It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To

I love having a summer birthday!  It's always sunny, which makes me happy and which also means that I can typically plan for something really great to do.  This year I chose to celebrate my day by taking my two oldest kids to the LDS temple in Portland, OR.  At age 12, church youth are welcomed within certain sections of the temple to provide service and I was eager to take our freshly minted 12 y.o. and his slightly more seasoned, older sister there with us.

Portland, OR. LDS Temple.  Stunning, right?

Let's rewind just a bit.  Remember my previous blog post about change?  Written in there somewhere, I extended to you a challenge to take while watching our church's General Conference.  The promise was that if you watched those inspired, spiritually uplifting conferences with a question (or two or three) that you really, truly, and maybe even desperately needed some guidance on, that you would be touched in some way by the words of the speakers and find your answer.

Here's a little return and report and I'll show you how my birthday, this past week, was the final culmination of a miracle and fulfillment of that challenge.

One of the questions that I had was regarding what I needed to do to continue to help my family to grow and be spiritually prepared.  The feelings and responses from the Spirit were undeniable over that Conference weekend.  I look back on my notes taken over the course of those two days in April, and in three places I found the answer.  I needed to take my older children to the temple as a family to do temple service for our deceased family members as soon as my son was old enough to go. This act would create priceless memories for my children as well as make the temple and its purpose be a building block of their faith from an early age.

"Excellent," I thought to myself.  I can totally make this happen.  All I needed was for the boy to turn 12, the husband to be free from work, and some family names of deceased relatives to take with us.  Easy, no?  Sure, unless you happen to be of Italian heritage with very little success in finding anything out about your genealogy thanks to inaccessibility to Roman-Italian records.  (If you'd like to learn more about why we take names with us to the temple, check out this link:  https://www.lds.org/topics/family-history/purpose-family-history-work?lang=eng)

For those of you that know me well, you're well acquainted with my determination and ability to make things happen.  You may also realize at this point from my blogging stories that if I feel inspired to do something and I know it's from God, I'll act on it.  I keep putting God to the test and He keeps showing up...or maybe it's the other way around.  Regardless, we're a good team.

The month of May was spent asking for help in prayer to be able to find more family names to bring with us.  June had me cramming in genealogy research sessions from home in spare minutes here and there with zero payoff.  But I was determined and knew from previous experience that if this was indeed what we needed to have happen, that things would work out.

This past Monday, just 3 days shy of our trip, I had a whopping four names to bring with us (I was aiming for ten).  Though slight progress, I was ready to resign myself to the fact that we'd miss our goal and have to take additional family names with us belonging to other church members.  At least we'd be helping someone out and still be able to fulfill the goal of getting ourselves there.

Photo Credit

Well wouldn't you know it, amidst the chaos of a family dinner that night, I had the distinct impression to get back online and start looking through some of the family names recorded online from previous temple trips.  As I did, one particular name stuck in my mind.  As I looked up her information, I discovered that there had been an error in the program for the website that I was using and that this individual's  personal information was recorded online, but had never been taken to the temple.  Hooray!  We were now up to five names.  Half-way there.

A few more minutes spent digging around in old paperwork that I had looked at a good 100+ times over the years produced two more family names.  Could it be?  I had combed over those records repeatedly over the years.  REPEATEDLY!  Two names were there that I had never noticed before.  We were now up to 7 names and as close to ten as we'd get by Thursday morning.  If any of you reading this have ever struggled in doing genealogy, you'll appreciate how exciting this was and truly, how miraculous these finds were for me/us.

But if you think that's pretty fabulous, then you'll love this.  The folks that schedule the appointments at the temple had sent me an email several weeks earlier to confirm our appointment time.  I had understood 7:45 P.M. and after yet ANOTHER spiritual nudging, I looked that email up the night before our date only to discover that it was 7:45 A.M.  Yep, had I not checked, we would have gotten there at night and completely missed our appointment.  The temple closes for annual cleaning for the following three weeks.  We would have missed our chance to go due to a last family trip planned at the end of August and school right on its heels.  A little miracle.  My husband had coincidentally taken the day off for my birthday, so we were able to get kids out of bed at 6 a.m and be on our way.

Happy Birthday to ME!

So, we made it.  We went to the temple as a family (minus the youngest).  We had our own deceased family names to bring with us whose temple work we performed in the temple that morning.  My oldest beamed and the little man clearly felt something special was going on around him there that day.  Mission accomplished or really, just started.  This is the start to something really grand for them and for us.  The temple holds so much significance for me.  It truly is a house of God; a place where I have had prayers answered and God's will revealed in my life.  I'm so grateful.  I may even have shed a tear or two.  Afterall, it was my party...and I can cry if I want to. :)

Until next time!

~Arianna

The Hills Are Alive!

It seems that ever since my last post complete with pics of scenic Alpine views, many of you have had the same urge as I've had to go running through mountain meadows belting out songs from the The Sound of Music.  Well folks, just a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to check off another hike from my bucket list and this particular hike provided a good warm-up to fulfilling that wish.  It also gave way for some great life metaphors that so often come with mountain climbing and hiking, so I'm happy to share both with you.

 

Meet Dog Mountain.  This quintessential hike in the Columbia River Gorge is 7.5 miles long and is known for it's unparalleled views and butt-kicking uphill climbs.  My go-to adventure team comprising of my good friend, her older children along with mine, decided to make it our official first day of summer celebration. (Sleeping in is for sissies though the brood reconsidered about half-way up the trail.)  Here are a few of the thoughts that I had while hiking.

1. Everything is better when shared with a friend.

Or in their case, misery loves company.  Despite the unexpected rain and biting wind encountered all the way to the top, being together was a motivator and a happy distraction. 

How true for our adventures in life as well.  The lowest lows are made more tolerable with friends by your side and the highest highs are that much more satisfying when shared with others.

Put yourself out there and risk opening yourself to deep friendships.

Cooper matching his surroundings.

2.  In the thick of things, you may lose sight of the top, but until it comes into view again, don't forget to stop and smell the roses.

We purposely chose this hike for the amazing views that it promised and for the satisfaction that our children would get from seeing just how high they could climb.  The fog that enshrouded the mountain that morning completely obscured the view.  Completely.  We came to terms with the disappointment and did our best to take notice of the things around us that we could see: those details right in front of us that may have been missed had we been able to look down into the open expanse of the gorge.

Wildflowers bloom in one huge, lush carpet on that mountain side.  We took stock of each hue along the way instead of focusing on all that we could not see.  So do yourself a favor, when you lose sight of your goal or dream and life seems to be a thick fog around you, stop and smell the roses.  Focus on the good that is around you.  There are always good things to be found.  Always.

When the going gets tough, sometimes you just want to lie down.

3.  Never, never, never give up!

The younger crew had a few rough moments, I won't lie.  Tears shed and lack of enthusiasm for the experience in general, started to creep in.  When we asked Max how he had liked the hike so far, he had been laying face down on this rock and gave us the "thumbs down" sign.  It was hard and cold and wet.  We felt for him, but it made the rest of us have a good laugh knowing that at some point, we would forget all about the misery and only be left with the good memories.  Sure enough, by the end of the hike and back at the car, the thumbs down was turned right-side up with smiles all around.

Never give up.  Things will eventually get better and like so many of life's challenges, a little distance under your feet is a good thing.  Several times, as the younger boys got tired, they threatened quitting.  This happened often when we were so close to the top.  If they had given up, all of their efforts would have been in vain and they would have left unhappy and unsatisfied.  Pushing through that last hard stretch took (and developed more) mental toughness that we knew would pay off in big ways later on.

How true for us in life as well.  So often we want to lie down in life's metaphorical road and give up, throw the towel in and call it quits.  The only thing this accomplishes is in making us bitter and not better.

When it's others around you who are struggling, you have two tactics to choose from to help them along--sometimes you stick right by them and cheer them on and other times you just have to go on ahead, leading by example, with hope and faith that they will eventually follow.  It works wonders with struggling hiking buddies too!

Happiness is proving to yourself that you can do hard things.

4. You can do hard things!

Yes you can, but you don't know it until you try.  You'll never feel more alive and a greater sense of satisfaction and self-confidence than when you challenge yourself.

Prepare the best that you can, gather the right tools, and surround yourself with others that will be willing to support you in your efforts and you'll be armed with everything that you need to succeed.

Doing hard things and getting outside of your comfort zone takes real raw courage, but once you've made a habit of living courageously, the sky's the limit!

The Columbia River Gorge is GORGEOUS!

5.  Time spent in holy places will help you see the big picture.

I love how in cultures and religions the world over, mountains are equated to holy places.  In the mountains, you're away from worldly distractions.  You are face to face with God's creations.  You are high enough that once at the top, you can look back and see the big picture.

This gorgeous scene, as with our lives, is comprised of challenging territories. When looked upon from a higher vantage point which requires a higher spiritual perspective when it comes to daily living--those hard climbs, slippery slopes, thorny brush encounters that took most of our focus while hiking up, fade away as we summit and look back to see the beautiful tapestry below.  Find those holy places and keep climbing.  Those views are worth it.  (And wouldn't ya know it, but as we turned around to go back down the mountain, this scene literally appeared before us.  The fog blew away within seconds!!)

My own little piece of Switzerland here in WA.

6.  Dream big and then recognize when those dreams are coming true in unexpected ways.

I love the mountains and would love to see the Swiss Alps someday. That dream was inadvertently renewed while hunting for photos for my previous post.  When I came upon this scene while on our hike, I realized that my dream was already being fulfilled.  Doesn't this picture scream "Sound of Music?"  I sure thought so and I didn't even have to travel far to see it! 

God is good and generous with helping us to fulfill wants and dreams.  Sometimes they just don't come packaged and delivered in the ways and timing that we planned or expected.  (And that's not to say that I won't ever see the Alps!)  The bigger blessings come more readily when we practice recognizing the smaller ways in which He does already give us views of our "Alps."

Good friends+good memories=happy people

7. Make memories together.

How much easier would it have been for me and my friend to have done this hike solo last week?  Taking the family takes extra work and often some extra patience.  But...taking the time to plan and make purposeful memories is what drives us in our roles as moms.

It's during these times that we can share those things that matter most to us with our family.  It's where they can see us really happy and joyful.  It allows for sneaking in teaching moments that they would otherwise roll eyes and zone out in.

It's a time for creating a legacy for them to remember you by.  Memory-making is creating a life and not just passively experiencing it. Make plans, take pictures and then take the time to relive those memories.  It's all three components that create the best adventures!  So get out there and make it happen whatever it is that really matters to you.  And if you happen to be hanging out in the Alps someday, be looking for me because I'd love to go skipping with you hand in hand belting out, "The hills are alive..."

See you at the next adventure!

~Arianna