thankful for mom

How could I not include a thankful post about my wonderful, amazing, saint of a mother? For those of you who don't know my mom, she is my hero and role model and I hope I can be just like her when I grow up. There are 1,000 reasons for this, and I don't know if I have time to post all of them, so I'll get started and see how long the kids stay occupied.

My mom is a genius. Really, she is. I rarely come across a book she hasn't read or heard about, or knows the complete content details of. I found one not too long ago that she wasn't aware of, and it turned out to be smutty, so that explains that. In college I was in a history class and had to write a book report on Looking Backwards. Unfortunately I didn't realize this until 3 days before the report was due! There was NO WAY I could read a book and write a report on it in that time, especially with all my other classes to worry about. I called my mom frantic who remembered reading the book a while ago and talked me through the questions I was supposed to answer-- just off the top of her head. She even gave me approximate pages to look at for specific quotes! I'm telling you-- genius. She'll be the next Ken Jennings if she ever gets around to auditioning for Jeopardy.

My mom is the nicest person in the world. She never has anything mean to say about anyone. If she does say something that shows how a particular person acted irresponsible, rude or unkind, she'll say, "oh she did the funniest thing". To which her only daughter will respond, "that was stupid". Unfortunately I did not inherit this niceness.

My mom is a spiritual giant. I know she would hate me bragging about this, so I'll keep it brief. She served as our Stake Primary President for 11 years. They split the stake during her call and had to release her, then called her right back in the new stake! She has served in so many different capacities in the church and does an amazing job at every single one. Right now her and dad are Stake Missionaries serving at the Bishop's Storehouse. They also have missionaries living with them. And she teaches primary on Sunday. I mention these things to show how she lives her testimony. Growing up we were constantly re-vamping our family scripture study plan to make it work as our schedules evolved, but we always had it. Her and dad are always serving others. They are both amazing examples of following the spirit.

My mom is a great friend. To others, to my husband, to my children, to me. She always calls just to check on us, won't let us pay for anything when we're together, and is up for whatever we want to do. When we get together and someone wants to go out and do something, Mom makes it happen. She is the first one to find a way to help us do what we want. She has always supported my love of music, putting me in piano and voice lessons, paying for choir trips, uniforms over the years, and after I got married her and dad bought me a keyboard so I could have music in my own home.

My mom is a fantastic Grandma. The kids absolutely love her. When she comes to visit she will frequently say things like, "Lucy and Megan, come do a puzzle with Grandma so your mom can take a nap" or "We're taking the kids to the park, do you want to come or have some free time?" or "Should we go out tonight so we don't have to dishes?" which of course she pays for. The kids love it when she takes them to the dollar store which has become a tradition. She takes them on walks, to the park and plays whatever they want to play. Megan prays often that Grandma can come to our house.

I have more reasons, like I said these are just a few. But the baby is crying telling me it's time to stop. If I haven't said it yet, I love my MOM!