Charly

I am so blessed to have such a beautiful, intelligent and talented daughter. Charly (yes, that is her real name. Not a nickname or short for anything...) is such a joy in my life! Charly loves to dance, loves to write, and loves to be social. Charly is the best Irish Step-Dancer around. I love to watch her feet when she is performing. They are amazingly fast and accurate! I also thoroughly enjoy reading everything Charly writes. She has a gift for words that she uses well. When she started to date, Charly decided that she would date at least 100 different guys before settling for one. She has now almost reached that goal, and she has made so many wonderful discoveries about herself in the process. (Maybe she'll write a book about it one day soon!)

Charly also has inherited her Grandma Pat's loving spirit. She has a magnificent spirit that radiates from her. She loves life and tries to help everyone around her to feel the same. Charly loves children- she's the best sitter on the block! And, until she became so busy with teenage pursuits, she was booked every weekend by one family or another.

Now that she is older, Charly has become one of

my very best friends! What a blessing to have her as my daughter!

My Mom

I made this cake this weekend, and it reminds me so much of my mother! She would make this cake for very special occasions, like my birthday... Yum! I am so blessed to have learned so much from her!

My mother was one of the ultimate blessings in my life! She is the person I would someday like to be. Mom worked hard for all of us, but she also knew how to have fun! She was always cooking, cleaning, canning, gardening, etc- always caring for us! Yet, even when we lived in MN, Mom would find time to fulfill all of her church callings, including Primary President when Primary was during the week and church was 1/2 hour away, Relief Society President (including helping to dress the sisters who passed on), teacher, visiting teacher, and on and on. Mom also, when we moved to UT, made to attend the temple every week. I well remember her preparations on Tuesday nights and knowing how important the Lord was to my mother.

Mom also had a thankful heart. She would leave me thank you notes under my pillow almost weekly- notes thanking me for making my bed, helping a sibling, or just for being me. It was such a special thing that I am so very grateful for those notes now that she has passed away. I found out that Mom mailed these types of notes to all of our friends and neighbors too. All who knew my mom know that she cared about them and was very sincere in her wonderful attitude towards people and life.

I am blessed to have my mother as such a wonderful example to me!

Eric

I am blessed to have an amazing son, named Eric! He is my first child, and I couldn't have asked for anyone better. Eric has always had a way with words. By the age of two, Eric was speaking in complete sentences. Between his excellent powers of speech and his height (very tall for his age), everyone thought he was at least four. Eric put his powers of speech to great use during high school, taking 1st place in policy (debate) for the state of Utah his senior year and helping to earn a full scholarship to college. He plans to continue to use his gift in his professional career, and I am sure he will do well there too.

Eric has had some significant challenges in his life, but he has stayed close to his testimony of the gospel. He chose to spend two years serving the Lord on an LDS mission in California, and, of course, Eric did an amazing job!

Eric has been (and I'm sure he will continue to be) a great blessing in my life. He took on responsibility for the care of his younger sister and brother while I went to school for my teaching certification and master's degree, warming up dinner, helping with homework, and getting them all to bed twice a week for a few years. Eric was also a joy to talk with as he reached his teenage years. Yes, we did not always agree on things; however, Eric is very intelligent and talking to him on so many subjects is a joy to me.

He is a great blessing in my life!

Jesus the Christ

I am blessed to know of the reality of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that He lives and that He loves me.

This is the first wall you see as you enter my home. Many years ago, at a very low point in my life, I needed something tangible to remind me of the many blessings that surround me. I was inspired to hang a grouping of pictures depicting the life of Christ. Over the years, it has developed into this. All of the pictures hold a special place in my heart, mostly because they remind me of Christ's life, and they remind me of all of the times when I knew that I was not alone.

I am so very grateful to my Savior for always being there for me.