Write About Some Places You Went With Your Mother

I have many fond memories of time spent with my mom. When I was a child I remember her taking us to the park to play.  Sometimes we would go to a place called "Playland" where they had all sorts of tubes and slides to crawl on and go down (indoors).

As a youth I remember my mom being very involved in young womens.  Often times her calling was in YW's so she would go to mutual with me.  I always enjoyed having her there.  During my high school years we would go out for ice cream at night or just go look around at stores (Target, Ross, Wal-mart, etc).  

When I was in college, BYU-Idaho had what they called "Mother's Week."  Mom would always make it a point to come visit me during this week!  It was a special treat for me to share a week of my college life with my mom each year.  We would usually go out to eat, go to some performances done by students on campus, play games, and just enjoy being together.  She would always take me grocery shopping too which was a nice treat!

As I have lived in Utah I've enjoyed special visits from my mom.  It became a tradition for my mom to come up once a year and spend a few days in Salt Lake.  We would get grandma and bring her up too and all stay in a motel room where we would pamper ourselves (Kim would be with us too and sometimes Aunt Karen, my cousin Tiffany or my sister Jen would be able to come too).  We really just enjoyed being with each other.

When I go home for a visit to WA I enjoy going to lunch with my mom on her lunch break or going shopping in the evenings when she would get home from work.  We also enjoy going on walks with each other.

My mom is one of my best friends!!! She has always been there for me and I have always known that I can go to her at anytime and with anything.  She is understanding and is a good listener.  I have been blessed to have a mom (and dad) who taught me to be self reliant, to live within my means, to get a good education, to love God, to serve others and to always work on building my testimony. Thanks for always being there mom! I will always need my mom!

Describe your yard as a child. Did you help with yard work? What are your memories? Draw a diagram if you can.

I lived in two homes growing up.  I love the memories from both yards.  In CA I remember playing football with Jen and Brandon.  We would put dish towels under our clothes for our pads and play some tackle football.  In CA it was my sisters (Jen and Kim's) chore to mow the lawn. I remember Jen often convincing me to mow the lawn for her and I would do it sometimes.  I don't remember what I got in return for it...I guess just blessings. :)

On the side of the yard I remember we had a BIG Pompus Bush that we would pull the tall feathery things off of and play with them.

On the other side of the house my brother and I (and neighbor friends) would make clubhouses.

That's about what I remember from my yard in CA

Our back yard in WA has a rockbed "stream" through the middle of it (to keep the yard from flooding).  In one corner was our garden spot.  We would try to plant vegetables but not much would grow for us.  We soon turned to planting flowers there.  In the other corner was where our trampoline was.  We spent a lot of time jumping on the trampoline. We have a nice big deck to spend time on as well.  The days that were really warm outside we would eat dinner at our picnic table. There isn't a fence in our yard (except for one side) in WA.  The back has a hedge to seperate our yard from the ones who live behind us.  We have several rhodedendron bushes in the front and back yard!  I love these bushes when they are in bloom.  They add so much color to the yards.

When we moved to WA it became my chore to mow the back lawn.  I hated this chore and often wondered why I would mow it for Jen before it became my chore.  When my parents would tell me it was time to mow the lawn I would grumble and complain.  I remember one time, in particular, when my mom told me to mow the lawn.  I grumbled and said I would do it later.  she told me it HAD to be done by 5:00p.m. (she told me this first thing in the morning).  Well, I played all day and my mom kept reminding me it had to be done by 5.  Dark clouds started to move in and it got later and later in the day.  I finally went out about 4:30 to mow the lawn and as soon as I got out there it started to rain!  My mom stood in the kitchen, looking out the window, laughing because I had put it off all day and now when I HAD to get out there and mow it started to rain.  I guess I learned my lesson that it's easier to just go mow the lawn as soon as my parents ask me to than to put it off because I am not going to get out of it.

The front yard in WA had a lot of trees and bushes on the side.  It provided some good shade and it was so pretty! I love all the bushes and trees in our yard in WA.  It's probably my favorite thing about the yard there.