One missed, one today

Beyond flowers, May brings the birthdays of my mom and sister. I didn't have time to post on Diana's birthday (the 3rd) and wasn't sure about a late birthday post, but my mom's birthday today is the perfect reason to celebrate them both.

In chronological order (by day, not year--how would that work?):

Diana

is generous, friendly, fun, stylish, daring, athletic, smart, hard-working, adventurous, loving, and real (to name a few characteristics).

So generous that her wedding day present to us was a family-heirloom of a piggy bank filled with money she had collected from a year's worth of donating blood. So friendly that her group of friends has always swelled to include me too. So fun that Zoë can never get enough of her. So stylish that I should have taken advantage of the years when she wanted to borrow my clothes. So daring that I learned to never follow her lead in snowboarding unless I wanted to eat it. So athletic that she placed in a mountain bike race only weeks after starting the sport. So smart she did well in my English class--oh, and graduated at the top of her class in nursing. So hard-working she took that English class three times till she got the grade she wanted. So adventurous was never without scabbed knees growing up. So loving she could never stay mad for more than a few minutes. So real she--in an effort to win at charades--dared to expose the same piece of flesh stereotypes would have plumbers display.

Happy (late) birthday, Diana!

Mom

is selfless, gregarious, kind, talented, appreciative, intelligent, beautiful, energetic, hard-working, inventive, and resourceful (also, just to name a few . . . )

So selfless that she will give anything she has to anyone that seems in need. So gregarious that she's the life of any party and always the last to leave. So kind that she spends hours cooking amazing dinners to reunite the family. So talented she made up a whole repertoire of songs she sang and played on the guitar for baby gymnastics. So appreciative she utterly rejoices in new blooms and beautiful days. So intelligent she's read almost every book I've ever heard of. So beautiful she's never had a bad photo taken of her (seriously). So energetic she has been known to bike up Slate Canyon and come back through Provo Canyon. So hard-working she does anything she sets her mind to doing. So inventive she can keep children entertained for looong amounts of time. So resourceful she can make a delicious meal out of four random items left in the fridge.

Happy birthday, Mom!

I love you both.