Finally Forever!

Here John and I are exiting the temple after we received our endowments. We decided to do that in the morning, have a few hours to get lunch and get the kids ready, then go back in the late afternoon to be sealed as a family. I am so glad I did it this way!

And here the family is just after getting sealed.

The kids were WONDERFUL during the sealing ceremony! I mean, they couldn't have done any better. They sat quietly beaming from ear to ear, doing exactly what they were supposed to do. They each understood what was going on, at their own level. Such an AMAZING experience. I am so happy to be sealed to such a great crew!

Below are the cute kiddo-stories about the day.

Cory was a little sick. He had a fever and just felt lousy in general. Just after the sealing someone came up to him and said, "Oh, Cory, you just don't feel well, do you?" His reply? "No, but it's ok, I feel good inside."

Bryson was OVERJOYED by the experience. After the sealing his comment was "I wish this day could last FOREVER!!!!" This expressions says it all!

And Dallin....oh, what a little boy!!! He did just just beautifully during the ceremony. Just before the kids were brought in, the sealer said to not worry if the kids didn't quite do everything they were asked to, sometimes they just don't, but it's ok. I figured Dallin would sit for a moment and then run around the room. But no, he sat perfectly still with a gigantic smile on his face the entire time. BUT....after the ceremony we were asked to move to the other side of the room, and for Dallin, the quickest way to get to the other side of the room was to climb over the alter. Sooo, that's what he did. It was hilarious and sweet. We love our little Dal!!

Here we are walking the temple grounds on Friday (the day before our BIG day). These are my boys, I LOVE 'em!

We had a LOT of family come out to Mesa for the day to share the experience with us. It was so fun having a happy excuse to get everyone together. I only snapped a few pictures (so sad!), so the next few pictures are just a few of the family members that came (I think we had between 60-70 show up!). I really wish I had gotten more pics of who was there, there were some people there who really helped out a lot, and I wish I'd gotten them in some of the pics. Maybe I'll snag some off someone elses camera and have another post!

We reserved the church across the street for most of the day so we could go in and out. My sister-in-law and her husband (Jess and Jaron) were so sweet and did a lunch for us after the endowment session. Then we went back for the sealing, and my parents had a catered Mexican dinner waiting for us. After the dinner my brother blessed his baby. It was a full day!!

Here's John with his siblings:

from right to left: Kim, Christy, Megan, Josh, Chase - the kiddo, and John.

My dad and his brother, Brian, and in the background Tyler, my nephew.

John and I with Aunt Nan (John's aunt), and uncle Dick.

Here I am (in all my puffy preggy glory) with Cory right before we went to the temple together. Because of his sensitivity to new clothes, he got his own temple clothes, so here he is "half" dressed.

Dallin being stinkin' cute...

Bryson and I after the sealing. I swelled REALLY bad with the heat that afternoon. Ah well, whatcha gonna do?

Jason, Alissa, and baby Kali after the baby blessing. It's a horrible shot, but don't they make the cutest family ever???

Here's the group of men in the circle for the baby blessing. I don't know all of their names, but I know Zane Avalos, my hubby, Bro. Tyler (Alissa's dad), my dad, my Grandpa Goates, and of course, Jason and Kali.

My grandpa holding little Kali.



My hermana Reenie with Cory, Bryson, and Jacob (John's brother)

Dallin eating cake after dinner. Ooooh, that was some seriously good food!

Reenie playing with Cory. You may notice the gap in Cory's teeth - that's not usually there, his tooth is SOO loose that it won't stay in the same place, it just kind of wanders. Maybe the next blog post will be him with a little toothless grin. :)