a blessing

we blessed vivian yesterday.  it was a beautiful day.  

last week, in sacrament meeting,  i had to give a talk about the blessings of the priesthood.  at first i was a little bummed about the topic.  it ended up being a tender mercy because i had the chance to study and ponder about the priesthood before we blessed vivian.  i had the privilege of taking the week to get ready for this special day, with not a lot of other things on my plate.  i really wanted to make it a beautiful day for vivian but even more than that, i felt like i was preparing for something very important and extraordinary.  when i saw the circle of men in our family surrounding my little girl with the priesthood, i felt this feeling of power and love.  i am grateful for dave.  i love him.  i am so glad he is worthy to bless her, and that he was excited to do it.  he loves her immensely and he gave her a beautiful blessing.  he talked about how excited her family is to have her here and blessed her to feel the love of her siblings and parents.  he blessed her to have a love of life and to be optimistic.  he told her about her name sophia, and how she is named after her great great grandma and blessed her feel that grandma's influence.  he blessed her to find someone to marry in the temple.  

i am grateful for the power of the priesthood that binds us.  i really felt a love for our families yesterday.  there are struggles in everyone's family, but i re-realized it's worth the effort.  family is so important.  it was great having everyone over after the blessing.   dave fixed the food and had worked hard preparing.  i ordered a cake that looked just like mine on my blessing day.  it was special to me.  vivian had a beautiful dress and looked so darling.  so many of our family members and a couple of close friends had sacrificed and made a great effort to be there.  i caught each of my kids taking a minute with vivi.  abe, whispered to her what a beautiful dress she had.  kai waited to ride to the church with her, sat right by her and held her hand.  i heard him say, "it's your big day.  you're getting blessed today."  max had a blessing a while ago and right when dave took his hands off, max said, "i want another one."  i know he felt the power of the priesthood.  he told me right when vivian got done, she probably wanted them to bless her again.  sadie wanted to hold her right after she was blessed.
these moments make life joyful and i soak them up.
they all really love her.  i feel how important she is....she is a blessing!