Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Still processing...

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that C's adoption is actually finalized. I just knew that going to the temple would be the icing on my yummy chocolate cake...and it was.
(For more information on temples, and why this was such an important event for me and my family you can click here to read more.)

Saturday was amazing. I'm still not sure how to put all of my feelings and thoughts into words. I'm still not sure how much I want to share. So for the time being I will just share pictures.

I made Camden's overalls, his tie...
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...and his shoes.
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I had great intentions on making myself a new temple dress but when I was half way done with it, I realized it just wasn't that important. It was just adding more stress to my life so I let it go. The cool thing is that I did make the dress I ended up wearing, like ten years ago...I also made Maya's dress, it was the one I made for her baptism. And Eden is wearing the dress my mom made me when I got baptized eons ago. I hemmed Aric's pants, so technically all of our temple clothes were extra special.
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My darling girls were so thrilled to be in the temple with us. We had been preparing them for months. They were ready. The vision of them in that room will be forever burned in my mind.


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We had so much love and support from our family and friends. Our sealing room only held twenty...so we had most of the men standing. For some reason my mom, Joe and Evelynne were missing from this photo but they were there too. Ev was Camden's escort.
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And yes, Karen was there...
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It was the most glorious day. The rain stopped just long enough for us to take some pictures. My friend Kerry did a great job as photographer. You should check out her blog. She hardly ever posts anything, but she did do a post about our special day.
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On Sunday Aric blessed Camden. In my church we don't baptize babies when they are born, instead they are given a name and a blessing. Aric gave Camden a beautiful blessing.
(I think Aric looks rather dashing in this photo...)
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Eden took this next picture. Photographers were limited due to the time...we were late leaving church.
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We eventually did find someone to take this family shot.
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Like I mentioned before I'm still processing the amazing events of the past twelve days, but really I have been putting the past five years in perspective. It's been quite the journey. It was hard...REALLY hard, but, oh, so worth it!
I know that God is aware, his peace is real. The love and gratitude I feel is indescribable. My joy is full.
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Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for your love and kind words. I hold them dear.

8 comments:

Randi Kay said...

Everything I want to say right now just sounds so cliche. I love you and your family and I can't say how happy I am for you guys. You have earned it. You have been in my prayers for a long time and I feel so blessed to be a small part of your life. Congrats, Jess.

Jean McKendrick said...

Thanks for sharing your amazing journey with us. What a beautiful day for you and your family. I think it is awesome your girls are old enough to remember this day and to remember the spirit they felt as they were sealed to their little brother. Congratulations! Glad the deal is finally "sealed", literally. :)

Lauren in GA said...

Oh, Jessica...I am so happy for you.

That is so neat that you made Camdens little temple overalls, tie and shoes. I am also impressed that you can still wear a dress you wore 10 years ago...I can't fit into anything from 10 years ago ;).

I was doing okay keeping my tears in check but when I got to the line where you said, "The vision of them in that room will be forever burned in my mind." I started crying again.

Congratulations, my dear.

Anonymous said...

Randi, Jean, and Lauren all said everything i wanted to say. from the cliche words to express my joy for your family, to the girls being able to remember, and of course the overalls. Those overalls!!! i can't thank you enough for sharing your life. it's beautiful! xo

Ilene said...

I will make a yummy chocolate cake in your honor tonight.

I'm glad the day was everything you hoped for!

Love that gray dress. Where did you get it? Or did you just knit it yourself in all of your spare time?

kthom said...

I'm so impressed. Impressed by your words, your strength, your sewing skills, your testimony, your ability to hold things together these long hard months. Thanks for sharing your beautiful day!!

Jake said...

Congratulations, Jessica! Your family is beautiful. Thanks you for posting, it brought back happy memories of our own adoptions/sealings.

I wish I had had a blog (and a great photographer friend!) to document our own journey. Taking a child to the temple is something I wish every parent could do.

abbyandcompany said...

I love the pics. Hey, I need a temple dress. I still haven't been to the Spokane temple (even though i see it out of my windows everyday) because they don't rent dresses! Too bad you are like a size 0 or you could share the wealth! What a special day!