St. George Weekend

This last weekend we took a much needed mini-vacation to St. George and we had a blast! It was fun AND relaxing! I just wish we could do more of these mini-trips, but the fact that they're few and far between makes me appreciate and enjoy them even more.

We were there for two main reasons: 1) To get away and spend time together, and 2) look at condos to potentially buy one for a vacation spot/ investment property. Saturday morning we woke up and laid around our hotel for a while, and then we went SWIMMING! The weather was SO nice down there (unlike up here in Springville/Provo) and it was Rusty's first time to get in a pool. It was so fun! And he looked darn cute in his swim suit!

These pictures were taken with my phone, which is why they're really fuzzy. Oh well.

In between swimming, shopping, resting, and home-viewing, we also went to downtown St. George to visit some of the historic houses and the temple.

The St. George temple is GORGEOUS and it's one of our favorites. It has so much history and it's beautiful on the outside AND the inside. We love visiting this temple.

We also visited the tabernacle, which was also beautiful.

And last, but not least, we visited Brigham Young's Winter Home. It was such a cute house and it was amazing how much of his original furniture they were able to preserve. You'll notice that his house has green trim... apparently when they were building the temple they ordered white paint. Well, when they got the paint, it was green! Brigham Young obviously didn't want green paint in the temple, so he let anyone that wanted some green paint that it was free for the taking! Needless to say, there's quite a few houses with green trim to this day. :)

Rusty did AWESOME on this trip! He never cried on the long tip there or back, which was amazing, and he was such a good sport about driving around town looking at real estate. At the beginning of the trip he was mostly awake and alert and fun to dress up:

... But towards the end of the trip, he was more like this:

He continues to be such a joy to have in our family and it's hard to remember what it was like without him! Even though our trips with him aren't romantic and intimate, they're just so fun and entertaining! He makes us laugh constantly and he amazes us every day with how much he's growing and learning. We just love him! Here are a few random pictures that I thought I'd sneak in:

I HAD to include this picture!! We died laughing when we saw the outcome... what a silly, little man!

He couldn't see me, so he got sad. :(

*sigh* I just love him!!!

Rusty's Blessing Day

Our sweet, baby Rusty was blessed by Russ on Sunday, May 2. Russ gave the sweetest blessing and Rusty was a trooper! I was worried because earlier that morning he was a little fussy, but he had a short nap and woke up right before I handed him to Russ, so he was a happy baby through it all. It was a different story after he was passed around to everyone during sacrament meeting, but he was fine after I brought him home for a little mommy time. :) He's kind of fond of me. ha ha!

My cousin, Kelli, gave me the great idea of taking pictures of getting Rusty ready, which I'm so thankful for! I never would have thought of that! I just wish he was a little bit happier through the pictures...

After church we had a small luncheon with all of the family and friends that came. We counted just over 50 people that came to the blessing... we took up the first six rows of the chapel! ha ha! Thanks, to everyone who came!!

This is my side of the family that came: my cousin, Kristi, and her family, Russ and I, my mom and Rusty, my cousin, Marci (in the back), my cousin, Kelli, and her son, Gavin, my brother, Zach, my sister, Caitlin, my step-dad, John, and my Aunt Gaile. My Grandpa and Uncle Steven aren't in this one... it's hard for my Grandpa to get around these days.

All of the girls!

The Mills family- Brandon, Tyler, Gary, Russ, Rusty, me, McKenzie, Becky, and Haley. I absolutely LOVE this family! I used to nanny for this family for a few years and we're still extremely close. :)

Russ, Rusty, and I.

Me and my sweet baby.

The Russell clan! Grandpa Rusty (who Rusty is named after, obviously), Rusty, and Russ. That's a mouthful! ha ha!

Rusty loves his Grandpa Rusty! Isn't it obvious with those big eyes? ha ha!

Grandma Robin, Russ' mom. He really does love her, too, he's just choosing to be funny with those crazy eyebrows. :)

That's more like it. :)

He looks like an old man in this picture. He's still so cute, though!!

 Russ' Aunty Tammy made his outfit... I THINK it's supposed to be a short-sleeved outfit with pants, not shorts, but they're definitely shorts on him! What a big kid!

Starting to get cranky... Uh, oh!

All right.. I'm done. Sheesh! ;)

Well, okay, ALMOST done! What a sleepy baby after a really long day.

How can you not love these chubby cheeks?? I can't even begin to tell you how many kisses he got on each cheek! They're just so kissable!!

All in all, it was a successful, fun, and very memorable day. :)

Happy Birthday, Russ!!

Russ turned 26 yesterday, April 15 -- Great day to have your birthday, huh? Nothing like having it on the same day as the day that taxes are due. He was pretty sad about getting a year older, but he came out of that funk after I ballooned/decorated his car while he was at work, then he came home to a decorated house, then he won his softball game, and then we came home and had Pier 49 pizza (yummy!) and his favorite cake-- Spice Cake! Our good friend, Hailey, was nice enough to make him cheesecake cupcakes with diced strawberries!! They were SO good! Thanks, Hailey!!! We had a lot of fun. His sister, Brittany, came down from Draper, and my brothers, Jeremy and Colten, and my sister-in-law, Cassie, were there to celebrate with us, as well.

Russ and my brother, Jeremy, won their game: 21 to 8. It was a great game and we even dressed Rusty up in his baseball outfit that sports our last name and Russ' number on the back. It was really cute and we got some cute pictures of Russ and Rusty together.

Happy birthday, babe! We love you!!

Love,

Rusty and Brie

Happy Easter!!

Easter this year was so fun! Mostly because we now have a little baby to celebrate with... we can't wait until he's old enough to really enjoy holidays like this, but we really enjoy HIM, so it all works out. :) We got to watch General Conference today, which was amazing, and then we went to my family's house to have a BIG Easter Sunday lunch/dinner. My family is big on playing games, but unfortunately we didn't get to do that yesterday because my brother, Zach, came down with the flu and we had to leave so we wouldn't get sick, too. Get better, Zach! Regardless, it was a great Easter Sunday and we had a lot of fun.

ha ha! I took out his binky to try and capture a good picture of him not crying, but this is what I got... wow.

And this is how the day ended... "Enough pictures, okay, mom!?!?" Okay, okay... I'm done. :)

Hope you all had a great Easter!!

1 Month Old

I can't believe my baby is already a month old today! Time has REALLY flown by! Now I know what other moms mean when they say that kids grow up so fast because they totally do! And he's getting so big! I'm anxious to see how much weight he's gained and how much he's grown at our next appointment next month... I love that he's getting older and bigger, but at the same time it makes me sad thinking that he won't be a baby for much longer, especially at this rate!

Milestones so far:

1)He definitely knows when mom's around by smell and most definitely by voice. It's so fun watching his head turn when I walk into a room or when I sneak up on him when someone else is holding him. It makes me feel really special. :)

2) He's started seeing things a little farther away now, which is fun. Whenever we put him in his swing or crib, it's fun watching his eyes get big as he's looking at the decorations on his bumper and at the little rotating animals that are above his swing.

3) He's recently started cooing... It is the cutest thing in the world! He has such a small voice to begin with (his cry sounds like a kittens!), but his cooing is so soft and sweet... I LOVE IT!

4) He's started holding my hand when I nurse him, which I absolutely love. The whole nursing-bonding experience is amazing and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

We fall more and more in love with him every day and it's so fun watching him grow and start to have a personality. He's still a very mellow baby, which we love, and he's started staying awake a little more during the day, so it's fun to play with him and get him to ALMOST smile. He's SO CLOSE to smiling, you can tell, but he just can't quite get there! He laughs and smiles EVERY TIME he's falling asleep, so we can't wait for him to do those things while he's AWAKE.

He's such a great baby and is making being a mom so fulfilling. I just love him. :)