June

I'm still determined to get caught up on my blogging for journaling purposes, so here's where I left off.

In June we took a little trip to San Francisco to teach Boston a little bit about his namesake at a rare Red Sox-Giants game.

I'm not sure how I'm ever going to be able to say no to those beautiful, blue eyes!

It was pretty chilly that night but luckily his Aunt April had made him a Red Sox blanket and hat when he was first born so he stayed nice and toasty.

Bos did great at the game and I loved the uninterrupted cuddling time with him.

Also in June was Auntie Audrey's wedding reception in CA. Apparently we never got any pictures with Audj and Jason but we did get a couple of our little family.

I love my little ham.

I love the look on Boston's face here. When he's really happy (which is most of the time), he does this super cheesy grin and tilts his head back. I'm so glad I caught it on camera for once.

Since the country club was near it, we decided to go to Six Flags before the reception. Season passes there are really cheap and it's always where visitors want to go when they stay with us, so we end up getting a pass each year. Kiara still loves it and acts like it's the first time, every time.

Did I mention she's a ham? I did not ask her to pose.

My kids sure are lucky to have such an incredible dad.

I'm pretty lucky myself :)

Our friends Kate & Kylee decided to meet us there and Kiara loved having another kid to go on the rides with her.

It's become tradition to take a family picture in front of the dolphin fountain every time we go, and I'm not sure why because they rarely turn out cute. I guess I just want proof that I was there too and I'm not making up these memories in my head!

We were walking through the park when Kiara saw this empty stage and ran straight to it. She hopped right on it and started doing her thing, almost as if she had no other choice. She's definitely a born performer and is very comfortable with the spotlight!

Sealed

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe that families can live together for eternity if they are sealed in a dedicated temple. Children who are born biologically in to a family that has already been sealed are automatically part of that covenant but those who are adopted go to the temple once the adoption is legally finalized. Boston's sealing happened back in May but I forgot the disk with all of the pictures on it at my parents' house and just now got copies of them. My awesome sister-in-law, Laura was our own personal photographer for the event and she did a great job, especially considering there were 50+ people there, many of them kids.

We were sealed in the beautiful Oquirrh Mountain Temple in South Jordan, Utah.

It was so great to have Ben's parents there from New Hampshire and his brother and sister-in-law there from Virginia and then of course his brother, sister-in-law and nephew came up from Provo.

All four of my brothers and their wives were there and three of the four had their kids there too.

This is the best shot you get with that many people!

We never got the perfect shot of the four of us but looking at this still makes me so happy and takes me right back to that day.

After the sealing at the temple we went to my oldest brother's church for a luncheon. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a planner by nature and in the three months leading up to Boston's sealing I spent countless hours planning every detail of the luncheon. It was my escape whenever I would get stressed about finalizing or going to court (not that there's anything to stress about but I still managed to come up with

worst case scenarios--curse of the adoptive mom!).

Sometimes when you plan something for so long and agonize so much over every aspect of it, the real thing is kind of a let-down but gratefully that wasn't the case here. The luncheon was truly a celebration of Boston's life and his place in our Eternal family. Thank you to all who came and celebrated with us. It was perfect and I enjoyed every single minute of it. My only regret is that we didn't get more pictures, so if any of you reading this were there and took some, PLEASE send them to me.

From beginning to end May 29th was the best day of my life. Our family was finally united FOREVER. The peace that I felt that day and every day since then is unspeakable and I have a renewed conviction to do right by my little angels. Both of their lives are complete miracles and on paper they shouldn't even exist, let alone be in our home. They are with us though and I know that is exactly where our Heavenly Father wants them to be. I know they both have limitless potential in this life and the next and it is our job to help them recognize that potential and become the people He has prepared them to be. I pray every day that I am up to that task and can be the mother they both deserve. But even if I don't do anything else, I know they are loved more than they could possibly be by anyone else in the world. And now, thanks to our sealing covenants, that love will live on eternally.