Mother's Day 2014

For about the past five or so years, we've gone to visit my parents for Mother's Day weekend. I love this tradition! I know some people who prefer to have Mother's Day to themselves, but I love sharing it with my mom. The day tends to be very bittersweet for me, so it's nice to have a fun and special tradition to accompany it. 

We headed up to my parents' house on Friday evening after Chris got off work. We generally get up there just in time for dinner, about an hour of play, and bedtime. We didn't really have much planned for the weekend, so on Saturday morning we decided to look to our fallback of visiting Bass Pro Shop with the kids. 

The Bass Pro where my parents live is the original Bass Pro Shop, so it has tons of animals and displays to entertain the kiddos. They love it!

We were even able to see a live show in their huge aquarium . . . complete with a diver feeding the fish!

Haha . . . Bren didn't want to have his picture taken.

I'm not sure why, but my kids are both terrified of all the stuffed animals. This is funny to me because Brianna in particular LOVES live animals, but hates these stuffed ones? You can see in this photo that she is scared. And granted, this bear is not the friendliest looking creature out there!

After Bass Pro Shop, we went to lunch and then headed out to a local farm to feed the ducks. This is the same farm that hosts a fall festival we enjoyed last year.

When we were there last September, we fed the ducks at that time as well. Brianna got a little too close to them and ended up getting bit by one of the ducks. It didn't hurt her, but it did shake her up a bit. I didn't think she'd remember this incident, but I was wrong! She remembered and reminded all of us that those ducks will bite!

Brenson is more cautious than Brianna while feeding the ducks, so he tends to throw whole pieces of bread in the water :-).

He's so much like me in this way that it's kind of scary.

There is a large playground not too far from the pond, so we let the kiddos play for a bit. Chris snapped these next two photos on his phone while the kids were at the playground, and I love them!

Brianna is a girly-girl, but she also plays hard and loves bugs!

Around 1:00pm, Mom and I headed off to get manicures while Chris took the kids home for naptime. Dad had to work that afternoon - and I don't remember exactly why this happened - but he ended up stopping by the nail salon to give Mom something. When he walked in, the nail salon owner asked him if he was there for a mani! If you know my dad, you know why this is SO funny. Dad was less than impressed :-). We spent the rest of the evening {sort of} relaxing while we cooked dinner, gave the kids baths, and got ready for the next day.

On Sunday morning, we all got ready for church then Mom and I opened a few Mother's Day gifts. Of course, we had to take some photos before leaving for church. I cherish these photos because of who is in them, but I don't love them of me at all. I guess I just wasn't having a photogenic day? I don't know.

Me and my Mom . . . love her!

The girls :-).

The kids weren't being super cooperative, but better than the last few years for sure!

Two of my greatest blessing <3 .="" p="">

My precious son . . . this boy has my heart.

My spunky daughter . . . she keeps me smiling AND pulling my hair out!

I think Grampy is probably Brenson's absolute favorite person! And this picture is too precious!

I also love this photo of my parents with my kiddos. It fills my heart with joy to watch them interact.

My wonderful parents . . . so blessed to have them!

This last photo is of my favorite Mother's Day gift I got this year. Maybe ever.

This is what I wrote as a caption for the above photo when I posted it on social media. I think it pretty perfectly sums up my feelings!

"As many of you know, my journey to motherhood has been anything but easy. It has been a road littered with anticipation, plagued with disappointment, and tainted by loss. However, through it all God is my anchor. He knows the pain I've felt, the tears I've cried, and the disappointment I've endured. He has shown me what it means to trust Him, and He has helped me learn that He is faithful. Mother's Day will always be a bit bittersweet to me as I reflect on my journey and praise God for my Bs. I am thankful every single day for the opportunity to live my dream of being a mother to my sweet babies. I love this anchor necklace they got me this year and will wear it as a reminder that God is my anchor in the storms of life and always."