A Wonderful Weekend...

Well, it's official--Claira Jane is ours for forever! Last Saturday, she was sealed to our family by Matt's Grandpa in the gorgeous Oakland Temple. It was a beautiful day, and Claira was as darling as ever. I really hope Grace remembers this day forever, so she can tell Claira how special it was. She was so quiet and reverent--just gazing around her trying to take it all in. The time in the sealing room ends up being such a short, sweet moment, but it lasts for eternity. How blessed are we to partake of this incredible priesthood ordinance on earth.

My favorite moment of the day was after they dressed me (in the bride room I might add), they took me to the Celestial Room to wait for Matt. Then after giving us a few minutes together in the Celestial Room (we were the only people in there except for the worker), they took us over to wait for the elevator to go up to the sealing room. The elevator was taking a long time to reach us as an elderly couple rode it up to the third floor then back down again. As the doors opened when it finally arrived to pick us up, we were thrilled to see Grace and Claira and my mom and the nursery workers on the elevator. We weren't expecting them to be brought up until we were already in the sealing room. I was so overcome with joy as I was able to join my girls, hold Claira, and just be together for a minute before we all went into the sealing room. After having been separated for about an hour, it was such an incredible moment to see them all dressed in white just waiting to be brought back to us. I will never forget the look of excitement and happiness on their faces when they saw mommy and daddy waiting to join them on the elevator. For me it was just a glimpse of the joy that we will each have when we are reconnected with our loved ones on the other side of the veil someday.

On Sunday, January 4th Claira was given a name and a blessing at church. She was so good and only kicked the microphone once. I had visions of her trying to grab the microphone and basically bless herself. You can never predict what will happen with a one-year old. She was as sweet as ever, and Matt gave a beautiful blessing. I love that Matt blesses our children with a sense of humor. When he gave Claira this blessing he promised her that she would be able to put others at ease and handle life's challenges with a smile. It was a very sweet blessing for a very sweet girl. It also just happened to be one year ago on January 4th that we brought her home from the hospital. What a perfect way to celebrate her homecoming!