The Loveliest Week

On the day of Jane's finalization I woke up really anxious. The day I'd been thinking about for 6 months was finally here! But what if something goes wrong? It was a pretty straight forward adoption, so nothing could go wrong. Right? I'm such a worrier. 

*Side Note: So, over Labor Day we all went up to Bear Lake and everyone caught the worst cold virus (I'm not sure I can even call it that) that I've ever experienced. That's not what this post is about, so I won't go into detail, but I'm just telling you this because on the day before our finalization hearing I took Jane to the doctor because she was so sick and we found out she had a double ear infection and pink eye. On the morning of her finalization Jayson and I had to pry her eyes open with our fingers. It was the saddest mom experience I've had with her so far. So, I was also pretty frantic about that. And then I was like, "should we cancel the hearing because she has pink eye?! I don't even know how to cancel the hearing. The judge is going to think we're the worst parents for bringing our baby to court when she has pink eye and he wont want to finalize., etc."

But anyway, the hearing was great! (except for the part where my mom was late...hey mom!) Everything went off without a hitch and I was worried about nothing, as usual. It is the greatest feeling in the world at the end when the judge declared us her parents and said her full name. It was a glorious moment. At the beginning the judge was sort of stern (because my mom was late), but then he was so cute afterwards and let us take pictures with him and he wanted to hold her during the pictures and such. He said he loves when he gets to start off the day with a hearing like this rather than a not so fun one. It was so wonderful to have our most of our parents there (Dad, Justie, Mom, and Jayson's Mom), our case worker, and our attorney. And despite her pink eye and ear infections she was pretty good. Until it got past her naptime, but the hearing was pretty much over by then. She was not super excited about taking pictures after though. 

Afterwards we decided to go to Waffles and Frites, because I have heard good things and I'd never been. It was such a cute little place and man. Those waffles are delicious. The one I got had chocolate sticks inside. And that butter. And it had ice cream on top. I was soooo sad though because I really wanted fries and their frier was down. But, just as we were about to leave one of the workers brings out this HUGE order of fries and said it was on him because the frier was fixed and he was sorry for the inconvenience. It was truly a great way to top off an already fabulous day. 

Leaving the house

Jane and the Judge. We got a group shot with him too, but the Little Guy is in all of them, so you don't get to see those. Sorry!

She finally fell asleep while we were waiting for copies of the finalization documents.

That Saturday was another day that I had been dreaming of for the past six months. Well, for the past couple of years, really! We got to take her to the temple to get sealed to her. This was one of the sweetest experiences of my life. We were, of course, scrambling in the morning to make sure we were there on time, and I was worrying that something would go wrong and it wouldn't be able to happen and all of that jazz. But when we got there everything was perfect. Jayson's mom got there just before we did so we got to all go in together. It was so fun seeing everyone's happy faces as they saw us walk in, because there's really only one reason you bring a baby into the temple. We took her to the little nursery in the temple and the ladies there were so sweet and so excited to tend her. One of the ladies was even in Allyson's (Jayson's mom) ward, so that was fun. At first I was kind of sad because they said they would dress her and bring her up and I sort of wanted to do that, but it turned out to be a good thing. Before we went to the sealing room they let us (me, Allyson, and my Grandma Klein) wait in the bride's room, which has been refinished over the past year and it was absolutely stunning. Then they took us all to our assigned room and we waited for Jane. It was so sweet to see all of the smiling faces of so many of our loved ones when we walked in. Some of Angela's family came as well, which we were so happy about. We love them and it's so wonderful to have them be a part of everything and to see how much love they have for Jane and for us. 

Then they brought Jane in. That was one of the most special moments of my life. It was breathtaking to see my baby girl all in white. And she looked like such a big girl! This moment is the reason I actually ended up being glad that the temple workers dressed her and brought her up. It brings so much joy to my heart knowing that we are sealed to her forever. 

Jane was so good at the temple too! All of the workers were just head over heels for her. It was so sweet. 

Jane, once again, was not super excited about taking pictures afterward, but we still got some great ones. My mom, Justie, my cousin Kris, The Little Guy, and Angela were waiting outside for us as well and it was  wonderful to see all of their smiling faces. It meant the world to us to have so many of the people we love there to share our special day. 

This was taken just before we went inside.

And this is us exiting!

See, she wasn't excited about all of this picture taking business.

Angela and her family

I had to add this because I texted a few people to see if they got any good pictures since I didn't get any with my phone and Jayson's oldest sister, Kara, sent me this. It made me laugh!

 A picture Jane and me with my girls. We got a picture with the guys too, but I just realized I don't have a copy. 

My cousin and step-mom took some pictures with their super nice cameras and then my cousin edited them for me. I absolutely love them! And again, we got some group ones, but the Little Guy was in them, so I can't post them.

This is my favorite of the three of us.

Afterwards we all went the to The Brick Oven, which was delicious, but VERY slow. At least we really liked the people we were there with though, right?!

The very next day was Jane's baby blessing. This is a day I had been dreaming of for years! And it was finally here. All of these days were so surreal. The morning started off running smoothly, but then people kept calling for directions and we weren't getting ready quickly enough, and the dog took FOREVER to go to the bathroom...and me and the kids ended up being like ten minutes late for Sacrament meeting. (Jayson had gone over early to fill out paper work.) But hey! They couldn't start without the baby, right? So it was fine. They weren't even to the point of blessing her when we showed up so it worked out. And Jane did so good! She didn't cry at all during the blessing, and only fussed a little the rest of the meeting. I have always been convinced that my kids would be the ones that scream through their entire blessing. Jayson said he felt so guided during it and he did such a great job! Afterwards we had a little breakfast over at the Bishop's house (which included pumpkin baked goods! I was so excited!). It felt like it went so smoothly. The weather was perfect and again, we had so many wonderful loved ones come, including Angela and her family. We are so grateful for their love and support! 

And after all of that all four of us took a nice long nap. 

She finally crashed on Grandma Kim after her blessing breakfast. It was a long weekend for such a little girl.