I promise this is the last one without pics

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

I have a lot of thoughts today about this day! I don't think there should be just one day set aside to honor mothers. There are so many women that have had a profound impact on my life. Starting from when I was a little girl, the woman who would sing "You are my sunshine" whenever I wanted to hear it. The woman who would always have cookies waiting on the counter when we came home from school. She taught us to not only lay out on the beach but to truly be a "swamp hag!" Our summers spent on the beach in Bear Lake, eating Otter Pops, Reese's PB cups, washing our hair in the lake, spending all day on the beach and going to Garden City for shakes in the afternoon were the very best times I remember with my mother. Times that I have now started with my own children. Through it all I have always known she was there. She is just like me guarded with her heart and her feelings. I love you MOM!! Merilee Jones. She took me into her house and loved me like one of her own daughters. I have such a special place in my heart for her. She just let me be me and all my craziness and loved me anyway! Then came Carrie Bay!! I can't even say her name without a smile on my lips!! I don't think anyone could even begin to understand our friendship, bond and our story. She was a mother to me when I needed and wanted one the most! We laughed together, cried together and laughed some more! I think back to the day we first met, she must have thought I was CRAZY!! "UMM, I think you are dating my dad, and he was in a really bad car accident a few days ago and is home from the hospital and now I am supposed to go to prom with my boyfriend but he can't be left home alone. Can you come and babysit him??" LOL Could you even imagine getting that phone call? Carrie came into my life when I needed a mother/role model the most. She didn't hesitate to jump right in and become a part of my life. She was my friend and eventually my stepmother. Although today we are no longer a part of each others lives, she had a profound impact on my life. We were destined to be friends, I believe. We even shared the very same birth date, August 30. The next woman to take me in as a stray would have to be Ms. Peggy Schott. When I lived in Vancouver WA. my roommate situation was less than ideal. I had met Jenny and Brian Schott at the singles ward in Vancouver. Within a few months I was working for their father at the Party Factory. After only a few short months of knowing me, she let me move into her home. She let me put my clothes in the hall closet and sleep on a mattress underneath her stairs. Was there room in there small 3 bedroom apartment. NO, but she took me in anyway! She shared with me her love of Coke, (which I already had) and her love of Tillamook Brown Cow ice cream, which I just shared with my family for our mother's day treat after a 13 year hiatus. This woman opened up her heart and her home to a girl she barely knew. To this very day I still love her dearly and think of her often! I love her children, all of them! The Schott family was instrumental in bringing me back to my Savior and back his gospel. It was what Peggy taught her daughter Jenny, who then was an amazing example to me that led me back to the gospel where I have remained to this day, in spite of great torment and trial! I love you Peggy!! I wasn't the kind of girl who had many girlfriends as a teenager. However I did have sisters!! Two of them. Lisa, the little sister who hated when I played my radio to go to sleep at night. :) But I did it anyway! The little sister who I so looked forward to coming for the weekend so we could hang out, go get donuts, listen to music, make a mess in the kitchen with our cooking show! LOL!! The little sister who grew up WAY to fast! I can still hear her screaming from somewhere in the room while I gave birth to Jaxon. Again, LOL :) She was right by my side again when Colbi was about to be born. So much so her little body thought it needed to follow her big sister and give birth to two premature babies as well! I watched her fight her way to keep her little girl inside her just as I had to and then have to sit by and humbly watch as Dr's and nurses cared for your child when you couldn't in the NICU. I am so proud of the women and mother she has become!! She is loving and tenacious!! She selflessly gives and is aware of the needs of those around her! I love her spirit and the love she has for her Savior and Father in Heaven! Taryn, Taryn, Taryn, there is so much to say!! Where would or could I even begin? No one in this world has had my back the way you have. No one in this world has been there next to me through it all like you have. I mean seriously, it wasn't like sitting through prenatal classes together at ages 18 and 19 wasn't funny enough. But trading shifts every six hours running IV antibiotics into a central line, oh yes and then there was the Colostomy bag, BOY WASN'T THAT FUN??!! I mean really I just have to laugh. Talk about GRIT!! Who else would have been able to do what we did? Me driving you out to Lehi, yes with NO license. All of our trips to Gary's. I am proud to be your sister!! No matter where I go, NO MATTER WHERE, someone knows who you are. And has NOTHING but good things to say!! After having Jaxon I never would have thought I could have given birth to a child naturally. But there you were, right by my side. My personal cheerleader, telling me yes you can, yes you can. You can do it Mand!! I think those hours will go down in my history as my very favorite sister moments!! I have never been so terrified of anything in my whole life as to what would happen to that little girl when she would finally be born. I can still picture your hand in mine and hear your voice in my hear. You might as well have been wearing a cheerleader outfit. I made it through that night because you were by my side and didn't leave. And that my dear defines our relationship! By each others side no matter what!! Through thick and thin, and MUCH more thin I might add. JEEZ, how much do two people have to go through in one lifetime?? :) I would be here forever if I recounted all the memories I have of the two of us!! I am just glad the Land Rover didn't go backwards that day in little deer creek! :) I have needed you all my life to cheer me on. Whenever I think I just can't do it anymore, there you are. Picking me up, telling me everything I need to hear! I think you are the older sister who is a good example! You are a great example of never giving up! Sticking it out no matter what life throws your way! You are a wonderful sister, friend and mother! I love my sisters!! There are so many more women who I could go on and on about. Kesli, Kesli I am so happy you are a mother! I wish I could spend more time with you and Ryli. Your adventures are awe inspiring. I just love you and adore you! Missy for one. She is an amazing sister in law! Her love of life and family is inspiring!! And Jodi, she and I have known each other since birth!! We have had so many laughs together and I love that we get to share our lives and the lives of our children together! Cheryl, I could not ask for a better mother in law! I love you and miss you terribly. I loved every one of our conversations over the years. Especially the ones out on the patio at your house in Preston. I LOVE YOU!! In the last 7 1/2 years I have developed an amazing relationship with my Aunt Chris! She is my dads little sister. She, like so many other women has taken me under her wing. I love her! I love our talks and the love she shows me! She took my dads death as an opportunity to build a relationship with me. One that is forever and life changing!! She is a tremendous example to me and I love her dearly!! My Aunt Terry, my heart just smiles when I think of her!! She is incredibly beautiful on the inside and out!! And I find it an incredible compliment to be told I am just like her! Feisty and full of life!! My life the last 8 years has been spent sitting across from women, talking, laughing and sometimes crying. I have been deeply impacted by so many of the women who have started out as clients and now I can call dear friends! They have gotten me through the very worst times of my life, and I would like to think I have done the same in return. I cherish my clients and friends. They light up my day and make me smile when I think it is not possible. I love my best girlfriends!! Donna, Jamie, Alisha!! Thanks for sticking by me!! I don't know what I would have done without the three of you these past four years. You all have listened to me, loved me, laughed with me and cried with me. You are all mothers that I admire, look up to and love with all my heart!! HAPPY MOTHER'S TO ALL THE MOTHERS IN MY LIFE