Blessing Day

In our church when a new baby is born the family usually gets the baby blessed in the first few months. A Melchizedek priesthood holder (usually the father) can give the baby a name and blessing and that's part of creating a record for the child in our church. Then, when children of record turn eight they can be baptized and become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.



Well, since we adopted Brigham and Rebekah we were able to have Timothy bless them and create a record for them. We had to wait until the adoption was final and then we were trying to find a time when the family members who wanted to come could make it out here. So, everything came together for the children to be blessed on Sunday, November 29th.

We dressed Brigham and Rebekah all in white and Timothy blessed them, assisted by his father, Loren; his brother, Dan; and our bishop. We were able to get a few pictures afterward.




These are the same clothes they're going to wear to the temple when we get them sealed to us. (As I've mentioned before, we're waiting until Hyurm's adoption is final and then we're going to seal all three of them to us.) We're looking forward to that blessed day!

Many Changes

This adoption is definitely a PROCESS. We are going through many changes in our lives right now. But, the biggest change is that we've decided to change the children's names, and have finally decided on names that we feel fit them. William's name is going to be Brigham Paul and Angelina's name is going to Rebekah Marie. We felt that changing their names to something we liked would help us lay claim to these children as our own. Today we began using their new names, but still intermittently using their old ones especially when they were unsure who we were talking about. While playing we used their new names, but when trying to get their attention we used both their old and new together. I hope this isn't too confusing for them, but we think they're young enough to adjust quickly. So, our three children are:

Brigham Paul
Rebekah Marie
Hyrum Christopher(sorry it's blurry the camera was on a weird setting)

Another big change is that two of our rooms have been altered into toddler/baby rooms.

Rebekah's room

The Boy's room-
Hyrum's bed

Brigham's bed

Well, life is interesting over here at our home, but we're sure happy and the children are adjusting well. Brigham and Rebekah's foster mom left them here for 3 hours today, and they were fine. Rebekah was tired and she had a hard time going to sleep, but I just rocked her while she screamed and she finally gave out. Brigham got a really worried look on his face when we were sitting down to snack and talking about our new family and new names, but it only took a minute before he was eating and ready to play again. I think the children know that a big change is happening in their lives, but their not sure what. We're just trying to make them feel as loved and at home as possible. But, that feeling that these children are our and are filling our hearts has been more present today. We are so grateful for the love of our Father in Heaven who has seen fit to bless this couple with three beautiful children.