Dear Mother,

'Becca here. Just wanted to share, through pictures, some of the cool things about my mom. I'm thinking of Mom Black too. I saw her older brother and his family tonight at a reception, and was thinking I would have liked her. Here's to wonderful moms!

Ever since I can remember, I've been learning music with Mom. She got me started and encouraged me in piano lessons and, later, voice lessons. She taught me all the duets she knew and we'd play them together for fun. I also love to sing with her.

Mom has a good sense of humor. Here she is with my brothers, Scott & Jeff, in Glacier National Park, MT.

Mom came up with some great traditions to incorporate into our growing-up years. Those traditions still bless our family (and our own subsequent families). Dan (the wise man on the left in this photo) made sure to go through Mom's entire Christmas Eve program with his wife and our visiting brother, Kim, this past December. He told me afterward how grateful he is for this gift that was given to us by our parents. Another tradition is making grahamcracker houses in the days just following Thanksgiving...you can see some there on the piano.

Mother taught me to love and appreciate beautiful things. These are some of the flowering shrubs on the Panama Temple grounds.

She also loves cows...their soft brown eyes and quiet chewing. She points them out on family trips. I altered a favorite primary song for her one year:

I often go walking near meadows of clover

And I see whole herdfuls of bovines that chew.

They're mooing and chewing

the whole meadow over.

Dear Mother, all moo cows

remind me of you.

Dear Mother, I give you my love with this cow song,

Do bring forth sweet mem'ries a whole lifetime through.

For if I love music, and meadows, and...livestock

I learned how to love them, dear Mother, from you.

Now I am a mom too.

"Granma" has the amazing ability to feed a baby, a toddler and herself...all at once (a skill I have yet to aquire).

Mother loves her family. She recently shared that her family, to her, is her greatest treasure. It's ours too. I'm glad she had all us kids!

We are grateful for her sacrifice in service as a missionary at the temple in Panama.

We love you, dear Mother, Granma, Hermana Bateman! Happy Mother's Day!!