Our Eternal Family

What a wonderful day!! We looked forward to bringing Kaitlyn to the temple since before she was born, and were so excited for the "big day" to finally arrive. We chose to bring her to the Salt Lake Temple and have her sealed to us as her parents for time and all eternity. And what a great feeling to sit in the sealing room with all of our family who had gathered together as witnesses.

We made our appointment a couple of months ago and tried to get everything planned just right, but once we got to the temple, we really didn't know what to expect. After we checked in at the recommend desk, a worker escorted us to the Youth Center (the Temple's nursery) where we left Kaitlyn. It felt a little weird to be leaving her, but the workers were so sweet and excited to have her there we knew she would be in good hands. Though we had never discussed this (and looking back don't know how it would have worked anyway), Jeff and I had thought I would get to dress her in her white dress. But that was actually taken care of in the nusery as well. We then went and did the paperwork (incidentally, a lot less than you might think), and got changed. We were able to spend about 30 minutes sitting in the Celestial Room prior to the sealing. What a nice, unexpected blessing and opportunity to sit and reflect on all the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon our little family.

When it was time the temple workers took us to the sealing room. Again, not knowing exactly what to expect, I think we thought Kaitlyn would be with us at this point. But still no. We entered the room with our sealer and it felt like we were there to get married. Our sealer was wonderful and talked about how children are a heritage unto the Lord. After he had talked to us for a few minutes, he said "bring in the children" which we thought was cute since we were only expecting one child to be brought in. (Who knows maybe it's some foreshadowing?) That's when Kaitlyn came into the room. She was sitting in a white umbrella stroller gnawing, not sucking, on her pacifier. Words can't really express how beautiful she looked at that moment. She had been dressed in her beautiful, white dress and was just beaming. She was all smiles!! As we knelt at the alter and had her sealed to us, we caught a brief glimse into the blessings of eternity, something that even our little family might enjoy.

At that time, and looking back, we are overwhelmed by the efforts made by family and friends to be with us on this special day. Many traveled from far distances and we recognize the sacrifice made on our behalf. We'll never forget or be able to adequately express our gratitude to those who have touched our lives both this weekend and throughout this adoption process.