Happy 50th Birthday, Mom!

To celebrate your amazingness, we've come up with 50 things we should have thanked you for but probably never did, or at least deserves another Thank You.

Mom, thank you for...

1. all those sleepless nights with me as a baby, especially with all those ear infections.
2. sewing up my Yellow Blankie after years of love and neglect (interesting how those come together).
3. passing on your beautiful smile and hair color to me (could have done without the Gosnell nose, but I'll deal).
4. making me a scrapbook of my childhood and then crying as you finished it while dad and you drove me to BYU.
5. that one time that you packed Judson a dinner of fried chicken because he had been at school all day and didn't have a dinner. It meant a lot to me that you cared so much about my friend.
6. my awesome 18th birthday party and letting my friends and I get into that crazy food fight.
7. letting me play roller hockey even though I was small and had no skill for it at all.
8. not letting me play ice hockey. I probably would have gotten killed.
9. teaching me how to divide using piano keys. Nothing else worked, but octaves, those made sense.
10. encouraging me to learn all those instruments. Seriously, the drums, trumpet, and violin were only the beginning. No wonder you have a hearing loss.

11. getting me a 1/16 size violin and making that drive out to Aumsville many times to get custom-size violins for my miniature body.
12. letting me take private violin lessons for a year...when I was 5...and really didn't need private lessons.
13. listening to "The DAD Song" far too many times!
14. attending so many concerts, recitals, performances, games, and award ceremonies.
15. motivating me to get a hit in softball with slurpees. Totally worked!
16. keeping the house stocked with my favorite things whenever I come home to visit.
17. the packages of Cheez-Its and Hot Tamales you sent to me while in college.
18. buying all those flowery stretch pants that I refused to wear because they were too girly.
19. forcing me to take baths when I really didn't want to between the ages of 4 and 11.
20. allowing me to choose fried chicken, creamed spaghetti, and pink salad for a birthday dinner.

21. allowing me to choose Cinnamon Toast Crunch for my birthday breakfast.
22. decorating my birthday chair with balloons and streamers every year.
23. driving to California for such un-Godly lengths of time while we slept or fought or sang in the back. I tried to watch the road with you once because if you had to do it, so would I. It didn't last.
23. throwing me a clown party for my 4th birthday...I think it was my 4th.
24. trusting me enough to not give me a curfew, and complying without question when I asked for one.
25. making my prom dress even though I was super grouchy when the top was a bit big. I was rude and ungrateful and I'm sorry.
26. passing on your love for music and beautiful voice to me.
27. getting Scripture Scouts. One of your best investments.
28. waking up before seminary to french braid my hair even though you were battling arthritis in your hands and fingers.
29. not taking me back to Super Cuts after the little flappy-hair-mullet incident.
30. allowing me to get a perm--now I know to never make that mistake with my kids! ;)

31. asking the nurse to switch my I.V. to my left hand so I could suck my thumb on my right hand.
32. letting Daddy and us sing Jr. Birdman at the dinner table.
33. putting me in charge of hanging the garland across the dining room doorway at Christmas time.
34. putting me in charge of Cindy and Jen one time when you left us home alone...another thing I know not to do with my kids! ;)
35. letting me choose whether or not to go to the Snowball dance when I was only 14, and then consoling me when my date ditched me at the dance. I learned my lesson.
36. painting that mural on my bedroom wall. All moms need a creative outlet.
37. buying me the more expensive Under Armor undershirt for softball--I still use it fairly often.
38. coming and staying with us to watch Aly when I had to go back to work.
39. hanging onto my wedding dress...I really am going to get that from you soon!
40. essentially planning our reception with Nick's mom. I really shouldn't have put that on you guys, but you accepted and achieved the challenge with grace and it was beautiful.

41. making sure we drank milk at the reception. Classic.
42. seeing that bum outside of 7-11, going home and getting a loaf of bread, and bringing it back to him. He wasn't there, but that bread was just as much for me as it was for him.
43. letting us eat cereal for dinner on occasion. It was probably because you didn't want to make dinner (understandable), but it sure was a lot of fun!
44. not killing us when we would call you at work because of some little squabble we were having at home.
45. not killing us when you were dead on your feet and we all came rushing out to meet you at the car to tell you about a squabble we were having.
46. not killing us.
47. telling me the story of my birth about a billion times. It was my favorite bedtime story.
48. making Nick feel like a member of the family by complimenting him on the way he mixes juice.
49. doing your best to teach me how to cook and sew even though I really didn't want to. Except for slicing, cracking, and boiling eggs. That's always fun.
50. filling my life with far more than 50 things I have to be grateful for.

We love you, Mom, and hope your 51st...I mean 48th...year is the best one yet!