happiness is...

hangin' out with this crew...

celebrating this 23 year old's birthday (I thought he was 22),

and the dutch oven potatoes help too. but really. happy happy day when I get to spend time with these people that I love so much.

we run a lot of errands around here.

for family night this week, we took off on a little family adventure. i guess you could call it an adventure. any time you take a baby/toddler out and about to accomplish more than one goal, it becomes an adventure. we love these little adventures. brooklyn does as long as her parents are good at keeping things entertaining.

james best idea of the night was taking her into a pet supply store to check out the animals and creepy crawly things. gold medal for daddy! she loved it. she especially loved seeing the tanks full of fish. i think she can relate. they are as busy as she is. we could have and maybe should have stayed there all night. she was totally and completely blissfully happy to be in the land of fish tanks and stinky gerbil cages.

but, we had other things to accomplish. she did luck out with this awesome $2 microphone. she's a performer. she had to have it. it has already saved us in the car several times. she not only likes the sound of her voice in it, but she loves to run her tongue over all the tiny holes on the top of it. it's a two for one deal. and a very wise $2 we spent.

we ran errands, basically for the rest of the night. for reals. we hit up kohls, ulta, old navy, michaels, and of course, we had to have dinner in there somewhere. chick-fil-a was calling our names. gosh those chicken sandwiches. man. they gave us the nourishment to get those errands done, and done quickly. thank heavens.

last night, i dropped brooklyn off at grandma lisa's and james and i met up in bountiful to go to the temple with our newest sister-in-law (as of tomorrow!). it couldn't have come at a better time. james and i have been dying to go the temple and we just haven't made the necessary arrangements to do it. so last night was the perfect excuse. i love being in the temple. enough said! here's some pictures of the cute soon to be husband and wife.

james had the privilege of having his daughter as his passenger on the way home. i got to have a nice quiet drive home all to myself. it was nice until about ten minutes away when i decided i needed to go to the bathroom pronto. after that, it wasn't all so relaxing. but heaven knows i'll take even a five minute drive by my lonesome. any day. any day.

when we arrived home (not a second too soon), i forgot about a fun, maybe the most exciting part of our family night, item james purchased for me that i hadn't yet photographed. yep. this bad boy.

i've wanted a jogging stroller since before brooklyn graced us with her presence. i just didn't know how to go about doing it. i wanted a regular stroller, one that i could take a car seat in and out of, but i wanted a stroller that i could jog with. regular strollers + jogging = do not equal success. so that sweet hubby of mine found a great deal and we snatched it right up. it's pretty sweet. brooklyn really likes when i jog in it. when i walk, she whines. i guess that will be a great motivator. either way, i am super happy about it and can't wait to take it on a 'real' jog.

so here it is ...

the big announcement...

that's right. we're moving. after living here for almost 4 years (that's almost our whole marriage), we're making a change. we'll be leaving the salt lake valley, which makes me super sad, and heading a little north. instead of a basement apartment with hardly any light, we'll be in a house. a house. i can hardly take it. i'm so excited. the move date... a month from today.

we love living in salt lake. especially because we get so many visitors. uncle dev was in town today. we went to the tuxedo store, watched some olympics, and got snow cones. we love this guy. 

later in the afternoon, aunt chelsea took brooklyn birthday shopping. boy was brooklyn in for a treat. she got to have her first shopping experience at nordstroms. after browsing for a little bit, we decided on some a-dor-able black sparkly toms. little baby toms. oh my heavens. i could hardly take all the cuteness. brooklyn loved trying on the shoes and even gave the shoe girl a nice big hug when the ones we decided on were strapped on her little chubby feet. let's just say she had the shoe girl wrapped around her little finger. that won her a balloon. her favorite. thanks again aunt chelsea.

we ended the night with cheesecake at the cheesecake factory. thanks to facebook, we all got nice big slices for half the price. we couldn't give up that opportunity. next to the awesome cheesecake was the fact that we had one of the best seats in the whole restaurant. our booth was right next to the window. so much light in such a dark restaurant. brooklyn was so good. she stayed entertained with chelsea's ipad and spoons. such a fun evening, and such good cheesecake. oh and great company.

w e l c o m e  a u g u s t 

we love the changes you have in store for us. 

the killer cookie.

highlights of our day (too tired and worn out to go into too much detail):

finding an awesome burger joint right here in taylorsville (we've driven past a million times and never stopped). seriously go check it out. bell's deli.

their monster cookie is to die for.

james worked from home which was so nice.

brooklyn thought that meant he should play with her all day. or maybe that she should help him with his work.

she also mastered climbing onto the couch. my heavens. my life just a got a little harder. no more leaving her alone in the living room. still working on getting down the safest way, feet first.

dev and colb came to spend the night. they both have jobs nearby and we are more than happy to have them. they're sprawled out in my living room as i type this. tired boys.

i enjoyed a nice bbq with my young women. delicious food and good conversation. grateful for the sun behind the clouds.

to end the day, we watched the first batman. i just love that christian bale. i really do. a newsie and batman? doesn't get better than that.

sleepy summery.

Our day started out sleepy. A nice sleepy summer day. Breakfast was had in bed, strawberry pop tarts. And then a nice morning walk followed. Brooklyn dropped her toothbrush along the way which resulted in a second walk, without the stroller. Then it was baths and nap time.

My brother is back. And I love it. He's only staying for a few days, but I'll take it. Brooklyn was very happy to wake up from her morning nap and see her Uncle Dev. Just a good guy to have around. He helped me with dishes, feeding Brooklyn, entertaining Brooklyn, and running errands with us. I totally take advantage of his help when he's around. Sorry Dev. We love you.

Late afternoon was pool time. Are you getting sick of hearing about and only seeing pictures from the water park? Hopefully not. Sorry if you are. This blog will be soaked in them probably for the rest of the summer. We sure do love getting out and getting some sun (with sunblock on) and playing in the water. Brooklyn especially. She loves it. This time, it was a Ruesch family party. Grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, the whole nine yards. Lots of people for Brooklyn to play in the water with whenever she wanted. Lucky girl.

I enjoyed soaking up the sun and reading my book. Surprised? I really think I might cry when summer ends this year. I'm enjoying way too much all the sun, reading, and slow days of summer that I never want it to end. I can't even think about it or I'll cry. So I'll just keep enjoying it. Soaking it all in and relishing every slow moment and every ounce of sunshine I can.

And Brooklyn will too.

Oh and James as well.

We all will. There's much more summer fun to be had and lots to be checked off the summer bucket list. We love you Summer.

(I especially love you because at the end of your days, my baby looks like this)

BEST NEWS of the week: my grandma's CT scans came back clear! That lung cancer is no match for Grandma Jackie. We love you! Sending big hugs and kisses to Nampa!

h a p p y  w e e k e n d i n g  e v e r y o n e  

Conference Weekend April 2012

There were a lot of highlights this weekend. Yesterday I wrote about my awesome experience at NieNie's book signing. But man, the weekend just kept going. So, in order not to lose you, or forget anything...I'm gonna break it down.


Friday


After the book signing, Chels and I raced home to our hubby's so we could all go to the temple together. My parents came down to watch Brooklyn for us. So kind. The temple was amazing. So good to go back! There's a feeling there that you can't get anywhere else.


Of course, ice cream was a must on the way home. Followed by a late night of visiting. Love those!


Saturday


Despite our late night, we woke up early to get ready before the first session of conference started at 10 AM. Brooklyn slept in a little bit so I almost got all the way ready before she even opened those sweet little eyes. That never happens!


We turned it up nice and loud while we packed up to head to Clinton to watch the rest of it with James' family. My favorite talk of the day was President Packer's. It touched my heart and I will never forget it. 


After the sessions were over, my mother-in-law stuffed us full of food, like she always does, and then all of the ladies were off to a baby shower in South Jordan. The men, to the Priesthood session. It was good to see family that we don't see very often. The food there...awesome. I ate way too much. Something about showers will do that to me.


We then raced back to Clinton, in awfully windy conditions, so that James, Brookie, and I could head up to Coalville. Something very exciting was happening. Here are some pictures to sum it up.

Yep, we're adding another Holmes to the family. We couldn't be happier that it's Kenzee. Hopefully, she shares in our excitement. Dev invited her family over to my parents' house so that we could all celebrate together after the big proposal. We ate, of course, and visited long into the night.

Sunday

Because of the late night, Sunday morning came all too quickly. But as soon as I remembered it was conference again I was fired up. I got ready quickly and then had the traditional conference weekend breakfast: butterscotch rolls. This year, I helped prepare them (the night before). So good. 

I love conference. Not only for the wonderful messages that I get to hear, but for the family time. Also, the relaxing. Oh, and the eating. Of course. 

(spending time with Uncle Colby)

(dress - from Aunt Chelsea and headband - from Mindy, my pen pal in Canada)

(how much is that baby in the window?)

(conference = cuddling)

(it also = candy, naps (you know you do too), and distracted listening)

("Wake up Auntie Hay! Paint my toenails.")

I loved conference. Every word. Gosh, the feelings I have after conference, they're like, the ones I have on Christmas day. I wish I could feel like that every day of the year. Why and how can I be on such a spiritual high and be so motivated to do better and be better and have it all go away within a week? I guess not all of it, but a lot of it. Maybe that's why we have conference twice a year. It's the greatest reminder and motivation to be a more Christ like person. To try harder. To be better. I'm grateful for them. Those conference weekends.

h a p p y  t u e s d a y !

(not mine)

Stairs

Yesterday, Brooklyn conquered the stairs. Uncle Deven decided it was high time. The only set of stairs we have are right outside our door and they then lead to the out-outside door. So it's kind of dark, but that didn't stop her. She was stoked.

I mean, look at the pride and excitement in that cute little baby face.

That girl loves a good adventure. And she got one. Dev had her just do a few at the bottom a couple times and then when James got home (while they were practicing) Dev had her try the whole set. Having her daddy at the top for motivation helped a little I think.

Way to go sweetie.

(oh that mug!)

The weekend brings this...

and going here...

and here...

I. Can't. Wait.

h a p p y  w e e k e n d i n g !