EASTER AND THE TULIP FESTIVAL

Oh I love the Spring time. And Spring in Utah is always so beautiful. I love the rain, the green, General Conference, Easter.  Last Easter was the first time that Henry was old enough to really do an Easter egg hunt and actually get the concept of it. We kept it pretty simple. So cute to watch the little man find them and put them in his bucket. Babes make any holiday so much fun.

    

       

 

TULIP FESTIVAL

During my second year at BYU I worked at a little cafe called the Trellis at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens. It was the cutest little restaurant that served amazing soups, sandwiches and salads. Not only was the food great but the location was amazing. I’m pretty sure I worked in the most beautiful spot in Utah County. The balcony of the cafe overlooked the gardens and I just loved being there everyday. Every spring they plant thousands of tulips for the Tulip Festival. I had a chance to go while I worked there but hadn’t been back since. Every Spring I hoped we’d make it there but it never happened until last Spring. I was dying to see the flowers and I knew Henry would love running around and exploring. We met Adam and Carley and my parents there and spent a seriously pleasant afternoon wandering through the place. I knew Mckay was going only to make me happy, so I let him rent a Segway and he could not have been happier. As for myself I was in heaven. Prepare yourself for a lot of flower pictures.

 

 

 

 

     

    

   

ADAM MARRIES CARLEY AND HENRY DISCOVERS DISNEYLAND

In my previous post I mentioned that the next big event was baby girl arriving in May. What was I thinking? I completely forgot about March, which included an epic wedding and Henry’s first trip to Disneyland. Are you kidding me?! Best. Month. Ever. And a few other fun Spring events. Thanks to Instagram I was reminded of these fun times. So this post will be dedicated to Adam and Carley and their love :) as well as one of our greatest loves, California.

We took the trip to California as an opportunity to visit the Greenwoods in Carlsbad, they are always so wonderful to let us stay. We drove out a few days early so we could enjoy the beach, the food and the family. We were also able to visit the San Diego Zoo and Disneyland.

   

   

 

 

Disneyland by itself is amazing. But with a toddler? MAGICAL. Even though he probably wont remember this trip we most definitely will. Cant wait to go back again. and again.

My little brother Adam found the most perfect girl to marry. We loved her from the beginning and when they got engaged we were ecstatic. Carley and her mother put almost the entire thing together. Lots of major creativity and DIY projects that only she could come up with. The end result was the most perfect day; a beautiful sealing in the Newport Temple and an incredibly fun reception that was vintage, charming and so much fun.

THE PAST YEAR AND A HALF IN RYTTINGLAND

 

Trying to update this poor blog on all our family’s happenings since September (2012!) is quite a daunting task; especially considering how much life has changed for us over the last year. To tell the truth I don’t know where to start. I should just jump ahead to what we’re up to in 2014 but for the sake of trying to keep a complete family journal, I feel I need to try and at least do a quick (and hopefully brief) update of some of the major highlights.

                                                  SEPTEMBER 2012

We left off in September having just come back from a truly perfect family vacation. We made the most of the end of Summer by taking a trip to our beloved Lerfa Lodge. We always love the time we spend up there with family, relaxing, talking, eating, playing games and going on drives and hikes. It’s especially fun for Henry to roam around and explore. The leaves were just barely starting to change and it was so beautiful.

                                               OCTOBER 2012

In October we found out I was pregnant (HOORAY)! We were a little surprised and so so excited! We also took two fun family vacations. First was to Idaho Falls to visit Chris, JJ and Marty. We always have fun visiting them, and seriously family is the only thing that would get us to go to Idaho! Really it’s not that bad. And we surprised our families with our exciting news so that was fun.

                 

 

This was our second time visiting Yosemite. Since it was October the park was relatively empty of crowds. It was also fun to see the park at a different time of year! We missed the waterfalls but the changing leaves were beautiful. Yosemite holds a special place in our hearts, we have so many great memories there.

                                      DECEMBER 2012-CHRISTMAS TIME

Christmas in Utah is always fun. Nutcracker, Christmas Concert, Fondue with friends and this year we rode a horse drawn carriage through the Christmas lights at Thanksgiving Point.  We had our favorite Jacobs Christmas weekend in Salt Lake but major pregnancy sickness sort of put a damper on the weekend for us. Christmas itself however, was magical. Our Henry makes everything so special and fun.

                                            

                                                             JANUARY 2013

             

                                                  FEBRUARY 2013

With February comes Henry’s 2nd Birthday! At the time he was really into ocean animals, specifically sharks and whales. One of our earlier nicknames for Henry had been “baby shark” so we thought an Ocean themed party would be an appropriate way to celebrate. We had lots of family show up, which we were so grateful for. And Henry was completely spoiled, no surprise there. I had a lot of fun cooking and crafting for this party but it did burn me out a little and I fear his 3rd birthday might be a far more simple affair.

 

The next big event that took place in our family was the birth of our sweet baby girl three months later in May. An even that special deserves its own post entirely so we’ll save that for next time.