Mother's Day 2012

Like a lot of moms, I've never loved Mother's Day. The endless praise of perfect, angel mothers never failed to produce anything in me than epic feelings of guilt. Then when my children inevitably squabbled or spilled food on the floor, or my husband wasn't as doting or attentive as I expected him to be, I would end up disappointed, pouting, feeling sorry for myself and bitter because obviously no one appreciated me.

I wanted this weekend to be different, so I adjusted my attitude, and we made plans. We dropped the kids at my parent's house yesterday afternoon, and we got to spend a few peaceful, wonderful hours at the Jordan River Temple.  We returned to my mom's house and feasted. The weather was beautiful, the food was delightful, (watermelon and corn on the cob in mid-May? Yes, please!) and the kids were blessedly well-behaved.

The highlight of the night, though, came on the way home. Max's favorite primary song is "I Love to See the Temple," and when he heard we were going to the temple yesterday, he begged and pleaded and cried. "I wanna go to the temple, Mama, can I go to the temple?" So on the way home, we stopped and unloaded all four of the kids on temple grounds so they, too, could feel the peace and beauty of the temple.

 We posed for the camera, and miraculously got a picture with everyone smiling at the camera at the same time. (And someday, my husband and I are going to learn to take decent pictures...)

 The kids played by the fountain, and no one fell in.

Not that Ian didn't try... (I love this picture so so much, because it shows so clearly, so exactly who Ian is!)

The sweetest moment of the night though, came as we were trying to load Max back into the van. Much screaming ensued until we figured out that Max wanted to actually touch the temple. We had told him he couldn't go inside, but he desperately wanted to touch it. I took him right up on the grass and he put both hands firmly and purposely on the outside wall of the temple. He beamed at me, then turned around and marched back to the van, saying "Goodnight temple, see you tomorrow."

The quote from President Monson rang through both my and my husband's mind: "As we touch the temple, the temple will touch us."

Those sweet, tender, peaceful experiences with our kids made my whole weekend. I could have ended the weekend there and called my Mother's Day a success.

But aside from Ian disrupting virtually every meeting in progress in our building today with his shrieks, today was remarkably peaceful as well. I enjoyed my epic post-church nap, as well as sitting on the couch eating juicy pear jelly beans and listening to Tom and Abby putter around the kitchen making dinner. My spaghetti dinner was wonderful, and made all the more so by the fact that I once again got to plan myself on the couch while everyone else cleaned up.

But the highlight of my day?

Ashlynn has a gift. She has many times brought me to tears with her cute, heartfelt notes and cards. This letter today made my Mother's Day the best I can remember.