My hero. My icon. The woman who made things possible for me and millions of women, and men. Who made sure I was able to do anything I wanted with my life.

Ruth is truly one of my greatest heroes. Her partnership with Marty is what I aspire for. Her passion for helping the voiceless is something I share. Her commitment to family motivates me. I want to be more like her. We should all want to be more like her.

She worked harder than anyone I know. She gave more than anyone I know. Up until her dying day, she was fighting to make our world better.

I’ll cry now. And then get to work to keep the legacy she gave me.

Needed some nature after a hard day.

Summer is officially done. We had our last day at Cherry Hill after the crazy windstorm, but it was really sad. The kids have had so much fun playing there this summer and we will miss it.

Graham went from not wanting to go down the big slides and being so afraid to BEGGING to go on the Dragon Slides the whole time and swimming by himself with his life jacket. He’s progressed SO much and has been so brave and willing to try new things. I COULD NOT be more proud of him!

He’s also such a ham hahaha.

We went back to church for the first time in six months! Graham wore his Buzz mask the whole time and did such a good job. Our ward is being so careful and safe and I’m so grateful.

We also stopped by the temple to talk about 3rd Nephi and it was really beautiful to gather there.

Graham loves singing songs (Skina-marink, Mr. Ray’s song from Finding Nemo, If All The Rain Drops, I Am A Child Of God), he’s getting good at naming colors, is obsessed with pushing his baby stroller, loves trains and cars, wants to read the same books over and over, always asks “how was your meeting?” after I’m on a call, tells us to stop being mean or asks us if we understand, and wants to hold my hand before bed. He’s the sweetest kid in the universe and I’m so obsessed with him.

It’s been a weird and wonderful summer and I’m excited to see what the fall brings.

My birthday this year was CRAZY. I had a delicious breakfast in bed, got some awesome presents from the best family and friends, but then the WIND! The windstorm ruined all our plans to go on a hike, to the aquarium, and even go out to eat! But we made the best of it! I had a super relaxed day, we ordered in some delicious food, and watched my favorite shows, and I didn’t have to work!

So even though it didn’t quite go as planned, it was still a fantastic day.

I’m just feeling so grateful for what this year has given me. So much confidence, great friendships, a husband and son I adore, so much time with family, a job I love, things I’m passionate about, and more. I just can’t wait for another great year!

August is ending. I can’t believe it. We’ve had the best summer but I’m honestly ready for fall. I am nervous if it gets colder that we won’t be able to spend as much time outside, but it’ll be ok. I love fall weather and I am pumped for the change in the seasons.

We’ve been spending as much time as we can at Cherry Hill, Graham is getting SO good at wearing his mask, we’ve been making yummy food as always, and spending time with family and friends when we can.

We went to the zoo with friends and it was SO fun! Graham LOVED it and was obsessed with all the animals. He wore his mask like champ, loved walking around and riding in the stroller, and of course was obsessed with the train that we rode.

I’m so excited to see what the fall will bring and hope it means less coronavirus and strife.

I can’t believe summer is winding down. Kids are going back to school and I just can’t believe how fast it flew by.

We said goodbye to my brother and his family which was sad, Graham loved spending time with his cousins and we will miss them!

We spent the week playing with cousin Mel, learning colors, going to Cherry Hill (Graham is SO obsessed. We’re in trouble when it closes! Also this week we helped Graham and Mel learn how to hold hands and it was PRECIOUS. They kept wanting to hold hands everywhere and even when Mel was over it, Graham kept trying to make her hold his hand haha. We explained that if someone says no, you need to stop!), eating fresh peaches, reading Little Blue Truck a thousand times, doing crafts (Graham and I made pipe cleaner butterflies and he and Dad made a little August book), having nerf gun wars, and enjoying treats. Saturday we had a bunch of errands to run and had to return something to Home Depot. Graham is getting SO good at wearing his mask so we all went inside together for the few minutes to do the return. The super nice worker gave Graham a Home Depot apron and the kid’s craft! He and Randy had a BLAST putting together his little locker. So cute.

This week also marked the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote. 100 years ago we made a huge step forward. Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Elizabeth Cary Stanton and thousands of other women used their voices to make change.
100 years ago some women were finally given the right to vote.
But it would take 45 more years for all women to get the right to vote. And more years after that for laws to be removed that stood in the way of women of color voting.
And today there are still obstacles in place that make it difficult for many women, particularly women of color, to have their voices heard.
So today I’m so insanely grateful for the women who have come before me, and done the hard work to make change. I’m grateful for women today like Michelle Obama, Kamala Harris, Jill Biden, Malala Yousafzai, my mom, sisters, and friends who are continuing to make strides for ALL women.
Today I’m so grateful for the rights I have. And I’m rolling up my sleeves and getting to work to continue fighting for every, single woman to get the things they deserve.
The future is female.

We have been having the time of our lives here! We’ve been enjoying so much time with my family, social distancing together. Randy is a favorite with the kids, building trains with them and pretty much doing whatever they ask! We’ve played games and eaten so much yummy food, played in the water out side, played on the swings (Graham got a little foot in the face from one swinging incident but he’s ok!) and CAMPING.

My parents have a big beautiful RV and we took it up to Idaho for a fun camping trip. The kids had a blast running around, playing in the dirt and moving their chairs around to sit. We had to rope off the areas so they knew where to go and not go and it actually worked super well!

We hiked, ate caramel corn, played games, had smores and cake, roasted hot dogs and really just had such a blast. Getting there was a small hiccup, we had to turn around and meet my grandpa to deliver one of our car keys back to our landlord to move our car. And then a Jeep almost rolled while we were almost to the campsite, so Randy hopped out to help, but other than that it was smooth sailing! It was so fun just to escape with the family for a few days.

Randy was also pretty into working with the fire and found this amazing stick that was perfect for moving wood and stirring everything so it was burning well. He fell in love with that stick hahaha we even did a little photo shoot of him with it at the end.

We’re lucky and so sad that our family is heading home now, but we can’t wait to all be together again soon.

Only a few more weeks of summer—I’m not sure where the time went really. We’re sad but hope that fall will bring some new adventures and fun times, and hopefully more coronavirus help and a chance to get more back to normal.

I blinked and it is AUGUST. I’m not sure how it happened! We’ve been in pure bliss mode with cousins to hang out with all the time. We spend so much time at my moms playing around and letting the kids have a great time together. We’ve all been really careful to social distance around others so we keep each other safe.

We’ve fed the ducks and the kids loved laying in the grass, we’ve been having art class where we’ve learned about Jackson Pollock and Van Gogh, we play at my grandparent’s house (Grammy and Grampy to the kids) and that has be SO sweet and fun. And we’ve just loved being all together. And we’ve had game night with the adults complete with the great cookie tasteoff where we ordered SO many cookies and tried them all, which was super delicious and fun.

In the middle of the coronavirus crazy it’s been so great to have time with family. We miss my sister on a mission but we get to facetime her and that’s been super awesome. I’m so glad Graham gets to have such good friendships with all his cousins!

We have been having so much fun with cousins! We masked up and went to meet brand new Bentley (Randy’s brother’s new baby) and he is SO sweet. Graham was SO obsessed with him and kept asking to hold him, talking to him so sweetly. He also loved seeing cousin Charlotte and eating cookies with her!

My brother and his family came to Utah for a few weeks and we’ve also been having a blast hanging out with them. We haven’t seen them in a while and it’s nice to break up our social distancing by spending some time with family! We’re all avoiding other people and trying to stay as smart as possible, and it’s nice to have new people to see and hang out with.

We’ve been staying busy working, trying to make new recipes, doing art lessons (Last week it was pointilism with Seurat,) music class, playing at Cherry Hill (last week Graham was actually begging to go down the Dragon Slide which was a SHOCK because he’s usually so afraid!)

We’re still loving home church, I’m running a ton, and we’re just having a great time.

We potty trained Graham! It’s been insane but also SO good and worthwhile!

We chose to do the method where Graham ran around for 2 days with nothing on – no diaper, no underwear, nothing. It was exhausting but I really think it helped him get the hang of it. We had stickers and M&Ms and the chance for a new toy and some really cool character underwear! Buzz Lightyear to the rescue as always.

We’ve been reading tons and tons of books, playing at Cherry Hill, playing with cousin Mel, seeing uncles while they are still close by, and more.

Graham is getting super into reading lately, he loves having us read books and he loves to pretend to read while we read too. It’s adorable!

He’s super in to singing Mr. Ray’s “Let’s Name The Zones” song from Finding Nemo. He’s been getting so brave at Cherry Hill, actually asking to go down the big slides and I’m so proud of him! Also, I swear it’s because he is singing the Mr. Ray song!!! It’s actually adorable.

We are doing music class online, and together we are doing art class (We’ve learned about Monet and the Lascaux cave), we have a fun scripture hero every week which is so fun and helps him learn. We’re really having a super fun summer even with all the craziness.

Graham is growing up too fast, he’s getting so sweet, and I’m just so grateful he’s mine.

We had such a fun 4th of July! I made homemade biscuits but did too much baking powder so they tasted bitter:/ luckily we had gravy and hash browns and eggs too! And of course watching Hamilton for the 2nd time (Graham is obsessed with it, it’s too cute!)

We spent the day at my mom’s house, playing outside in the pool and sprinklers, swinging, doing parachutes and pop-its, eating burgers and cookies, making popcorn and playing games, and then watching fireworks with two sleepy kids! It was weird not to go to the parade and the big firework show, but it was a great time.

Things are strange with COVID, but it’s nice to take a step back and be spending more time just at home or with family. It makes you grateful for the things you have and the things you miss.

As we celebrate Independence Day this year, I’ve been thinking about all the ideals of our country and how far we have left to go. I’m grateful for all we’ve gone through and for all the sacrifices people have made to get us here. And I’m ready for the work we have ahead and willing to do my part to make this country a place where everyone feels safe and welcome. We have a great tradition in our country to fight and work to make things better. That’s work worth celebrating.