Johansen Family: Mother's Day

To all the mothers in our lives, Happy Mother's Day. We are blessed to have 4 "moms" and the kids 4 "grandmas" so we are a pretty fortunate bunch. I put them in parentheses because they all go by different names than mom and grandma, but they are every bit as much moms and grandmas each in their own unique way.

Grammy and my stepmom - Without my stepmom, my Dad would not do anything but work. Pam had little experience with kids until she became a grandma and she has been wonderful, even changed a few diapers, that's how much she loves our kids.

Grandma and My mom and my best friend - rarely a day passes without talking to her at least once. Seeing her with Myann is one of my favorite things. I love that they have a great relationship and I hope that Myann and I will stay as close as my mom and I are.

Grandma Anne and my stepmom-in-law - Hard to believe Anne has only been in our lives for 6 years because she seems so integral to it. I love every minute I spend with her and so do my kids. Anne is an amazing example of selflessness.

Grandma Jo and my mom-in-law - She is not the dreaded mom-in-law and actually known as the cool mom. I give her all the credit in the world, since she raised Brian and is probably the only other person on this earth who knows what a challenge he can be, so maybe his sisters know too. :)

My Grandma - don't be fooled by her small size, she has the spirit of someone twice her size. I love this woman with all my heart and she taught what joy it brings to be generous with people.

I don't have any digital pictures of Brian's grandmas and sadly they have all passed. But since this is for my kids one day, I feel it important to write something about each.
Grandma Jo was a kind woman who knew how to put Brian in his place.
Grandma Stout - there are not words to describe how amazing this woman was. I knew her only a few short years, but she will be with me forever, as the most loving person I've ever known.
Grandma Mallett - It breaks my heart that I never met her, as Brian affectionately refers to her as his best friend. She was a pistol to say the least.

As for my mother's day, it was a good one. I have no problems telling Brian exactly what I want and how I want to spend the day. This year, my gift was new knives and pots and pans. Despite what you may think, I am SUPER excited. I have had terrible knives and pans from my single days, so we upgraded and did we ever. I LOVE them!!!! I may even cook more now, well I cook a lot now, I may cook better now. The day started with getting to sleep in and by sleep in, I mean I did not even have to get up and nurse Anders. Brian got to him before I heard him, so Brian gave him a bottle. This is the first time Brian has gotten up with Anders since he was born, so I was pretty excited. Then I got to have coffee in bed and read magazines. The kids came in with my cards and school made gifts. Love the school made gifts, God Bless preschool teachers. After that, I packed a picnic lunch and we ventured to Riverside State Park for a picnic and hiking. We have heard great things about the park, so I was thrilled to spend one of our first nice and warm days this year out hiking. The kids loved it. Shane was heard saying, "This is crazy hiking", in regards to the rocks we had to pass over. Myann had to stand on every stump and say "Whoooaaaa!". Anders pooped, I guess he was too relaxed out hiking, so I was fortunate enough to change a diaper out in the wilderness. And the highlight, we saw a SNAKE!!! Pretty cool, it passed right by us while we were on the rock above it, so we watched it for a good 2-3 minutes. Then home for naps, dinner and bed.