Together Forever

written 3/08/09

"The sealing ordinance is the capstone ordinance in the Church, and its blessings are present in this life as well as in the next. As President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972) declared, children who are born in the covenant—and, by extension, those who are sealed to their parents in the temple—“have claims upon the blessings of the gospel beyond what those not so born are entitled to receive. They may receive a greater guidance, a greater protection, a greater inspiration from the Spirit of the Lord; and then there is no power that can take them away from their parents.”

In having Audrey become a member of our family there have been many memorable dates: the day we met her for the first time- July 8, 2007. The day she came home- August 4, 2007. The day her adoption was finalized and we officially beame a family- February 11, 2008. But the most important date in our eyes is last Saturday March 1, 2008 when we were sealed to her for time and all eternity in the temple. As Justin and I sat together waiting to go into the sealing room I couldn't stop crying, I felt so blessed that this was really happening, that we were able to seal this beautiful happy baby girl to us, that we'd be her mother and father forever. It was a beautiful ceremony. The spirit there was so strong. We were so happy to have all our family there, the room was so filled with love. And now it's as if we can breath a huge sigh of relief: she's ours. Forever. As the quote above says there is no power that can take her away from us now.

The blessing the next day was also a very spiritual experience. Justin did such a good job and gave me the best compliment that he ever could, he blessed Audrey to be like her mother. He was so sweet and tender as he blessed her, what a lovely moment for our family! Later in sacrament meeting my Mom bore such a kind, powerful testimony about our family. I can't even express how much that meant to me.

Afterward we went to the Harrison Plaza Suites Hotel for a small luncheon. And as the many, many photos illustrate we had a lot of good food and a great time visiting with family and enjoying being together. We want to thank everyone who was there for either the sealing or the blessing or both, we really appreciate you coming. We've also received many kind words from family members who wanted to be there but weren't able to and we're thankful for you as well.

Our house is returning back to normal, we've eaten left over sandwiches and salads and cakes for a week now and we celebrated Justin's birthday on Friday- 28 years old!

Thank you again to everyone who has helped us on this journey of becoming a family of three. Everything has gone so smoothly and quickly that we know Audrey is meant to be here, we know Heavenly Father meant for us to be a family. And we know that Families can be Together Forever.