Mother's Day

Gaylene Nuttall Hahn

The person who has had the most influence in my life. 

Here I am, as a little girl with my mom.

She is an amazing mother.

She loves to teach young children.  When I was really young, and people would ask me what I had done in homeschool that day, I would often reply "we didn't do school today".  Then my mom would remind me about the games and activities we had done that day, and inform me that yes, that was our school today.  She just made learning so much fun that we didn't realize we were "doing school." 

Now, she does the same for my children, sending them learning activities for presents, and spending so much time and energy making sure they make great memories when we are visiting, or when she is visiting with us. 

Last week when we left her home, Andrew cried for two hours on the drive home because he wanted to have Grandma come home with us, or to turn around and go back to her house.  We kept trying to console him, and it would work for a while, but then he'd think about her and start wailing some more.

She always comes to take care of us after I have a baby.  It almost kills her to do it, and she always tells me that "next time you need to get professional help", but then she comes again.  While she's here, she does housework, and school with the kids (she never asks me what they need to do in school, she just comes up with fun and interesting learning activities for them), one time she had them put on an "olympics" in our home, because there had been a recent olympics.  My kids were "figure skating" and speed skating in the family room and having a grand time.  When we visited last week, she watched the four younger children while we were at the play.  They were so excited to tell me about playing with playdough, walking to the park, putting together puzzles, and having yummy snacks.  What a blessing to have someone so loving be my kids' grandma.

My Mom has struggled with bad health for years now.  Whenever I get sick, I just wonder how she keeps going.  But that is her motto:  "just put one foot in front of the other".  She nurtured and homeschooled her children for over 30 years, even though she never had a day free of pain or illness in all that time. 

She is a wonderful cook.  I wish I could pay her a million dollars a year to come cook for our family.  She grew up with her parents and grandparents in the restaurant business, and she runs most meals just like a restaurant.  Bob is always trying to get her to sit down when we are eating her meals, but she is happy to "just get everyone fed", so she'll stand in the kitchen making sure everything is hot at the right time, and there's enough for everyone to eat, before she worries about sitting down to eat.

When she married my Dad, it was a huge adjustment for her.  He had grown up as a health-nut vegetarian, and had been a bachelor for many years.  She had to learn to cook for him, and get used to his habits, like the time he put alfalfa sprouts in her morning milkshake that she started to guzzle as she ran out the door to work. 

She about died when she tasted it, but now she has definitely adjusted.  She simply spoils my dad, who just can't have store-bought mayonaisse, he has to have my Mom's homemade version.  She has learned to sprout things, use whole grains, and make wierd concocotions for my Dad's morning milkshakes.  We all laugh about the few failures along the way, like Brazil-nut burgers, but we all love eating at her home, and we're all thankful for the effort she has put into making really nutritious things for us through the years.

The thing I am the most grateful for about my Mom is her unwavering commitment to the gospel.  My Mom is not motivated by selfishness, worldliness, or popularity in the way she lives her life.  My parents both are constantly measuring everything by gospel standards.  The movies they watch, the books they read, the very way that they live their lives is all based on the scriptures and the words of the prophets.  It gives me such a profound respect for them. I love how they read and read and study constantly.

My Mom always has handwritten quotes from the prophets and apostles taped up in the house.  There's always a good quote taped on the wall right in front of the bathroom.  What an influence those quotes have had on me over the years!

A special moment for our family - my littlest sister's wedding.  All of us were together in the temple.

I am so grateful for my mom, and all she has sacrificed to raise her children and live a good life. 

Mom, you are an amazing person and I'm so thankful to be your daughter!

I love you, Tasha

Words of Wisdom

Julie B. Beck said recently:

"Revelation can come hour by hour and moment by moment as we do the right things. When women nurture as Christ nurtured, a power and peace can descend to guide when help is needed. For instance, mothers can feel help from the Spirit even when tired, noisy children are clamoring for attention, but they can be distanced from the Spirit if they lose their temper with children. Being in the right places allows us to receive guidance. It requires a conscious effort to diminish distractions, but having the Spirit of revelation makes it possible to prevail over opposition and persist in faith through difficult days and essential routine tasks. Personal revelation gives us the understanding of what to do every day to increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and seek those who need our help. Because personal revelation is a constantly renewable source of strength, it is possible to feel bathed in help even during turbulent times.

We are told to put our trust in that Spirit which leads us “to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously.” We are also told that this Spirit will enlighten our minds, fill our souls with joy, and help us know all things we should do. Promised personal revelation comes when we ask for it, prepare for it, and go forward in faith, trusting that it will be poured out upon us."

(And upon the Handmaids in Those Days Will I Pour Out My Spirit, April 2010 General Conference)

Our weekend in Utah

On April 9, 2010 Bob and I went to Utah overnight to attend his sister Natalie's wedding.

It has been a long time since we have gone away without the kids! We left Friday morning, and I decided to drive at first since I had made a photo book all about Bob, with pictures, quotes and my own thoughts in it, all highlighting a few of the things that I think are wonderful about him. I had made it originally to give to him for Father's day, or our anniversary, but I couldn't wait any longer to show it to him. So, I drove while he read it.

I can "share" this photo book with friends, so if you'd like to see it online, just let me know, and I'll send you the link to view it. I'm rather pleased with how it turned out!

We decided later that it is a great idea to have me drive, because when Bob is driving, he's always focusing on driving, and we don't have great conversations. While I was driving, we talked and talked. It made us both realize that it sure has been a while since we've had a long period of time to just talk about our plans for the future, etc. There isn't anyone in the world that I would rather spend time with than Bob. Being just with him for two whole days was so wonderful!

We got to Salt Lake in time to eat at Costa Vida, it was delicious. Then we went to Hale Center Theater and saw one of our favorite plays, Fiddler on the Roof. The acting was excellent, the stage setup was amazing, and we really enjoyed it. If you ever have a chance to attend a play at Hale Center Theater, make sure you do it.

Then we went to Nan's reception (it was held the evening before her wedding). ...We had fun just being there with most of Bob's siblings. It is always a party when you get the Lamoreauxs together.


I decided beforehand that I needed to just overcome my huge phobia about hotels, and stay in one while we were in Utah. I realized if I kept being so grossed out about the idea of staying in a hotel, we'd never get to go away and have time just to the two of us. So, I looked at bed and breakfasts, but decided to save money and stay at La Quinta in Orem. The pictures on the internet looked really nice, and it definitely looked newer than other hotels I looked at. Well...I still have no desire to ever stay in a hotel again. Next time we go away, I will not worry about saving money. It's not that it was really dirty, but it just didn't seem nice and clean. The colors and decorations were wierd, the carpet looked old, etc. During the night I woke up & thought "Oh! I'm sure they can't wash the pillows every day!" I threw my pillow off the bed and slept without one the rest of the night. I still can't believe I didn't think about that and bring my own pillow!

Saturday we went shopping, drank smoothies, found a place that would still let us order croissants for Nan's luncheon, and then we went to the wedding. Everything went well, except when Bob walked Nan down the aisle, and Bet realized that the camera wasn't working. They told Nan & Bob to start over, so they both immediately began walking backward, so it looked just like they were being "rewinded." It gave us all a good chuckle.

Then we had the wedding luncheon, and went to Nan's house for a while, then we headed over and visited with my Mom and Dad for a short time, and headed home.

It was great to get home. Our kids were angels while we were gone. They had so much fun being in charge of the house. It was spotlessly clean from top to bottom, and they had all had a great time together. They missed gymnastics while we were gone, so on Friday, they brought lots of foam pads down into the family room and had their own gymnastics classes. Aliysa is a great babysitter. She's always willing to watch our children, and she is such a peacemaker that they always are happy and well cared for while we're gone. What lucky parents we are!

We called when we were on our way home, to tell Aliysa and Jace that we got off late and wouldn't be home when we had planned. They wanted to stay up until we got home, but we told them to go to bed. When we got home, we saw this letter on the counter (we get notes like this from Aliysa all the time)

Dear Parents,
Firstly, we wish to let you know that we still love you, even though our hard work and efforts are met with "Go to bed, we do not desire your company."
Yet we do not mind, and hope that this epistle finds you in good health and spirits (let us know).
Secondly, all the petals are falling off your tulips.
Love,
Aliysa and Jace,
(your so called favorite children)

Wow! When did that get here?

Yesterday, Abby was chattering away, trying to be a part of every conversation.
We were talking about her being a big girl. "No" (she insists) "I'm a little girl..."

Then she just started saying whatever came to mind.

Here is part of what she said:

"There is a big...big... (trying to decide what to say next)

(looking around the room until her eyes rest on my pregnant tummy. Her eyes open widely as though she is surprised.)

...tummy...

in this family!"

Yes, there is a HUGE tummy in this family. Only 9 weeks left!

Misc. Family Times

Bob and Aliysa studying together - Bob has her help with his studies from his "Doctrines of the Gospel" class.

Bob teaching Zachary, Andrew, and Mallory how to polish & shine shoes.

Aliysa curled Abby's hair. I love those blonde locks!

I think she knows she's cute. Probably because we tell her she is about 1 million times a day.

We read scriptures on our bed at 6:15 each morning. Some mornings, it's hard to stay awake after reading and praying.

Airport Pack Meeting

For Pack Meeting, we went to an airplane hanger near the Idaho Falls airport, and got to learn about airplanes. It was a lot of fun, and very interesting.

Earlier that day, after my doctor appointment, Bob and I were talking about how we just didn't know if we were going to go to Pack meeting. We both had so much to do, and we are just so busy. Well, Spencer was sure excited for Pack meeting, so we decided we better make it a family outing. Families are always invited to Pack meeting, but we often leave some of ours home since it always ends up past their bedtime.

We were so glad that we went!

Happy Birthday Abigail

On Andrew's birthday, Abby didn't want to tell him "happy birthday." She kept insisting that it was "Abby's birthday!" Then when her birthday arrived, she would just give us blank stares if we said it was her birthday. It wasn't until well into the afternoon that she finally got excited about the idea of her birthday. Pink seems to be her favorite color - if she sees anything pink anywhere, she assumes that it belongs to her. She'll say "look, it's Abby's pink!"

Blowing out the candles on her cake. Okay, they were matches. I forgot to buy birthday candles! We decided this may become a tradition, however. They were lots less expensive, less messy, and just as much fun!

The ice cream just got opened, and she didn't want to wait for Aliysa to get the scoop.

We enjoyed strawberry shortcake with lots of whipped cream, yummy!

Her birthday present was a new (well, okay, a hand me down from the Muhlestein's) bike. She loves it!

We played with balloons. The kids are giving Abby a "balloon shower"

Well, I know that I write a lot about Abby on here. She has really captured my heart, and I adore her. Her sweet, spunky little spirit brightens every day around here. I love how she talks almost non-stop all the time at home, and I'm constantly amazed at how well she can carry on a conversation.

I think she has one of the most amazing attention spans of a little child that I have ever seen. She will sit with a pile of books and read them out loud to herself for such a long time. She'll play with toys or a bit of clay on her own, just talking and singing, and keeping herself entertained for countless hours. She was even this way as an infant. As soon as she could sit up, she was happy and content to have her own time to sit and play with toys.

Sometimes I look into her beautiful brown eyes, or Andrew's big blue eyes, and think about how I decided long ago that I wanted to have six children. Wow, I'm so glad that Heavenly Father knew better and sent Andrew and Abby to our home.

We love our little two-year old!

Andrew turns 4!

On March 2nd, Andrew turned four years old. He was so excited for his birthday. We celebrated right at dinner with cake, ice cream, and presents.

Andrew loves orange. Okay, he would be happy if everything in his life was orange. Orange things make him happy, he is simply drawn to them. One of his favorite snacks of all time is carrot sticks. So, his present bag was full of lots of orange things - an orange pinwheel, orange hat (thanks to Bob for the bright orange hunter hat that he'll probably want to wear everywhere now!), orange bouncy ball, orange pen, etc.

Jace decorated the dining room with streamers and orange balloons, and a big sign that said "Happy Birthday Andrew!". We had carrot cake with whipped cream that Courtney made, yum!

We love having Andrew in our home. He is such a sweet little kid with a tender heart, although he is extremely tough when it comes to hurts, etc.

He loves vegetables and fruit. He'll sneak into raw broccoli in the fridge, eating little bites off of the top of it. He likes raw cabbage, loves carrots, and his weakness is frozen blueberries out of the freezer. He tries to be sneaky about the blueberries, but it's a little obvious when his hands and mouth and face are stained purple. The other day we had squash, zucchini, salad and steak for dinner. He ate all his squash and and asked for more before eating any steak. (Abby is the opposite - she loves meat, peanut butter, and cheese. I guess he's the vegetarian type, and she's the protein type.)

Andrew's blue eyes have always melted my heart. I love looking at his eyes!

Andrew has always been a great sleeper - from the time he was about 2 months old, he has always slept through the night. Always, even when he is sick. Any time he's tired, he'll just lay down where ever he is, and he'll shut his eyes tight, and fall fast asleep.

Lately Andrew is just so interested in reading, and especially in writing letters. I love this stage - seeing my kids learning to read and write is so fun!

We are so happy to have Mr. Andrew J in our home. He's definitely our favorite four year old in the world!

The Health Care Bill Passes

Lately Abby comes up with funny things to say. Things that we really don't know why she is saying, or how she came up with them.

For instance, she'll always say: "Guess What Mom?" "What Abby?" "My name's Merry Christmas!"

Well, last night, she started asking me "Mom, what happened to America?" in a mournful little voice. We all decided that she probably wasn't the only one in our country asking that question yesterday.

Andrew figuring life out

Today Courtney was reading to Andrew from the picture Bible. She read about the apostle Andrew going to a wedding feast. Andrew ran up to me, and we had this conversation:

A: When do I get to get married?
Me: When you are grown up. Do you want to get married?
A: Yes!
Me: You can get married after you go on a mission. You can go on a mission when you are 19.
A: (Pause) So, Grandpa's going to get married! Because he's on a mission!

Gymnastics Classes

I posted on our homeschool blog about our weekly gymnastics classes.
Here's the link:
http://lamoreauxhomeschool.blogspot.com/

Quotes on Motherhood

I am home from church today because four of my children and I are not feeling well. While I'm sitting here, I've been looking at pictures on my computer, and reading from lds.org. I want to share a few of the pictures I looked at, and some thoughts that I loved from M. Russell Ballard about motherhood:

Mallory & Zach reading with Bob, the most wonderful husband and the best Dad ever.

Zachary - what a cute little guy!

Aliysa simply loving one of the many pets that have come to live at our home.

Mallory - working hard to help build garden boxes. She really is the hardest working person I know.

From M. Russell Ballard:
"First, recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction.

Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. … I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less” (Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11).

Second, don’t overschedule yourselves or your children. We live in a world that is filled with options. If we are not careful, we will find every minute jammed with social events, classes, exercise time, book clubs, scrapbooking, Church callings, music, sports, the Internet, and our favorite TV shows. One mother told me of a time that her children had 29 scheduled commitments every week: music lessons, Scouts, dance, Little League, day camps, soccer, art, and so forth. She felt like a taxi driver. Finally, she called a family meeting and announced, “Something has to go; we have no time to ourselves and no time for each other.” Families need unstructured time when relationships can deepen and real parenting can take place. Take time to listen, to laugh, and to play together.

Third, even as you try to cut out the extra commitments, sisters, find some time for yourself to cultivate your gifts and interests. Pick one or two things that you would like to learn or do that will enrich your life, and make time for them. Water cannot be drawn from an empty well, and if you are not setting aside a little time for what replenishes you, you will have less and less to give to others, even to your children. Avoid any kind of substance abuse, mistakenly thinking that it will help you accomplish more. And don’t allow yourself to be caught up in the time-wasting, mind-numbing things like television soap operas or surfing the Internet. Turn to the Lord in faith, and you will know what to do and how to do it.

Fourth, pray, study, and teach the gospel. Pray deeply about your children and about your role as a mother. Parents can offer a unique and wonderful kind of prayer because they are praying to the Eternal Parent of us all. There is great power in a prayer that essentially says, “We are steward-parents over Thy children, Father; please help us to raise them as Thou wouldst want them raised.”

Pregnancy is always a hard time for me to be a good Mom. I think the extra strain on my body, the unmet need for more sleep, and my tendency to be more irritable and edgy all combine to make sure I have a trial to try to overcome. I just often feel quite overwhelmed. Most times I don't do so well, but I'm learning a lot.

I love reading simple but true thoughts like these that help me. I'm so grateful for the true church that teaches us how to be truly happy.

Baby Andrew - oh, I love those blue eyes

Courtney enjoying a warm summer day

Spencer after a family "watermelon-eating contest"

Mallory, Bob, & Zach

Jace after his first raingutter regatta. He was such an adorable cub scout!

Recently I read a blog post from a family who has a little girl (probably younger than 2 yrs old) who is slowly dying of cancer. The mom expressed how much she treasures every last little moment with her daughter. It made me think of all the times lately when I've just wanted peace and quiet, more order, and less chaos. I thought of how much my perspective on all these things would change if I knew that any of my children wouldn't live long. I want to always remember that change in thinking, because really, this life is quite short isn't it? I know someday I'll look back to these times with all my little noisy children and their clutter, and I want to have memories of spending time them, playing with them, and most of all, being patient, kind and loving towards them.

A pretty little girl

Abby's outfit (hat and a piece of fabric) that she put on herself while we were doing laundry

Lately if we say that Abby is a baby, she replies "no, I'm a pretty little girl!" and I have to agree. She is about to turn two years old, and for the last two years, she has filled our lives with so much happiness!

16 years

Last night for family home evening, we celebrated the 16th anniversary of the day that Bob asked me to marry him (Feb 28th). When he asked me, it was at a playground in Salt Lake City where we had stopped to swing on some swings after walking around Temple Square. On that day, I sure didn't envision that 16 years later, I'd be swinging again, this time with a group like this:

Yes, we had the kids bundle up, and we all went to a local elementary school and had a blast swinging and playing on the playground. How often do we do something like this, especially on a night when it's cold and the ground is covered with snow? Not nearly often enough, I've decided (especially after hearing Bob laugh out loud like a kid as he was swinging.)

Every day I honestly feel in awe that such a perfectly wonderful person as Bob wants to be married to me. I'm so grateful he asked me to marry him back then!

Nerf Wars

Aliysa and Jace had a bunch of friends over Saturday evening for a party. They started off with snacks, a few games, threw some darts, and then when everyone was finally here, they had a huge Nerf gun war (see videos below). They all had fun shooting each other, and to keep it moving and the guns getting rotated, they had the rule that each time someone gets shot 3 times, they had to pass their gun off and stand by the back door waiting until someone else has to pass for someone else (No one waits very long.)

After that they enjoyed ice cream, basketball, and everyone headed home. I'm so grateful for the great friends that our kids have - they are absolutely wonderful people!

And I'm thankful for the fun husband I have - he joined right in of course, and had as much fun as any of the teenagers. (He's the best type of chaperone for a teen party).

Chicken Pot Pie

Yesterday my cousin Kathryn came over and had dinner with us. She made four homemade chicken pot pies (she hand-shredded 10 lbs of chicken for these!)

When I told Zach that Kathryn was coming and bringing chicken pot pie, he got a horrified look on his face. "What's the matter?" I asked. "Chicken POCK Pie?" he asked. I had to laugh and laugh. Poor kid, I would have been disgusted as well.

Luckily they were much yummier than that. In fact, they were delicious! Thanks Kathryn.