I delight in my pioneer ancestry.

Typically my post's on the 24th of July are about my Mom's birthday since, afterall it is today.  However, I've decided to save that for later (as I have documented the day quite well--but have yet to upload it all to my computer) and to instead share what the 24th of July, also known as Pioneer Day in Utah, means to me this year. 

At the beginning of the year, I felt some urgency in figuring out my family history--in pictures.  As a part of that project, I have scanned a lot of pictures and documents, this tribute is one of them.  

Joseph Strong (my great-great grandpa, i think) is someone I have come to learn a lot more about this year.  Craig came in touch with some relative (yeah, see why I need help with the whole family history thing?) who sent some documents regarding Joseph and his family's journey to America.  It is incredible.  

I am grateful to have this as just a part of my heritage.  There are so many other lines of my family and details I am coming to put together, slowly but surely.

Faith in every footstep.

i delight in family and history.

pearls of history 

(grandpa on the left, grandparents engagement photo in the middle and grandma on her tricycle on the right)

taken in the 1920s and 1940s

scanned by erin

Today was a really great day.  I put life together again in my room so I can stand living in it for however long I'm going to be here.  :)  I live so much better in clean, tidy and organized space.  Now to keep it that way...again :)  I spent time with my Mom.  Revision: I spent a lot of time laughing with my Mom.  We laughed a lot today at my house: this morning at breakfast, this afternoon about "Mary Problems" and tonight about the funny things people say when they're in denial about their life and circumstance (thank you dad, for sharing your experiences and for not making us share it firsthand with you).  I got to go bowling with my friends for the last time for a while (hello work starting next week!)  It's always entertaining.  And it always reminds me that one day I will learn why people with down syndrome stutter so much more frequently than the general population. I voted. I went to institute with katie, who always makes me smile and who i am so grateful we served in the same mission, even though we were both there together at the same time for a day but it has bonded us for life.  Talking with her always seems to make life manageable and happy, and of course, full of laughter.  Institute however was not a laughing matter but it was beautiful. We talked about the atonement of Jesus Christ and watched this video.  It is the first depiction of Christ's suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane that does not have any music or commentary or anything going on simultaneously, except the sound of crickets.  I realized how much background influences my emotions.  The gravity of the 'aloneness' set in, and my heart was and still is so full. It was so personal.  Please take 8:30 minutes to watch it.  The conversation that ensued afterwards was uplifting and powerful.  I am so grateful for the opportunity to gather with hundreds of other young single members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on a weekly basis, to feel of their strength and hear their experiences and testimonies.  I am always uplifted.  Finally, I got to spend time scanning pictures of my family.  I am always intimidated by family history.  My brother Craig knows it all and he is the family history guru.  He has our history memorized--dates, names, cities, relations, EVERYTHING.  He informs us of birth dates and death dates of loved ones who have passed on.  He notifies family members when he learns of the passing of a family member that was related to them.  He puts information on our family and other families on the church's family history site.  He gets phone calls and emails with questions, and thank you's regarding information he has provided.  Craig searches hundreds of newspapers everyday to see if in the obituaries, there is a relative that has passed away.  If there is he prints it out and keeps a record of it.  See where my intimidation comes in?  I know nothing. He knows everything.  At the beginning of the year though, I was determined to do something more than indexing so, I decided I was going to learn what my ancestors looked like.  Now that may sound strange so let me explain.  It is so much more powerful to me when I am hearing a story about a person to have a face pictured in my mind to whom I can attach the story to.  I am blessed to have known all 4 of my grandparents very well (and still have 3 living) and to have known 3 of 8 great grandparents.  But I have no visual image of any other family members.  So, I am collecting pictures of relatives.  The goal is 4 generations but really, there is no limit.  My goal is to organize them into a visual family tree (but really, I'm up for gathering as many pictures as possible and the stories to go with) so I can understand and know what they looked like so I can think of their picture in my mind when I hear something about them or about their posterity.  A visit to my Grandpa this weekend made at least he and my grandma's portion of that rather easy.   It has been a special experience to look at each picture one at a time and think about how it must have been.  There are stories I know, stories I want to know and stories to be recorded.  But starting with pictures, is my first step.  The day is now over, and this is probably as recorded as it is going to get.  It has been a delightful day that is ending right where it started, in my bed.  Good night. 

I delight in sister time.

All weekend, I heard..."sister time is not today its on monday." Call me the cruel big sister but I had homework, things to do, and places to be.

So, I told Christin that "sister time" was Monday. And so, today, we had our sister time. The rest of the family headed south to the viewing and we got us some quality time together. You know, the usual...pizza at litzas, a trip to target, and the second harry potter movie. She drew pictures, I organized life, it was fantastic.

I don't know how I got so lucky (not that i believe in luck) to have a sister who wants to always have sister time with me, but I am so grateful for her.

I'm also happy that tonight was a 'success' on Craig's account. He walked in the door beaming from ear to ear; so happy about all the relatives he finally got to meet. Mom said, that one family walked in with 3 little kids, Craig rattled off all their names and they stood there stunned, wondering how someone they didn't know, seemed to know them and so well. Craig introduced himself as the family genealogist and everyone seemed to understand.

There is easily a quality (and quantity) of anxiety walking into situations like tonight--an un-'well-known' crowd, potential small children, potential people who don't 'understand.' But nothing brings more joy and more relief than an unknown crowd who becomes known, who understands and who believe in a bedtime for their children. Happy happy joy joy for successful days in the McQuivey household!

I delight in treasuring a memory.

Over Christmas Break last year our family went to visit Aunt Helen and her daughter Nancy. It was so nice to visit and spend time with them. Of the Dahlquist side of the family, my mother's mother's side--all of the children have passed away; three of the spouses remain: Helen, Afton and my grandpa, Harold. It was fun to hear Aunt Helen talk about Uncle Carlisle (who I never had the opportunity to meet) and Grandpa talk about he and "Rosie" in their younger years. Grandpa recently turned 90 and Helen was 93 so they're not spring chickens! :) I love hearing from the older generation about what it was like way back when. Aunt Helen passed away yesterday. I'm grateful to have known her however brief our visits were. I'm grateful she can be reunited with her husband whom she's been separated from for 30 years. I'm grateful for the memories that remain and the posterity that carries on.

I delight in written word.

I am a journal writer. I've been a journal writer for years and as much as it tempts me to convert to typing my journal, I just can't do it.

While writing, whether it be typed or handwritten is very therapeutic, I love hand-writing. I love the thinking that hand-writing requires. I can type so fast that I am sorely tempted to write things I don't mean when I'm on a 'mind spill.' Besides, this keyboard has a delete key. A joy I find in writing in my journal, is that whatever I write is real and its written forever, it can't just be deleted with the click of a button.

And so as I finished another journal last night I reflected on the portion of my life it contains. Each journal has its own story, its own time slot of my life. This one will always be significant in so many ways. From last July to the present, a big learning curve has come into my life. Today is the start of another story in a way. Another journal and its bigger and will take me longer to fill it up. The adventure excites me. Just knowing that currently my life is unwritten but that I already have new opportunities and experiences to record in its pages. If its any foreshadow of what is to come, all I know is that it will be good.

I delight in talents.

Today, Craig told me that a relative moved into the singles ward. Really? I said. This might be typical for a lot of people, but not for us. Of course, Craig, being a family history whiz and all, puts connections together much better than I do. All he needed to hear was the last name Hinckley and the state of Washington and his wheels were turning. I on the other hand, didn't even know we were related to any Hinckley's. Anyway...I'm sure at this point, Craig went home and checked through the databases to see if this kid was indeed related. Well, today he sat next to the kid and inquired. Craig's passion of family history can get him to do a lot of things he wouldn't typically do...like sitting down and initiating a conversation with someone. Anyway, indeed his suspicion was correct. Craig asked the boy if he was related to a Rhonda Hinckley and sure enough, it was his Grandma. And so, somehow, through my great grandparents...we're related. Don't ask me how. That's why I have Craig as a brother, he's always just a phone call away. I appreciate this talent that Craig has. I appreciate how many lives he blesses through the work that he does. I also appreciate the diligence with which he searches for family members and his bravery in contacting people he doesn't even know. Very very cool.