Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy Mothers Day!!


Happy Mothers day to all the wonderful mothers out there! I love Mothers Day! It's 11:00 and I'm still in my pj's (one of the advantages of 2:00 church), I got breakfast in bed and some wonderful presents from John and the kids. (notice Mitchell's haircut! best present!!) I love being a mother!! When I was a little girl, people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I always said "a mother". I am so lucky to have such great kids and a wonderful husband!


I've been thinking a lot about my mother in the last few weeks.... she has a new trial in her life that she is handling so well and I am learning so much watching her. We found out about a month ago that she has breast cancer. Yup, that awful disease has hit our family. So depressing. She had surgery 2 weeks ago to take out the lump and that went good. But a few days after the surgery they were studying the tissues that they took out and they think that they didn't get all the cancer out, so tomorrow she has to go back in for more surgery. A big bummer that she has to go back in, but we are so grateful that the doctors are being careful and want to be 100% sure that they have it all. At this point we don't know what kind of treatment she will have to do after she heals from surgery, but it will be some sort of radiation or chemo. 

We feel so blessed that she and dad were called to the Temple Square mission, because if she was in Africa or something, she would have probably waited to have her lump tested when she got home and that could have been too late. She has had many cysts, so she thought that it was just another one. Unfortunately it wasn't. My mom is being so positive about everything, I am so thankful for her positive outlook on life. I am sure she has her down moments and scared times, but she doesn't let us see those. My mom is a very strong lady! I know it wasn't easy for her to raise 9 kids, but she did it so well! 

I thought I would share with you a few things that I have learned from my mom:

1. How to be positive and happy 
2. How support and love my husband. ( I never saw my parents argue... not once. The only thing they fought over (in public) was when my mom put an onion on the Sunday roast. My dad hated onions)
3. How to love unconditionally
4. How to be a good mom... 
5. How to serve others.
6. How to live the Gospel.
7. To understand the Plan of Salvation. When my 2 brothers died, my mom reassured us that Families are Forever!
8. To fulfill a calling, no matter what it is and to support a husband in his calling. (she had 9 kids with a husband sitting on the stand in the bishopric for Many of those years!)
9. How to play games with the kids. I remember playing Boggle and many other board games as a family.
10. How to love the outdoors. We took many trips to the beach and the mountains and i know that wasn't easy... road trips with 3 kids and a tv in the car are hard... she had 9 kids with only a tape player. I do remember listening to the dramatized church history tapes and learning a lot from them.
11. I learned how to cook
12. I learned too love cookie dough : ) Some of my friends mom's wouldn't let us touch the dough, but my mom would let us eat it and would even freeze it for us! YUMMY!! I remember running to the kitchen to be able to lick a beater... only 2 beaters and 9 kids, you had to run fast!

I could go on and on... I love my mom so much and appreciate all that she has taught me! Happy Mothers Day Mom!!




8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Allison,

You are an awesome mother to our children. You show them how to be happy and survive everything life can throw at them with a positive attitude. Thank you for being so wonderful and helping our kids prepare to be parents on their own. They have learned so much from your example.... as have I.

Love you,
John

Anonymous said...

Hey Allison, funny how a few things I remember about Mom are different. Most were the same. But I do remember when Mom would leave the house and drive off for hours. Yes I never heard them fight, but I think things were not always perfect.And I must admit in the 16years living with them after everyone was gone i have witnessed a few fights.

I must have missed the cooking lessons. Probly my fault. Didn't hang out in the kitchen too much.

Don't get me wrong our Mother is awesome and was great growing up with her. You have a gift of looking at everything so positivly. I love that about you!

I love my mother and I look to her as great expample of love for others. She often picked up stray kids and adults, and we would have them at our crowded house.

You are a great mother and you do great things with your kids. I love how your family can play together so great. I think of this often and try to do the same.

Keep up the good work on being a mother. I love you and my mother! :-) Julie S

susan bunker said...

I love your thoughts about your mother! Aren't we lucky to have had mother's that loved and cared for us so unselfishly? I'm so sorry to hear about her breast cancer.

Toby and Tammy said...

Great post! What a wonderful mother and example you had. I too am grateful for such a wonderful mother.
I hope all goes well with the surgery and that she can recover quickly.

Happy Mother's Day!

suzanne said...

you have definitely mastered the positive perspective character trait... it's one of the first things that impressed me about you! happy mother's day.

Debbie said...

Allison - You have a great mom and you turned out just like her! Your tribute was wonderful! Happy Mother's Day!

Grama Linda said...

Allison,
I love this post about your sweet mom. You are so much like her and always look for the positive and have such a genuine love for everyone. You are such a great example to me... when I grow up I want to be just like you.
I cherish our Wednesdays at the temple.

Julie Westra said...

Hey Al! You are a very lucky mommy with a sweetheart husband, too. I still say mine takes the cake, but of all the things to fight about, we are blessed to be able to claim that as one. I don't know very many women who have it as good as us. By the way, givin' a shout-out to my girl, Ashley for the "Bringing Sexy Back" T-shirt in this post. High five, diva. :) Miss you guys!

Hope to see you soon. Let us know the dates you want to play so we can PLAN APPROPRIATELY. (Read that as bolded and italicized and highlighted in bright red, okay?) ALso, I expect Mauri and Craig to host a party while you are here for adults only. Call them now and let's get it in the books. Make sure you invite your cousin Darren and his wife. He'e super stinkin' cute to look at.
Love
Julie