so far this february....

in the past week, life has settled back into our normal routine. it felt good. routine is something that can get boring, but after too long without it, i want to crawl in a hole and cry. i love routine, and hopefully it's here to stay for a while. we got back into our usual morning routine: breakfast, complete with the disney station on pandora, baths, straightening up, nap for kendall, errands, and gosh it felt good. kendall is almost eight months old and only probably half of her life has been consistent with routine. 

she's just so darn cute.

we went out for fhe and brooklyn was stoked because it was to her favorite restaurant. pizza pie cafe. she could eat there every meal. 

we hit up a few story times that we hope to make part of our weekly routine. brooklyn loves the social aspect and really does love the story part.

(this one is at pottery barn kids. isn't the set up darling?)

james didn't have class this week so we got to see him a lot more. the girls love when he's home and he's so good to just take them and entertain them. i almost never have to ask. he just loves to be with them.

we've gotten to know some people in our ward and we even went to a ward activity this weekend. it's nice to get to know people outside of church. i like seeing people in their regular clothes and doing silly things. like the pictured activity below. this was a minute to win it game and i won. my family probably can't believe i even participated, let alone won. but yep, i stacked those bad boys high on my forehead and won that huge trophy. 

brooklyn was stoked about it. she was even more stoked that there was a pinata. shaped like a mustache i might add. she got a turn with the bat to get a good whack at it, and got some candy when one of the older kids broke it open. the night was topped off with ice cream for everyone and we all went home happy.

the most note worthy event of the weekend happened on friday when the holmes crew gathered at the bountiful temple to do my grandma's temple work. haley got to be baptized for her/deven baptized, kayla did the confirmation/trevor confirmed her, whitney did the initiatatory, i got to do the endowment, and my cousins emily and colby got to be proxy for the sealing of my grandparents. it was such a special experience. one i will always be so grateful for. plus, we don't get to see that holmes crew very often so it was a bonus to hang out with them at the temple and then go to do dinner afterward. thank goodness kayla demanded a selfie right outside the temple or we wouldn't have any picture documentation of this special event.

life is good. i am so grateful for the day to day blessings that i enjoy. sometimes during the day, when both girls end up on my lap, i can hardly believe i'm so lucky. so lucky to be a mom of two beautiful healthy girls. so lucky that i have a husband who loves these girls as much as i do, and that he loves me just as much. i am loved. what more could a person want in this life? 

this life of mine is simple, dirty, chaotic, not very glamorous, but gosh it's just good. 

h a p p y  m o n d a y

end of summer.

this weekend was good to us and went by way too quickly. we started it off friday afternoon with a family trip to the ogden temple open house. it's beautiful and james and i can't wait to go back and do a session there. we're so happy for it to be open again.

we ate italian for lunch, farr's ice cream for dessert and then headed home for a family nap. when we woke up, our power went out for about an hour or so. i lit some candles, and yes, i promised myself i'd save this candle until september, but i couldn't help myself. this, mixed with pouring rain, sure made it feel like fall around here. i secretly loved it!

also, this is how brooklyn chose to entertain herself during the outage.

saturday evening we hosted a little end of summer bbq with friends, and even though we ended up eating inside, it sure was fun. we had lots of food and some delicious cookies to top it all off (thanks again jess). 

fun aunt chelsea.

sunday was good. church was good. this little munchkin was good for all three hours. and those legs!

we ended the weekend with s'mores in the backyard with our favorite neighbors. with summer basically over, i couldn't help it but want s'mores one more time. it felt like a formal farewell to summer. although, we'll see how this week goes. 

^^^the 'parade' even came through during our s'mores party.^^^

we love these guys. we've loved summer. and we are more than excited for fall!

h a p p y  m o n d a y 

i get to meet my favorite nephew today! i. can't. wait.

so proud.

remember how it's wedding week? for my sister that is. well, it's in full swing and the rest of the week is going to be crazy busy. Last night was endowment night at the jordan river temple. so awesome to be there with my siblings (minus 1), parents, and grandparents. 

kayla was beautiful in white and i couldn't be more proud of her. i love her and the choices she's making in her life right now. she just glows. maybe that has something to do with her getting married in two days. two days. i can hardly believe it.

we can't wait to make judd an official part of our family. always and forever. that's a long time to be stuck with this weird crew. but i'm guessing my sister is worth it.

afterwards, we stuffed our faces at village inn. i swear nothing makes me more hungry than a session at the temple. why is that? i definitely had to put on my fat pants for the ride home. no joke. i did. food is wonderful and terrible all in the same breath. thank goodness my dress for the wedding is nice and loose. what a wise decision i made there.

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congratulations again kayla. i love you with all my heart and soul and so so proud to be your big sister.

XOXO

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and one more of the happy couple.

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and a HUGE thanks to my baby-est of sisters for watching brooklyn all night long so that james and i could be there for kayla's special day. brooklyn loved getting ice cream and watching movies with you. 

love you hay!

fog and things.

i loved the fog yesterday. i am so sad i didn't take a picture. i honestly loved it. if we can't have snow to make it feel like christmas around here...then fog is the next best thing. 

brooklyn has been getting two new teeth, which in turn has also brought a runny nose, so she was content to watch christmas movies for a while. that was after i dragged her to target. so between feeling a little on the down side and her mom weaning her, i'd say it's been a rough week for her. it breaks my heart and that's all i can say about it.

james and i ended the day at the temple together. it was nice to just drive together and then grab a bite to eat afterwards. we're so thankful for live in babysitters that are willing to watch our little one so that we can do this. we enjoy the time to ourselves to just be husband and wife.

i wished i'd have taken a picture of the temple tonight as well. ooh it was pretty in the fog. so, you'll just have to picture that one in your head.

here's to a nice weekend full of lots of christmas joy, family, and hopefully some snow. not a lot. but just enough to feel christmas-y. ya know?


h a p p y  w e e k e n d i n g 

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.

Blood Orange

I was informed at my dr's appointment today that my due date has been moved up two days, due to the info they received from my 20 wk ultrasound. Not a huge difference, but S W E E T ! I'll take it. Anyway, I've about gained the weight I should by now, she's measuring where she should be, and next appointment...

I get to have my glucose test done.

Super fun.

I chose lemon-lime flavor.

Can't wait.

We bought our first box of these:

(minus the babies)

James was quite shocked to see how much they were. Boy is he in for some suprises down the road. We got them at Costco so it's a big box. 

We got lots of good produce at Sunflower market, including a Blood Orange beverage James wanted to try... looks tasty.

Mondays are a good day to have over with in any week. I can't wait for conference this weekend, and for a family temple trip tonight (with the Ruesches).

Up & Down

i had a hard time trying to give this post a title because my thoughts and emotions are everywhere.

i'm grateful, scared, humbled, hungry, sad, worried, hopeful, glad...

see what i mean.

this past week has been a crazy one with ups and downs.

UP: going to cheesecake factory to celebrate my cousin's birthday in style!

photos = ha ha, one day i'll have an AWESOME camera!

the birthday girl

wow, i look...angry





DOWN: finding out my "adopted" brother has cancer and will be cutting his mission short to come home and receive treatment.

UP: going through the temple with not just 1 but 2 of my cousins for their endowments.the boy cousin, not pictured here.


mackay and i getting a kick outta something

UP: driving to cokeville, wyo and watching another 2 of my cousins in a playoff football game...and they WON!

UP: getting to finally give that "adopted" brother of mine a big hug, look into his eyes, and see faith, strength,and hope.



this week was full of family and friends. i am blessed.