Love, admiration and astonishment

Mother’s Day 2026

In preparing for Mother's Day, I found beautiful pictures in our archive taken six years ago. 

The pictures are of my daughter and our grandson. They are precious. 

Sitting with my morning coffee, listening to our rooster crowing, my feelings surprise me. I look at the little boy who is now attending grade school. Where has the time gone?

I am filled with love, admiration, astonishment and the desire to slow time down, as my greatest memories are those with our family. Seven years have gone by quickly. And, each day that I have with our family is the greatest gift of all. 

Love, admiration and astonishment 

As a mother, the love you feel for your children is so deep that it is difficult to explain. 

You look at these small bodies who stare back at you with needs, laughter and total dependence upon you as a parent. During the past three years the words of my mother keep coming back to me, “You are such a good mother. You guys are such good parents. I love seeing you with your girls.” I now truly understand what her words mean. I didn’t at the time she wrote or said these words to me. I do now.

Watching our daughters with their children, I look at them with admiration, as they put their children first and are nurturing an environment that their children will learn and grow. It astonishes me to think that my girls were once this young and now they are mothers of their own. 

Yesterday, I spoke with a friend who is going to visit her daughter on the East Coast next week. She shared with me how excited she is to surprise her daughter and to connect with her grandchildren. “I watch my daughter and see her outside on the ground looking at ants with her boys. She asks them questions, she laughs with them. It amazes me to see what a wonderful mother she has become.” 

Often as mothers, we wonder what our children will remember?

We can get caught up in the routine, the schedules, the demands of our daily lives. 

When we take a step back and watch and listen to our children, we find that in the end they remember the unplanned memories. The incident that shouldn’t have happened, like the time you hit a pizza and it went soaring out of the box and landed on your daughter’s face. The love and support you provide. The evening you attended a school talent show and your son looked down with beaming eyes, “my mom is here”. 

It astonishes me to think about these moments, as they seem like a lifetime ago, yet it also feels like just yesterday. My husband says, “The days are long, but the years are short.” That my darling, is the damn truth.

This Mother’s Day we want to be a part of your family’s memories. 

Our property is one of laughter, healing and beauty. 

As you think about your time with your family, we hope Rancho Roble can be more than a once a year experience. We hope it can be a place that you make memories. 

We hope that we can provide a special place that you can come out to on Mother's Day and on the weekends which gives you a spot where you can leave your schedules and your to-do lists behind. Stop and breath in the clean air. Look at your children. Pet your dog. Laugh with a friend. Make a new memory.

With love, admiration and astonishment,

Kari