Memorial Day

This year for the first time I celebrated Memorial Day correctly. For over 40 years the Udall family has reunited at Greenwood Memorial Cemetery in Phoenix on Memorial Day to remember our predecessors, primarily King Smith Udall, my paternal grandfather’s brother. Monday there were at least 100 Udalls to reminisce and celebrate. King was drafted at the height of WWII. After graduating #2 in officer training, he was assigned to Texas. During a storm six weeks later, he ushered the men indoors and was then struck by lightning. This is the flag (notice there are only 48 stars) that accompanied his body back to Arizona. His parents are buried next to him.

We also visited my grandparent's graves.
Crazy brothers:

My maternal great-grandparents are also buried in this cemetary.

Then appropriately, the Udall clan went to Garcia's to eat--a mediocre Mexican restaurant, but the heart was in the right place.

Claire=4

Just like every other Saturday, we started off with soccer games, and just like every other Saturday David claimed it would be the last Saturday Claire plays soccer; this time it may be true. He gets a little frustrated coaxing her onto the field only to watch her squatting in protest. I lucked out and got a picture of her kicking the ball instead of the ball accidentally encountering her. She turned a corner today, but it might be the last corner since the season is over, possibly eternally. I think we’ll stick with dancing instead of paying the league so she can caress the grass.

Birthday celebrations:

Cupcake decorating. The baby was given 100% artistic license and was therefore the only one privy to this type of sprinkle.

In other news, Elijah graduated from Kindergarten.

Congratulations graduate, I knew you could do it.

Powerful Mothers

That last time I gave a mothers' day talk in church was when I was attending the singles’ ward where my dad was bishop. I was probably not supposed to give talks there b/c I wasn’t technically a member of that ward, but talk I did. It actually became a slightly famous talk in our family b/c over the pulpit I coined the term “Leftover Queen” in reference to my mother. Yes, I’m a sensitive genius. The talk was all but flattering to anyone, especially me. Yesterday I had a chance for redemption. I hope I’m slightly more mature now, but it’s debatable. The funny part was when they asked David and me to speak, they also asked us to do a family musical number and Claire and Elijah to give opening/closing prayers in order to “highlight” our family. Then I offered Iris. She could eat the microphone or something. JJ... Negatory on the musical number and prayers unless they were going for circus style.

I’m including excerpts from my talk for posterity’s sake. Unless you are my great-great-great grandchild, you probably won’t be interested in reading further…or will you? If you do decide to read on, please imagine brilliant transitions b/t paragraphs/topics. Also, I had several quotes supporting single-mothers and women who have not born children but will not include them here for the sake of brevity.

I looked up a list of Forbes 100 most powerful women. Some of their titles included: Chancelor of Germany, Secretary of State, President of Brazil, CEO of PepsiCO, etc. Even though some of these women had children, according to Forbes, their most powerful title was not Mother.
When I think of powerful women, I think of my mom. When I was about 5 we lived in Boston and one harsh winter I came down with the croupy cough. In the dead of the night it reached a severity where my breathing became labored. My father drove to the store for medicine while my mother stayed to comfort me. She offered a powerful prayer of faith and my breathing had relaxed significantly by the time my father returned. That instance and several others taught me where the true source of power is. This pattern of power has been carried through to another generation and will be continued through several more.
The message of maternal power is exactly what our church leaders teach us.
Elder Maxwell who was an apostle of God said the following:
“When the real history of mankind is fully disclosed, will it feature the echoes of gunfire or the shaping sound of lullabies? The great armistices made by military men or the peacemaking of women in homes and in neighborhoods? Will what happened in cradles and kitchens prove to be more controlling than what happened in congresses? When the surf of the centuries has made the great pyramids so much sand, the everlasting family will still be standing, because it is a celestial institution, formed outside telestial time. The women of God know this."
Sheri Dew:
"Motherhood is not what was left over after our Father blessed His sons with priesthood ordination. It was the most ennobling endowment He could give His daughters, a sacred trust that gave women an unparalleled role in helping His children keep their second estate. As President J. Reuben Clark Jr. declared, motherhood is “as divinely called, as eternally important in its place as the Priesthood itself.”"
A few years ago, I was 7 or 8 months pregnant and still not sure in what state nor what country I would be delivering my baby. There was a chance my husband would be in Mexico while I was in the US and my mother, who had attended each one of her other grandchildren’s births was on a mission in Africa. This is a small problem in the grand scheme of things, but compounding this pressure with insane pregnancy hormones, I thought the world was crumbling. I felt inadequate as a mother to 2 and soon to be 3 children. I reached a breaking point and began to pray just as my mother had taught me. It was a simple prayer: “Heavenly Father, I can’t do this anymore; I’m going to need a little help here.” And in that moment I was filled with warmth that can only come from a divine source. That strength carried me through another very difficult situation and in the end my daughter was born in NYC where my husband was able to attend and I was surrounded by the support of the women in the Harlem Spanish ward, a ward which was full of the world might term broken families and found in them answers to my prayers and the prayers I know my mother was offering for me on a different continent.
What a great opportunity, privilege, and duty we have as women with access to the restored gospel. We have prophets who lead us through the philosophies of man to a higher law and truth. It’s amazing how these truths not only form and shape to the lives of people across the world, but form us through all stages of life. When I was a teenager I thought, “Joseph Smith was my age when he recieved revelation, I can do it too.” When I was a missionary, of course I thought the doctrine revolved around missionary work. And now that I’m a mother I think of God more and more as my loving Heavenly Parent and I look to the perfect parent for parenting advice. The world is very anxious to tell women how we should act and feel about ourselves in order to be powerful, but only our Eternal Father can tell us directly how much we are loved, how to love our children, and how important this work is.