A Name and A Blessing

 
We are so thankful that our family and friends were able to be with us for Brooke's baby blessing.  My sister Kimberly came out a few days before the blessing to have some one-on-one time with Brooke and I am so thankful that she did.  It was so fun to see Brooke interact with her and I loved seeing Kimberly fall in love with Brooke.  I think Brooke was completely spoiled when she was here because Kimberly would hold her during her naps and when she was fussy.  She also went with me to get Brooke's 2 month shots, and I am super glad she was there.

Brooke's blessing took place on August 18th at our home.  We chose this date since all our family was able to make it, but it happened to be our Stake Conference, so we had to get permission to bless her at home.  I am actually so glad it worked out that way, because I enjoyed the intimate feeling of the event.  We invited all our closest friends and family, and we were so thankful for the support.  I was so emotional that morning, and basically was overwhelmed with gratitude for our little girl.  We sang "I am a Child Of God", Grandpa Meador gave the opening prayer, my Dad gave a spiritual thought, and then Kevin performed the blessing with all the men.  It was a huge circle of men, and Brooke was just wide-eyed and looking around the whole time, haha.  I was nervous about how she would act, but she was perfect.  During the blessing, I was wishing that I had someone go upstairs and take a picture from the loft looking down at the men surrounding Brooke!  I asked Kevin afterwards if he would have a re-enactment for a picture, but I was not surprised when he said no :(  He did such a beautiful job on her blessing, and I have an audio recording so that I can remember the words that he spoke.

After the blessing, we sand "Families Can Be Together Forever", Jerry gave the closing prayer, and we had a nice luncheon.  We spent the afternoon talking, eating, and passing Brooke around!

 My brother Jeffrey and his wife Madison were also able to fly in from Utah and stayed a few days into the next week.  My brother would try to beat Kimberly into my room in the morning to have a chance to hold Brooke when she woke up :)  We had lots of baby talk with them as they are expecting their little girl in January 2014!

The Arlington gang :)  Can't say enough about these girls.  We are so thankful for the friendships that have developed over the years.  A lot has changed since our original hangouts when Andreia was the only one with a child!  Collectively, we now have 7 kids, and 2 on the way!!  

 Kevin's friend Scott made the trip out from Utah as well, and Kevin was excited to spend time with him.  These guys have been friends since High School and have stayed in touch over the years.  Scott actually helped us move to Texas the first time we came here.

 Aunt Shelley came with Grandma and Grandpa, and we were glad to see her!

Throughout the afternoon, all the kids kept asking me if they could hold Brooke.  I was trying to let my parents have lots of time with her since they were leaving that afternoon and hadn't even flown in until 1 am on Saturday...so I kept telling them "in a little bit."  Well, as soon as I gave the go-ahead, all the kids were lined up on the couch ready for their turn, haha.  Adorable :)

This little baby was tuckered out by the end of the afternoon.   She promptly fell asleep on her grandma.  Kevin took the next week off of work, and we took Brooke to the pool for the first time.  She didn't seem to mind it, but wasn't super smiley either.  We only kept her in the pool for 10-15 minutes because it was SO hot out and we didn't want her to get burned.

On our last full day with Jeffrey, Madi, and Scott, we went to the lake and had some fun :)  Bev stayed home with Brooke so I could go with everyone, but it was weird being away from her for so long.  We were gone 5 hours and although I was having fun, I was also anxious to get back.

 We had a wonderful time with everyone and are so thankful for the effort that everyone made to be here for Brooke's special day.