Braxton's Sealing and Blessing!!

Today we were able to get Braxton sealed to our family. He completely wrecked his first zip up tie and several of us tried to fix it and couldn't. So we had to get him another one and it was a little too big. Either way, doesn't he look handsome?? It was such a wonderful day. ALMOST everything went perfect. We did have one BIG misshap though. This is how our day went:


All night last night, I was up, off and on through the night. I was finishing some last minute laundry so I'd set my alarm clock for when the batch would get done. I know I'm crazy, but the night before a big event I seldom sleep anyway, so I figured... Why not get some laundry done? I actually did do some clothes that I needed for today too, so that helped.

Well, we all got up early and ate breakfast. I even made my first "green drink" shake. It had lots of fruits in it and a little bit of kale. Tommy said that he would drink one every day if I'd make one every day. We'll see if that happens. I liked the shake. Tyra and Braxton tolerated it and of course... TJ wouldn't have anything to do with it. Then we all got ready.


Thank goodness for the Holy Ghost. Just before we were about to get everyone in the car Tommy had the thought that he really should check the expiration date on his temple recommend. Mine didn't expire until the end of this month and ours usually expire at the exact same time, so I didn't worry about it. Well, sure enough, his expired in March. AAAHHHHHHH! Time to freak out! Luckily, Tommy has to speak in church tomorrow and our we disconnected our home phone, so the bishop had to come to our house to ask Tommy to talk. Tommy was still asleep because he had worked SUPER late, so the bishop gave us his cel phone number. So, because we had his number, Tommy was able to get a hold of him. The bishop had one of his counselors run over to the church. We got there right away and Tommy got his interview done fairly quick. At this point, we were only 15 minutes behind schedule.

A huge blessing, was that my Uncle DarVel is our stake president. I called my grandma to get his cel phone number and luckily she had it. But she said that DarVel's mom was sick and that he might not be able to go. AAAHHHHHHHHH! (again) Now, I was getting REALLY worried because not only did Tommy need his recommend signed by the stake president, but so did TJ. My uncle said just to wait until this morning and he would be able to sign TJ's just before we went into the temple. But, I didn't freak out too bad, because I knew that Heavenly Father was watching over us.

Well, the sealing wasn't until 12:30, but everyone was suppose to be there at noon, so on the invitations I said that it was at noon. My Uncle has been to enough sealings that he knows you have to be there a half an hour early, so he was already on his way and about 15 minutes in front of us. WHOOSH!!!! Time for a serious silent prayer of gratitude. We actually said a FAMILY prayer of thanks and asked for the blessing of getting there on time and having everything else go smoothly. Sure enough..... it did!

(Just a small side note... apparently, the reason our recommends expired at different times is that, 2 years ago, I had lost mine and had to get a new one. Tommy and I went to the temple in January and February, but in March I went by myself to go through with my friend Janae in Boise. Tommy wasn't able to get off work for that long, so he was unable to go. April was CRAZY busy, so neither one of us got to go that month. That is why we didn't know his recommend expired in March. The really good thing is, is now we have TWO more years before we need to worry about it again. Anyway, I am so unbelievably grateful for how much Heavenly Father watches out for us and our family.

We got to the temple right on time!! Everything went smoothly after that. The sealing was beautiful. I was impressed by a few things that the sealer said and thought I would share them. He was talking about being selfish in a family and marriage and the damage it can cause. He gave us some great advice on always remembering to be selfLESS. He said to always remember the word JOY.

J is for thinking of Jesus first. O is for thinking of others second and Y is for thinking of yourself last. How cool is that??? I love the word Joy and everything it represents anyway, but now it means even MORE to me! The second thing that he said that his family used to do every Monday night for Family Home Evening is pick secret pals. They would each draw some one's name and then some time during that week, they would do something really nice for that person. We have done that before but not on a weekly basis. Then I thought.. "Why not?" So, I am going to incorporate that into our Family Home Evening's from now on. I think it is going to be lots of fun!

After the sealing, we all went to the stake center next to the temple and had the blessing. President Andersen (my uncle) conducted and Tommy's dad said the prayer. I believe that ALL of the men got to stand in the circle at the blessing. That was really cool. Although, I did find out later that Cory, Stephanie's husband, didn't go up. If I had seen him, I would have asked him to. Stephanie is Tyra Jane's sister. My grandpa Lewis tried to get out of it again, and I wasn't ABOUT to have THAT!!! He didn't go in the circle at TJ's confirmation because he said that there were already enough men up there. GRRRRR! You can ALWAYS fit ONE more!!!! The blessing was beautiful. Tommy did a GREAT job! One thing I remember that he said was for Braxton to always remember that the most important thing to do, when he is going through struggles in life, is to get on his knees and pray. I hope we can teach him how important that really is.

After the blessing, we went back up to the temple and took a few pictures. This is the best shot we got of everyone that came to the blessing. I had a professional photographer coming to take pictures of us but at the last minute I decided we wouldn't have enough time, so I canceled. As I was cancelling with her, I also told her how much I was going to regret it, and sure enough.... I do. But I guess, at least this picture will remind me of everyone who came, even though we can't see them all. I wanted to get pictures of our family all dressed in white with the temple in the back ground. But I guess we will have to do that next time.

After pictures we went to eat at Chuck-a-rama. Not everyone got to go eat, but I took pictures of everyone who did. The food was great!! It was so funny because everytime someone would get up to leave the room, everyone would say, "Oh,... are you leaving?" Then the person walking out would say, "Nope, I'm just getting more food!!!"


After we ate, we went to a few stores for some gardening things and then we went home. The weather was SO nice that the kids just couldn't resist going out and playing in the water. They started off in swim suits but before long, they had came back in for play clothes because the water was too cold.



After that, Tommy took a much needed nap, and I watched "Meet the Robinson's" with the kids. Then I put them to bed. As well as Tommy having to give a talk in sacrament tomorrow, TJ and Tyra also get to give primary talks. I should be getting them prepared right now, but I am too tired. I am going to bed. Today was AWESOME! I will never forget what a wonderful day it has been. Thank you to everyone again, for coming and for all of your support and prayers. We love you all!