Finally a Family Forever.

Well it only took 9 years and a few obstacles but Jennie and I and the kids finally were sealed as a family for time and all eternity. That means we are stuck with each other forever. If you ask the kids about that they may feel differently about that right now but will come to understand the meaning and importance as they get older. Jennie and I are very excited and glad that we could have so many people there to support us despite the weather. Since we had waited so long we wanted to make it extra special and go all out so we decided to head to Washington DC and go through that Temple as it is one of the nicer ones around and not too far away. As you can see from the picture they had quite the snow storm that day. I believe they were calling for 20+ inches, which for a town that averages 15 inches a year, was quite a big deal. We went up Friday night to beat the snow, and did, but over the next 24 hours the area probably got 18 or so inches of snow. That meant that nearly everything in the Washington DC and surrounding area was shut down. We got extremely lucky as Greg, Aaron and Rachel all flew in Friday night and were able to be with us as we went through the Temple. Aaron had a little trouble with his flight and as a result was actually able to get into DC. The airline sold his ticket as he found out upon showing up 25 minutes before the flight but was able to get on another flight and made it ok. The ironic t hing is that if he would have been on his original flight he would have been stuck in Chicago and would not have made it. It is kind of funny how those things work out. We definitely had someone watching out for us. We had all of Jennie's immediate family there and a lot of good friends who made the trip up to celebrate this special day with us and glad that everyone made it there and back safely. We even had our good friend "Big Dawg" fly in from Salt Lake City to share in our day. We are so grateful for those who not only made the trip but also pushed us and helped us along the way so that we can benefit from one of Heavenly Father;s greatest gifts to us. It is such a comfort to know that life does not end after we die and that one day we will all return to live with our families again. Here are some pictures from our trip. You will see all the snow that we dealt with on that day and we hope to go back some day, soon, and get some decent family pictures in front of the Temple without all the snow.


Here we are with the kids standing outside the Temple. There really weren't any great places to take a good family picture due to all the snow so this will have to do for now.


Nolan, Maddux and Brooklyn standing in the snow in front of the fountain at the Temple.


Spencer and Greg clearing the foot or so of snow off the cars. That was just from sitting in the parking lot for a couple of hours.


Most of the family standing in front of the Temple in the middle of the snow storm. This was about as good as it was going to get that day.


Maddux trudging through the snow. He was wondering why his legs were so cold.


The top of the Temple amidst a flurry of snow.


Uncle "Big Dawg" with Brooklyn and Maddux. I don't think that Nolan was 100% comfortable with him so that may be why he is not in this picture. He likes to talk about "Big Dawg" but not to crazy about hanging around him.


Brooklyn hanging out in the hot tub back at the hotel. This was kind of a cool pool and hot tub as it was actually on the top floor above all the rooms.


Kenzie and Nolan relaxing in the hot tub playing with the water. I actually had to pull Nolan out of the hot tub for a little bit because he was starting to turn red from being in there so long.


Nolan just hanging out enjoying life.


Bill and Spencer after a long day and a longer night. They decided to go see Avatar that night with Aaron and Greg. The movie was 2 1/2 hours and didn't start until 10:30. Mix that in with an early morning and you get some tired guys.


Even though it was the middle of winter and over a foot of snow on the ground the Temple still managed to have some flowers out and Brooklyn never passes up a chance to play with flowers.


All the kids with "Big Dawg" hanging out in the hotel room.

Once again Jennie and I are thankful to all those who had a hand in our special day and especially grateful for those who made the difficult trip down to show their support and love for our family. Yeah the weather was bad and we had a couple of hiccups along the way but we had the perfect day and were glad that we could spend it with family and friends. It is such a blessing to know that we will be a family for the rest of time and eternity and we are glad that our children could partake in this special day and hope that one day they realize the importance of this decision and choose to be sealed to their families forever. Thank you again and we love you all.