She can't be THAT old!

There's this woman I know....fairly well....who doesn't look or act as old as her birth certificate says. She's ALWAYS been active. Nothing seems to get her down....and if she is down, she just gets back up, dusts herself off and moves on.

She's always been a hard worker. She always had a huge garden....I know this from time spent weeding. She felt pride in seeing the fruit room shelves filled with peaches and cherries, apricots, plums, dill pickles, and relish. We took turns grating a huge block of Glenwood cheese to be put in ice cream buckets for "future use". We shucked bushels of corn and then cooked and cut it from the cob and put it in our freezer. And there was always a bucket of banana slush ready when we needed something special. She made the best cornmeal taco shells, and her "sixers" LOVED to see how many they could eat when she'd have them over.



This woman LOVES the outdoors. She lost count of how many times she climbed the Bear's Hump in Waterton Park. It was a fun thing to do after a day of work at the Prince of Wales hotel. She learned how to clean a bathroom....and we had to keep up that standard when we had that cleaning assignment. We've been up to Timpanogos Cave, she's carried a son down a mountain who cut up his knee...using her sock as a bandage. Our family trips were ALWAYS camping trips. Try keeping 8 kids organized for a week long holiday. AND having them clean and in their church clothes on a Sunday morning to attend the local ward. She came to Girls Camp as the cook one year....cooked all the meals on an old wood stove. She even baked bread one day!! She can roast a marshmallow to perfection. And cooking pancakes on Boxing Day over an open fire at Bowness Park is nothing for this woman.



She completely understood the saying "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." We always had clothes that were handed down, altered, or patched up. That's what you did.

She is totally committed to the gospel. If the prophet asks us to do something, she's right there dong it. Reading the Book of Mormon, attending the temple, paying tithing, fast offering, missionary, perpetual education, and humanitarian funds have all been part of her giving.




It's amazing really that I have been lucky ALL MY LIFE to have her as my mother. Actually, lucky isn't the right word. Blessed is more like it. I may not have been born to her, but I'm definitely hers. Happy birthday Mom!!