{ Happy Mother's Day! }

Unfortunately this was kind of another day I have been dreading a little bit. Not nearly as much as Brock's birthday, not dreading it for myself, not even dreading it because I'm not a mother yet. But dreading it because of my own mother. This Mother's Day was the first of many to come were my mom did not have all three of her children there to celebrate this day with her. This was the first of many Mother's Days where all three of her children did not say, "Happy Mother's Day Mom!" The first of many days where all three of her children didn't sign a card saying how wonderful she is. The first of many to come where all three of her children were not there to show that it was her day.

The thought of all that being on my mom's mind so much this day is something that brought tears to my eyes alone. Before my Grandma Sato passed away in 2010 we would always go to my Aunt Linda and Uncle John's house in Ucon to celebrate Mother's Day. After she passed away we all kind of quit getting together on Mother's Day and just did our own thing within each of our own families but this year Aunt Linda decided to do a get together. Despite how many differences there are with all of my extended family and I, I've always looked forward to get togethers with my them. However, I really felt this year deserved something a little extra. Okay, not a little extra. I felt this year needed to be a little more above and beyond what we normally do. Something special. A day enirely focused on my mother. Nobody and nothing else. I decided (sorry to my hubby) to have my mom, Kip, and Nathan all out to mine and Jordan's house for Mother's Day.

I say sorry to my amazing hubby because I basically just made the decision and he found out about it. But I also say thank you because he was so wonderful about it. As I go through this post more you'll see just how much he did to help me make this day possible for my mom. And of course he wanted to see his mom on Mother's Day (we went to see her that evening) but he really knew how much this meant to not just my mom but to myself and my family as well. Things like this really open my eyes to how blessed I am to have this fantastic man as my husband. I sure love ya honey!

I began Saturday by getting some flowers to make a couple of arrangements for my mom. One was for my mom from Kip and the other was especially from Brock. We were all struggling with what we should do for my mom when it came to Brock. Whether we should actually get a gift for her to be solely from Brock or to just sign his name to the card. We all knew if Brock were here he'd be drawing something for mom for Mother's Day. That's not something any of us could do because Brock was such a talented, original artist so we settled on a big flower arrangement.

Not the best pictures due to us sitting under a tree outside but I'm really glad we got a few pictures anyways. Oh and Nathan is still chewing some food apparently, and mom wasn't quite ready for a picture (she's not crying though).

Before everyone got here I asked Jordan to help me bring this extra table we have out of the garage and set up under a big shady tree in our yard as sort of a "picnic table." I've been keeping my eye out and looking everywhere for a good deal on some patio furniture and have been unsuccessful so far. So, I decided to improvise and use this table instead. We even had enough chairs that matched. Luckily I had a fun tablecloth from a Young Women's activity still.

The green roses and purple flower arrangement on the left is from Brock and the pink roses and white flowers on the right are from Kip. They made pretty centerpieces despite them falling over twice on the table.

Mom reading the giant card we got her then opening the mother's ring we got her thanks to a huge help from Kip. It's a wide band designed in sort of a vine pattern all on the top with mine, Nathan, and Brock's birth stones in it. Mom loved it so much. She said now she can always have her kids with her. There were of course many tears shed but I feel like mom is starting to really understand that no matter what, Brock is always with her and perhaps even able to feel his presence at times.

Jordan was so great and BBQ'd some tasty, marinated elk steaks for all of us and helped me with more of the food. He also filled up the 4 wheeler so Nathan could go for a ride. After we all finished eating we set up to play some crochet. When Nathan, Brock, and I were little we would sometimes go in our backyard and play crochet after dinner so I asked Kip to pick up a crochet set for me. We just set it up in the backyard and played a few games together. As boring as the thought of playing crochet sounds it was actually really fun and I'm really glad we played it!

All in all, considering the physical absence of Brock, I think it was a great Mother's Day. I'm so so glad everyone was able to come out to the house so we could all spend the day together. It really was a lot of fun and I think mom even had a decent Mother's Day. That's really all I wanted. Was for her to have a decent Mother's Day. Even if it was remotely nice for her, it was all worth it.

I owe so much to my mother. She's an amazing person in every way possible. I owe so much of who I am to her. Not just for the fact that she gave me life but for the kind of woman she raised me to be. When someone gives me any kind of compliment, I feel I also need to pass that compliment along to my mom because when I receive a compliment it's really a compliment for her also. My mom is the strongest woman I know. I don't know a lot of the things she went through growing up, or even when she first got married, but she's been through a great deal for quite awhile. Yet, she's kept moving forward, doing what she knows she has to do. Not only for herself, but for myself, Nathan, and Brock as well. My mom is my hero, my best friend, and one whom I hope to strive to be like.

I love you mom!