Mother's Day

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs since the payment is pure love.  I recently came across this quote and found it fitting.  Pure love is exactly what I felt on Mother's Day.  The girls served me breakfast in bed; a warm blueberry muffin paired with a cup of blueberry coffee.  They joined me in bed with their donuts.  Although my bed is now covered in crumbs, it was totally worth it.  We have decided that eating breakfast in bed is the best way to eat it!

Madeleine made me a beautiful card that included three coupons.  One that entitled me to "one huge hug" but she later changed it to 3 hugs, one that said "you may nap how long you want" (she knows how much I enjoy a good nap), and the final one said "I will do the dishes".  Later in the day I found out there was a catch; they had an expiration.  So, I cashed all of them in yesterday.  :)

My family treated me to a very special day.  After church we had lunch at The Egg & I.  Steven and I first discovered the restaurant 9 years ago in Estes Park, Co.  We fell in love with it.  As a matter of fact, once when I was pregnant with Madeleine I craved it so badly that I was tempted to ask if we could make a road trip.  Much to our delight The Egg & I showed up in Lincoln several months ago.  If you live in the area I highly suggest you give them a try.  The Huevos Rancheros are my favorite!

After lunch we went to my favorite park.  I really wanted a nice family picture, so we brought along our tripod and captured this one on our first try.

I am tickled with how it turned out.  Here are some more pictures from our day.

I love these squishy faces.

My guy and I.  In one month we will celebrate 10 years of marriage.  I love him.

Our carefree little girl.  These pictures really capture the essence of who she is.

She hates having her picture taken, which is a shame since she takes such stunning ones.

My favorite part of the day was this moment I shared with Audrey:

We laid in the grass, looking at the sky through the leaves of the tree that was providing us with shade.  As we did we talked about heaven and where it might be.  Then our conversation turned to Grandma Norma (Steven's grandma) who passed away on Friday morning.  We talked about how she is up there, beyond the tree's leaves, the clouds, and the sun; living in paradise with Jesus. 

Great Grandma Norma holding Madeleine the day after she was born.

Great Grandma Norma holding Audrey on Mother's Day 2006

Even though I had a wonderful Mother's Day, it was bittersweet.  I thought of Steven's mom who spent her first mother's day without her mom as well as many other people who were not able to hug their mom on Mother's day (my mom and dad to name a few).  I am so grateful for the love from my own mom and the love from the two sweet girls who call me mom, and for the guy who made that possible.