Griffin's Perfect Day

Each member of our family has their own temple.

Ben's is Seattle.

Mine is Idaho Falls.

Eli's is Mt. Timpanogos.

Blake's is Provo.

And now Griffin's is Draper.

On Nov. 27 we took our little family to the Draper Temple to be sealed to our baby Griffy for eternity. Ahhh. It was a truly wonderful day (aside from the freezing cold temps and ridiculous wind) and we were surrounded by people we love. Our families and some close friends came to help us celebrate the littlest man. We are so grateful to those that traveled to support us.

The big boys were so excited to go back to the temple. Eli told his teacher, friends and everyone else he knew that we were going to the temple so Griffy could be our baby forever. I have never been prouder of them. They were so reverent and happy.

As Ben and I waited in the Celestial Room I looked at him and said

"I love you and the day we were married was wonderful, but this is better"

He said

"I know, because our whole family is here."

Can I tell you how much I love him. He understood exactly. It was one of my favorite moments. Ever.

I am so blessed to have him and our three boys in my life. When Eli, Blake and Griffin walked into the sealing room, sporting their new matching white suits, my heart grew three sizes. It was perfect. I was so overwhelmed with love and gratitude. My testimony of the gospel and the temple was again confirmed. It is true.

I know Griffin was meant to be part of our eternal family and I cannot adequately express the love and thankfulness that we have for his birth parents. They are amazing and wonderful and selfless. They brought us our baby. We love you Nichole and Troy. Thank you.

My heart is full and my life complete.

our three marvelous, miracles

blake was winking at the photographers.

both of our families. we are so grateful to those who came.

did i mention the wind?

ben's entire family.

my family that came.

grandma jan and aunt hailey.

the wall women.

my parents and boys.

ben's parents and eli

grandma jan and eli

**thanks to lucy, valeri and my dad for the fantastic pictures

That Sunday Ben gave Griffin a wonderful blessing. It was the perfect end to our weekend.
We were especially happy that Nichole (griff's birth mom) and some of her family were able to come to the blessing! Love you!

both families

my entire family

aunt hailey and griffy

Brotherly Love

I have been introduced recently to a website called Adoption Voices. It is a great resource for all people in the adoption world. Because let's be honest, it is it's own world. It has also made me so aware of the blessing of these three little crazies -

*courtesy of Leisha Kelsey Photography

I am very sure that all three of our boys were sent to us for a reason. I believe that they were meant to be brothers. Selfishly I want to think that they needed me to be their mother, but I know that isn't true. They needed each other more.

When we brought Griffin home, it was as if Eli and Blake already knew him. We didn't have to explain who he was - they just knew. They loved and accepted him instantly. Griffin looks for them when he hears them talk and stares and smiles at their faces. He already knows how important they are to him.

The big boys love, defend and torture each other perfectly. They say they are best friends and they giggle until they fall asleep. They fight and hit and scream - but understand that they are brothers. Eternally.

We have experienced many miracles in the creation of our family. But knowing that Eli, Blake and Griffin were brothers before coming to us and will continue to be well beyond this lifetime is perhaps the most miraculous and comforting of them all.

The Lord is all-knowing and he knew that Eli, Blakey and Griffin needed to come here, together. So he bypassed my jacked-up girlie parts and sent them to each other through three selfless birth mothers. How grateful I am for them and for a Heavenly Father who knows what and who we each need.

Overwhelmed

I am overwhelmed today. I am watching my new baby sleep peacefully. My heart feels as if it might burst any moment. It is spilling over with gratitude for a perfect sweet little baby boy. For two bigger boys that have instantly fallen in love with their new little brother. For a group of friends and family that make everything more special. For an amazing and selfless birth mother and birth father who recognized the Spirit and followed it's promptings. For a Heavenly Father who knows me and loves me.

My emotions are so close to the surface today. I am having trouble being coherent. I want to record Griffin's miraculous journey to our family. . . and I will soon. I need to gather my thoughts so I don't leave anything out. So many miracles, both tiny and huge, were involved in bringing Griffin to us. And while I understand that every baby is a miracle, he is my miracle and he is perfect.

Thank you to everyone for your kind words and wishes. We love you all.



By the way - didn't I hide my pregnancy well? HA!

Easter

I love Easter. I love the season. I love what we remember. For me Easter is an extra special time that I get to celebrate my little family. Our Savior's atonement and resurrection are the reasons that we get to stick together forever. Tender spot for me. I can't imagine my life without my three guys. So, we indeed had a good holiday this year. I had a special feeling in my heart on Sunday and was especially grateful for the sacrifice that Christ made for us. I know He lives and because of that, we will all live again.



Now onto our picture attempt.

seriously? what's that face all a bout?

for real?

handsome little men (and the big one, too)

thanks to this picture, I see blond in my future.

Apparantly it's hunting season.

blakey was determined to find all the "really" hidden eggs

cute nephew kelton

who knew eggs were so difficult

hi mom. i've already eaten my body weight in candy

some of the cousins egg hunting at g & g w's house

A Bath with my Dad

crashed on gma e's couch after a hard day of playing with his cousins

Eli and I were having a deep discussion about birthdays today. He is determined that every day is his birthday, or mine, or Blakey's.

He said "blakey had his birthday so he is three".

me -"yep. how old will you be on your birthday?

E - "five. then i will have another birthday and be six and then i will have another birthday and i will be seven. (at this point my eyes fill up and I'm ready to tell him that no more birthdays are allowed in our house. my boys will not get that old).

E continues - and then i will have another birthday and i will be eight and then i get to take a bath with my dad.

Me - what?

E - I get to take a bath with my dad. . . in the water.

Me - (crying) oh you mean daddy will baptize you in the water so you can have the Holy Ghost.

E - Ya. what's the Holy Ghost? (another deep discussion begins).

I spent many nights during Eli's first 2 1/2 years of life wondering how I would be able to explain things to him. If he would understand the important things I wanted to teach him. I still worry about him. a lot. But I find time and time again that I don't give him enough credit. He understands much more that I think. He surprises me constantly.

I learned today that I am the one who needs to understand the important things he is trying to teach me.

I'm a lucky lady, that I get to be his mom.


Click here to find out what we believe about baptism and the Holy Ghost.

Draper Temple

Last week we went to the Draper Temple open house. It was so awesome to take our boys back into the sealing room and talk about how we were sealed to them when they were babies. Powerful stuff. Eli keeps saying "mom, I love the temple". Me too, buddy.

blakey, eli and blanket

we went with ben's parents and sister. this was the only picture of the grandkids that blake was in. he is so obedient, ha.

**I lost my camera at some point during this day, so thanks for the pictures amy!

Adoption Update

On Monday I received a comment on a previous post that reminded me that I have been slacking on the adoption posts lately. I was a little shocked to hear that someone out there actually wanted to hear my ramblings on this subject. So, for all of you that don't - sorry.

We are just finishing up the last two parts of our paperwork - the birthparent letter and the picture collage. These are the most stressful and important parts of the paperwork, at least in my opinion. Imagine cramming everything you think and feel about something that you are passionate about in two typed pages. Not to mention explaining everything about your family in that same space. The letter and collage are what the birthparents look at when they are trying to choose a family for their baby. Overwhelming - right? I think it took me a month to write the letter when we got Eli. It was a little quicker with Blake and this time around. All three of the letters are surprisingly similar. I thought I should have to start from scratch each time and make a completely unique letter. What I realized is that we are still the same people with many of the same feelings and ideas that we had four years ago. Things went much smoother, once I realized that it was not plagiarism to use ideas from my old letters. Obviously our feelings on adoption as a whole and on birthmothers has grown a lot and we now have two boys to write about, so there are also many changes. I have had people say it seems like you have to sell yourself with the letter and pictures. I don't agree. My goal is to write a letter and choose pictures so that our birthmother carrying our child will recognize us when she sees them. We are not in a competition for a baby, we are only trying to find our baby. I have had too many experiences over the last 4 1/2 years to deny the Lord's hand in adoption. I am so grateful that Ben and I have been blessed with Blake and Eli and I know they were ours long before they came to us and they will be ours forever.

We will turn in the letter and picture collage on Monday, when we have our home visit, and should be approved not to long after that. I can't tell you the excitement in our house as we prepare for another baby. Granted we don't have a time table to go by - but we are still so happy to be on this road again.

I love adoption. I love my boys. I love the gospel. I am so blessed.