Orlando Vacation Part 3: Jessica's Temple Sealing and Baby Blessing

On Saturday August 7, 2010, Dave and I took Jessica to the Orlando temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be sealed into our family by the priesthood of God for time and all eternity. Before we went inside, Dave's dad took some pictures on the beautiful grounds. It was a hot and humid Florida day, so we posed quickly.

We dressed her in the long, lacy, all-white blessing gown I wore as a newborn for my baby blessing. Her arms were almost to big for the sleeves, as she is now 6 months old and quite chubby. We all went to a sealing room, similar to the one pictured here. My family sat on one side, and Dave's family sat on the other, and our friends wherever. It was similar to our marriage sealing ceremony that way. 

We knelt at the cushioned alter, and Jessica sat on top. To my relief, she was quiet, alert, and cooperative. Our mothers and Dave were teary. I was just happy. Our little darling would be with us even after death in heaven.

We posed outside for a picture of everyone who were inside the temple with us. From left to right, Ken and Martha Hurst (Jessica's biological maternal grandfather and his wife), Leslie and Gilbert Jaimez (church friends), my maternal grandparents Ross & Yvonne (Vee-on) Bosen in the back, my sister Emily and her husband (Dave's cousin) James Robertson (kneeling) with sons Henry and Wesley. On my right, my mom and dad Jen and Ed Eying.

Behind Dave Kim and Charles Middleton, (adoptive parents too), Dave's Mom Glenene, then her parents Glen and Margene Stringham, then Dave's Dad Richard Robertson. Kneeling in front of them all is Dave's sister Melanie and her husband Sam Jarvis. Moving right is my brother Kenny and wife Megan Eyring (in stripes, my brothers Chris and Jeff, then Rebecca (adopted herself) and Justin Elkins (ward friends), and Keri and Mark Balls (ward friends and temple workers).

The next day, August 8, Dave gave Jessica her baby blessing in front of the congregation at our regular Sunday church services in Jupiter, FL. Our church won't allow us to do this until she is legally our daughter. (Alabama required a five month supervisory period to ensure we were capable to care for Jessica before they finalized our adoption.) So instead of holding and pronouncing a prayer over a newborn, Jessica was a hefty baby.

But there were lots of men standing in the circle around her to assist holding her up. If we remember correctly, it included my father, my mom's father, two of my brothers Kenny and Chris, brother-in-law James, Dave's Dad and mom's father, Jessica's grandfather, and Dave's friend Alan Laabs. Besides spitting up milk on her dress, it went perfectly. Dave is an elder in the Melchizedek priesthood, and gave her a beautiful blessing.

This picture captures my attempts to calm her crying after the services. The photo of us in front of our church was taken quickly, since it was another boiling hot day. The camera lens was smudged, but it was fitting because makes the church grounds look like the steaming jungle it felt like.

After we met at our house for a meal and socializing. We posed on the front porch as each of our guests left. Here we stood with Ken and Martha, who drove all the way down from Leeds (Birmingham area) Alabama. They are active members of our church too, so they were happy and understood the importance of these two ordinances. (You can see Ken's tall genes are partly to blame for Jessica's height. Martha is Jessica's step-grandmother.)

It's hard for my grandparents to travel, so I was so pleased they flew all the way from Bountiful, Utah to join us. Dave's grandparents flew in from Layton, Utah, and Dave's parents visited us from Houston, TX.

My family hung out in Jessica's ocean-themed room. (Our tiny condo wasn't conducive to a big gathering.) Everyone left that day, except Kenny and Megan, who stayed another two days in Jupiter. We had so much fun with our family, who was happy to celebrate Jessica legally and spiritually joining our family, and the end of 9 childless years.