Kelly Ballard receiving recognition from Dori Bowman, 2nd Vice President of Utah Mothers
Biography
Kelly Ballard is a Utah mother of 4, born and raised in California, then migrated to Utah 25 years ago and has loved it ever since. She has 3 wonderful boys and 1 delightful daughter. Having all of her children by the age of 29, she was a young mother while supporting her husband through law school. Many times is was hard and very overwhelming. But the simple moments of joy and goodness that she found while raising her babies far outweighed the struggles. Now she is enjoying the fruits of her labors while watching her children become adults and grow into their own persons. Truly it is the best job she could have ever asked for.
Read her 3-minute speech on “What Being A Mother Means to Me”
Parenting Philosophy
My philosophy is very simple. My father taught me that people are more important than things, and that is how I have strive to be.
- Visiting over dinner is more important than doing the dishes.
- Hugging after a broken decoration is more important than yelling that it’s broken.
- Reminding them of their manners is more important that ignoring it because “they are just kids.”
- Preparing extra food daily at lunch time so that all their friends can come over to eat is more important than worrying if there will be enough.
- Pausing to answer their questions and worries is more important than finishing the laundry.
- Volunteering in their classroom each week is more important than shopping.
- Scratching their backs each night to fall asleep is more important than watching your favorite show.
- Staying up late to hear about their date is more important than getting sleep.
- Showing consistent love is more important that fulfilling all their monetary wants.
Children are the more important than things. They are THE MOST important.
Motherhood and Community
Kelly Ballard receiving a proclamation from Shireen Ghorbani, Salt Lake County Council
I have always loved working in the community, and it has consistently had one reason behind it. Does it bless my children? All the time I spend outside the home helping others needed to have a direct impact on my own kids or it wasn’t the season for me to participate. The 3 areas I have most enjoyed serving in are:
- Teaching the Meet the Masters Artist assemblies for 3 years at our local grade school. Helping these 900 students learn about the goodness of art, the lives of these artists, and ways to express their emotions, was an amazing experience. And I got to watch my own children’s face light up when I would walk onto the stage. That’s priceless.
- I loved feeding the Corner Canyon High School Mountain Biking Team. For 6 races in the fall I prepare a staff of 14 women to feed over 2400 meals to racers and their families. I work those days in the “pit zone” for 12 hours, ensuring the youth have the proper nutrients to race strong and do their best. I get to greet them when they finish with dust in the teeth and blood stained knees. To hug them and congratulate them on something that was so hard and so worth it. It is my favorite place to be on race day – the food tent. Because I became a mother to 200 riders who are looking for support and encouragement. And of course, I get to spend time with all my boys who have raced for years with this incredible team. Once again, my reason.
- Finally, I have loved being a part of the local young women’s program in our neighborhood. I get to work with over 230 young women who are needing examples to look up too. My team and I would plan local dances to help with social skills, organize mother and daughter events to help foster those relationships, host swim parts with local young men so they can learn how to connect with the opposite sex, and create week long camps to help them learn peace, simplicity, and closeness to God’s creations in the mountains. This assignment took years of my time and energy, but it was worth it. And of course, my sweet baby girl got the be the recipient of these activities. There is something so tender and sweet when I run into youth that I have worked with in these venues years later. Who come up and give me hugs and fill me in on their newest adventures. Who thank me for helping them learn and grow. This impact is one of my most treasured moments.
Letter of Recommendation
Kelly and Mike Ballard
Kelly’s mother wrote this about her:
Kelly has always been the heart of her home, and has made a supreme effort to provide a safe haven for her own family and for the children in her neighborhood. All know they are welcome there. Friends of her children are known to stop by, even when her children are not home – to hang out with Kelly, to enjoy her spirit and feel her love, and raid her pantry or treat bucket. Kelly redid her office space to enlarge her pantry so children have easy access to treats and eats. Her teen boys walk home for lunch, always with a crowd of friends, who know they are welcomed with open arms to the Ballard home and food there.