The Mountain of the Lord's House

There are four places where I feel closest to God, and over Memorial Day weekend I was able to spend time at each of them.

1) The Temple

The temple to which we are currently assigned is just south of Denver. The drive is short enough that we usually are able to take the whole family when we go. Ramona and Mika love being by the big fountain out front. I love being in the Celestial Room . . . sitting in there helps to remind me of who I am and the direction I am trying to go.

 

 

2) Church

Too often I take for granted the peace that comes from participating in church services each week. It takes some effort to get everyone in their Sunday best and out the door on time, but the spiritual renewal I find there makes it all worth it. Sometimes there are a few extra minutes to snap photos before we leave, and those are usually worth it, as well.

 

This past Sunday Ramona even found a few extra minutes (when I wasn't looking) to inscribe her name on the front door with sidewalk chalk. It is HER house, after all.

I didn't get a chance to take my baby's official 5 month pictures (like some moms are so good about doing), but at least I got these, just a few days late.

 

 

 

3) In the Mountains
The bible records that Moses went up Mount Sinai to speak with God. Although my life experiences are much different from those of Moses, I can relate to the idea of communing with God through nature. For me, there is nothing quite like a higher altitude hike to help me feel the power and majesty of my creator.

On Memorial Day our family ventured out to Horsetooth Falls, hitting the hiking trail with Paula on my back, Mika on Forest's back, and the snacks on Ramona's back.

 

 

 

 

 

This particular hike was monumental for our family because we actually completed it--made it to the falls and back. No turning back partway through because someone was too tired or peed their pants.

 

 

 

 

 

Now that I look at these family photos, I realize the baby looks a little squished. Sorry, Paula doll!

We did pull you out to enjoy some freedom every now and again.

Overall the baby did great on her very first hike. And Ramona hiked almost the entire 2.4 miles on her own. There was just a little stretch toward the end where I piggybacked her after she fell head first into the dirt and burst into tears. (I had Paula swiveled around up front at the same time, so we looked like a three-headed hiking monster, I'm sure.) But other than that, Ramona did it all!

 

 

Mika stayed mostly on Daddy's back for the hike. But she did get out to spend a few moments on the trail with her big sis.

4) At Home with Family
Our house is far from picture perfect, but on most days it's just the place where my heart needs to be. I know God gave me this family to help me become a better person. When I remember that, our home feels sanctified somehow--despite its shortcomings--and it's a place where I can feel close to Him.

Mother's Day: Good News and Bad News

Lately Ramona has been identifying both the positive and negative aspects of our family's experiences and describing them as "the good news" and "the bad news." Here are both the good and bad news of the recent events surrounding Mother's Day 2014:

Good News: The week before Mother's Day, Ramona's preschool hosted a Moms and Muffins brunch. I got to spend some special time with my big girl, see her in action as a little waitress, and share lemonade, muffins, and chocolate strawberries with her.

Bad News: It was probably around this time that Ramona and I were exposed to a severe stomach virus that recently caused over 50 students to be sent home from the neighborhood elementary school in ONE day.

Good News: Miss Jamie helped the kids fill out questionnaires about their moms. Some of the responses were hilarious.

Bad News: Each questionnaire was read out loud to the class after brunch.

Good News: Forest's buddy Scott invited us to his wedding, scheduled the Saturday before Mother's Day at Fourth Presbyterian in Chicago.

Bad News: On Friday, while we were on the road to Illinois, Ramona started throwing up in the car (every hour for half of the trip) and I got hit with nausea and body aches. We showed up at Paca's house as some very weary travelers.

Good News: I felt a lot better the next morning, so we left Ramona and Mika with Paca as planned, and dropped the baby off with Carol before heading up to Chicago.
Bad News: My stomach did NOT like the lunch we picked up on the way. And it retaliated, big time.

Good News: We still made it to both the wedding ceremony and reception. Forest got to see lots of old friends.
Bad News: I could barely nibble on my food at the dinner table and was sure everyone thought I had an eating disorder (Especially coupled with comments like: "Wow, you look great after just having a baby!"--even if they were obligatory)

Good News: We snapped some pretty good pictures.
Bad News: It was hard for me to smile--I not only had angry stomach issues but engorgement issues from surplus breastmilk. We were one of the first couples to leave the party.

Bad News: My Mother's Day began with me throwing up in the hotel toilet.

Good News: Ramona and Mika had made me giant Mother's Day cards to show me when we got back to Paca's house

Bad News: I missed church.

Good News: Everyone else made it to church, and afterward Paula got to meet Great-Grandma Rosanne for the first time.

Bad News: Back at Paca's house, Ramona cried because I was too sick to walk down to the river with her.

Good News: Forest went with her, and she brought me back a pretty little sprig of wildflowers.

Bad News: Mika slept through dinner.

Good News: I actually had a little bit of an appetite for dinner! And we enjoyed the company of Gavin, Kristen, Cheryl, and Dick. Once Mika woke up, she ate her share and helped her sisters provide the post-dinner entertainment.

 

 

Good News: The next day we got to visit my parents before hitting the road back to Colorado. Baachan of course had lots of goodies to give to the girls . . .

 

 . . . including these adorable bear-face cookies.

 Bad News: We could only stay for an hour.

Good News: The car ride home was puke- and diarrhea-free.
Bad News: The days following were anything but puke- and diarrhea-free. In addition to cleaning up the aforementioned substances, I have also been canceling/rescheduling an entire week's worth of appointments, tackling larger-than-normal mountains of laundry, and battling stronger-than-normal feelings of discouragement and self-pity.
Good News: Morale is back up. Let the good news (and healthy bowels) prevail!

High School Reunion, part 2

Back in October we traveled to Illinois to attend my 10-year high school reunion. It had a great turn-out, but didn't feel quite complete to me because my friend Anne Marie was not there.

She was one of the first friends I made in junior high. I remember sitting behind her and her long, yellow braids in 7th grade social studies class. I also remember sitting with her at the same lunch table (and feeling so grateful to find a lunch table where I belonged). Among my few memories of 8th grade include those of sitting in the same bus that drove us to the high school for Freshman algebra one period each day. (We always made fun of ourselves and that short little bus). Once we were actually in high school, I remember being in the same car with her for driver's ed. (She was a better driver than I was, but Mr. McIntyre only had to use the break pedal on me once). Most of my memories of her are those of playing in orchestra and string quartets together. I always sat across from her as she drew beautiful notes from her grandfather's old violin and made it look easy.

As it turns out, Anne Marie has been a Colorado resident for quite some time now. After our family has lived in this state for two years, we finally were able to have Anne Marie and her family over for dinner at the end of April. (It was literally on my to-do list for months!)

It was an especially sweet reunion for me because it was the first time I met her husband Jonathan and her daughter, Junia, who happened to be born exactly a month before Paula. She is such a beautiful little girl, and cuddly, too.

 

While they were here visiting, I half-jokingly suggested that we get out some instruments and play a little music. To my delight, Anne Marie took me up on the idea. She patiently waited while I dusted off my violin for her and dug through several piles of music to find my cello/violin duets. She was apologetic about her playing, saying she hadn't picked up her own instrument for quite a while, but she really hadn't lost her touch at all. After setting down the fiddle, she hopped over to the piano and accompanied me on Gounod's Ave Maria. Sight-reading every note and still making it all look so easy.

At one point in the evening, Anne Marie expressed that she wished she had taken high school less seriously--that she had spent a little less time worrying, studying, and practicing and a little more time on forming friendships. The memory of who she was back then seemed to make her cringe, and I laughingly admitted that I shared her sentiment in many ways. Perhaps it is a good thing, though, to be able to look back on who we once were and feel that part of that person is no longer a part of who we are now. If we believe in the improvement and progression of our souls, and endeavor to better ourselves each day, I think it should be counted as success when our former self appears less polished and refined than that of present.

For now, I am going to celebrate the successful completion of High School Reunion, Part 2: The much-anticipated dinner with my friend, Anne Marie, the music we got to play together in my home, and our little babies, who hardly fussed the entire time.