Mother's Day 2011

This was my absolute 'BESTEST' Mother's Day EVER!!!  I spent the weekend with all 3 of my daughters and my two new Grandson's here in Kansas!!!  A totally unexpected gift to have them all here, but especially to celebrate with both my Daughters on their first Mother's Day!

Back in March when Grandson #2 was born, my Daughters planned a "Girls Trip" to Kansas for a long weekend visit while the new Mommies were still on maternity leave...  it wasn't until 2 weeks prior to the visit, that any of us realized it was going to be Mother's Day weekend!  Amber (my eldest) had already visited here in Kansas with her boyfriend (Ben) for New Years, but the other two Daughters had yet had the opportunity to come visit and see our new home.  This was my Daughter's 2nd cross country road trip together... just 5 years ago, all three of them drove from Kentucky to LA to take the youngest (Lauren) to begin her studies at FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising).  There were many hilarious stories that came from that road trip... and there are many more hilarious stories from this recent one as well.

As a Mom, I am soooooo grateful that my Daughters are so close to each other, and make sure to take every opportunity to be together with themselves, as well as Joe and I.  There is nothing sweeter than a close knit family, who are ALWAYS there for each other.  You can only imagine my pure sweet delight when we all discovered it was going to be Mother's Day weekend during their visit.  It was the best gift any Mother could wish for!!  The visit was PERFECT, but the time flew by soooo quickly!  Amber gave all of us Mom's a 'Family Tree' necklace that had a birthstone gem for each person in our individual families.  I of course had the most gem stones.... one for joe and I, one for each of my Daughters, and one for each of my Grandson's.  The two new Mommies (Jessica and Lauren) had a gem stone for themselves, their husbands, and their sons.  We all just LOVE LOVE LOVE our necklaces and the thoughtfulness of Amber.  Amber ALWAYS finds the most creative gifts... we will all cherish these necklaces forever!

Not only did we celebrate Mother's Day together, we also celebrated Cinco De Mayo and Derby Day as well.  The girls began their journey early Wednesday morning (May 4 @ 7:00am) and arrived in Kansas late Wednesday evening around 10:00pm.  On Thursday (May 5) we had our own little Cinco De Mayo party with carnitas (slowly roasted pork butt), fresh homemade pico de gallo, guacamole, lime cilantro rice, black and refried beans, and of course margarita's!  For dessert we had lemon angel cake roll!! YUM!  On Friday (May 6) we dined on salad, grilled steaks with braised mushrooms and onions, sauteed parmesan new potatoes, and sauteed brussel sprouts... for dessert we enjoyed fresh berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries) with creme anglaise.  Saturday (May 7) we had a Derby Party crab boil with more lemon angel cake roll and derby pies.  Finally on Sunday (May 8), which was their last day/night of their visit, we went to Mother's Day brunch at the country club, then later that evening we went to Ken's Pizza (our favorite pizza ever!) and topped it all off with a visit to Freddie's for frozen custard.  Needless to say.... our bellies were bloated and stuffed from arrival to departure of their visit.

We held babies in our arms, we laughed, we told and retold family stories, we drove around our sweet little town of Hutchinson, we sunbathed, and we just hung 'together' as one family unit again.  Their visit finally made this new house feel like 'home' again.  I am deeply grateful and appreciative that the husbands and boyfriend shared the girls and babies with us on this special weekend, especially knowing the new Dad's would have enjoyed spending the "first" Mother's Day with them as well.  THANK YOU BUNCHES boys!!!

I am sure there are many more 'special' Mother's Day weekends in our futures.... but none will EVER be as special as this one!  I still have a big ole smile plastered across my face!  I hope all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day as well!