The Best Mother's Day

First, Happy Mother's Day to my Mommy readers. I had a fantastic day; truly a memorable one. This year, I told Adam that I wanted to go on a hike and have a picnic. The weather has been so warm lately it seemed like a great idea. On Saturday, I made fried chicken and potato salad to bring for our picnic the following day. I quickly learned that it's a bad idea for my family to be at home while I'm cooking fried chicken that they can not immediately eat. Daddy went ahead and took all five girls shopping for Mother's Day gifts. They were so excited to shop, they even used their own money. Kiley said it made her feel more grown up and responsible to buy her gift herself.

Sunday morning we woke up early; all five girls gave me the gifts they had been so excited to buy. I have never seen them so anxious to give me something. It was fascinating to see what each girl picked out. Kiley bought me the cutest purse. I have been saying I wanted a new one. Haley bought me a new wallet; this was such a nice treat,  because mine has been falling apart. August bought me a set of gorgeous stone and bead bracelets. Julia picked out an adorable notebook for my purse. I told her that I really liked notebooks, and she said, "that's what Daddy said when I picked it out". I could just squeeze her guts, she's so darn cute. Finally, Emily picked out a small pink lantern that holds a tea light candle. I loved it. I was so overwhelmed with the care and thought they put into the gifts they bought. I think the fact that they chose to use their own hard earned money, shows such a huge amount of love for their Mommy. Of course we would have given them money, but thy were all so excited to buy the gifts themselves, we couldn't deny them that. I can't even begin to express how utterly blessed my life is, and how completely wonderful my children are. I hope to have more some day. I love being a mommy. I can't think of anything in life that could be better.

We all went to church as a family and then headed out to the park. We met Adam's parents in downtown Sunol and drove out to Sunol Regional Park to picnic and hike. I'm bummed I forgot to take pictures of our picnic, but the 150 other pictures should make up for it. We found a nice place to lay out our picnic blankets and we ate. After we ate we were ready to hike. The weather was cooler than I was hoping for but it wasn't uncomfortable. We hiked along a trail named "Little Yosemite" It's about a 3 mile hike round trip; halfway up there is an area with rocks and waterfalls. It was quite beautiful there. On the way back we hiked along the creek. It was fast running water and the white tips were pleasing to watch.

August and Emily loved the hike especially. A brought her camera and took a bunch of pictures and Emily thought everything was, "SO BEAUTIFUL!" Julia mostly complained that she didn't like the walk. It's a little bit of work for a 5 year old. so I don't blame her. She did much better on the walk back along the creek. Adam and I took turns taking pictures. I'm so glad his mom and dad were able to come share the day with us. I love my family.

I'm adding a ridiculous amount of pictures: You've been warned.