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
