HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

"All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."- Abraham Lincoln

I just wanted to take a few minutes and express openly to my mom my gratitude to her for all she has done for me.

My mom is the one person in my life that I go to for all advice. She knows everything about me, and I am never afraid to tell her anything. I do not believe there is anyone else I have ever come in contact with that supports me more than she does.

I remember since I was a little kid, my mom would always stick up for me whenever I got in an argument with another sibling (ahem, sarah.) Sometimes it would be in my error, yet I still had my mom to back me up :) My mother also has always supported me with my decisions I make. She helped me try out for cheerleading my 8th grade year for my first year in high school. I remember her taking time to teach me to be sharp, and how I can get my jumps higher. She taught me especially how to project my voice. Sarah and I have spent many hours just laughing at her deep manly voice as she always told us that was the key to projection.

I also remember all of her countless hours she spent prepping me for Jr. Miss. She knew exactly how to calm me down, how to boost me up, and patiently watched my dance over and over and over. Following the performance she was more excited than I was that I was in the court, yet she knew what was ahead of her. She was my number one fan through it all! She came to every single parade, and gave me her cute little smile and wave as the float passed by. Coming to those parades took up every single saturday of that summer, yet those 2 mintues watching the float pass by seemed to be enough to justify the long drives often starting before 7 am. On one of these trips, we even experienced Alisyn's first Oreo. Neither one of us realized that she had never had one, but her excitment when eating that "black thing with frosting" as she put it, was something I'll never forget. She is such a sweetheart and is easily pleased :)

Though these experiences I've had with my mom have been great and unforgettable, I cannot and will not deny that the very best memory I have with her is one that will always and forever leave an impact in my life.

My mom has always been sensitive to the spirit and has taught us the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I cannot remember when we started this, but she would wake us all up at 5:30 every morning for scripture reading and prayers. We would talk and discuss the doctrines of the Gospel, and along with my father, she would answer many of our questions. Sometimes our questions would be very simple, yet other times they would be very in depth. They both somehow gave us a satisfying answer, and kept us intrigued in what we were learning. I'd be lying if I said I never fell asleep during scripture study, yet sometimes I got away with it as they only cared about Sarah sleeping since it was a daily occurance! ha

I will never be able to fully express my gratitude and love for the most amazing woman I know. She is a hero in my life and I am forever indebted to her for all she has done, or TRIED to do for me in my life! I can be pretty stubborn sometimes, but I definitely get that from her. She is amazing, and truly an angel on Earth! I love her so so so very much! I cannot fathom my life without her! I miss her more than anything, and I'm only 700 miles away.

What a wonderful, beautiful blessing it has been to be born into such a marvelous family!