Millie's blessing

Guess who came to visit for Millie's blessing weekend?!

Grandma June meeting Amelia June Klein for the first time.

Grandpa Jim a.k.a. "Grumps" reading Abbey's book she wrote.

Grandma June is a sport.  After the long drive from Arizona she came right in and spent time with all the girls.

Grandma Joann and Grandpa Ron traveled from Montana for Millie's blessing weekend.  That same weekend they took Andi out for Chinese (a G&G Allen tradition) and they gave Andi a Superman blanket they made for her.

Andi took this picture after she got the blanket.  She had wrapped the two stuffed animals (that Ron and Joann gave her) in her new blanket.  She loves them.  

The big day finally arrived.

March 29, 2015

Here's my girl dressed to shine.

I knew Millie's blessing day would be special, but I'm not sure I expected to feel such joy on what turned out to be a very special day.  It was a day I'll never forget.

The day was a culmination of much of my life's joys, loves, struggles, and sorrows.  

I asked Wendi to take some pictures of the day.

Here are some of her pics:

The above pictures of the grandparents are my favorite.

Seeing everyone together like that is such a special thing to me and I hope it can be an illustration to Millie of all the many people that love her and that make up her family's story.

Love these pictures of my parents so much.

Here are my brothers-in-law, Isaac and Daniel, with Hunter Draper on the blessing day.  Hunter is the one with the red hair. 

Hunter was with Michael the day of his passing.  

This young man has faithfully served a mission since then and has stayed faithful in the Gospel in spite of an experience that could have led him the other way.

He came to Millie's blessing and even bore his testimony that day.

I won't forget his words of testimony and the support he offered my family.  He loves Michael and it shows.  

The afternoon of the blessing I wrote a letter to Millie.  I thought I ought to put it on here as well....

Dearest Amelia,                                                                                                                                                             

                Today was your blessing day and I think I will count it as one of the most special days of my life.  I will never forget it, and I hope to write down a few things about it now so we can remember and you can know how special the day truly was.

                I dressed you in a white dress that Grandma Luke bought you.  She even got you socks and darling little shoes to match.  I put a white, flowery headband on you and it completed the look!  You looked so very beautiful.  When I was rushing around this morning, trying to put your clothes on you, you totally peed all over your changing table….I was so glad you did it then right before I put your white dress on! 

                When we got to the church it wasn’t long before you were being blessed.  You were surrounded by love and priesthood power from many men who love you and who have been a very important part of your mom and dad’s lives.  These are the men who came to the circle:  Dad (of course), his brother James, his half-brother Joe, his half-brother Jon, his half-brother Doug, Uncle Scott, Uncle Gabe, Grandpa Luke, Grandpa Allen (Andi’s grandpa), and Grandpa Zimmerman (Abbey and Ava’s grandpa.) It was such a wonderful sight for me to see those men gather together to give you a blessing.  They all mean a lot to me for many different reasons.

                Here is some of what I remember from what Dad said in your blessing:  He said that you have brought great joy to our family and that you are evidence of the fact that God knows our needs because you have fulfilled a need for this little mixed family of ours.  He said that you can rely on the many family members who gathered on behalf of your blessing today as you experience the joys and sorrows of life.  He said you can follow the example of your mother and your sisters and that you will have a thirst for knowledge and that you will get a good education.  He said that you will be blessed with an understanding of the plan of salvation and that it can have the power to help you a lot in your life.   

                Afterwards it was fast and testimony meeting and the first person to get up after your blessing was a man named Bart Toone.  He started off by saying, “Amelia June Klein.  What a special spirit she must have because I felt such a special feeling during that blessing.”  Then he continued to say that was the only reason he wanted to get up…to testify of the special Spirit of that blessing and that she was clearly a special spirit.  Isn’t that neat?  It was so true, Millie….There really was a special spirit during your blessing and what a neat thing that someone totally out of our family could recognize that.

                After he spoke I was brave and bore my testimony as well.  It wasn’t easy with all that family there…I was really nervous, but I knew I needed to do it.  I talked about how I know God’s love is real and that I’ve seen it manifest through many of the people who were there today.  I talked about how many of them have offered love in a compassionate and unjudgmental way, and that’s made all the difference for me and I hope I can be the same way towards people.  I also said that you were a gift from God and a sure sign of God’s love towards me and our family.  I said that I will probably always refer to you as my “gift” and that you have acted as a healing balm to my heart.

                And then, as if that wasn’t enough, Andi’s Uncle Daniel and Grandma Cathi got up and bore their testimony…more about God’s love and their testimonies.  They are very important people to me and I was so touched to hear their kind words and strong testimonies.  They were all very touched by your blessing.

                After your blessing we had a big get-together at our house and all four families came.  We had a ton of food and every bit of it was eaten…..every bit!!!  Aunt Lori, Grandma Luke, and Aunt Leslie helped me a lot with the food and the clean up.  You were passed around from grandma to grandma, aunt to aunt, etc. etc., and you were such a good sport about it.  You smiled and cooed and said hello to everyone.  Rarely did you get fussy as you were constantly tested and tried during this busy day. As a matter of fact, when I finally got the chance to put you down for a nap, you looked up and smiled at me as I tucked you in.  You are such a gift, my sweet girl.  J

                I have so much more I want to write about you but for now I’ll just leave it at that so you’ll at least know what your blessing day was like.

                Thank you for being born, my little Millie.

                                                                                                                                Xoxo,

                                                                                                                                                Mom