Marvelous Mother's Day

Just a preview picture to wet your appetite... Aren't these two adorable!?!

I wasn't really looking forward to Mother's Day this year. Our family was going to be fasting and Mike had bishopric/PEC/etc. meetings Sunday morning...SO... that meant no yummy breakfast in bed. Plus the Friday/Saturday prior to Mother's Day was the Father and Sons camp out - which meant that Mike had been gone all weekend (excellent planning by the Priesthood) and therefore didn't have time to purchase or plan a fabulous Mother's Day surprise. All of this was confirmed when he asked me Saturday night what I wanted to do for Mother's Day. I replied that I just wanted a grilled meal - not really thinking that he would go purchase a new barbeque.

Sunday afternoon one of my friends asked me if I had enjoyed Paris.... I was completely confused! Realizing she had made a mistake, she apologized profusely with a bright red face. Since I knew that there was NO way that I would actually be going to Paris, France, I tried to figure out what it could possibly mean, but I couldn't come up with anything. After a wonderful sacrament meeting (in which Mike spoke and had me laughing one moment and in tears the next), I came home and was ushered up to my room. The kids were doing something that I wasn't supposed to see...

Finally, Ilah came up to my room and handed me a heart that read, "We know you've always wanted to go to Paris... Happy Mother's Day" signed by all of the kids. She then gave both Mike and I a first class ticket to Paris along with our passports.

I am soooo happy you can't even see my eyes!

We were taken down 1 flight of stairs and boarded the airplane (in the den/library room). The kids had rearranged the couches so they were one in front of the other. There was a rope tucked into the couch for our seatbelt. Ilah was our flight attendant. She showed us how to fasten our seatbelt and explained what to do in case of an emergency landing. Henry was our pilot. He said things like, "We are now at an altitude of ______ feet and climbing." "Please look to your left and/or right. You'll notice that we are in the clouds." (Ilah had drawn clouds and fastened them all around the room). Henry told us when it was safe to move about the cabin. Then Ilah came in and told Henry to hurry up and land. He said, "You will notice that the fasten seat belt light is now blinking. We are descending to our destination of Paris, France. Please buckle up as we might experience some turbulence." We landed the plane with sound effects and all as Ilah looked on annoyed that it took so long.

This is our pilot and flight attendant who also doubled as our garcon (waiter) and hostess :)

Check out the lovely moustache and the duct tape shirt!

She then walked us to our dining area... our screened in porch had been decorated with white Christmas lights. The kitchen table had been moved to the porch and set with our nice dishes and candles.

Isn't the Eiffel Tower beautiful!?

We were served french bread and grapes with Laughing Cow cheese for the 1st course. The 2nd course consisted of a delicious green salad with a vinagrette (prepared by Taysom) and grilled London Broil (prepared by Tucker). For dessert Taysom made us her famous crepes with Nutella and sliced bananas. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of the crepes... probably because we were all too busy eating at that point.

Oh, I forgot to mention the orange Kool-Aid

The grill master

You gotta love the tee shirt, apron and tie combo!

I can honestly say that was the most memorable Mother's Day ever. I felt like I was in an episode of the Cosby Show. These kids are soooooo creative and thoughtful!!!!!!!!!!! How did I ever get so lucky? I love being a mom - even though I am FAR from perfect. I just hope that my kids can feel how much I love them every single day - I never want them to doubt that.

My beautiful daughters


My crazy sons!

P.S. In honor of The Cosby Show - here is one of my favorite moments. Of course the Cosby kids have nothin on my Wallace crew.