The Day I Met Reese

Last weekend I caught a flight to Kalispell to see my family and to finally meet my brand new niece. Maybe I am prejudiced as she is my sister's baby, but I think Reese is beyond beautiful... she is exceptionally cute and just the sweetest little one. I knew we'd be best friends the second our eyes met.

I had three-months worth of goodies to give Reese and mommy - how can we pass baby girl clothing and NOT buy it?! (please someone help!) Reese enjoyed all of her gifts, especially the BYU pink/white baseball cap that Tessa and I couldn't pass up when we were at the bookstore last month.

I had such a fun time with the girls - Taryn and Mom are great companions! We basically did nothing... except hang out with each other and watch Dean play baseball. He had a junior legion tournament and it was great to watch him in action. Reese is a cutie, but Dean is still the ultimate mush to me. I can't believe that he is a sophomore. Dad, Mom and I worked the concession stand for a while and made a lot of fun out of it. I had my camera out all weekend and must have taken hundreds of shots, but especially at the game... so many photo-ops... we kept asking people to take pictures of us, and I took many (many!) pictures of Reese in various poses, the stands probably thought I'd never seen a baby before. annoying? who cares.

Reese is so tiny, look at her! such expressive eyebrows!

Saturday night mom hosted a party for the graduating seniors in the ward, and Taryn got to practice more of her culinary genius. She raises the bar with every event! For the special occasion, Reese had just the thing... a casual but preppy and appropriate party dress. Here she is before the big event. (taryn and I hoped that by dressing reese so cute, guests would be diverted from the fact that we didn't 'get ready' ourselves - it totally worked)


Sunday it was church and then more leisure time with baby Reese. I put her in the baby Bjorn and it was off to water all of the container planting we had done the day before. Reese loved learning about all kinds of flowers and plants and the tricks of watering... she paid great attention :) We had so much fun together over the weekend. Here were some of the highlights for me:

...
meeting Reese
seeing taryn as a mom, just as perfect as I expected she'd be
watching my parents with the baby, as grandparents, ahh!
playing with Reese
seeing Dean hit an awesome line drive for a base hit
cracking up with dad while he watched Blazing Saddles
planting pots with my mom
laughing with Reese (yes, she laughs!)
packing only jammies and wearing my mom's clothes all weekend
eating Taryn's yummy cupcake treats
laughing with taryn and mom, and dean, and dad, (okay! all y'all!)
beautiful Montana weather and late sunsets
playing dress-up with Reese and giving her new nicknames almost on the hour

...

Reese - with the custom rhinestone binky I made

here we are before I left, Reese woke up for the send-off with the craziest hair!

I cannot wait to see Reese again. Just when I thought I was becoming less baby crazy, I had to meet one of the most precious and perfect little babies. I think Ben may be in a bit of trouble...

La Jolla weekend

We had a fantastic time in California last weekend. Ben and I flew down with my mom on Thursday (SLC was getting snow as we left) and went straight to the beach for the sunset. Just flying into the city put a smile on my face. Ahh!
Friday we picked up Lindsey and went to the temple. What an experience. It is more beautiful inside than you can imagine. It was great to be there. The rest of the day we spent at the Beach Club in La Jolla. It brings back so many memories and it was great to tour Ben all around the town and tell him lots (too many?) of stories from when we lived there.
We met Mike and Dad and had dinner at Piatti at La Jolla shores. So delicious - and great company.
Saturday the boys played a round of golf with Ashton and his dad at the San Diego Country Club, so the girls took the opportunity to hit the beach again. We spent the whole day with Lacey at the Beach Club... what a treat.
No trip to La Jolla is complete without dinner at Mandarin House... popcorn shrimp and cashew chicken to die for! Ben and I met up with my parents and a group of their friends from the 7th ward... such a fun get together. I used to babysit their kids, and that night they were filling me in on their weddings, college graduations, etc... wow how time flies. We did a 'musical chairs' dinner and had a great time catching up with everyone.
After church on Sunday we checked out of 'Hotel Brazier' and went to Coronado for two nights. Coronado island is one of the coolest little places. (to remind Ben where we were I told him "this is the bridge that Will Ferrel kicked that dog from in Anchorman...)
The golf tournament began early Monday morning and the boys had a great time I think! Dad invited Ben to play in his group - who can complain about playing at the SDCC, for charity, with free goodies and food at almost every hole?? Mom and Lacey and I walked a few holes with them and got our share as well. The Billy Casper Foundation does a wonderful event every year with a golf tournament followed by a dinner and auction. We had a really fun time at dinner and were even treated by a performance from the local showchoir. Talk about flashbacks!
We had such a fun weekend, with Lacey and Ashton, Mom and Dad, Lindsey and Mike!