Mother's Day 2011

 Happy Mother's Day out there!   To those of you who have mothered us, who taught Christina how to mother, who are mothering others, or who are feeling a hole in your heart from not getting to mother right now - today we thought of all of you.  We also especially thank Ashley today - without you, Christina would not be a mother, and we never forget that.

Steve, Clara, and Elena took the job of pampering Christina today right to heart.  The day started with a brunch of frittata and rhubarb compote.

 Clara sweetly dishes up the "potata," as she was calling it.

 Elena initiated many a toast to Christina, and throughout the day would keep saying: "You know what today is?  A special, important day!  It's MUVER'S DAY!!"

 Although we loved the frittata and compote, the best was yet to come...

 Steve spent many, many hours and lots of attention on these croissants - they were a true labor of love.

 And they were incredibly delicious!  What an amazing treat.

 Then, we headed off to the rodeo.  One of our students was riding today, and we wanted to go support her and see all the horses.  The girls could not be more wild about horses, so it was perfectly suited to their passion.

 Here's a picture Clara took of our student, Mariah, as she came up to see us.  We got to see her goat tying, which was fun, but the girls loved the bucking bronco and calf-tying the best, and sadly she wasn't in either of those events!

 Then it was off to our annual trip to the local nursery - we all picked flowers to brighten up our yard and garden.

 We take a picture by this bear every year - he gets planted with different flowers each year, too, and this is the least bear-like we've ever seen it!  Still, it's a marker of how tall the girls are getting, that's for sure.

 We dropped some croissants off to a few friends, then headed to a Farmer's Market that features lots of fun diversions.  We thought they would have pony rides today, and thank goodness they did!  Both Clara and Elena were pretty disappointed they didn't ride horses at the rodeo, so this remedied that somewhat.

 We stopped off at a new pub for beer and lemonade, and fish and chips.  It was a perfect afternoon break.  Then it was off the the park for some swinging and sliding fun.

 This is just Elena's favorite now!

 After that we headed home, planted our flowers, and ate chicken and dumplings while watching a Curious George movie.  The girls both fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows, and we're soon to follow.  It was a wonderful day - with a wonderful family.  Christina is so darn happy!