Updates: Temple, Kids, etc.

Yesterday Levi and I got to take out our endowments at the Boise temple. We will be getting sealed on June 21, 2014 in the Salt Lake temple, but we felt it was important to take our first temple trip in our hometown. My sweet inlaws watched the kids and when we came home I don't think they even cared. Hadley could play with her Papa Brad and Grandma JuJu all day! The temple was absolutely incredible. I truly don't have words to describe how amazing it was and I'm so happy that my sweet husband feels the same way. We had our closest friends from the ward and Heather and Zane and my mom there. It was great to look around the room and see all the people who had a hand in getting us to this point. I absolutely cannot wait for next week when we are sealed as an eternal family in the same temple that my parents went through. I didn't quite know what to expect, no matter how many temple prep classes we took, but I found that it wasn't overwhelming, but actually fun. We all smiled a lot and had more fun than I ever pictured us having. The love felt between those walls was intense. Levi and my conversion has been something that has completely changed our lives. We were perfectly happy before, but now we are experiencing the kind of joy I never thought was possible. To have little Hadley and August with us as we share this time together is even better! I love our little family of four and it's so exciting to think that we can be together forever!

Sorry Mom! (My mom hates this pic of herself, but I love my family and this day was so important, so she's just going to have to deal with it!

My dear friend Dani Grigg. She and her husband were some of the first people to befriend Levi and me, well before Levi ever showed interest in joining the church. I loved having them at the temple with us, as well as several other of our ward friends.


As far as the rest of our life goes, we are having a great summer! Hadley finished preschool the first week of June and I'm sure she's excited to return in August. She is attending the developmental preschool at the elementary school about a mile from our house and she absolutely loves it. Her teachers are so dedicated and I'm worried that hanging out with me all summer will cause her to backslide! I know I never updated the blog to explain what's going on with her, so I'll do a quick rundown now: At the end of March, Hadley was officially diagnosed with autism (ASD). She appears to be high functioning, so we are thankful for that. I am working on getting her approved for a waiver that would help pay for therapies so she can continue to receive speech and occupational therapy. In my heart I know she'll be fine, but sometimes I feel stressed and worry that I'm not doing everything I can for her. We had a couple of very rough weeks when we first brought Baby August home. Hadley was overwhelmed with the changes, and especially when he would cry (which was often!) Hadley has a strong sound sensitivity and during that time she would cover her ears and run upstairs, slam a door, and play in our room while August cried it out. She is SO much better now (thanks to many, many prayers from us and loved ones!) and she truly enjoys her little brother now. She laughs at him, holds his hand, hugs him, etc. I was so worried that her autism would cause her to be completely disinterested in her little brother, but I see now that she'll be just fine as far as that's concerned. Woo hoo!
Hadley seems to be showing a strong talent with letters and numbers and can sight read so many words. She memorizes things after one or two viewings (books, tv shows, songs, etc.) and we are amazed at her skills with written words. I hope she'll always be a voracious reader...that is a hobby I will gladly financially support!

Sneaking into her brother's excersaucer is funny!

Hadley loves the Little Golden Book "Little Mommy" and I think she's taking cues on how to be tender from it. So sweet!

Little August is a delight. He was a very fussy baby the first 4 weeks and we found that this was mostly due to acid reflux. We have tried five formulas and the one that he is on now seems to be doing the trick, along with his prescription for Zantac. He is very strong and already holds his head up all by himself at 6 weeks old! He is trying to roll over and likes to stand up straight and look all around him. His sleeping habits are much better now and we usually get two 3.5-4 hour chunks of him sleeping each night. He is just starting to coo and looks so sweet with his bald (!) head. He of course prefers to be held, but he does well in his carseat and doesn't mind his bouncer as much as he did a few weeks ago. When he's fussy, I take him outside and let the sun and a breeze hit his face and he calms right down. He also loves being walked in his baby bjorn and we love putting Hadley in the jogger and going for a nightly walk as a family. We have a snow cone shack a few blocks from our house and it has been fun spending that time walking as a family to get a treat. August appears to be a redhead and we can't wait to see how his eyes and hair turn out. He's a handsome, squishy boy and I can't imagine life without him! We look forward to this year where he will grow and change with each passing day. Love you, Auggie!


I will do my best to post soon after our trip to Salt Lake. I can't wait to see all our friends and family down there. Levi is also going to bless August while we are there and I am so excited for him to exercise his priesthood power. I am so blessed...seriously I don't know how I got so lucky.