For mothers day

Meet Stephanie. She was born and raised in Idaho. Her mother was a nurse, her father a teacher/ principal/ drivers ed teacher/ a bunch of other stuff. She has 5 siblings. Galen died shortly after birth. Brothers Theron, Kent, and Shae (whose full name I don't know how to spell.) Then Stephanie was born followed less than a year later by Shiela.

She served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints in Japan.

She went to BYU to get a degree for teaching elementary aged children. Some of the places she taught were Texas and Alaska.

Eventually she moved to Pa and met Ernie Kean whom she later married in the Idaho Falls temple. 

She went on to have 5 children. Me, Margaret, Roger, Alan and Natalie (who died very shortly after birth. )

 Sadly her sweetheart died about 8 years ago.

Here is a recent picture of her.

 

 Sorry I can't give you any more. All the pictures I have of her are holding grandchildren. And we couldn't have you seeing those now can we?

She is a really incredible woman.  Here are some neat/wacky things about her.

• She made my wedding dress and some prom dresses for my sister and me.
• She set a good example of living within your means.
• Stephanie taught me how to can and garden. She loved plants. I didn't. Now I do and have a great resource to go to.
• She knows her scriptures. Seriously. She loves them. The passion radiates from her.  She can recite them. She gets it. Someday I hope I can be like her.
• She likes jokes.Good or bad she loves them. My dad used to call her once in a while if he had heard a good one.
• She is generous. Oh my goodness, is she generous. Will give you anything you could ever need or want or might possibly need in the next ten years. She will drive you anywhere you need to go and never once mention gas money.
• She makes a very yummy ham.
• She loves to read. Books on CD are her favorite after that.
• She likes salmon flavored cream cheese.
• She isn't afraid of tackling a big project.
• She made soap once when I was a kid. All I remember is that is stunk really badly while she did it.
• When she is in a costume she will act the part. She gives it her all every time.
• She plays piano and when we were old enough to all be in school she took organ lessons.
• Teaching is a talent of hers.
• She has an artist's eye. She can get those color combinations just right, in quilting, that the rest of us are just missing.
• She would be a very good voice actress.
• She read Anne of Green Gables to my sister and me. She skipped the pages that were descriptions of flowers. I am glad.
• She would take us on car trips to see distant family.
• She loves seaweed and tofu.
• I grew up hearing the word "Stecky" (more likely Steki)  all the time. It wasn't until high school I realised it wasn't English. It is Japanese for "cool".
• She made a sleeping bag for me when I was a kid. It had a hippo on the front. I loved it. I loved it every night for years. She is making some for my kids. I love them.
• She is always up for a neck massage.
• She was listening one day to my siblings and I while we discussed what to get dad for Christmas. We decided to get him an alarm clock so we could have his old one. Christmas morning there was a neat new alarm clock just for me.
• She let us get dirty and climb trees. She combed the pine needles from my hair.
• Her example has helped my sister and me to get married in the temple, and my brother on his mission in Idaho.(Yes, the same areas she grew up in.)

There have been many moments in my life that didn't seem all that important. The more I look back the more it looks like my mom knows what she is talking about. So many profound thoughts that may have been wasted on a teenager are being used now as I am an adult.

I only went to college for 3 semesters. I think I went because "that's what you are supposed to do." I never did find anything I was passionate enough to want to study. There was nothing there that I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

I was mentioning this to my mother and aunt the other day. My mom interrupted me. She said "But Vanessa, you have found that passion. You do have a passion..... It is being a mom. You are such a passionate mom. I am so impressed with the good job you are doing."

That meant an awful lot to me. I hope the rest of you have moms as great as mine She is so awesome.