What a Beautiful Day

It has been a crazy week, and I am a good two weeks behind in blogging, but I should probably start with the most important stuff.  So I am finally getting this posted..

Last Saturday, we went to the Mount Timpanogos Temple and had Zoe sealed to our family.  Later that day, Kirk blessed her, and we had dinner with our friends and family.  It was an awesome day.

The temple was absolutely wonderful.  We dropped the kids off in the nursery.  Zoe didn't even cry when we left. (Although later, Robby informed us that she cried 1,000,000%, the whole time.  I guess she cried almost immediately after we left until she finally fell asleep for a few minutes.  Poor girl!  And poor temple workers that had to put up with her screaming!)

The moment that they brought the kids into the sealing room was awesome.  They looked so beautiful in their white clothes.  Zoe was a little angel for the sealing.  She sat there and put her hand on top of ours and didn't move.  She just stared at Kirk the whole time, holding perfectly still.  It was so cute!

The blessing and dinner were also wonderful!  Kirk gave a beautiful blessing.  We had lots of family and friends there.  It was nice to just enjoy everyone's company.  Dinner went well.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it, and despite all my worrying, we didn't run out of food.  Zoe was great through the whole day.  She didn't get any time to nap, but I don't think she cried once all day (except for the whole time in the nursery.)  Robby was awesome all day too.  He was a little overwhelmed but really happy with the temple.  He gave the opening prayer at the blessing, which was everyone's favorite part.  It was short and sweet, but he said he was thankful that his baby sister could be sealed to our family, which was adorable.  He was also a great help and just a good kid all day.

I can't even put into words how much the day meant to us.  It is so nice to finally have it over.  As of last Saturday, Zoe is officially ours in the eyes of the law as well as in the eyes of the church.  It is now no different than if she had been born to us.  It was kind of weird in a way.  From the moment I laid eyes on Zoe, I knew she belonged to us.  From the moment we brought her home, she has been a part of our family.  Our family would not be complete without her and I can hardly even remember life before she came.  The adoption finalization and the temple were amazing, beautiful, and wonderful, but they almost seemed  like reaffirmations of what we already knew, that Zoe is ours and belongs to our family.  I cannot express how much she means to me.  She is happy and fun and beautiful.  She brings laughter and joy to our family.  We love her with all of our heart and are so grateful that we can be with her forever.  I am so thankful for temples and for our Heavenly Father's beautiful plan that allows us to be forever families.

Here are a couple of pictures of Zoe in her dress.  These weren't taken that day, but show the dress pretty well.  I was really happy with the way the dress turned out.  It was exactly what I wanted.

Here are just some of my favorite pictures from the day!

Our forever family!

My amazingly handsome little guy.

The cutest two kids in the world.

And Little Miss Zoe herself.

I am one lucky mom!