Temple Square in the spring!

It was such a fun experience to go plant flowers and prepare the grounds at Temple Square this weekend. I was amazed at how many other wards and stakes had signed up to volunteer. We got there at 8am, got our gloves and shovels, were assigned an area to plant and got to work! I loved it when I heard a bunch of the boys say, "Wow, I didn't know it was this easy to plant flowers." After we got our flower beds done, they needed people to help haul mulch buckets. We stood in a long line and passed them down as they were dumped out and brought back. It is amazing how quickly you can get such a huge job done with that much organized help! Afterwards we clean up the dirt that had spilled, swept, put tools away and were ready for lunch! I am so grateful we had such a willing group of youth to wake up early on a Saturday morning and serve!

My buddy...

Maybe because it is almost Mother's Day or because he is happy or because he came and snuggled with me this morning, but I just love my little guy! I have struggled...I still struggle with Andrew. He is a lot to handle! People have told me and made comments about him and how silly, or crazy, or imaginative he is. It is hard to hear sometimes as a parent. You work with and live with and teach these little kids and hope that they reflect all that you have taught them. Some days I just wonder what I am doing wrong. Why is he acting the way he does? Why is he so stubborn! You know what, it is worth it!

Today has been a normal day, but when we got home from preschool and he gave me a little paper flower with a picture of him on it, my heart melted! He is of course smiling very cheesy, but that is him! (Thanks Steph for making these!) He is playing in the backyard right now, racing back and forth, saying "ready, set, go!" I just brought some lunch out to him, he took a bite and said, "this is really delicious!" Days like this make it all worth it. Worth the comments, worth the struggles, worth being a mom!