Do you know this lovely lady?
I do.
This picture was taken when she was in her 20's.
This is what she looks like now and she is still as beautiful as ever.
She is my mom. And I love her so much. This blog post is for her as part of her mother's day present. I will be sharing with you some of the things I love because she shared them with me and taught them to me. And I will be sharing a few memories of her and our family together.
This is our family, taken probably about 45 years ago. I am the cute blonde on the right. From left to right there is Curtis, Katherine in front of him, my Dad - Raymond, my Mom - Karma, Greg and then me.
My Mom and Dad, they are such a beautiful couple. They loved each other and were wonderful parents and gave me a very blessed childhood. They allowed me to play a lot, they taught me to work hard, they taught me about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, they took our family on many a vacation and we had lots and lots of fun together.
One of the things I learned from my mother and love is how to make a lemon meringue pie. This recipe was my grandmother's pie recipe and my mom shared it with me. It is the best lemon meringue pie recipe in the world - and no use arguing with me because you will lose. I love lemon meringue pie, it is my very favorite pie in the whole world. And I am making it for my mother's day dinner today.
Although my favorite flower is a daffodil, I still love roses. I grew up with both of those growing in our family yard. I have probably about 20 rose bushes in my current yard. My mom always had lots of roses in our family yard. We had a partially enclosed patio and there were roses framing the patio. It was a beautiful place to sit and enjoy the summer evening.
This is my small vegetable garden and raspberry patch. It is about 1/100th of the size of the one I grew up with. But I do grow some of my own vegetables. I can not think of anything better than a fresh warm tomato off the vine or fresh picked raspberries with sugar and cream. Every summer, my mom and dad planted a huge garden. And now I am trying to follow their pattern.
This is our small library. (I know it is not very organized.) But I love to read. I do not remember a time I did not love to read. I do remember believing I was reading on my own at age 4. My mom would read us books often. One of the favorite family books is "Where the Red Fern Grows". I think she read it to us several times. My brother Greg was so impressed with the book, he wanted and worked hard to earn the money for his own "lady ann" beagle. I have made sure that both Anthony and Aimee have their own copy of "Where the Red Fern Grows" for their family library.
This was Aimee's prom dress. I made it. Mom taught me how to sew. I don't remember at what age exactly, probably around 12. I started sewing my own clothes in high school. I made all my own prom dresses and even my wedding dress. It gives me great pleasure to sew and I am so glad my mom taught me how.
I really don't think I would say I love to iron (if you saw the back up of ironing that needed to be done at my house currently, you would know this) but this is a representation of my mom teaching me the skills I needed to be a good housekeeper. (I said good, not great) I learned to iron by pressing pillow cases and moved my way up to handkerchiefs, my own clothes and finally my dad's shirts. I know how good it feels to do a job well done and to have a clean house - which at the moment happens to be the case.
I have a few bird feeders hanging in the backyard. I can see these from my kitchen window. I remember looking out my family kitchen window and seeing many a bird enjoying the bird bath or eating from the feeder. I recall mom calling us over to see a new bird and the joy it gave her. I feel the same and can just watch the different birds for several moments.
Every summer (at least it seemed as such) our family took a trip to Yellowstone National Park. I am sure I have been there at least 20 times over my lifetime. It was one of our family favorite places to visit. Sometimes we would travel up and through just for the day. For my mom's 80th birthday, those who could took a memory trip up through Yellowstone and went to the PlayMills in West Yellowstone to top off the night. It is a favorite memory of my childhood and now Anthony's and Aimee's too and their cousins.
We were so lucky to celebrate her 80th birthday party with her. She is giving herself an early trip to China for her 83rd birthday this year. That is one of the most amazing things about my mom is she loves to travel and has been blessed with the health to do so.
At Anthony's and Jana's wedding 4 years ago in the Oakland Temple.
At Aimee's and Nate's wedding last June in the San Diego Temple.
I am so grateful that Mom has been able to be present at both of my children's temple marriages. My mom has always been a great example of temple attendance and service. She has always keep her covenants true.
At the beach this last February, when she visited Craig and I. My mom loves to visit the beach. It is fun to take her there and let us enjoy the waves every visit.
Just a little fun at the Tulip Festival this past April when we met in Utah for Aimee's college graduation.
My beautiful mom and me. I am so grateful to be blessed with her.
I love you Mom!
