The Lamoreaux Family: Lissy Marie

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Lissy Marie

Dear Aliysa,

The other day I went to a wedding reception, and left in tears. I didn't know the couple that well, but I was teary-eyed just thinking that it might not be long before you're grown up, and we're at a reception for you, or until you leave home.

There really are no words to express how amazed I am that I get to be your mother.

You started life out as the sweetest little bald baby, and turned into the funnest curly red headed fireball. Dad and I have always had so much fun being your parents. We have always been able to spend so much time with you. Your zest for life has always been so contagious. I love that you were born on Dad's birthday and that you just idolized him from the very beginning.

I'm so thankful that all of our children get to have you as their oldest sister. You are such a peacemaker in our home and an amazing example of living life full of happiness and joy. The first scripture you ever memorized was "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25). Whenever you'd finish that scripture, we'd say "what is joy?" and you would exuberantly shout "Happiness!" How fitting for how the rest of your life would be lived. And then to have your Patriarchal blessing mention happiness and joy in every paragraph was touching.

I admire your love of learning, your amazing mind, and your incredible speed reading/comprehension ability. I've never met anyone who can read as fast as you can, and remember so much of it.

I've never shared your intense love for animals, but I think it is charming and shows what a big heart you have. When you bathed stinky, stubborn, dirty Rocky the other day (even getting in with him to calm him down), I think that was quite possibly one of the most amazing acts of service I've ever seen. I could have never done it. Glad you showered for an hour when you were finished.

I'm laughing right now knowing what your reaction will be to your Native American outfit phase in this picture.

I adore your zest for life and your daredevil spirit. Sometimes I wonder where that came from, and then I remember who I'm married to. But I have to think that spunk is not all inherited.

When you were younger, I worried that you might grow into a complete tomboy. You thought you were being tortured if I tried to do your hair (I actually had to hold onto your hair with one hand while doing it with the other hand to keep you there). I hope you've forgiven me for never letting you play tackle football. Little did I know the sweet and beautiful girl you would grow into. I didn't need to worry a bit.

Lissa hanging out with BYU football stars

I'm always so impressed with your artistic abilities. You have such a natural talent for capturing emotion in all your works of art, and to you, everything in life is looked at with an artist's eye. (I need more pictures of your artwork!)

Okay, life isn't always roses raising you:

Since you almost always are going at one speed - fastest - we're just glad that you are learning after taking out a mailbox, tree, the garage (twice), Carrie's van, totaling our little car etc., etc... Your guardian angels must have also learned to follow you at top speed. It's amazing to see your new found cautiousness (finally!)

One of my top favorites about you is your love for everyone around you. You see the good in everyone around you. You rarely ever allow yourself to be annoyed with anyone, and you are never unkind. You are a true friend to all.

You've been an example to me if I've ever been tempted to talk badly about someone. You just won't join in. I know that was a conscious decision you made, to never gossip about anyone. It made me so happy when you shared that decision with me.

"Mothers and daughters play a critical role in helping each other explore their infinite possibilities, despite the undermining influences of a world in which womanhood and motherhood are being corrupted and manipulated." - M. Russell Ballard

I love the good friends you have been blessed with. I wish I had pictures of each one of them!

I'm so thankful that your best friendships are with your siblings. So grateful that you love them and let them be a part of your social life. You have always built them up and helped them feel good about themselves.

It's such a strange feeling to realize that you are so grown up. That my time of raising you in my home is nearly over. I think of all the things I could have done better, and I'm grateful that you have chosen to become an amazing person despite all my shortcomings as a mother. I've learned more from raising you than you will ever learn from me.

"Young women, your mothers adore you. They see in you the promise of future generations. Everything you accomplish, every challenge you overcome brings them pure joy. And likewise your worries and heartaches are their worries and heartaches....No other person on earth loves you in the same way or is willing to sacrifice as much to encourage you and help you find happiness—in this life and forever." - M. Russell Ballard, Mothers and Daughters

Black Friday shopping

Making raspberry jam

Running a 5k

Cross Country Skiing

Cheering for Dad in the freezing weather

Playing the incredibly hilarious Lady Catherine

Thanks for coming to our family, I love you dearly, Aliysa Marie.

6 comments:

Rebecca said...: Tasha your post made me cry! We are all very grateful that Aliysa is part of the Lamoreaux family. She is grown up into such a beautiful young lady! Thanks for always being such a good example Lissa!; March 20, 2013 at 9:09 PM
Elder & Sister Lamoreaux said...: All we can say is ditto to Becca. Love Ya, Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa; March 20, 2013 at 10:34 PM
Gaylene and Emil said...: Wow! Fantastic post, Tasha! Aliysa, you're too amazing for words! I remember that little curly-headed fireball--she was always making us laugh and she still is!!; March 21, 2013 at 10:52 AM
Unknown said...: how fun! i love it!; March 23, 2013 at 12:29 PM
Ben and Teri said...: That was amazing! I agree with what everyone else has said. Love you!!; March 24, 2013 at 4:17 PM
Ahren said...: I love this post. It made me get teary-eyed reading it.

Aliysa - you are an amazing, beautiful young lady! We love you!; March 26, 2013 at 3:11 PM

Fill the spiritual needs

“some parents become so expert at filling every physical desire for their children that they begin to suppose that all is well in this life and that their eternal stewardship is progressing right on schedule. … I believe that we must pause and take a careful inventory to determine how well our families are doing spiritually. We could ask how well are we feeding, nurturing, training, and exercising the spirits of our children; or how well have we taught, trained, loved, and inspired our children to build their spiritual muscles and strength? … Remember, eternity is now, not a vague, distant future. We prepare each day, right now, for eternal life. If we are not preparing for eternal life, we are preparing for something else, perhaps something far less.”

–M. Russell Ballard

Pray with your little ones

"Behold your little ones. Pray with them. Pray for them and bless them. The world into which they are moving is a complex and difficult world. They will run into heavy seas of adversity. They will need all the strength and all the faith you can give them while they are yet near you. And they also will need a greater strength which comes of a higher power. They must do more than go along with what they find.

They must lift the world, and the only levers they will have are the example of their own lives and the powers of persuasion that will come of their testimonies and their knowledge of the things of God. They will need the help of the Lord. While they are young, pray with them that they may come to know that source of strength which shall then always be available in every hour of need."

-Gordon B. Hinckley

Be Wise In Our Diet

“…let us consider our relationship with ourselves. We must each take proper care to see that the little things regarding our personal life are in order. We must learn to care for our health and our mental well-being. Do we maintain proper exercise to give us the energy and alertness of mind necessary to keep our spirit strong & our attitude positive? Are we wise in our diet? Do we avoid the unnourishing snack that might keep our stomach full but our health quite empty?

–Joseph B. Wirthlin, Finding Peace in Our Lives, p. 59

Turn it off, walk out...

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:

“Tragically, the same computer and Internet service that allows me to do my family history and prepare those names for temple work could, without filters and controls, allow my children or grandchildren access to a global cesspool of perceptions that could blast a crater in their brains forever. . .

“Along with filters on computers and a lock on affections, remember that the only real control in life is self-control. Exercise more control over even the marginal moments that confront you. If a TV show is indecent, turn it off. If a movie is crude, walk out. If an improper relationship is developing, sever it. Many of these influences, at least initially, may not technically be evil, but they can blunt our judgment, dull our spirituality, and lead to something that could be evil. An old proverb says that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, so watch your step.” (Place No More For the Enemy of My Soul, April 2010)

Only a teacher

"If any parent needs added inspiration to commence his God-given teaching task, let him remember that the most powerful combination of emotions in the world is not called out by any grand cosmic events nor found in novels or history books—but merely by a parent gazing down upon a sleeping child. That glorious biblical passage, 'created in the image of God,' will acquire new and vibrant meaning as a parent repeats this experience. Home will become a haven called heaven, and loving parents will teach their children 'to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.' (D&C 68:28.)"
--Thomas S. Monson

Quote

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. …”
--C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Raise up patriots

The importance of teaching & training

"In 1904, President Joseph F. Smith said to parents: “Do not let your children out to specialists … , but teach them by your own precept and example, by your own fireside. Be a specialist yourself in the truth.

… Not one child in a hundred would go astray, if the home environment, example and training, were in harmony with the truth in the gospel of Christ, as revealed and taught to the Latter-day Saints.”

The ideal way to transform your home into a house of learning is to hold family home evening faithfully. The Church has reserved Monday evening for that purpose. In 1915, the First Presidency instructed local leaders and parents to inaugurate a home evening, a time when parents should teach their families the principles of the gospel.

The Presidency wrote: “If the Saints obey this counsel, we promise that great blessings will result. Love at home and obedience to parents will increase. Faith will be developed in the hearts of the youth of Israel, and they will gain power to combat the evil influence and temptations which beset them.”

President David O. McKay gave the same promise in 1965 and added that the youth will gain power “to choose righteousness and peace, and be assured an eternal place in the family circle of our Father.”

In 1976, the Presidency reaffirmed that “regular participation in family home evening will develop increased personal worth, family unity, love for our fellowmen, and trust in our Father in heaven.

Considering these glorious promises, we would expect every faithful member to be exceedingly diligent in following this prophetic counsel. But, of course, we are all human, and our best plans don’t always materialize. Why not? Let it not be for lack of commitment."

--Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, Spiritually Strong Homes and Families

Our Health Duty

“I am grateful to understand that my physical body is an eternal component of my eternal soul, and that I have a duty to honor and respect and care for it, and to refrain from knowingly imposing upon it any treatment or substances deleterious to it. While I could not choose nor govern the condition of the body into which I came, I have the responsibility to give it the best care I can, and if I do not I am acting in derogation of a great gift of God.”
--Marion D. Hanks, “For Man is Spirit”

Come to the Temple

"The season of the world before us will be like no other in the history of mankind. Just as this is the dispensation of the fullness of times, so it is also the dispensation of the fullness of evil. There is no safety in the world: wealth cannot provide it, enforcement agencies cannot assure it, membership in this church alone cannot bring it. We must come to the temple for light and safety. There are hosts of unseen sentinels watching over and guarding our temples. There will come a period of time when even the elect will lose hope if they do not come to the temples. They will long to bring their children here for safety's sake. The covenants and ordinances will fill us with faith as a living fire. In a day of desolating sickness, scorched earth, barren wastes, sickening plagues, disease, destruction, and death: we as a people will rest in the shade of trees, we will drink from the cooling fountain. We will abide in places of refuge from the storm, we will mount up as on eagle's wings."
--Vaughn J. Featherstone