AMAZING Mother's Weekend! :)

I'm absolutely convinced that I am indeed the MOST blessed woman in the world! My family is so amazing! I had joked before Mother's Day that I didn't know if I would notice a difference because my husband is so kind to me that I feel spoiled and pampered everyday...Well, he outdid himself! He had announced on Friday night that it was not Mother's Day but Mother's Weekend. Late Friday night I mentioned a craving for deep fried ice cream and he headed out to the store right then and got me some! Little did I know he was buying other surprises for me while he was there!

Saturday morning Jim dropped me off and picked me up hours later at church (I still don't have my license back). I helped assemble flower bouquets that were to be sold at church on Mother's day and the proceeds were all going to Pro Life support. I came home and was so tired so Jim sent me up to bed where I got to rest and read a great mystery book I've been wanting to read. Later he came up and gave me a wonderful foot massage and I was sound asleep before he finished. :) He let me take a very rare nap and then woke me up to a surprise dinner (see picture below)

Jim had just woke me up from a nap and served me dinner in bed. While I was sleeping he made me a delicious steak dinner. He had picked up the ingredients while at the store on Friday and hid them in the fridge so I wouldn't know. I was very surprised and it was so delicious! (Please forgive my night gown and my just woke up look)

Sunday: Mother's Day. It started off so wonderful! I got up and checked my email and saw a beautiful picture of Jacques with his giant smile that melts my heart. I loved it. In so many of his pictures he is not smiling and looks as if he is very sad but on the contrary... he is so positive, smiley, and sweet and the picture I got of him was such a great gift! (Sorry, I forgot to add it so I'll add it in my Part II post). A couple days ago I had been contacted by a local reporter who was interested in sharing our story in the local newspaper (Inland Empire area) for a special Mother's day article. Here is the link if you would like to see it: http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_5884842 It is the second article on this page. It was not totally accurate but who could follow this crazy journey of ours and get it figured our perfectly in one phone call interview? I was grateful to see that she gave the birth Mom the credit she is due as I had requested and hope that it will shine some light on the great joy of adoption.

The traditional Mother's Day breakfast in bed. I was getting ready for church and instructed to get back into bed for this tradition. It again was so delicious! Bagel breakfast sandwich and fresh berries!

Before leaving for church this morning Jim and the boys all came to me with the most beautiful hand made Mothers Day cards!!! It was so sweet. My Mom had actually sent some fun card making supplies that Jim intercepted in the mail. I was on Jury duty earlier this week and Jim stayed home with the boys and they spent hours working on these. I couldn't believe how gorgeous they were! Definitely my favorite Mother's Day cards EVER! I also received a hand made bead necklace and bracelet from Kyle and Johnny that I proudly wore all day.

After church service with my six bouquets of flowers. Okay.. I'm not THAT spoiled- 3 of them were for friends but Jim did have each of our boys pick out a bouquet for me and I was presented with three of my own. :)
Mom- Did you notice that I'm wearing the shirt you picked out for me when we went shopping together? It made me think of you so I wanted to wear it today!

Still at church: Kyle, Johnny, and Luke call any grouping of plants a jungle and love to play in them. These are actually just under a staircase at church. :)

After church we went to my favorite beach: Laguna beach. Above photo is of Kyle and Johnny having fun at the edge of the very cold water.

Me and Luke are not big fans of cold water and are hoping that Daddy hurries up and takes the picture before the water hits our feet. You can see Johnny and Kyle playing happily behind us.

I have a theory that every child is born with the instinct to bury themselves in sand and get as dirty as possible! We finally figured out how to keep Johnny still. :) In our defense... he buried himself.

Jim just chillin' in the shade of our beach umbrella while Luke plays happily in the sand behind him.

Kyle and Johnny had such a blast playing in the water and sand!

Jim, Kyle, Johnny, and Luke in the cold water. Jim finally got in it because Luke wanted to go out into the water but wanted Daddy to hold him so he didn't actually get wet.

Laguna Beach has an awesome playground right on the beach. Above photo is of Kyle getting ready for more playing around.

Kyle at the top---Luke at the bottom. I tried to get a picture of both of them at the top of the slide but it turns out that you can't keep a 3 year old from sliding down long enough to get a picture of him at the top!

Luke showing off his ladder climbing skills

Me and Jim got a good laugh because Johnny had been playing in the sand almost all day and begged to play on the playground before leaving. Instead of actually playing on the playground he just continued playing in the sand under the playgym. We don't think he ever actually played on the play gym. That's SO Johnny! :)

Everytime we go to Laguna beach we like to end the day with buffalo wings and pizza at a restaurant called BJ's. Their food is soooo delicious. However, there is always a very long wait. So we put our name on the list and then headed to an art gallery that we love checking out when we are there. They have the coolest ocean and sunset pictures! Even the boys enjoy going in there. One of the sales employees was kind enough to take a picture of us all together in the gallery.

Finally it's our turn to get a table at BJ's!! We were so hungry and the food and service was as exceptional as always. Our waiter took this picture of us having our long awaited meal together. You may notice that Jim is wearing a shirt that says Haiti that I brought back to him on my last trip. He wore it today in honor of our 5 children that we missed so much and were wishing that they were with us every moment.

After dinner we hit a candy shoppe for dessert and everyone picked out a treat for the ride home. I had the yummiest DARK chocolate covered raisins (eat your heart out Kez, haha, I can't eat them now without thinking of you!)