on her way...

well, she's at the mtc safe and sound and she's six weeks away from being in texas. we all made the trek down (minus james darn it) to provo, dined at pizza factory, and then said our goodbyes.

enjoy the pictures from our day.

happy almost weekend.

wordless wednesday...

(and not really wordless)

we ate at texas roadhouse as tori's last supper with her family. we left with full tummies and were super content. brooklyn ate more in that one meal than she has for a whole week. she loves her some texas roadhouse.

mother's day weekend.

mother's day weekend was a crazy busy one for us. we were all busy getting everything ready for my SIL's farewell dinner. we did get to relax, play heads up, go to the temple, and eat sushi in between all of it. but boy are we pooped! so this post will be short and sweet like the last couple. enjoy the pictures.

(thanks again hay for watching brooklyn so we could go) 

 (late night sushi dinner. delish.)

(see. pooped.) 

the sweet little thing that made me a mom. gosh i love her to bits and pieces.

(wearing my other mother's day present from james.)

(soon to be hermana ruesch) 

(the ruesch gang - minus gary) 

a total bonus of the day was getting to see and hang out with these two. we haven't seen them forever.

grandma and grandpa brown came down to help set up on saturday, went to the temple and sushi with us, drove home late, and were back two hours before church to help again. then, they worked in the kitchen the rest of the day. talk about work horses and so selfless to spend their sunday/mother's day like that.

after all was said and done, a nice round of darts took us into the evening and it was time to go to bed.

boy oh boy... 10 days until we're on a plane headed for hawaii. it sounds heavenly right now. can't wait.

our visitors.

my MIL and SIL (nana and aunt toria) flew in to the SLC yesterday and brooklyn has loved having every bit of their attention. she wants to tell them/show them/take them everything/everywhere. 

they're only here for a little while, but we get to look forward to getting on a plane to go see them (in hawaii) only a few days after they leave here. we can't wait.

(addicting) 

kindness.

this girl...

spent her birthday performing random acts of kindness. what a girl! these acts included taking treats to the fireman, donating blood, paying for people's food behind her at the drive in, and many more. and to top it off, she had a blast doing it. what a great example of christ like love and service she is.

she didn't want presents, but her parents sprang a few on her as she was heading out the door to go to the temple with friends. she was excited. a camera and watch for the mission. 

she headed out the door and we all hunkered down to watch the poinsettia bowl. we ate lots of yummy food and then chelsea, brooklyn, and i snuck off to do a little last minute christmas shopping. we just had to get one more trip in. brooklyn loved running around the stores and we loved shopping. win win. and, not to mention, byu won, so our hubbys (hubbies?) were extremely happy. such a great way to kick off the christmas weekend. 

(more than half the food not pictured here) 

we were like kids going to bed last night...the final countdown is on, and we can't wait for the family christmas party in coalville tonight. traditions. traditions. 

w e  l o v e  c h r i s t m a s  t i m e 

happy birthday to my sister whitney. can't wait to see you and celebrate with you!

i love you tons whitaker.

packages and painting.

on tuesday, my birthday package arrived. i was elated. i ripped that bad boy open and tried it on. loved it. so i wrapped it. is that weird? i don't think so. i'll be just as excited to open it come birthday time. having stuff like that to look forward to, makes days like yesterday so much more bearable. ya know, the kind of day where you have a specific plan in mind, certain things to get done, and you have a little one who takes a shorter than normal nap, and is ornery/clingy all the live long day.

ugh.

i had one of those yesterday. 

i've procrastinated a painting project for brooklyn from santa, and i deemed yesterday the day to get it done. brooklyn just wasn't having it. her nap was shorter than an hour and i didn't even get halfway done. then, she just wanted me to hold her and watch christmas movies and eat doritos. i said yes to all three. but i needed to get that painting done. i also wanted to get everything in our little living space organized and ready to go before friday. friday is packing day. packing for our family christmas party up in coalville. for me, packing and cleaning/organizing, do not belong in the same day. also, today needs to be the day i get last minute christmas things done. 

so, i drug her along with me downstairs to our little space and gave her some chores to do. she stayed very busy while i folded and put clothes away, vacuumed, and dusted. such a big helper she is. she basically transferred dirty clothes from one basket to the next, and over again. she was into it. 

thanks to the help of my SIL, tori, and my sweet hubby, the painting project got finished. it just needs to be put together, by...not yours truly. that's james' job. that way we can both have some pride in it come christmas morn. sounds good right?

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so, with just 5 days left until christmas... the ruesches are this close to being ready for that special day.  

(that birthday package) 

(we have a wild co-sleeper on our hands. james loves to take pictures to document.) 

(she did this all on her own.) 

(a chartreuse mess)

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a BIG birthday shout out to my SIL tori, aunt 'toe' as brooklyn calls her. 

happy birthday tor, we love you!