to Grandmothers house we go...

We had such a great time with Grandpa and Grandma Rueckert that we decided to follow them home to Maryland for a Rueckert Family Reunion! We had family pictures taken, and the kids were rewarded with Popsicles when we thought it was all over...then mormor realized she wanted a picture with all her grandchildren. It turned out adorable.
Mormor

The Rueckert Men
Ben (B.inLaw), Grandpa Dean, Dave (brother), Chris & Dan (B.inLaw)

Chris & his beautiful sisters!

Sarah (younger) Elise (older) Linda (middle younger) & Amanda (baby)I don't have any of the 'whole family' pictures that we had taken, but when I get them I'll post them...hopefully there are good one's considering we don't all get together that often...it's hard when we live in Maryland, Boston, North Carolina, California & Utah!

Our Little Family

Playtime with Aunt Amanda

I remember LOVING hanging around with my older cousin Di, it's so fun that Brielle has a 16 year old Aunt. She LOVES hanging around her, they had so much fun together--painting fingernails, going to a painting place (like color me mine), going shopping, playing dolls, watching movies...we love Aunt Amanda!

Crab Feast

No trip to Maryland would be complete without a crab feast...unfortunately it's pretty much just the Rueckert kids that are crazy about spending $170 on crabs! I almost died when I found out how much they cost...it is SO much work to eat them (they were eating for 3 hours) and you hardly even get any meat--not to mention it is SUPER messy! However, this bunch thought it was awesome!

Brielle & Claire
(her ONLY girl cousin on either side)
SnoBalls & grandpa's 11 grand kiddos
For some bizarre reason SnoCones are called SnoBalls in Maryland...
Crazy Tongue Tricks

Brielle & Johnny have the same 'talent'! Water Balloon Fight
Uncle Chris was every one's favorite TARGET...I can't imagine why! Mary Poppins
We went into DC to see the Broadway musical, Mary Poppins. It was great, Brielle & I loved it! Mary Poppins is such a great story! I love that my kiddo's love it too...almost everyday when Deano goes potty he runs around with his pants around his ankles saying "I'm a penguin! Sissy, you be Mary Poppins"

Baltimore
We went to Baltimore to visit Uncle Dave at work. He works for a company that lays telecommunication cables on the ocean floor. We got to take a tour of one of the cable ships and have lunch on it too.

Chris & Dave spent 5 days working on Dave's new house. One of the things they did was hang all the drywall--which is ironic because that is the one thing that Chris has hired someone else to do (both times we've needed drywall)! It was hard work but they did good job & atleast they got to spend a little time together!
Fort McHenry
We also visited Fort McHenry, the birthplace of The Star Spangled Banner

Washington DC
Grandma, Max, Brielle, Deano & Oliver
We went to DC with Grandpa & Grandma, Uncle Dave, Aunt Tiffany, Max & Oliver! It was an exciting trip because we took the metro downtown (rather than fight the traffic)...that might have been the highlight for the kids!Smithsonian
We visited the Air & Space, American History (Dorothy's ruby slippers) & the Natural History Museums.
Chris & I really wanted to visit the Holocaust Museum, but it was closing...maybe next time. Another fun thing about our trip to DC was that one of my best friends from college (who lives in DC) came to meet us & introduce us to her fiance ...too bad we did not take a picture!

Capitol Building
By the end of the day we were all exhausted! Poor Chris had to carry both kids back to the metro...I kind of wished he could carry me too!

I realized on the way home that we had spent 4 Sunday's in a row with Chris' parents...that must be a record! We don't get to see them nearly as much as we'd like and this was by far the most time in a row we've had with them since we got married. Chris sometimes feels sad because he only gets to see his family once or twice a year (I can't imagine how tough that would be), so it was such a blessing for all of us to have so much time together...my kid's adore their Grandpa, Grandma & Aunt Amanda! I feel so blessed to have great in laws, they are wonderful examples to us and always make me feel like I am the greatest thing that ever happened to their son (which isn't always the case w/in laws)!

We had a great time...but we were exhausted by the time we got home!

Six Years Old!!!!

It is hard to believe it's been 6 years since this bright little star entered our life! Brielle is such a sweet girl and we all adore her. We kicked off her birthday with breakfast at Magleby's Fresh (her favorite breakfast spot) and then we fed the ducks our leftover french toast. I worked all day (which she loves b/c that means she spent the day at Nana's) and then we went to dinner with my parents. We let her pick the restaurant and she chose a Thai restaurant that we go to occasionally...we thought it was such a funny choice for a 6 year old...maybe she just wanted to take a picture with this statue!

Cruisin'

Deano learned to ride a two wheeler last week (ironic that Brielle learned this summer too)! He first went out with chris and then grandpa Dean helped him perfect his skills all week long. It was special that grandpa got to help, considering he lives on the other side of the country.

Brielles Birthday Week!

We LOVE our Birthday Weeks (we like to stretch it out as long as possible)...and Brielle's 6th has just begun! Sunday we had a little family dinner with Chris' parents and my parents....I even made a Barbie cake!
Monday afternoon we had Brielle's birthday party at Classic Roller Skating, because it is one of her favorite places! She insisted that she needed to wear her poodle skirt--which looked adorable with her roller skates!

She had lots of cute little friends come to help her celebrate!

We rented the "DJ room" which meant we had a disco ball, music system, microphone etc. Grandpa Dean decided to grab the mic and sing a little birthday song to Brielle.

She really wanted a "Roller Skating Cake" which is not really an easy thing to do...so I bought fondant and made my own Roller Skate!

Things were going great...Brielle was having such a wonderful time!

Then she fell...and split her chin open!
We took her to the emergency room...where she got 10 stitches! She was SO brave, she did not cry at all while they numbed her or stitched her! When we got back home she told me "Mom, this was not really the best birthday party ever," which made me so sad...hopefully she'll forget about it (leaving her party early and getting stitches) and remember how much fun she was having before she got hurt...but probably not! Luckily today was not her real birthday so maybe I can turn things around and make it the best birthday ever!

I love this little birthday girl...stitches and all! She is the light in our lives!

Pioneer Day

We went to the Provo Pioneer Day Celebration on the 24th of July. It was HOT HOT HOT but we still had a great time. We toured the museum and pioneer homes...and Brielle even got a pioneer bonnet (thanks Grandma)! Brielle LOVES her Aunt Amanda! Deano had fun playing this pioneer game with his Grandpa Dean and Brielle got to try grinding corn. It was a great way to spend the 24th. I love when they have these kind of activities because it is such a fun/hands on way for my kids to learn about the pioneers!

Germans & Swedes

I LOVE this picture! It is the cutest group of Germans & swedes I've ever seen (Chris' mom is from Sweden and his dads ancestry is all German). Brielle & Dean have been spoiled all week with Grandpa & Grandma Rueckerts undivided attention! It has been so wonderful having them stay with us! A lot of people claim to have wonderful in laws but I'm pretty sure that mine are some of the greatest...after staying with us for over a week, I can genuinely say I'll be sad to see them leave (good thing we are going to Maryland soon). They are sweet & loving, and I appreciate them so much!

Deanos little leg's looked so cute, I just wanted to eat him up! Both of these outfit's were mine when I was young!

FotoFly Photo Studio

A friend of ours works at a new Photography studio in Draper - FotoFly, she asked us to come up before they opened because they wanted to do some practice photo shoots. The studio is beautiful (great backdrops), they have fantastic props (not that we used them) and the best part is they charge you for the sitting then give you a CD of the pictures & the copyright.This one (below) is one of my favorite's because Deano is watching his sissy (whom he adores)but he also has 'that' mischievous look in his eye (that we see ALL the time). Brielle looks like the 'little miss perfect' that she is (most of the time)!

They are such little buddies...we're always amazed how they turn to each other for comfort (when they get in trouble) and defend one another...yet drive each other crazy sometimes!

To say that Deano was 'difficult' would be an understatement...he lasted about 15 minutes and then he was 'done'! Not to mention, every time they told him to say "cheese" or "Mom's funny" or whatever he'd get all silly! Taking pictures of a 2 year old is not an easy task but I can't help but want to kiss this little face every time I get close to it! I could just eat him up!