Happy Birthday Mom!

It's my Mom's birthday (technically tomorrow, February 5th, but I have to do this post tonight), so it's time for a post all about my great Mom.

I've always looked up to my Mom. She is so incredibly talented, and has so much knowledge of the gospel and of other subjects--especially politics and things going on in the world.

Here's a picture of her and my Dad on their wedding day:

I always loved to look at this picture, and hoped that I would look this beautiful on my wedding day. My mom always kept her wedding dress in her cedar chest, and Jan and I loved getting it out and looking at it, and trying it on (although it never really fit us--she was so slim!)

As I said, my Mom is incredibly talented. She sings, and was in choirs all while we grew up. She has beautiful handwriting--I used to love to watch her write when I was little. She's very social and good at getting to know others. But the talent I love the most is her painting. I grew up studying her many paintings, wondering how she did it, and loving the way the oil paint stood out on the canvas with so much texture. She always had pictures hung up in the house. For Christmas 2006, she did paintings for each of us kids. I put a couple of my favorites in here:

Don't forget Mom, this last one is mine (it's currently hanging up in her room, because Jan has an identical one hanging up in our house). But when I get married, I get mine back!



A few years ago I took painting lessons from my Mom, and loved it. We had so much fun working together and I loved learning to mix the paint and look at how the colors could go together. This painting above was the first painting we did together. It took a long time, but I love how it turned out (and I could never have done it myself).




This one of Gethsemane is one we've been working on since 2004. Mostly I haven't been working on it, which is why it isn't done. I really need to go over once a week and finish it--especially because I love so much working on paintings with my Mom. I'm so grateful to Mom for sharing her talent with me.



My Mom did so much to instill in me a love of the scriptures. When we were young she had family devotional every morning, and we didn't just read the scriptures, but she expounded them. I remember in Sunday School they used to ask Jan and I not to answer the questions, because we knew so much because we'd been taught so well by Mom. We also memorized poems, and I still remember some of them ("Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both....") I'll be forever grateful that Mom took the time to give me such a foundation in the gospel.


My Mom loves children, and talked about being a grandmother for years before she had her first grandchild. Now she has 19, and loves to spend time with them. She has a "Grandma's box" that she will take over to play with them individually. She also has a mailbox at her house that she will hide, and then lead the kids by the hand to find it, saying, "Is it under the table? No..., Is it behind the chair?...." They love it. She always has a fruit snack for them before they leave. So to end this post, I looked for some of my favorite pictures of Mom with one of the kids. I wish I'd had time to find one with each of the kids, but then that would have been 19 pictures. So here are the ones that I could find quickly:

I love this one of little Binana sucking her thumb. What a cutie! And Mom looks so beautiful.

This one was on Joey's birthday--both grandma's getting a first look at him when they brought him out of the delivery room.

Grandma helping Logan choose what food he wanted. I think this was Christmas Eve. I love how they are both pointing their fingers.

I love this one of Mom and little Brina.

And finally, one of my Mom and Dad this last fall.

Mom, thanks for all you've done for me. I love you, and hope you have a wonderful birthday!!