Happy Mother's Day

I fully understand how blessed I am. One of my biggest blessings is the family into which I was born. It would be hard for many of you who know me as an adult, to believe that I could have been a challenge for my mom, growing up. You'd probably be surprised to know that I might have been a bit "strong-willed" and my sense of humor might have been, (still might be), a bit "warped" sometimes. For example, I bet you didn't know that when I was about 5(ish), I ran away from home...my sister cried for me to come back but I think mom probably secretly thought, whew, now I only have to worry about raising 4 girls rather than 5. HA, I bet she was surprised when I came home in time for lunch!

As I got older, it seemed that mom and I were often polar opposites about nearly everything. If she wanted to make me a pink dress, I told her I hated pink...oops, did you get that? Mom made all of our clothes as we were growing up. The thing is, even as we disagreed about nearly everything, I never doubted that I was loved and cherished...the same can be said for each of my sisters. Mom had a knack for making us all feel special. She managed a household, raised five daughters and maintained her sense of humor and her sanity throughout! She was/is a very talented lady. To this day, she makes designs and "hand-quilts" beautiful king-size quilts and decorative wall hangings, she is active in our church, volunteers her time at the local hospital, and spends time with her girlfriends.

Mom at one of the "antler arches"
at the entrances to the town square
in Jackson, WY

Since my retirement, mom has become my most frequent travel-buddy. I definitely got my "wanderlust gene" from her. In fact, she is often the first to question, "when and where are we going next?" I've decided to insert some of our travel pics here to illustrate some of our adventures.

Guess...

Mom on our
gondola ride in Venice,
Italy

with my sister Carol and my niece Hannah

Seattle Space Needle

at the Grand Canyon

Bar Harbor, ME

with mom's friend Doris & my sister Karen

Boston

By far, the most important thing in mom's life is her family. We are as close as any family can be and probably a lot closer than most. Sometimes, we might feel a little "too close" but I cannot begin to explain how comforting it is to know to the very marrow of you soul that you have a host of strong, intelligent and loving women in your corner. Our mom is our matriarch, our role model and our biggest cheerleader. All I can say is Thanks mom! We love you to the moon and back!!!

Happy Mother's Day!
TTFN,

Lois