ode to lana larkin or my mom is the best mom ever. i'll fight you.

this photo is my mother when she was in high school--i have always thought that she was a total babe.  also i wondered how she got away with such a "scandalous" outfit for her pic and i wanted to wear the exact same thing.  anyone have a feather wrap i can borrow

my mom has always been the best example of parenting by love--my childhood was fabulous, and that was mostly due to my mother. she has loved us and supported us and said the right things and done even "righter" things, and she's always managed to make it look second nature.

she is kind and talented and quite adventuresome in some aspects. growing up, she was always coming up with big business ventures--she started 5 or 6 successful little home-based businesses and then sold them. she would get them up and running, make some money, then move on to the next venture.
mom has always had an "artistic bone" in her body. she loves to oil paint and would always talk about all of the beautiful colors surrounding us wherever we went. we thought she was a little nutty, but now that i'm old, i TOTALLY get where she was coming from.

my mother was a talented seamstress. i found out later in life that she didn't sew because she loved it, she sewed because it was cheaper and she wanted to provide for our family. many times i would come home from school and she would be there at the sewing machine, stitching a new sunday dress for me or my sisters. she tried to instill sewing love in my blood but, alas--she failed. she DID, however, teach me how to sew a mean "units" belt or pants which was a lifesaver for me in the late 1980's.

my mom has always had a strong testimony of the gospel--she shared that with the lucky people of san antonio, texas, for three years when her and my dad served as mission presidents. those missionaries loved her so much and knew that it was really her that ran the show.

my parents have been married for 44 years this july, and my dad loves my mom more than life itself, and ALMOST as much as golf, which is a lot. a WAY LOT.

my mother is a wonderful grandmother and makes each grandchild feel special and unique. they love to sit on her lap and read a story or make something in the kitchen or sit on the back porch.

my mom is pretty much the coolest thing that has ever happened in our family's life and i am so grateful for her. i love you, mom, and wish you the happiest of birthdays--thanks for being YOU!!