Some of My Favorite Twenty-Three Memories From Twenty-Three Years as a Mom . . .

There is no order, just a smile on my face as I remember . . .

1. Matt coming into the kitchen this past Friday night with Droolin' Moose Malted Milk Balls saying, "Happy Mother's Day!  If I don't give them to you now, I'll either forget to give them to you or eat them!"
2. Matt making me grilled cheese sandwiches when I was seasick while we were sailing from Togo to Tenerife.
3. Matt taking care of me while I was tossing cookies on top of Mt. Teide in Tenerife and then laughing at me as I tossed even more cookies on the way down Mt. Teide.
4. Micah baking her girlfriend her favorite cookies when her dad left the family.
5. Micah driving by her girlfriend's house and praying for her and her family after her dad left.
6. Micah asking if we could pray for Mercy Ships every time we drove through the round-about on our way to the Y.
7. Matt, with his driver's permit, telling me how much more calm I was in the passenger seat when he was driving.
8. Matt jumping from our deck into the snow below - and me thanking God that nothing had broken again.  
9. Matt and his best friend Corey riding the old wagon down the hill and crashing at the bottom.
10. Micah tying the dog onto her scooter while going down the hill.  The dog saw a squirrel.  Micah crashed.  She did not have kindergarten pictures the next day.
11. Watching Micah swim a butterfly much better than mine.
12. Micah learning to drive in a lightning storm.  Every time it flashed, she turned her head to see it.  It was scary dangerous, but we survived.
13. Matt getting lost on the m/v Anastasis and being brought back to our cabin by a fellow Minnesotan.
14. Matt swimming on the "blacks only" beach in East London, South Africa.
15. Matt holding the baby lions in South Africa while his friend Wes held the remaining chicken legs.
16. Micah running up the hill at Black Hawk Park before she turned two.
17. Micah mimicking our former pastor at Church of the Open Door.
18. Micah freaking out when I made her do an illegal turn on 35W right after she got her driver's license.
19. Matt and Micah's first airplane ride on our way to join the m/v Anastasis in Birkenhead, England.
20. Matt and Micah's joy when they see their half-siblings, Kennedy, Kingsley and Lincoln.
21. Matt and Micah understanding poverty after having lived among the world's forgotten poor.
22. Matt and Micah at the market in any African country we lived in - always a bit overwhelming!
23. Matt and Micah playing games as a family.   

There are so many more fun and not-so-fun memories!  I'm glad I got to share just a few with you!  Happy Mother's Day!