Thank you for being here and it's wonderful to welcome you to

the White House.

Many of you know I'm a proud Blue Star mom.

My son, Beau, is a soldier in the Delaware Army

National Guard.

So while I'm always honored to be in the presence of our

military families, I feel a special bond with other

military moms.

I'll never forget the day that Beau deployed to Iraq.

It was that mixture of pride and concern that military moms know

all too well, right?

Having Beau overseas was a tough year for our entire family,

but it was especially difficult for my daughter-in-law Hallie,

my granddaughter Natalie and our grandson Hunter.

There were a lot of people who stepped up in different ways to

support our family that year.

A neighbor shoveled the driveway during a snowstorm.

Our church included Beau's name in the church bulletin.

And at Natalie's school, her teacher hung a photo of Beau's

unit on the wall so that everyone would know that

Natalie's daddy was away.

Through the whole experience, these acts of kindness meant so

much to them and to us.

While our sons and daughters serve so selflessly having a

community share the burden makes all the difference in the world.

Today I am here to say thank you for all that you do,

for your selflessness and for your sacrifice on behalf of

our country.

And now it is my great honor to introduce our First Lady.

Military families have no greater supporter than my friend

and partner, Michelle Obama.

(applause)

Mrs. Obama: Thanks so much.

Well, everyone, welcome.

Thank you.

Thanks, Jill.

Thanks so much for that gracious introduction.

But, more importantly, thank you for being such a phenomenal

military mom and such a spokesperson for

military families.

You've been just a great partner in Joining Forces and

everything we do.

And I'm just grateful to have you as a friend and as

a partner.

Isn't it pretty in here?

(laughter)

It really is.

I walked in and was like, oh, my goodness!

And everyone looks so nice.

(laughter)

Must be a tea going on here or something like that.

(laughter)

Well, welcome.

I hope you guys are doing good, having fun --

everything going well.

So far, so good?

That's good.

(applause)

Well, we're happy to have you here.

And I want to start by recognizing a few people.

I want to recognize Patty Shinseki,

who is also a dear friend.

Patty, where are you?

Are you here?

Patty is right there.

(laughter)

Patty, wonderful to see you.

Thank you for being such a tremendous supporter of both

Jill and myself, and for all the sacrifices that you make.

I want to recognize Lilibet Hagel who is here.

Please stand; it's good to see you.

(applause)

Thank you, as well, for your service to this country and for

all that you do for Jill and myself as well.

And I want to take a minute to embarrass somebody in the room,

because I have a special person here as well --

a woman who is my rock in so many ways.

I couldn't do what I do every single day if it weren't for

this woman.

I just did an interview the other day where somebody asked

me what was one of the most important things that my mother

taught me -- and I could go on and on and on.

But my mom has taught me most to be a good listener,

to be patient, to use common sense.

She has taught me to be open-minded.

And what she still does for me today is that she will give me

endless amounts of time just to talk and talk and talk and talk

-- and all she does is listen.

(laughter)

That's all she does, is listen.

And sometimes that's all we need.

So it is my honor to recognize my mommy, Marian Robinson,

who is here.

Stand up, Mommy.

(applause)

It's Grandma.

(laughter)

And finally, I want to thank all of you for being here today as

we celebrate Mother's Day at the White House.

It's really good.

We're doing it just a little bit early, so get double duty, moms.

(laughter)

We get today and we get tomorrow.

Let's stretch this out.

(laughter)

We get Saturday, Sunday -- and I think we should just figure out

what we need to do on Monday, too.

(laughter)

So I think this is a good way to start off the weekend.

Today, we have some of the most extraordinary moms in the

country with us.

We have active duty troops and veterans and military spouses

from all across the country.

And we knew we wouldn't be celebrating motherhood properly

if we didn't have you guys bring along some special guests --

your children -- and some people have brought their own

moms as well.

So this is quite a beautiful crew --

and handsome, too.

(laughter)

So we are thrilled to have several generations of families

here with us today.

We also have a group of very special women who I'd like to

take a moment to recognize -- some of the Military Spouses of

the Year from each branch of our Armed Forces.

And as I say your name, please stand so that we can

recognize you.

Verenice Castillo from the Air Force.

(applause)

Stay up.

(laughter)

I want you to get your moment.

Tara Crooks from the Army.

(applause)

Karen Guenther from the Marine Corps.

(applause)

Shelley Kimball from the Coast Guard.

Alisha Youch from the Navy.

(applause)

Where's Alisha?

Speaker: Alisha had another event that she had to race to.

She's so sad --

Mrs. Obama: Well, give her a hug from us.

And just a couple of hours ago, Alicia Hinds Ward from the

National Guard was named the National Military Spouse of the

Year for 2013.

Is she here?

There you go -- Alicia.

(applause)

Thank you all so much.

We are so proud.

You all are just a reflection of what you know folks like you are

doing all over this country.

And it is an honor to have you here.

We are grateful for what you do.

And have a good time.

You can sit down now.

(laughter)

But I'm going to talk a little bit more about our Military

Spouse of the Year, Alicia.

Alicia's story probably sounds pretty familiar to many of you

in this room.

She's a mother of three boys -- ooh, sorry.

(laughter)

Her husband is in the Air National Guard here

in Washington.

And every day, she finds a way to give back in some way,

shape or form -- working to build morale and support family

members who are going through deployments,

leading monthly forums to educate families about their

benefits in the military, distributing book bags to

military kids.

And she's doing it all because, as she says --

and these are here words -- she says,

"I believe each of us as the ability to be as phenomenal as

"we choose or we are given the opportunity to be.

"Empower someone and watch them soar."

Those are Alicia's words.

And that's what military moms do every day.

You all help people soar.

You help our country soar.

When somebody needs you, whether it's your family,

or your community, or your country --

you lift them up.

You answer the call every single time.

You find a way to fit that meeting into your calendar --

which is why Alicia is gone --

(laughter)

-- or stop by that neighbor's house on the way home to

lend a hand.

And even though you've got families to raise and jobs to do

all your own, you never complain.

And Jill and I say this all the time,

as we meet with thousands of military families --

you all just never complain.

Never complain.

You just keep moving along, getting it done.

And I hope that you know how much your country

appreciates you.

I really hope you do.

I hope that you know that people across America have your backs,

from everyone here at the White House and the Department of

Defense to CEOs of some of the largest companies in this

country, to doctors and college professors and community and

faith leaders in cities all over this country --

people are responding to your service with service

of their own.

And that's why Jill and I -- one of the things that we've seen as

we've been working with Joining Forces over these past several

years -- every time we've issued a call to action on your behalf,

whether it's for jobs or educational opportunities or

volunteers to do more for you, Americans have responded

overwhelmingly, in such positive ways.

We haven't had a single person tell us no when we've asked.

I mean, that's what we've learned.

A lot of times when people don't step up, they don't know --

they don't know what to do.

But when we explain, when we share,

when we ask them to do it, they step up.

And I know that's not just because Jill and I are asking.

I mean, we're cool and everything, but --

(laughter)

-- but it's really because of all of you and everything your

families have given to this country.

So I want you all to know that this country is here for you and

your families now and in the years ahead --

because everything we're doing with Joining Forces isn't about

the Obama administration.

The goal is that this is a forever proposition,

that anyone who occupies the White House from now on will

take this mission up as a primary focus of

everything they do.

All of these changes we hope to be part of the bureaucracy

from now on.

So that's what Joining Forces is all about,

and that's what today is all about.

So we really do want you to make yourselves at home.

When the lights go off and all the cameras leave,

it's just tea with us.

(laughter)

Eat all you want.

As I say, have all the cookies you want.

(laughter)

Today is the day to forget about Let's Move.

This is the balance part of it.

(laughter)

We've earned it, moms.

(laughter)

We can have our cookies.

And we're going to duck out, Jill and I, for a second.

And we're going to ask all the young people in the room to come

with us because we've got some surprises for you.

So we're going to leave, do a little business,

and we will be back for a few surprises for you all.