It's Your Birthday - Shout Hooray!

Today is my mom's birthday!!! Happy Birthday, Mom! So, in honor of her, I thought I'd tell you all what makes my mom so amazing and special:

First, a little about my mom. Her name is Christina and she was born and raised in Sweden.
After finishing schooling Sweden, she came to the USA to attend BYU for a couple of years and then returned to Europe. She joined the LDS church when she was 18. She speaks several languages, has traveled all over, served a mission for the LDS church, and has led a pretty interesting life, which she writes about on her blog, My Swede Life (go visit her blog and leave her birthday wishes!). She is the only one from her family that doesn't still live in Sweden...at times, I think she really misses them.


She met my dad, Gary, in Frankfurt, Germany...she was working for the LDS church and he was in the US Army stationed there. They were married August 21, 1975 civily and then sealed in the Bern, Switzerland LDS temple the next day. Here is their engagement picture:
In 1976, they moved to San Diego, California, where my dad was from, and on August 25, 1976, I was born. Here are some pictures of me and my mom...doesn't she look amazing for having just had a baby!!!!Three years later, my brother, Erik, was born October 2, 1979...and no, that's not him in the picture above - still me. But, I was a big sister! =) My parents only had two children so now it was on to raising us and enjoying life. Now, many, many years later, we all live in Utah, and my mom is a Farmor (grandmother in Swedish...means father's mother because it's my brother's child, Logan, so my mom would be his father's mother) and she is a wonderful grandmother! Here she is playing with Logan: Some of the things that I admire most about my mother:


* She is one of the most beautiful women I have ever known, both inside and out...she is sweet, kind, and loving.

* She is always happy...I remember growing up that she would bring us breakfast in bed during the school year and always wake us up with a cheerful greeting.

* She has a lot of patience and I don't think I've ever seen her really angry.

* She is SUPER smart and loves to learn. I remember many a long night in school when she would stay up with me helping me to memorize and learn things for school, even though she had to work the next day. Thinking back, I'm sure there were many nights where she got little sleep, but she was always willing to help me when I asked.

* She is my biggest cheerleader...she has always encouraged me to be the best that I can be...she and my dad have always led me to believe that I can do whatever I put my mind too...they have given me the drive to be the best that I can be.

* Several years before I was married, my mom injured her hip....and we still to this day have no idea how it started or how to fix it, even though she's seen just about every kind of doctor there is....I know that her hip causes her pain a lot of the time, but I never hear her complain...she is such a good example to me.

* She loves to play games...especially Sorry, Boggle, Chinese Checkers, Backgammon, and card games. We always have lots of fun playing games together. I call Boggle 'our game' because we are usually the only ones who want to play that one.

* She is fun and usually up for anything, even if it involves lots of walking or hiking (because of her hip) and she always seems to keep up and be having a good time!

* She is an amazing cook! She loves to try new recipes and we are the lucky recipients!

* Should I have kids someday, she is the kind of mother I hope to be.


Mom, I hope you have a wonderful, happy birthday...you deserve all of the beautiful things in life. Thank you for having me as your daughter...how lucky and blessed I am to be able to call you my mother. I love you! =)