The Old Lady is 50!!!!

Well my mom just turned 50 yesterday and I have to give her a bad time about it. We had a birthday party for her. Ashley, Jared and Dad made homemade pizzas and I made the Salad and cake. We try to give mom a good birthday but we don't hold "a candle" (get it) to my mom and what she did for us on our birthdays. So I'm going to copy Ashley and give you 50 reasons why I Love my mom (in no particular order):

1. She's an excellent cook
2. She can sew. And since I'm learning, I now greatly appreciate all the matching dresses she used to make for me and my cabbage patch and all the doll clothes she made for me.
3. Nobody has a cleaner house than my mom.
4. She takes care of my dad.
5. She's a hard worker - up from sun up to sun down.
6. She's the best Post Office worker in the country. (Well I don't know all of them but I'm sure that she is). I remember growing up people calling her at night after the post office had closed or on weekends wanting her to go in and check if a package or mission call had come in and she would always do it. (I would have told them h#&l no!)
7. She's considerate of others.
8. She loves her grand kids and her grand kids love her (more than their mom). They love going to Grandma Beaver's house.
9. I mentioned that she can cook but she cooks all of the time. I don't cook good nutritious meals like my mom. I try and I'll keep trying.
10. She has a testimony of the gospel.
11. She is an awesome listener. I often call her about my gripes and complaints with the world.
12. She would do anything for me and my family.
13. She gardens.
14. She keeps her yard nice.
15. She used to do my hair every morning. (Now that I have Maddy I appreciate it a lot)
16. She irons (I need to do better).
17. She is computer illiterate.
18. I tease her a lot and she takes it.
19. I like her stories of when she was growing up (especially the ones of when she lived in Manderfield).
20. I love the memories I have of bottling with her and Grandma Baldwin.
21. She takes my kids for walks to feed the ducks down at Kerksieks.
22. She's crafty.
23. She can decorate a cake. I remember all of our birthday and cakes and how cute they were. I know now how much time they must have taken to make.
24. Her house is not only clean but she can decorate. Something I struggle with.
25. She helps my dad out a lot with his construction business.
26. She sacrifices a lot for our family.
27. She cheers for the Utes.
28. She sacrificed so that as us kids we could do dance, baseball, basketball, etc.
29. She took good care of my grandma when she was suffering from ALS. She took care of my grandma's house and made sure that grandma had everything she needed at the LTC facility. I remember going with my mom to visit and she always had something to take to grandma.
30. My mom calls me almost every night when Bryan is out of town.
31. She loves it when we are all together even though it is a zoo.
32. She's smart!!!!
33. My kids love staying over at my parents house because they get too sleep in my mom and dad's room and watch movies.
34. She's honest. My mom is one of the most honest people I know.
35. She's a small town girl (I mean that as a compliment). My mom is modest and humble.
36. She has always stood by my dad. They have had some rough patches (what married couple hasn't) and she has always stood by my dad. I love my parents and the marriage that they now have.
37. I love my mom's raspberry jam. (I don't think there is anything that I don't like that my mom makes)
38. She's beautiful
39. She's organized. My mom doesn't even have a junk drawer - all my drawers are junk drawers.
40. She looks out for me.
41. She's a worrier. I think she worries more about us now then when we were kids and living in her house.
42. She makes a funny face when she curls hair.
43. She makes me feel good about myself.
44. She doesn't like to drive in SLC. I like that she let me take her to SLC when Austin was born. We had a fun time. It is something that I will always remember.
45. She's a sweetheart!!!!
46. I like it when she laughs so hard she cries.
47. She is supportive of my kids and her and dad and Kyle are always coming over for birthdays, dance recitals, soccer and baseball.
48. She exercises and tries to keep me motivated to do the same.
49. She puts up with my dad's very very very very very very loud snoring.
50. She's my example in everything I do.

We Love You Mom - Even Though You Are Now Older Than Dirt!!!!

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving. We went to Bryan's parent's house and had fun spending time with his family. The food was great and the company was even better. Bryan, Vickie, Scott and Kristin got up Friday morning and went Black Friday shopping. Those Paxtons love to shop but I stayed in bed and slept in with the kids. We had fun playing games all weekend and on Saturday we had a pool tournament with Scott Perkins being the big winner. Our weekend was full of good food, games, flag football, pool and video games. What could be better!!!!

Now we have Christmas to look forward to. We almost have all of our shopping done so the stress is almost over. Bryan was gone all week the week before Thanksgiving. He had to go to Valparaiso, Indiana to help out a plant there so of course I was sleep deprived. I can't sleep when he is gone but I did get a lot of Christmas candy made. I tried for the first time my Grandma Baldwin's divinity and it worked. So I made a couple of batches of that and a whole bunch of chocolate covered pretzels and carmels. I still have more to do and Bryan has to go back out to Indiana so I guess I will get it done then.

Mason turned nine last week. He is such a great kid!!! He is our biggest helper. He is also a big sweetheart and is considerate of every body's feelings. I can't believe how fast kids grow up. I remember bringing him home from the hospital on Thanksgiving Day and Bryan's parents brought Thanksgiving Dinner to us and then my mom came back over that night to stay for a couple of days and to help out with Mason. We have such good families. We are truly blessed.