Elder Alex Leavitt Chile Santiago West Mission: Alex's Mission Farewell

Our family outside the San Diego Temple after the session; Brandon, Kira, Sharley, Ben, Alex, Me, Alycia, Fred & Trevor

Monday was Memorial Day and we had two big events. The first thing we did that day was attend the Temple with Alex. This was his first time through and he chose to wait for all of his siblings to be here when they came for his farewell. As I sat in the Temple with 5 of our 6 children I was overcome with joy, love & gratefulness to my Heavenly Father for sending me such sweet spirits. My cup truly overfloweth. I know that someday in the future we will all be there with our "Sweet" Sarah. We were very blessed to have some dear friends and my cousin & her husband attend with us also. The support for Alex & our family has been amazing! We really missed having Serene & Justin with us but they were there in spirit. The Utah car had to leave immediately after the temple and Kira and Justin had to rearrange their schedules due to a conflict, but we were happy they all made it work and were willing to make the sacrifice to be there for Alex.

Kira & Alycia

Alex & Alycia - part of the "Blonde" family

After the Temple session we took some pictures outside and then we had a once and a lifetime opportunity of attending the setting apart of Alex as a Temple Ordinance worker. We had the privilege of being in the Temple President's office and Fred was able to assist. What an amazing opportunity to be in President Olson's presence and hear him speak with Alex and then bless him. He's an amazing man. He has a replica of a doorknob from the Salt Lake Temple on his desk. He has had some amazing experiences with his job in the church in regards to Temples etc. Fred could tell you all more about that since he works closely with him at the Temple.

Alex in an epic picture of the Temple with all of it's scaffolding. Imagine the stories he can tell his children someday about his first time through the San Diego Temple.

Kira posing while her brothers pose in the background. The Temple had several weddings cancel and move to other Temples because of the scaffolding.

Ben & Sharley's 2nd wedding anniversary was this day also.

After the Temple we headed home to change so that we could head over to our ward Memorial Day picnic at the park. Alex was anxious to get over there to see everyone. There is always great food and fun games. There is always a volleyball net set up and a soccer game going. There is a park for the kids to play in and they had bubbles and other fun things for the kids to do. We really enjoyed ourselves. I came home exhausted from the weekend. Kira, Sarah & Alex went thrift store shopping while Fred & I both napped on the couches.

I almost forgot to mention something that happened when we got home from the Temple. The night before I was too tired to clean up after the open house so I just left everything. When I walked in the door after being gone all morning I walked into not only two happy little boys that Sarah had been tending but my entire house cleaned, with the dishwasher going, the floors swept, the garbage emptied and......she had also cleaned the back yard and had got the hose out and was washing down all the chairs and tables. I was so overcome by it all I started crying. She really is so incredibly sweet and thoughtful.

Ben & Sharley visiting with Kira & Evan. Kira was glad they came to the picnic since she doesn't get to see them often because she lives in Canada.