Oh what a blessing the Temple is...

Our family has had a great experience watching the Temple of the Lord in Gilbert AZ be built 5 miles down the street from our home.  It's been wonderful and will be an experience we will always remember.  We wanted to write a family journal entry together so we can alway remember our feelings about the temple.

Here's a picture of us visiting the temple while it was being built in April 2012.  Little Kallen was in Mommy's tummy! We got to visit the construction site and a make-shift visitor center in a trailer nearby.  At the time we visited they were putting the stone on the temple.  Some of the square pieces were cracked and we learned that every piece had to be perfect so they took those that were cracked and broke them up.  Each of us got a small piece of the temple stone.

We learned that the workers had to be very respectful on the construction site.  Music choice had to be respectful and they had to eat away from the temple. We learned that this temple would be the tallest temple that the church had built since the Washington DC temple.
Afterwards, we went to Discovery Park (across the street) and had pizza and played games.

On Friday, Feb 7th 2014, we were able to go inside the Temple during the open house.  We had the opportunity to go inside and see the wonderful rooms.  Logan, Avery, and Daven's favorite room was the Celestial Room.  They liked it because it was beautiful and made them feel good inside.  Logan loved the chandelier.  Mom heard someone describe the temple as "breathtaking"...that sums it up!  It was beautiful! Mom and Dad have always felt that all temples are beautiful but the inside of this one tops them all!   Dad asked Daven to count the number of Agave plants represented inside and outside the temple.  Daven counted 59 but says he thinks there is approximately 1000.  Just over 400 thousand people visited the temple during the 4 week open house.

 Here's a picture of our handsome Daven taking in the Temple!

 Logan was excited to go see the Temple of the Lord!  It was a REALLY long line that we stood in.

 Here's cute little Avery outside the temple.  She says she wants to get married in a temple some day! She was much more reverent in this temple. The last temple open house we went to (Gila Valley AZ) Avery was 1 yr old and screemed the entire time!!

 Mom and Dad can't wait to go back inside to do some of the Lord's work!

 It was a beautiful evening. Perfect time of year!

 Kallen was a terror outside the temple while waiting in the line that wrapped around the church nearby.  He was a bit naughty until we got inside the temple.  Even Kallen wore little white booties and was calm and reverent in the temple.  We think he was hoping that the Lord would have parked his "car" somewhere inside as Kallen is currently obsessed with cars.

Hello Kitty! Hello Party!

I guess my little Avery Muffin is not so little any more. In fact, she hates it when we call her that. Along with Missy Goo and Missy Lou. She will quickly correct you and say, "I'm NOT Missy Goo. I'm AVERY!" She is four years old. She is mommy's little helper and my sidekick. I can't even bear to think about next year when she goes to kindergarten. My life will feel so quiet. So glad I get to enjoy her for one more year. Avery, we can't imagine our life without you. You have brought us so much joy and SPUNK. We don't know what we would do without you in our family. You fit so perfectly.

 Excited that she still loves princesses, dolls, and hello kitty. I know it won't be for long.

 Logan took pictures at the party. It was cute to see all the ones he took. We pretty much had a shot of everyone, doing everything. He didn't leave anything out. Ha-ha. There were way to many pics to post but here is Aves with some of her friends. Above, Janie, Below, Autumn then Brooklyn.s

 Avery decided she wanted a Hello Kitty Birthday Party. Lindsey, one of the sweet young women I work with came over to help me with the party since Mike was in Malaysia. Yes, Malaysia!! I guess I figured having a newborn baby and a husband out of town for 2 weeks wasn't enough. I needed to throw a birthday party into the mix. Seriously, I was exhausted this week & I don't know how I pulled it off. But I think Avery had lots of fun. So grateful Lindsey came to help!! 

 Mike and I gave Avery a Hello Kitty Scrapbook Kit. Well, in one afternoon, she cranked that baby out! She went through a photo box, selected her pictures, cropped them, and voila...A really cute scrapbook. She surprised me with her innate scrapbooking abilities. I think I was snuggling on the couch with Kallen (aka napping), so she did this all by herself!

Mike and I have been calling Avery "Miss Productive." She likes to be busy but in a good way. She can usually be found coloring, making things, organizing her room, etc. She likes to get things done. Now that I remember, as a baby, we called her our 'Busy Bee' guess the name still fits.

 I usually make the birthday cake for the big day. But with Mike being gone this year, I decided to treat myself to someone else making the cupcakes. They were delicious. Made by an in-home bakery in the neighborhood. Worth.every.penny!

 These were my favorite. I am not crafty, but saw these on pinterest and figured I could swing them. These were the goodie bags and turned out really cute!

 Pin the Bow on Hello Kitty. I had to even draw my own Kitty, Mike usually does this stuff for me. So glad Lindsey was here for crowd control on this game :)

I hope Avery Girl had fun at her party. To be honest, I was EXHAUSTED after.

I'm Cute

When Kallen was 4 months & 1 week old, I started feeding him oatmeal. The plan was to wait until he was 5ish months, but this kid was HUNGRY! He just wanted to eat almost every 2 hours toward the end of the day, so I thought I would give solids a try. Well, he LOVED it! And he doesn't like it runny. He likes thick, mushy oatmeal. 

Never had a baby so talented with the spoon. The food just stays in there. I think he was ready.

He is so happy when he eats. He just kicks his legs and squeals the whole time. My pediatrician said maybe that is why he was such a bad nurser, he just wanted some real stuff :)

Well, here were are and he is now 5 months old. He has started acting super hungry in the morning, too. So I started oatmeal and applesauce 2 days ago and he just LOVES it. I think I am due for a good eater. Here's hoping!

 Here's Kallen in touch-down position. As a newborn, he always slept with his arms above his head. It is so cute. He has stopped doing it all the time, but I don't want to forget. We always said he was making touch-downs in his dreams.

Kallen's "Everything's Cool" face. He is so interested in his surroundings. He loves to observe the world around him. He is fascinated with everything right now. But especially lights. He likes to walk around looking up all the time and studying them everywhere we go:)

 Kallen's "I'm About to Get Excited" face. This look means he is about to start kicking his legs and possibly squeal in excitement. He's happy!!! Watch out for some major cuteness.

 Kallen's "Super Smiley" face. We see this one a lot. We call him our smiley guy. He is always grinning at us and dishing out the love. He makes you smile just being around him.

 Kallen's "MMM" face. Usually accompanied by some kicking. I feel like the words are inside of him, they just are stuck there and he can't get them out. We've heard him talk a few times. It has caught me off guard. He's been caught saying "ba-ba" "ma-ma" "eat" and "go - bed" But then we never hear them again, so maybe it's just our imagination. But we know he tries to tell us things with his eyes and all those kicks.

We don't see this very often but this is the MAD face. Put that Ba-ba in his mouth ;) RIGHT. NOW!!

A Cute Case of Helmet Head

Well, today was the big day. Kallen went to Cranial Technologies to get his Helmet. Or, I guess the official term, DOC Band. It went so much better than I was anticipating. I have been very pleased with this company and the process involved. It is a long drive to Phoenix Children's Hospital every week, but I am positive it will be worth it.

Kallen has some torticollis (tighter neck muscle, actually pretty common among babies). I noticed around 2 months of age that he always slept on the right side. I tried to do stretches every day with him, tummy time, and bjorn rides as much as possible. But at night, he ALWAYS slept on that side. Even if I would turn his head the other way, he would move it back 2 minutes later. Needless to say, he developed a flat spot on the back of his head. I guess to compensate, the brain has started growing outwards (sideways) as well. So his head is wider than it should be, too. We also noticed a small bump on his forehead as the brain is trying to push out that way, too. The growth of the brain is also causing his right ear to move forward. 

It is amazing how much I am learning. And amazing how the brain doesn't care WHERE it grows, just that it grows. It also fascinates me how FAST the brain grows at this age. They feel he will be in the helmet for 8-10 weeks. That just seems so fast, but apparently will capture a ton of brain growth. 

 Kallen and daddy. He is such a happy little guy. He was so excited to be at PCH. The whole time he just kept checking out all the lights and fun toys! Exciting times!

 I can't even tell you how much I love this little baby boy! His smile melts my heart. He is our little smiley guy.

 On it goes for the first time.....

 He didn't cry & he still looked like my sweet baby "K." 

 Cutest kid I have ever seen. I think he looks cute in it.

 Toys, toys, give me TOYS! He was a little intense, and could have cared less about the helmet. He just wanted to explore and put the toys in his mouth.

 When we got home, we had to take his clothes off. This kid is a spitter. He was soaking wet, as usual. He was so happy, though, all day long! I was so glad that the helmet didn't seem to bug him. He is sleeping right now, I have my fingers crossed, hopefully it will be a good night.

He did get sweaty in the helmet. Every time we took it off for the skin checks he was sweating. I feel bad about this, but they say it will get better in about a week as his body adjusts. And poor guy, lives in Phoenix...hottest place on Earth right now.

Kallen, we love you and your cute little head. I can't imagine it getting any cuter :) Love you buddy.

We went to a place that makes wraps for the helmets. We are going to make it a University of Utah helmet. I know, hard to imagine him looking any cuter, but soon he will :)

Amazing Mom

Apparently, I am the world's most amazing mom! Ha-Ha.

Logan told me that I am REALLY good at making WATER. Somehow, I get it REALLY cold, and he just wishes he knew how to do that.

Avery mentioned that I make the best grilled cheese sandwiches in the WHOLE WORLD.

And to top it off, when Logan goes to college, he is really going to miss my PIZZA. (umm, it's frozen pizza, ha-ha).

Glad I could be such a talented mom!! :)