Aaand She's Off...

I'm gonna be honest here, today was a bit of a roller coaster.

We finally took some mission pics. They aren't fabulous because I'm not a photographer. But Hannah's a pretty good editor, especially with only a few little tools. These are a few of my favorites.

We called and talked to her dad and her little brother and sisters. Then we had a bit of time to kill, so we walked around the Provo temple, along with a bunch of other missionary families with some time to kill. :)

Her nerves were making me anxious, which in turn was notching up her nerves. So we hugged, drove over to the Missionary Training Center (or the MTC, which is across the street from the Provo temple), hugged again, and she was off with a wonderful host sister missionary who was bright and excited and wonderful! She will spend six weeks at the MTC learning to speak Samoan, and then look out, Anaheim, California; here she comes!

 

And then, in one of the universe's crazy turns of events that are so perfect and so fitting, I went to lunch with this guy and his beautiful wife. When I get home, I'll have to post our very first picture together, lol. No matter how old we get, he will always be the young man who shared what he valued most with a teenage girl he barely knew.

This is a beautiful friendship that started 24 years ago and halfway around the world in Russia of all places. Shawn has been one of the kindest and best friends I've ever had. He has loved me and encouraged me, and he valued me enough to share a Book of Mormon and his testimony of the gospel. His courage in doing so changed my life forever...and without him, I wouldn't have been here today with Hannah, as she, too, answers that call to serve and to share. Full circle. My heart is full.

A Beautiful Day

I had a beautiful day with my sweet girl, Hannah. She starts her 18-month-mission for our church on Wednesday. So we spent our afternoon in Salt Lake City at the conference center and on Temple Square. I loved getting to go to conference with her, and I want to take all of the other kids in the future.

I love having this time alone with just her before she goes. I still can't believe she's old enough to have this new adventure, though I'm not surprised by it. She's been giving copies of the Book of Mormon away since kindergarten.

Also, General Conference was pretty cool. I enjoyed listening to the speakers in the afternoon session, but I think the most awesome experience was the rest hymn in the middle when 21,000 (or so) saints stood to sing praises. It brought tears to my eyes, and made me so grateful for these wonderful people who share my love for the Lord.

A good day that makes my heart smile.

More from the Temple Last Summer

Ah, true family love!

Man on a mission.

Sariah at the Atlanta Temple

I know I have mentioned repeatedly that Sariah is a bit of a diva.  But divas often make the best photo subjects.  Check out these pics from this past summer ('12).

This Is the Way to Start a Saturday!

Hannah and I got to take Lizzi to the temple on Saturday to do baptisms for the dead.  Youth are able to participate in that when they turn 12.  Lizzi's birthday was several months ago.  Typically, the youth from church will go as a group to the temple for this.  However, because of the timing of our move during summer vacation, Lizzi was unable to go with the youth group from Oklahoma, and our new youth group in Georgia hasn't had one scheduled in the near future, either.

Since the temple is important to our family, and since it's an amazing place of peace and reverence in the middle of this crazy, fast-paced world we live in, we decided to get Lizzi to the temple as a family.  That sort of worked, but we didn't have anyone to leave our little ones with, and we needed to go on a Saturday morning, which is when Caleb's football games are....  So it ended up being just us girls.

I'm grateful I got to go with my beautiful girls.  I've taken each one of my babies with me to the temple while they were in the womb, and prayed that they would soak up some of the peace and take with them into their lives the desire to return to the temple as they grow up.  Lizzi is such a livewire that I wasn't sure this was a successful endeavor for her.  BUT, as usual, my kids prove me wrong.  We enjoyed ourselves, and she asked when she gets to go back again.

Afterwards, we strolled on the beautiful grounds in the bright morning sunlight.  I'm not too pleased with the camera on my new phone.  However, I am thrilled with these pictures of my girls together, actually looking like they might have some affection for one another (don't mind the fists in the one picture, they really don't signify, I promise).

I'm so in love with these beautiful and precious gifts to our family!  Aren't they amazing?!

Blog Hop: Family Proclamation Photo Essays

 "The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave.  Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally" (The Family: A Proclamation to the World, 1995).

When Bob and I were sealed in the Dallas Texas Temple in 1996, we didn't know what our future family would look like.  But we knew it would be eternal because we married in the temple.  And we knew our children would be likewise sealed to us forever because they would be "born in the covenant," or sealed to us by birthright.

What we didn't know was that not all of our precious children would be born to us.  When we'd been married several years and had three children (and thought we needed a break, lol!), Heavenly Father let us in on the game plan.  Our nephew, Rex, came to live with us temporarily.  He was a smart, tenacious, sweet, stubborn, curious crawling bundle of blond hair and blue eyes.  He stayed permanently.  By the time he was two and a half, we were finalizing his adoption, with his birth parents' permission and blessing.  By now we were his Mommy and Daddy and sisters and brother.

As soon as the legal adoption was finalized, we--Bob and I, along with Hannah, Elisabeth, and Caleb--took him to the temple to be sealed to us.  Consider it the religious observation of the legal procedure.  Now Rex could be a part of our family forever if we continued to follow Jesus Christ.  The eternal nature of families is something my heart knows to be true, but I also believe in the two formalities that make it so--legal adoption and the ordinance of temple sealing.

I will never forget Rex in the temple with us.  He looked up at the temple sealer with his big blue eyes and agreed solemnly and smilingly to everything said to him, while our other three children looked on with sparkling eyes.  I know he was only 2, and he can't remember it now, and he will get to grow up and make his own choices in life.  But when I look at Rex, sometimes I see that pure, sweet toddler dressed in white, shining in the presence of loved friends, family, and heavenly family, and am reminded what he is to our Father in Heaven: His beloved child.

And then ... then we went outside the temple for pictures and he tried to crawl in the fountain, also true to form, age, and character.  Rex can always make you smile, and I am grateful beyond words that he is sealed to our eternal family.