, as far back as I can remember, and it is going to help us raise our kids in a way that would be nonexistent if she wasn't in the picture. Every Saturday the words: "IF IT DOESN'T SMELL LIKE CLOROX, IT AIN'T CLEAN" sprint through my head, and it has made my home more open to the Spirit. I kid you not, they're not lying when they say: a clean home is a happy home. And I owe my mom so much for that happiness. Actually, I pretty much owe my mom for ALL my happiness. She was the host of every Jr. High "Late Night" I ever had with my friends. She hauled 12 teenagers to a condo with her for all of my birthdays. She then preceded to haul those same friends to St. George for our Senior Trip. I can't count on my fingers how many of my friends call her "Mom" or "Mama Call". (Mostly because they are desperately wishing their parents were as cool as mine). She coached me in basketball my whole life, and even got me to make the High School basketball team. It was absolutely not important to me at the time, but after it was over, I became forever grateful to her for giving me that push. She waited patiently through my mistakes for me to learn my lesson, and embraced me when it was over. She physically held my hand and walked me through a year I didn't think I would make it. In a relationship where I was always being put down, she never, ever, ever gave up trying to remind me who I was and what I deserved. She never stopped being my cheerleader, never ran out of "It's going to get better"s and "Keep going"s. I could literally keep describing all the wonderful attributes about my mom, and all the ways she has enhanced my life, until my fingers are numb. But all you really need to know, is that I love my mom more than any daughter loves their mom, and I am exceedingly lucky and grateful and blessed and honored to be her daughter for Eternity. The knowledge that there could ever be a chance of me being without her someday led me to the Temple, and keeps me at the Temple.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLIVER WENDELL!!!








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