Do the math...

...in the last blog and you will appreciate my awesome mother-in-law.

Count the candles on Mike's birthday cake. Yep, that's a big FOUR! Mike is all of 4years old in that picture. Now that's not a big deal, right? But when you do the math and see Christine on his left, who would be 5 in that picture, Colleen on his right, who would be 2 and Matthew in the high chair, who is not one yet, you have to be amazed at the woman who managed to bake the birthday cake.

Not only did she bake it, she DECORATED it. And she had the foresight to have purchased birthday candles when she was at the store, because I guarantee you she didn't run to the store every time she needed something. She never ran to the store, not ever, because living in Alaska in the 50's she would have had to hook the mush team up to the sled and then load the 4 kids on the sled to run to the store for candles. (Actually, their groceries were delivered when they lived in Alaska, but Matthew thinks the mushing is a much better story)

Oh, and by the way, Mardella, my awesome mother-in-law, was pregnant with Debbie and would be delivering her 5th child in about 3 more months. To be specific, Debbie was born on my Matthew's 11 month birthday. Did I mention my mother-in-law is amazing?

Yep...amazing! An elect lady woman who was willing to spend the rest of her life scarred by the stretching of her belly while creating my Matthew. The woman of God who held him on her lap so he could watch her take the sacrament on Sunday. The gentle hand that held his to help him learn to walk, to hold a pencil, to tie his shoes.......... and say a prayer.

As AMAZING as all of this is...

...I need to tell you about another slide we found while going through hundreds of Coil family slides.

It was an old slide. It was taken on the beach of what appeared to be a beautiful lake surrounded by pine trees. The slide was dark and the colors were muted. But I could still make out the figures in the water. Children, lots of little children, and then standing there looking svelte (that's a fancy word for sexy, as Fancy Nancy would say) in a swim suit(I don't know any other woman who would wear a swim suit after birthing 8 children and look that good), carefree and beautiful with her hair blowing in the breeze was the first woman my Matthew loved. The first woman to love him.

Remember, she remembered the candles for the cake. Do the math...that's 1,368 candle for 8 kids during their 18 years of life at home.

Do the math...



....that's 1,368 candles with presents on the side, wrapped and ready. 1,368 candles and she had made mashed potatoes for dinner before they had the cake.

1,368 candles and she still smiled when Matthew and I walked in her home last weekend for a visit.

Do the math...



...that's amazing.