Once again I’m a few weeks behind, but I wanted to let Hailey know how proud I am of her for choosing to be baptized. To be honest, I only remember bits and pieces about my baptism day, but I do remember sitting on the front row in the chapel with my Dad and several other kids in my ward who were being baptized that day. I can’t say that I really remember the event itself, but of all the things that happened in my young life it was definitely one of the most important. I also remember that for several weeks or months afterward that I was much more conscious about making mistakes though. And at this point in my life I can clearly look back on it with the knowledge that I am truly lucky to have the knowledge of the Gospel in my life and the opportunity to join Christ’s church.

I hope that with time Hailey will come to truly appreciate the amazing gift she’s received. I realize that at 8 years old it’s a bit hard to comprehend the true weight of what has taken place, but I pray that Emily and I can help her to learn to appreciate it and to choose to follow the teachings of our Savior. We love you Hailey and we’re so happy for you.

With 3 girls and 1 boy, I tend to be a bit conscious of what toys Jack chooses to play with. Not that its a big deal what toys he plays with, but I want to make sure that he has (and enjoys playing with) the few boy toys he owns instead of the plethora of girlie toys laying around the house. I realize that he doesn’t care if the toys are “boy” or “girl” in nature and I tell myself that I don’t really care either, but I think that on a subconscious level it does bug me just a tiny bit when he chooses to play with the girl toys.

So, the other day I walk into the front room and see this:

Now a house isn’t really gender specific, but I guess it tends to lean more to the “girlie” side. And so my immediate thought was… “aren’t there some trucks or something you could be playing with?”. I then proceeded to walk over so I could watch him for a bit and when I came around the other side of the house, I saw this:

Well… that changes everything! I’m totally ok with him playing house if the house is full of cars and dinosaurs. What red-blooded American boy wouldn’t want to live in that house? Now I just need to teach him to flex and growl.

About a week ago we got the opportunity to go through the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. We sort of went for Hailey’s birthday, but it just happened to be a good day to go. We invited my whole family and Emily’s parents and went through as a group. The temple is incredibly beautiful and there’s definitely a special feeling there even though it hasn’t been dedicated yet. There is a set large staircases in the middle of the temple which give it a very unique feeling. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but they give a very “homey” feeling as you walk in. There are several special features that make it unique and special and I can’t wait to be able to attend a session there. It was a great end to Hailey’s birthday and the fact that my dad took us to Panda Express when we were done helped a bit too.

Well… I’m a failure. I meant to post this two weeks ago when it was relevant, but better late than never, right? RIGHT???

Anyway… happy 8th birthday Hailey. I can hardly believe that you’re 8 already. I remember the night we spent up at Alta View hospital when you arrived. We got there in the early evening on the 22nd of June and after a long hard night of labor, the doctor finally decided you needed to come out via an alternative method. So I put my scrubs on and we headed into the operating room. The doctors gave me a little stool to stand on so I could see what was going on and it was pretty crazy to watch them extract you. The next couple days are a bit of a blur, but you spent a lot of time hanging out in the nursery in your own personal incubator bathed in blue lights. Everyone was so excited to come up to the hospital and see you. Just like me, you were the very first grandchild on either side of the family. And the very first great-grandchild on my side. And now its 8 years later and you’re ready to be baptized. That’s halfway to being 16 and ready to drive (oh crap!!!). Time sure flies.

I hope you had a great birthday Hailey and I just want you to know that I love you.

For the past several months Hailey has had a permanent retainer installed in the top of her mouth. We identified pretty early on that her teeth were pretty messed up so we got her started early on the braces. Well, after several months of retainer it was finally time for her to get her headgear. It’s not the facial monstrosity I had pictured in my mind and she luckily only has to wear it in the evenings so she won’t have to worry about having it on at school. The funny part is how excited she was to get it. She asked repeatedly if the next visit to the orthodontist was when she’d get her headgear and when the day finally came you’d have thought it was Christmas in June. I’m pretty sure the “fun-ness” has worn off now that’s she realized it’s kind of a pain in the butt, but she’s been real good about wearing it so far. Guess we’ll have to see how long that lasts.