football family.

last night was so cool for my dad and my family. it was also a date night for james and i to boot. my dad was honored and received the distinguished service award as a football coach from the National Football Foundation Utah Chapter. quite an honor for my dad. we got to sit right up front as a family, eat a delicious meal, and watch my dad receive this well deserved award.

saying his thanks.

all the collegiate coaches in the state were there and matt asiata was honored as an athlete. really cool.

it was a great night spent celebrating the sport that my family loves most. the take away from the night was that football is not life, but football is a lot like life. and though i've never played the game, i grew up with it, and it has definitely taught me life lessons that will impact me forever.

here we are with long time deseret news sports columnist amy donaldson. she has written so many stories covering my dad and his teams. we took advantage of having her there as well and had to get a picture with her.

my dad said, "i thank God every day for a wife and kids who love the sport of football." and it's true, we do. and so do our spouses. the game of football has meant so much to us because the time it allowed us together, and now we have so many memories that are so precious to us because of it.

after pictures and hugs goodbye, we picked up our kids from my aunt suzanne's house. they'd had them all evening. such a huge blessing to have family that can help and are so willing to help out in these situations. i'm so grateful james and i were able to be there to support my dad.

brooklyn and kendall loved playing with addie and beckham.

thanks again reynolds and lynch families! (and manda for the pictures!)

the cougar kick-off

if you know me well, you know that i'm not a byu fan. however, my husband might be the biggest. he loves byu football with all his heart and soul and almost nothing makes me more happy than watching his cougars. last year he found out about the cougar kick-off and surplus sale and was able to go down to provo, score a few cool things at the sale, and get a few autographs at the kick-off. he was so bummed he didn't have brooklyn with him and decided he wanted to make sure brooklyn went the following year. 

so, we packed up the girls and headed to provo. we met up with my cousin amanda and her cute little family. it made the whole evening better to be able to hang out with them. the dads took the girls on all the fun stuff, and manda and i manned the babes in the strollers. nice and mostly relaxing.

^^^getting her face painted is one of her favorite things on the planet.^^^

^^^she wasn't too sure about the slide by herself.^^^

^^^and she definitely wasn't sure about cosmo. not a fan.^^^

afterwards, we went and picked up dinner. a tri-tip salad from cubby's for the win! and then headed to check out amanda and mackay's new house. it's a great house with a great yard and hopefully we'll get together there again soon. brooklyn and addie had fun playing together while the adults just chatted. kendall and beckham were sad to say goodbye to each other.

cute little sad cousins. 

going to the kick-off, it being football related and all, definitely made it feel like summer is headed out the door and fall is knocking. i couldn't help but feel excited over that. don't get me wrong, i love summer, and this one especially, but man oh man, nothing beats the cooler air and color changes of fall. i can definitely feel it in the air. so, with that being said, we're having a little end of summer bash with a few friends this weekend to send summer away in style. normally i wouldn't send summer away until labor day, but this year, it just feels right. i'm going to do it as nicely as i possibly can.

i love you summer. 

we're going camping.

so...

utah state lost last night. i'm not happy about it. so close. so close.

so here are some pictures of brooklyn and her favorite neighbor boy during half time.

we ate maid-rites (messy bobs) and cookies and called that a good pre football game dinner. thankfully, my neighbors are aggie fans and i had darcy jumping around, hollering, clapping, and all that jazz, right along with me. we're hoping for a good season and lots of exciting games. 

saturday, we'll watch the byu opener (of course) and then we're hitting the road and heading to wyoming. my parents decided that we needed to go camping before summer ended. so that's exactly what we're gonna do. camp. we're so excited. us holmes' aren't quite the expert campers, so it could be interesting. we're hoping for smooth sailing both days. i'm sure i'll have stories to share.

h a p p y  f r i d a y 

p.s. stay tuned to hear what my goal for september is... oh boy. it's a doozie.

First Football Game

Look how cute my husband and daughter look

and

how rough and tired I look.

This was the beginning of our weekend.

It started in Coalville at the Homecoming football game. When we drove into town it was pouring rain so we watched the first half of the game from my parents' cozy couch. We listened to my dad announce the game on the tv broadcast. It was crazy to not see him down on the field with his headset on.

At half time we bundled Brooklyn up and headed to the game. Grandma Diane held her for the rest of the game which meant Brooklyn had a front row seat to watch Aunt Haley cheer. The game didn't end as we had hoped, but we got Aunt Haley to smile for a picture.



Back at my parents' we scarffed down pizza and parade candy. Brooklyn wore her Braves headband since she didn't get to wear it at the game. I loved seeing her in her beenie because it reminded me of how she looked in the hospital. Oh how tiny she was!

She slept with Aunt Haley and woke up only once to see Mommy. It was nice. And here she is in her cute weekend jammies and happy as a clam Saturday morning.

We enjoyed the rest of the day lounging and eating heaping bowls of my mom's homemade macaroni and cheese. Later that afternoon we headed to Clinton to watch the BYU game with James' family. Chelsea and I took off to do a little shopping/browsing and the boys took their turn watching Brooklyn. It was fun to get away for a little bit, not to mention it was topped off with a little raspberry gelato at Harmon's.

Upon our return, the boys headed out to get us all dinner from Sonic. Seriously, their grilled cheese is the best. We finished eating and got settled in for the game. This picture was taken before it started...obviously.

Even though the game ended terribly, James was able to get in the car to go home with a smile on his face. I think it has something to do with Brooklyn because before she came along, there was no smiling after a loss until the next day. Hopefully they'll do better next weekend so that as we celebrate James and Jeremy's birthdays it can actually be a celebration. It would be nice for all of us.

Here's to another great week, lots accomplished, and a fun birthday for my sweet husband. And of course, the start of my working out mania!!! (ok not mania, just regular working out!)

Can't hardly

W A I T !

I got an email this week from one of my favorite authors, Josi Kilpack.

The email had exciting news:

her new book, Pumpkin Roll, is coming out on

September 7th!!!

Holy cow, I'm on the countdown now!

I'm not the only one counting down in the Ruesch household.

Against my husband's wishes, I made him a paper chain countdown to the first BYU football game of the season.

He said it would make it feel MUCH longer if I did.

I did it anyway, and he appreciates it. :) He thinks it's fun to take one off every day.

(I must love him. I used my cute scrapbook/card paper.)

The countdown also stands as a countdown for his dad's long awaited arrival home.

We love F A L L/football season in our home and as the summer winds down, we are sad, but we have so much to look forward to!

BONUS: I can't wait to try this lip gloss...if only I could choose which color...