The Special Mother's In Our Life

It took me a few days to gather the pictures that I wanted to use for this post. I wanted to pay a little tribute to all of the special mother's and grandmother's in our family's life....

Janalee,Mom,Grandma

I will be forever indebted to Janalee for taking on me and my two brothers at such a young age. Being a mother myself now, I cannot imagine what a hard thing that must have been. I give Janalee credit for making me who I am today. She taught me everything I needed to know about how to be a wife and mother. She taught me how to work, how to cook, she taught me to be responsible. Unfortunately, I also think she taught me to worry a little too much :). I now always have way too much food prepared if we ever have company over- because it's always better to have too much, than to not have enough. I credit her for teaching me to take pride in what I do. Whenever I have to give a lesson or a talk in church now, I can't help but remember Janalee making me memorize every word of every talk I ever had to give growing up. It forced me again to be responsible and to be prepared. I still to this day try my best not to read any talks or lessons I have to give. Janalee is a great Grandma to our kids. Even though we don't get to see her as often as we would like, she always does a wonderful job of remembering all the special days and holidays during the year. The kids so look forward to the fun packages from Grandma and Grandpa Morris.

Janalee, you have always been the glue that has held the family together..... You are beautiful on the inside and out. I will always be grateful to my Heavenly Father for bringing you into my life.

Gloria, Mom, Nana

I have been blessed to have a mother-in-law that I can truly call my friend. Gloria is one of the smartest, most talented women that I have ever known. It seems like there aren't many things that she doesn't atleast know something about. If I ever have questions about anything, I know that I can call her up and get the answers that I need. I'm sure that her "vast knowledge" comes from her many life experiences... the first and most obvious one being her son Trent. For those of you that do not know, Trent was born prematurely. He is multiply disabled because of complications from prematurety. I have never seen such love for a child....Trent is immacuately taken care of. This is a tribute to Gloria... but I cannot leave out Dan, my father-in-law, who also does an amazing job with Trent. Dustin and I have said many times that his parent's must have it made..... that they will go straight to the top, because of the way in which they have cared for Trent.

Nana, as my kids call her is a wonderful Grandmother. She always manages to find those little "teaching moments" with the kids. There is never a time when she doesn't want to just sit and hold them or cuddle them. She has always told me that I need to hold my kids as much as I can, because the time will come when they will not want me to. True advice, I am finding out as my kids get older.

Thanks, Gloria, for all you have done and continue to do for us. You are a great example to us all.

Barbara,Mom, Grandma McCurdy

The older I get, the more I am coming to realize where some of my personality traits come from. I believe I got my independent nature, and socialness from my mom. I have always been a little more on the "I need to find things out for myself" side than my siblings. I have learned through stories that my mom has told me from when she was young, that she was the same way. She also has the ability to talk to people and be a good listener, and enjoys being in social situations. I have been told :) that I am a lot that way too. My mom does not like to hurt peoples feelings, and tries to avoid confrontation if at all possible... also traits that I possess. My mom likes to have fun and be adventurous and spontaneous. I have always been that way also...(Dustin would argue that the "spontaneous" part is not a good thing...hee, hee, just cause he likes everything to be planned out to the minute.)

Grandma McCurdy, as my kids call her, has come to visit us a couple of times since we have lived in Vegas and we always have a great time. She always treats us to lunches, and dinners, and the kids usually always get spoiled with something that she buys them.

Thanks, Mom, for everything you do..... you are great.

A Tribute to the Grandma's in our life...

I have been so extremely fortunate to have had so many Grandma's in my life. So many people that I know have not had that opportunity. I have always counted my Grandparent's as one of my most treasured blessings. Each one of my Grandma's have contributed to my life in different ways, and helped me become who I am today..... and for this I am grateful. I am also thankful for the opportunity that I have had to know Dustin's Grandma's. They are both wonderful women and I know that Dustin loves them so much. Some of his favorite memories are of spending time at your homes. My children have also been blessed with the opportunity to know many grandparent's. I am so thankful for this, because I know first hand how much grandparent's can contribute to your life. My children not only have 3 wonderful grandma's, but have been blessed to have 5 sweet great grandma's as well. They even were able to know their Great, Great Grandma Ellen Genta.... How many kids get that chance? We love all of you and are forever grateful for extraordinary examples.

Grandma Nina Morris, Grandma Ruth Miller, Grandma Carole Mason, Great Grandma Ellen Genta, Grandma Renan Stevens, Grandma Aleen Veenendaal

And last but certainly not least, I want to acknowledge my sister Adrie and my two sister-in-law's Shalise and Melinda, who are wonderful mother's to my neices and nephew's. I waited my whole life to have neices and nephew's. I remember I used to be so jealous of my friends who were already "Aunts" when we were growing up. I am so thankful that these special little kids have such great mom's to raise them. I also want to thank you all for being such great "Aunts" to our kids. They love you and get so excited when they get to see you. You are all great and we miss all of you very much.

I could probably spend all day telling you about all of the wonderful women and mom's that have influenced my life... but since that would take a really long time... I will instead share a poem that I think encompasses the whole concept of being a Mother very well.

A newborn's conversation with God:

A baby asked God, 'They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?' God said, 'Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you.
The child further inquired, but tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy.' God said, 'Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy.'
Again the child asked, 'And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?' God said, 'Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak.'
'And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?' God said, 'Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray.'
'Who will protect me?' God said, 'Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life.'
'But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore.' God said, 'Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you.'
At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, 'God, if I am to leave now , please tell me my angel's name.' God said, 'You will simply call her, 'Mom.

Happy Mother's Day!!!