all the rest.

after Christmas, we spent the next few days in bountiful. our anniversary was on monday and james and i were able to go out to dinner (the mandarin, my favorite!) to celebrate. earlier that day we went as a family to city creek to do a little shopping/gift returning. kendall slept the whole time and brooklyn was a good little shopping buddy like always. 

that night, we (as in all of the ruesches) went to zoo lights. 

we headed back up to coalville to ring in the new year and celebrate my 30th birthday, complete with brownies, farr's peppermint ice cream, and hot fudge. new year's eve was a nice relaxing day with quite the eventful 'ringing in the new year'. we let the kids have a dance party with hats and blow horns around 9 and then settled them down with a movie. the adults stayed up and watched the ball drop and what happened right after that, was eventful.

luckily, those events aren't pictured: cutler puking all over whitney, himself, and a blanket. and james falling down every stair carrying brooklyn who was fast asleep. they literally happened within five minutes of each other, right after midnight. we figured it was a bad omen so we all went to bed immediately. luckily, since then, everything has been great. so fingers crossed!

the next day we came back to bountiful to enjoy some downtime spent with james' parents. james tied a sled to the back of the riding lawn mower and the girls loved it! my in laws made lots of yummy meals, the guys went and saw the new star wars, we visited, ran errands, and mostly just hung out all together. kendall woke up early and my in laws always let me sleep in and took care of her which was so nice! and i think she loved her special one on one time with them.

(kendall could breathe i promise! she just loved having her face covered and warm.)

chelsea also had us all play pie face one night and it was a riot. the girls weren't having anything to do with it and it gave the rest of us lots of good laughs!

kendall went to her first sunday of nursery and loved it! i was even told she shared her snacks which is a big deal for her. just like her mama, she doesn't share food very willingly. and brooklyn is no longer a sunbeam and proud to be in ctr 4. they are both growing up so fast and i can hardly believe it. i do love watching them learn and grow, but man it's hard!

we're so excited for this upcoming year and everything it brings!

goodbye 2015, you were a rough one, but a fun one. is that possible? 

FIVE YEARS.

the last five days of december hold 3 very important events (minus the 31st): christmas, our anniversary (28th), and my birthday (30th). it's busy. but it's fun. i love having something to look forward to after christmas is over. it helps with the post christmas blues.

we started our FIFTH anniversary off with some time at the spa. beyond spa to be exact. we got cocoa foot soaks, hot chocolate, and a couples massage. it was all really relaxing and so fun. if you've never done a spa day with your husband...i suggest you do it. it's really a blast. the massage was fabulous.

that evening we headed back up to my parents' so we could drop brooklyn off and we continued on to park city. we were hoping to eat at the restaurant we ate at on our first date. we were shocked to see it had changed. we called and were relieved to hear that only the name and management had changed. we could handle that. 

it was nice to go to dinner just the two of us and eat some really good food. i'd say we both made excellent choices off the menu and were stuffed to the max when we walked out of there. this anniversary definitely was a special one. now that we are parents, our alone time is limited. it was nice to get away and spend time as a married couple. 

park city was frigid that night and it canceled our plan of a photo together after dinner. so we only have cell pics to document are evening. 

we've changed a lot in the last five years. we've been through a lot. it's been a heck of a ride so far. we've really made it a priority to make our anniversary special, but it hasn't always happened. life happens. here's a break down of our last five celebrations:

1st year: stayed at the same hotel, in the same room we did on our first night as a married couple. shopped at the gateway and ate some of our wedding cake.

2nd year: helicopter flight over logan, dinner at hamilton's, and a night at the anniversary inn. 

3rd year: i was on bed rest with brooklyn and super sick. we spent the evening on the couch at my parents'.

4th year: dinner at red lobster. having a child definitely changed our plans that year.

5th year: spa day and dinner at sushi blue.

(engagement photo: 2007 old main street park city)

can't wait for the next FIVE. i love you james burdell.