My Eternal Family!

So sorry that it has been so long since my last post. I have been up to my neck in unpacking and I am finding out that it takes FOREVER to do it with a two-year-old!! Finally my upstairs (all the bedrooms and the bathroom) is done and I am taking a break from it all by blogging my guts out!

Let me start with some of my favorite pictures in the world (not of my boys, but of Kolton's blanket) I'd like to introduce you to "Blue One Blanket"- this is Kolton's all time favorite blanket in the world and as such, it is almost impossible to wash it. I am lucky if it gets washed once a week but most of the time it is every other week. So, one day I was on my way downstairs to finish packing our house (BTW- we are in Montpelier, ID now!) and here was Blue One Blanket, standing up on its own!! It looked like it was actually CRAWLING up the stairs!! I am not exaggerating nor did I doctor the pictures- this is actually how I found the blanket!

Now on to more wonderful matters (yes, even more wonderful than blankets that stand on their own if you can imagine) and that is Sam's finalization date! On May 25 at 2:30 we went to the courthouse in front of Judge Wilmore where he declared us to be a 'wonderful family for Sam'! Our adoption of Sam is now final and binding!!! To say that Cori was on my mind that day is a total understatement. To think that she so selflessly gave this incredible gift to us when she got so little in return makes me wonder if I could ever do something so selfless. She is honestly one of the people I look up to most in this world. What an incredible GIFT! I am sorry the picture is so dark, but I can't get a good program to edit my pictures so this will have to do for now.

It makes me feel a tingle in my tummy when I see Sam looking at me in this picture. The judge was totally smitten with him and Kolton. He actually said that we'd better get a picture with him when it was all done!

from left to right: Judge Wilmore, Me and Sam, Wes and Kolton, Charity (our caseworker from LDS Family Services) and Paul, our attorney.

Afterward, my family did a fun play date at McDonalds both as a congratulations party for Sam as well as a 'good luck in Montpelier part' for our family. Kolton had a blast on the play area and was even brave enough to go all the way to the top and slide down!! You can tell by his red cheeks that he was having the time of his life!

This is one of my all-time favorite pictures of Sam. He was passed around to everyone and adored and kissed. He also got a vanilla ice cream cone all to himself!! My camera ran out of batteries (grrrr) so I couldn't get a picture of his ice cream face, but it was adorable!

And now, one of the greatest experiences of my life: SEALING DAY!! It all happened on May 28th at 7:30pm at the Logan, UT Temple. It was so completely AMAZING to have Kolton and Sam in the Temple with us! It was such a neat experience to teach Kolton all about what a special place the temple is and to read books and sing songs about the temple with him. Sam was an ANGEL (as always, of course!) and during the entire ceremony, he locked eyes with the man doing the sealing and when it was done he looked at Wes and I with a big smile on his face. I knew that his spirit understood what was going on and how important it was for him to be part of an eternal family. I know that angels were present in that room and that the Lord was pleased with us. I also felt so strongly that Cori would be blessed for her sacrifice and that the Lord was pleased with her as well. I can't go into it more because I am blinded by tears already! I left the temple feeling as though no woman in the world could be as happy as I was. To have my two boys and wonderful husband with me all in white- an eternal family- was so overwhelming it was really hard for me to keep my emotions in check. My whole family was able to be there (except my mom, who had to be in St. George to care for my uncle) as well as Wes's family. It is so wonderful to see how much support we have had and how many people love adoption and accept Sam as a natural part of our family. I am thankful we never had to contend with negativity about our adoptions or about Cori from my family. I couldn't be more blessed. And now, the PICTURES!!

Here we are walking out of the temple in our 'whites'. We were allowed to be outside of the temple for 15 minutes after the sealing to take pictures. I know that not all temples allow this, but I am so thankful that the Logan one does!

I don't know why, but I really like this picture- (but I wish Sam was smiling!)

One big happy eternal family!

Sam was so tired and snuggly and I just couldn't give his face enough kisses!

I am hoping that my little sis can do some magic with these pictures, but I think they are pretty magical anyway. What an incredible day!!

Well, that is it for now. I want to give a shout out to c-dawg (cori) and say I am so sorry that I haven't posted about this yet. I hope you know how very loved you are in our house! Kolton even began saying, when asked whose tummy he came from, "Cori's tummy!" To say adoption has changed my life is a huge understatement! I think don't want to do it any other way from now on! The Lord could not be more wonderful to us.

And last, but certainly not least, I wanted to post some pictures of my beautiful Sam. My sister, Britney, took them when we came to stay for a couple of days at my mom's house. She is the one that does MAGIC with photos (that's a plug- she does it for a ridiculously small fee) and I am so thankful for her willingness to edit lots of pics for me and for taking these beautiful pictures of Sam.

Oh yeah, before the edited ones, I have to show what a total and adorable little CHUB he is!!

This is Britney with Sam. What a crazy duo! He adores her!