Today is Mother's Day. Our mothers really do deserve more than one day of the 365 (and 1/4) in a year, but I suppose the fact that they are happy with just one just proves my point. They are ridiculously important in shaping the world and the people in it. Honestly, mothers have more to do with influencing the world than anything else. I'm so glad to learn from and grateful for the wonderful moms I see all around me every day... My own mother, the mothers of my friends, the mothers of my family members, the adoptive mothers, (the surrogate mothers - go see Baby Mama. It's hilarious!) ALL mothers of any kind, even if they don't have their own children. I hope I can someday be worthy of the praise mothers receive today by being a great mom in my own right... someday.

I hope my mom felt appreciated today. The day started when my dad woke up and cooked breakfast just for the two of them. Then the kids woke up and presented our gifts. Stephanie gave her a very thick booklet full of coupons like "50 hugs", "I will clean my room", "3 days of work at the shop for free", and so on.. a Color Me Mine heart plate painted with love, and an extra big card. Missy, Dad, and I all chipped in to get her the best digital picture frame Circut City had and a musical Care Bear card. I can't wait to load pictures into that thing! (A much better upgrade from the dinky little digital photo keychain we gave her this year as part of her birthday present.)

Then she listened to the CD us girls made for Nana, got ready for church, and went. I was (as usual) a little behind the rest of the fam in getting ready, so I headed out the door a little late. I'm so glad I did, though. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have been walking past the Boucher's house right as their van pulled up and I wouldn't have seen BETTY. Yay for long-lost friends. After a very quick reunion, I scampered off to Sacrament Meeting where the graduating seniors (including dear Missy) gave their talks on mothers, and a primary class sung/yelled their cutest Mother's Day songs. (Relief Society was amazing today, by the way. John Bytheway? haha, Lame joke. MOVING on..) We got chocolate covered strawberries, of which I took an extra plate full to go give to Dulce (Betty's mom). Who, incidentally isn't even in the country! She's in Mexico, I found out! How fun!

Then we went to eat with Nana and Papa, and listened to our somewhat embarrassing CD of singing to the best karaoke songs we could find. And gave live performances of some of our favorite Wicked songs, upon request. I even yodeled for the first time in about 6 years. Then, we went to visit my mom's mom, who now lives in Utah - Hooray! She's super excited about her first cruise tomorrow! I hope she has as much fun as I had on my Disney cruise a few years ago. I was so glad to finally see her happy and not afraid to show her real personality for once. I love my grandmas!

Then, of course we had to swing by our Aunt Teri and Uncle Sean's and see their AMAZING new Land Rover. I told Sean it's just one step away from being a full-blown Transformer, and it really is! It's hilarious because Sean has an RC car of their new silver Land Rover, and Connor has one of our yellow FJ Cruiser. Crazy, right? Side note: Connor is just the most adorable little boy I've ever known. He's going to grow up to be such a stud.

Well, after discovering that Parvarti won Survivor tonight, it's still a great day. (I was totally rooting for Amanda.. but oh well..) And nothing is going to dampen my spirits as I tuck myself into bed tonight!