Sunshine is my Love Language

There was a time when I had envisioned that Mother's Day was equivalent to a Day Off - a Free Day. I even spent a few of them steaming about how they weren't.

I can remember tearful phone calls to my own mother, crying about how Nels was sick in bed or it was cold and I still was making dinner or how I missed my Mommy. :) She gently commiserated with me, recalling many, many a Mother's Day that was uneventful or stressful when I was the one twisting around on her skirt or having a meltdown in the front pew. Then she told me that she'd long ago decided to stop imagining Mother's Day to be something it's not and to spend the day enjoying BEING a mother.

Those words have stuck with me and sunk in a little more each year.

This year I LOVED my day enjoying those people that make me a mother.

As with every year, we took a beautiful drive. "Rachel, what do you want to do on your special day?"

I want to be outside with the people I love.

I am still amazed with the breathtaking beauty of this place. We drove up through Bonner's Ferry, waved to the Canadian border, and drove into lovely western Montana to stop at Kootenai Falls. So beautiful!

We then hiked downriver to the swinging bridge.

Seriously. Yikes! and fun. and Yikes! :)

Do they look nervous? Yes.

My two older girls were a *little* scaredy. 

The younger three? Fearless, I tell you! 

Skipping and hopping . . . I think age makes you more aware of your mortality. :)

^SHE^ made me very nervous . . . 

. . . not so nervous that we actually crossed the bridge like this - she just thought it was hilarious . . . 

. . . but more like this - where I almost squeezed her independent little hand off.

SHE LOVED THE BRIDGE!

She doesn't like to hold hands --- "NO! No, no, Mommy!"

photo bomb! :)

She made up for being a stinker-pot by giving me lots of kisses and hugs from behind. :)

I love these GoPro-wide-angle shots. They make everyone look funny.
I believe Nels is jogging in this picture. Violet clearly thinks it's a blast. :)

After some fun hiking at the falls, we headed down the road a bit to Ross Creek Cedars State Park - an old-growth cedar forest with some trees that are over 500 years old. It was beautiful and magical and we can't wait to return again when we have more time for make-believe.

The perfect FORT! 

Daddy helped explore hollow trees.

strike a COOL pose! :)

As we were hiking back to the van there was some kind of lovely whistling sound all around in the trees. Some sort of evening bird, I'm guessing? The girls preferred my idea that it was tiny little fairies. :)

It was such a beautiful day! How thankful I am for all that I learn and all that I give and all that I receive. I am so blessed.

And how thankful I am for my own sweet Mother. I can never be out in the glorious world without wishing that she were with me - without wishing that I could share the beauty with her - the beauty of the earth and the beauty of my happy children. I think of her daily. How grateful I am for her goodness, her selflessness, her love, and her example. I owe all that I am to my Mama.

I am blessed to come from a long line of beautiful, generous, hard working, faithful, strong women. I can't wait to know them someday. I can't wait to know my grandmothers for the incredible women that they are. I have great confidence that they are beside me often as I struggle my way through this life. I believe with all of my heart that a mother's love does not end with this life.

How thankful I am for that.

What a magnificent thing it is to be a mother.

He is Risen

It's still boggling my mind that it's 2013. Just had to share.

Easter was so beautiful! How thankful I am to know of my Savior's love for me, for my family, for every human being. As with each of life's trials (and blessings) my testimony of His tender and watchful care has been strengthened a great deal in the past year and a half. I have a deeper and more personal testimony of God's eternal Plan of Happiness and our purpose here in this life. I truly "feel my Savior's love in all the world around me".

For the first time in five years, I decided to buy new Easter dresses for all the girls and make them look all fancified for our 9:00 meetings. Not an easy feat, I tell you, but well worth it. My day began at 6:30 and I didn't "sit down" until 9:30 that night. There were a couple of moments of "what was I thinking?", but they quickly passed as I spent a beautiful day serving my family and a yummy meal. We had a quick evening easter egg hunt and read from the Bible on the back porch about the first Easter.

Hazel was running so fast, that she couldn't be stopped for a picture, but you can
glimpse her in the background - behind Elsie's awesome pose.

I'm so thankful for the Atonement and Resurrection of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I'm so thankful for the life I have and for the blessings of the temple. I'm so thankful for the love we share in our family. This ARTICLE in the March 2013 Ensign has been on my mind quite a lot over the past month. It has been changing my view on what the Atonement means to me on a daily basis. To me, it means that my struggling, flawed, and feeble efforts as a friend, as a wife, as a daughter, and most importantly, as a mother are enough. That through Jesus Christ I can be more than I am, more than I'm capable of being.

I don't understand it all, not even close, but I get glimpses of heaven and feel his grace daily.

After church, the sun was shining so bright and lovely-like that we pulled over at a random strangers' pretty little patch of property and climbed out with our wild and beautiful little hooligans to snap a few pics -- while an anxious neighbor looked on. :)


The girls stopped their giggling and screeching long enough to get a couple of decent poses, but Violet had a moment of concern after I explained to her that the little round things she was collecting were, in fact, not easter eggs but moose poop. :)

Keep your chin up, Vi! Haha!

This picture cracks me up.

Love Is All You Really Need

. . . of course, that's not at all true. But I count myself incredibly lucky to be surrounded by it.

This Valentine's Day we decided to spice it up a little. We didn't take any fancy dates, but Nels put on a party for ALL of us that made his ladies feel pretty special.

Heart pizza + all your favorite Stake Dance music + a bunch of Chicks = a Roarin' Good Time!

The girls were told to dress up however they wanted...Elsie's costume was a winner!

And to top it off with a smile . . .

this is a perfect example of how I feel after Nels points that stupid camera at me for the 348th time

In all, it was a really great day! We made lots and lots of glittery Valentine's the night before, the girls had a wonderful time at their school parties, then as soon as Hazel and Lilie got home from school we cut out about 60 hearts to go decorate Nels's car at work.

I don't generally get much into the "silly" holidays, but I do love the opportunity to take a little extra time to share the love I have with my little family. I'm so thankful that Nels set up such a fun night for us!