Who is LaDawn Jacob? She is the wonderful woman in the video presentation above. She is the mother of 11 and grandmother to 60 and counting. She was the National Young Mother of the Year in 1982. I like to call her The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ version of Michelle Duggar, 20 years earlier. She had her 11 children as close as Michelle had, basically every year (no twins like Michelle though). She also gave all of her children stringed instruments and had them learn to play from an early age. The Jacob family, like the Duggars, built their home by themselves, debt-free! Wow! She is just as sweet and wonderful as Michelle as well. Watch her video above and get inspired! With her husband, she has served LDS missions to the Philippines and the Ukraine.

Here is an updated video below of her with her grandchildren, showing their love of poetry memorization that they have caught from Grandma LaDawn. It’s the sweetest thing ever! The little boy in it, oh my, he’s so cute! LaDawn’s idea of heaven is family combined with music and I have to agree.

She has generously agreed to share her books free of charge on the Internet. So I am posting them here.

The first one, Homemade Joy from the House of Jacob by Cheryl Carson, tells LaDawn’s mothering story up until the time she won the National Mother of the Year Award in 1982. If you have wondered about how to feel purpose as a mother, how to feel welcoming about having more babies, and how to get children to do chores, practice music, memorize poetry, be smart and kind, please read this book! You can get it here. It’s a large file, over 5 MB. It sells used for over $65 on Amazon, so get it here for free!

Homemade Joy and the House of Jacob complete.

The second resource is LaDawn’s compilation of scriptures for memorization, called Favorite Family Devotional Scriptures. I used to think that memorization was just for kids, but after watching LaDawn in the video above, I learned that memorization is for adults too. We can be memorizing while doing chores. Just take a clothespin and pin the piece of paper with poetry to the grapevine while harvesting the grapes like LaDawn does!

The rest of the resources below the dashed line got lost but will be restored soon! Please check back in a few weeks!

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The third resource is LaDawn’s compilation of Fun Family Traditions. Click and read about how to make your home life more meaningful and loving by celebrating holidays and every days.

The fourth resource is LaDawn’s collection of Favorite Family Devotional Poems. We use this collection every weekday to memorize poems for our homeschool devotional. Here’s one of them I love:

 God Answers Prayer

“I know not by what method rare
But this I know, God answers prayer.
I know that he has given his Word
Which tells me prayer is always heard
And will be answered soon or late
And so I pray and calmly wait.

I know not if the blessing sought
Will come in just the way I thought
But leave my prayers with him alone
Whose will is wiser than my own
Assured that he will grant my quest
Or send some answer far more blessed.”

― Eliza M. Hickok