Happy Birthday Mom

My mom was born May 10, 1945. This year she would have turned 64. She was a pretty funny woman, so I thought I would honor her this year by sharing some random facts about her life.

(Mom is the little one)

1- When she was little, she had a little black doll that she named Armadilla, and it was her favorite toy ever.

2- Also when she was little, she would spend hours ice skating on the pond outside her house, and she would dream of becoming a professional ice skater. Then she would sing to the cows, and pretend she was a professional singer.

3- My aunt C.C. was born on Halloween. When my grandma decided it was time to go to the hospital, my mom went out and stood in front of the car. She thought if my grandma couldn't go to the hospital, she wouldn't have to miss out on trick-or-treating.

4- She was a tomboy growing up. She used to play baseball with the boys. She would tie her hair back and tuck it under a cap, and try to hide the fact that she was a girl. After a while, one of the boys would speak to her, discover she was a girl, and not want to play with her anymore. Even though she was a tomboy, she was very beautiful.

5- She was incredibly smart. When she was 14 and in reform school (that's a long story), they had her IQ tested, and her score was 145.

6- She always thought she was fat, even when she wasn't, and was always trying new diets. When Wende and Marcie were first born, she gained some weight, but lost it quickly, probably because they were only 13 months apart and she had her hands full! When Waylen was born, she gained a lot of weight and never did lose it. I like to believe that Waylen is the source of all evil. ;0

7- She was hilarious! I remember when my nephew Jory was little, she made up a joke for him. It went like this:

"Knock, knock!"

"Who's there?"

"Gramma."

"Gramma who?"

"Gram ma ball (grab my ball), I want it."

This had little Jory laughing for hours!

8- She was raised in the LDS church, but had very bitter feelings toward the church by the time I was born. She refused to go to church. But she always encouraged me to go, and supported my decision to marry in the temple, even though she couldn't be there. She once wrote me a letter telling me she was very proud of me for sticking with the church. Because of this, I was able to do her temple work for her.

9- Her family was very important to her, especially her grandkids. When Waylen's ex-girlfriend lied about Waylen and tried to take their son, Cade, away from him, she flew to Seattle and testified in court for Waylen. My mom wasn't a big fan of flying and used to tell me she would never fly again. But she did, for Cade.

10- She always said the only thing she wanted out of life was to be loved. Even though she may have had bad luck with men, her children loved her more than anything, and we miss her terribly.

Happy Birthday, Mom, and happy Mother's Day.

We love and miss you.