Quick Recap

For those of you who just stopped by for the first time, Welcome!! Here's a "highlight reel" of what's been going on.

After you skim through, please stay a while! Get to know us. Come back and visit! Most importantly, don't hesitate to drop us a line.   

You can always find Austin and Molly at:  austinandmollyadopt@gmail.com

We were both born (a few hundred miles apart) in Illinois.

Our story began in central Utah, where Molly was a waitress and Austin was a hungry customer, who had just ended a long, hard day of work. Austin left his phone number for Molly on a paper napkin ring.

After becoming best friends and falling in love, we got married in June of 2011.

In August of 2012, Doug, an 18 pound schnauzer mix, joined the family. Life without him is honestly unimaginable.

As a couple, we like to cook, camp, read, laugh, and (when all else fails) raid Netflix.


While working full-time, Austin is getting his degree in Construction Management. He loves working with his hands and completing big projects - but, he also loves working directly with people.

Until recently, Molly worked as a nanny. She still loves to play with and care for children of all ages. For a few months, she also worked at a dog kennel, where she helped clean kennels, bathe and feed the dogs, and run the front office.


Early in May 2014, we made a big decision - to build a house! Ever heard of Self-Help Homes? Check it out. I never thought we would have a house this soon... and I definitely didn't think we would be building it ourselves!

In August of 2014, Austin's family members from Texas came up for a week-long family reunion. It was the first time everyone was back together since 2010! We all spent so much quality time together, laughed until we cried, shared new (and old) stories, ate good food, went bowling, and even found time for family pictures!

Thanksgiving 2014 was so laid-back, which was nice for a change! We spent the day at Molly's sister's house. It was a lot of fun to help cook, play games, do crafts, and relax with their family.

For Christmas 2014, we got to visit Illinois! Molly's parents still live in her hometown. Three of the four siblings (along with their families) were there. Because her parents normally travel to see the family during Christmas, it was Molly's first time at home during the holidays in seven years!

Austin gave our niece a shoulder ride while we walked all over a neighboring town and shopped

after the Christmas morning excitement wound down

Molly got to see one of her old friends from high school

After the holidays, it was back to work! Molly finished up a few nannying jobs and started work at a nearby dog kennel. It was so nice to be able to bring Doug to work!

Austin continued working hard all day... and all night, too! Most evenings were spent working on the houses in our neighborhood. By February, our house was looking pretty good!

At this point, all that was left for the exterior was hardware, stones, and landscaping

Typical view of the trunk of our car.

By late Spring, things were looking up! The houses were almost complete and we were working on "finish work," like flooring, paint, cabinets, countertops. We would occasionally bring Doug to the house to warm him up to it.

Trying out the new, soft carpet

And, as far as the house goes, the rest is history! For several weeks before we could move into the house, our sweet friends offered to let us stay in a trailer they own. It may sound ridiculous, but our lease was up on our apartment and we really didn't have a lot of choices. We rented a storage unit and moved what we could into a toy hauler for just over two months!

How messy were we?! It was a fun adventure staying in this little home for a while!

And now, here we are. Home Sweet Home! It's hard to believe we did all that work to build TEN houses with our friends and neighbors!

Early Fall 2014

Late Fall 2014

All done!

HAPPY DAY!

In early July, we welcomed sweet Adde to our family. She is the most mellow, kind-hearted dog in the world. We were told she was about 3 1/2 when we picked her up.

This is the first photo we have of Adde after we adopted her. She loves the water!

Now that we're in our home, everything is so much more exciting. We hosted a Halloween party with a bunch on friends. I can't believe we didn't snap any pictures!

Thanksgiving was just us this year! It was so nice to have a simple meal - just Austin, Doug, Adde, and myself. Again, I didn't take any pictures... BUT, I do have one of our Christmas tree!

How fun will it be to fill our new home with memories of our first baby? I cannot wait!!

Now that we have our homestudy FINISHED, I feel like it's crunch time! I want to keep all the hard work going so we can start our family as soon as possible. Fingers crossed, everyone!

Stay tuned for more updates to come!