Growing up, my house was the cool place to be. Our friends were always welcome to hang out, watch movies, jump on the trampoline and ‘puzzle’ with my parents. My mom always kept the fridge well stocked and it was not uncommon to come home and find the house full of all my guy friends (because they knew the code to the garage!) helping themselves to the goodies that mom had made! Our house was the place we would end up after homecoming or prom that we would watch a movie and mom would make breakfast burritos. Our home was always full of laughter and love and was one that the Spirit of Heavenly Father was present. My mom is an over achiever, she has always gone above and beyond with everything she does, but especially anything for her girls! She chose to work as an educational assistant at our elementary school while we were there so that she was home when we got home and wasn’t working over the summer she made sure we had her undivided attention. When we got a little older she worked the graveyard shift so that she again was present when we would get home from school. She was our girl scout leader from daisy, to brownies to junior scouts. Every morning before school she would make breakfast, which was never cereal, but breakfast sandwiches or homemade blueberry muffins and smoothies. She was at every game I cheered at, was constantly making inspirational gifts for all the cheerleaders, and she was at all of my sisters ballet practices and preformances. She was and still is OUR biggest cheerleader. Even now she is the first to comment on every facebook picture or blog post. She knows the story behind every one of our couples, she loves to share in their journey and wants everyone to know that her daughter and son in law are the best photographers around! Some of my best memories are laughing with my mom, she has a laugh that is big and boisterous and contagious. Half the time we start laughing and it continues on because of her laugh. We were always the family in the corner of the resturant causing a raucous, we were never trying to be rude or obnoxious but something would happen and we wound all end up in fits of laughter. One time in particular we were at gardunos and we started talking about the song ‘purple people eater’ at that point we discovered that my mom could not say it. No matter how hard she tried, the words got tangled up in her mouth, ‘one hind flying furple meople eater’ is as close to it as she can get. Its a great party trick and we ask her to do it on occasion just for a good laugh. She loves to sing along with the radio, even if shes not sure about the words she sings with pure conviction, surely gwen stefani sings ‘talk to the spider web cuz I’m not home’ or Bush’s song glycerine is always sung ‘kiss her ring’. My mom is so fun, she is not afraid to look silly in front of others, she nevers ages because she’s a kid at heart. I always said that I wanted to be like her, fun and silly, honest and kind, thoughtful and full of hope, I hope someday I can be. I have a long way to go, but I have a great example. Tonight as we all sat around the kitchen table in our home, the home that my parents built and we grew up in, and looked through shoeboxes of photographs, we laughed and told stories, some that we had never heard before! We teased each other because of really bad 80′s hairstyles and outfits, we cried over loved ones no longer with us, and beamed with pride as we shared photos with our kids, a new generation to carry on the legacy that each of our mothers gives to us. I am so grateful for this great plan of happiness that we are able to come to this earth as families, some immediate and some more distant and learn and grow and help each other along the way. I am also truly grateful for the sacrifice that I know all mothers have given, often everyday to help their children the best way they know how.