Happy Birthday Mom! I Love You!!

Happy 60th Birthday Mom, I am so glad Heavenly Father sent you to our family to live.

Some of the greatest things my mom has done:

Married my dad. My mom has always shown us how much she loves my dad. She is a fantastic wife. My parents have always shown lots of affection for each other in front of their kids, and they taught us the importance of this part of their love.


Honored my dad. Hark, Hark. When it is really important, my mom "hearkens" and listens to my dad. The rest of the time, she shows us that it is also important to have an opinion of your own and stand up for what you believe is right. You don't have to be popular, as long as you are true to what you believe in.

Open door policy. I was always welcome in her room, any time, day or night... or middle of the night. We always knew to come to her room as soon as we got home. We would tell her all about our dates, and she would want to know every detail. I never thought to keep anything from her. I honestly don't know why I would have.

Highlighters and yellow notepads. My mom taught me to be organized. I know how to manage money, navigate a college degree, and organize a 500 person event, all with my highlighters and a yellow notepad.

Fight, Fight, Fight... for what you believe true. Mom, you have taught me to fight for what is right. Garrett in Hawaii and Irvine Singers. You taught me to stand up for myself.

An election is not about winning. It is about advertising how amazing your kid is, and helping them to meet new friends and feel great about themselves. I can't even begin to imagine how many election posters you have made in your lifetime mom. We didn't always win, but we always became known throughout the school, and that in turn helped us be kind to everyone, and include lots of people in our groups of friends.
Here are the few I remember today...
Char will Star as Activities Commissioner
Lookout For Lani!!!
A nickel and a Penny, Vote for Nicole Kenny... treasurer.
Marvelous Mitzi
Gates for President... (Hey we won that one!)
Aim for President! (Amy)
Mighty Mitzi (Mighty Mouse song)

First things first. When taking Cole to the hospital twice a week (in addition to all of his other appointments) got to be too much for me, mom stepped in and said she would take him once a week. So every Monday morning she comes and gets him for his CHOC Hospital day with Grammy. It means to world to me that she makes time in a very busy schedule to spend on Cole and in helping me.

Vacations... Do it all, See it all, Taste it all, Experience it all... and have a great time every minute of it. Mom, you are the greatest vacation planner in the history of the world. To me, this is probably your greatest talent!

Patriotism... Kids Are Music... USA... Flags Waiving, Red, White and Blue, Stars and Stripes...

When I was growing up, we moved to a new place every 6-12 months. I went to over 20 different schools growing up. It was amazing. But three things really stand out in my mind as a result of this neat experience.

#1. Take a picture in your mind. As we would walk the rock wall by the pier in Hawaii on the Kona coast, my mom would stop us and say, "Take a picture in your mind!" It seemed magical, like this was a moment we would never want to forget... and to this day I remember how wonderful it was... Those pictures in my mind.

#2. "Your brother and sisters can be your best friends." We moved so often, then we learned that sometimes friends can come and go, but families are forever. I became best friends with Amy, Chuck, Mitzi, Lani and Tiffany. So thank you mom, for giving me 5 best friends! And thank you for not stopping at 4 or 5. I can't imagine life without all 6 of us.

#3. Do it while you can... Don't wait until later. We would only live in a place for a short time, so we would always make the most of every minute of free time we had. So we walked on every golf course overlooking the oceans in Hawaii, we went to Daffodil Hill, We toured the Redwoods, we climbed to the top of every mountain, We had Disney passes. We did it all. And it was wonderful!

And one of my favorite things about my mom...
The glad game. Anyone can be miserable. It's not hard at all. But if you really work for it, you can be happy. You can find happiness anywhere. You just have to play the glad game.