2011 Christmas cards

Warning!! There are a LOT of pictures in this post. 

I got the idea from a friend's blog to put up pictures from our Christmas card photo shoot. I love seeing these pictures and our family together. My sister Mae captured some sweet moments. Of course, we had a little rough start. Sadie would NOT take her fingers out of her mouth (she LOVES those two fingers).

But she eventually warmed up, with a little help from her daddy. I love this picture. You can really see how much this man loves his little girl.

 And he loves, LOVES, to tickle her. If you hear her laugh, you'd want to tickle her too, just to hear her laugh again. Its pure joy in a laugh.

Of course, there are the boys. These boys and their dad are three of my favorite people in all the universe. 

Especially when they get their goofy on!

 Sadie and I couldn't resist a little goofiness too.

 But I really live for the kisses...

 and hugs...

 a few more kisses and...

 that means the Christmas season is off to a good start!

We hope you all had a JOYful Christmas season!

a burglary and some cookies

We got home from church today and our neighbors across the street had a cop car parked infront of their house. We proceeded to just get everyone inside and the normal post-church routine of changing clothes because they were headed to my parent's home to spend the afternoon (one of their favorite Sunday activities...and maybe its nice for me too). Our neighbor crosses the street to let Steve and I know what had happened - they had been burglarized! Someone had broken in through a window and rifled through their things. After we were done talking with our neighbors we went into the house and Ethan began telling Steve and I how concerned and saddened he was for our neighbors. He got the idea (from my dad) that he could do something nice for them and take them something. I told him we could make some cookies and deliver them but that he would have to stay home with me and make them but I would take him over to my parent's house afterwards. He thought for a minute and then said that's what he wanted to do. We pulled out my recipes and made some chocolate chip bars after Luke and Sadie had left. He helped mix and break eggs and measure flour. We haven't really baked together because I have little patience with it. I rarely go into the kitchen for leisurely baking but this time there was no one else demanding my time and I was thankful to have that experience with Ethan. The cookies finished and we walked across the street to deliver our treats. Ethan let me know his legs were shaky on our walk across the street and that I was to be the mouthpiece and he would deliver. He's such a funny guy. Needless to say, our neighbors were touched and appreciated the gesture. We walked away and Ethan told me he had a warm feeling all over. What can I say? As a mom this was one of those priceless moments. I knew I had to get it down in writing. I love you, Ethan!! Thank you for being sensitive to the Spirit and following through, that was a great lesson to me.

Construction updates

This is for those of you who can't come over and check out the construction updates.

Our new floors in the master bedroom, living room and hallway. I love sweeping floors instead of steam cleaning carpets all the time!

Our master bedroom. We still need curtains and closet doors but thats cosmetic for now.

The master bathroom 

The new paint colors in the dining room.

Christmas in Sundance, UT

Our trip to Utah was a blast! I have been dying to go back ever since returning home. We loved the snow and the cabin and everything in between. On our drive up we actually got snow in Cedar City. So we had to pull over and drain the water from our windshield spray to put in some good snow resistant spray. I do have to admit, I don't love driving in snow but this storm wasn't as bad as I've driven in before...and Steve was driving so perfect for me!

I had to take this picture of all the hair gloriousness going on in the car! It was all over the place.

Our first activity, once we got to Sundance, was the North Pole express train ride. It wasn't the best start to our trip but we tried to make the best out of it.

And Santa visited so that was cool.

My favorite part of the trip was snowboarding and the skiing lesson my boys got to do. They did an awesome job skiing! This is Luke in the center of the picture, practicing his pizza pie stance he was taught in his lesson. Ethan actually got to go down the big slope with his Uncle Clay after his lesson. Pretty brave!

Spending a morning on the slopes was the perfect Christmas Eve for me. And I got to see NieNie and Robert Redford, that was kind of cool.

Of course, who can forget Christmas morning and all the presents? Many happy faces...

but my favorite reaction was this one. He was thrilled. Guess Santa got it right? The kids actually slept in until about 7am, which was shocking! The morning before they had all woken up at 4am (which would have been 3am our time).

Christmas Day we headed up to Temple Square after visiting with some old friends in Orem. We were only at Temple Square long enough to get this picture and then everyone decided they were done. Sadie needed a bathroom and everything was closed because it was a Sunday. The boys were too cold to be happy about anything else. So we headed over to visit my grandma and warm.

An out of place picture, the kids getting ready for their ski lesson.

We also went to Solider Hollow and went tubing. Sadie's favorite part was the tow rope. She sat in her tube, singing songs or waving at cousins.

Steve got to go with us this time (didn't make it skiing because of his back) so we were all pretty happy about that.

I love playing in the snow! It was an awesome trip and I wouldn't mind making it a tradition. I love me a white Christmas.

To be thankful...

I love Thanksgiving but the highlight of this year's celebration were the poems Ethan and Luke memorized for the school assembly. The assembly was so full of the Thanksgiving spirit. I asked my boys to recite their poems to me as often as I could coax it out of them.

Luke's Thanksgiving poem:
"A Thanksgiving Poem"
T is for the trust the Pilgrim's had so many years ago.
H is for the harvest the settlers learned to grow.
A is for America, the land in which we live.
N is for nature and beauty which she gives.
K is for kindness, gentle words, thoughtful deeds.
S is for smiles, the sunshine everyone needs.
G is for gratitude, our blessings big and small.
I is for ideas, letting wisdom grow tall.
V is for voices, singing, laughing, always caring.
I is for Indians who taught them about sharing.
N is for neighbors, across the street, over the sea.
G is for giving of myself to make a better me.

Here he is standing with his class before they recited their poem at the school assembly.

Ethan was sick on the day of the assembly so I don't have any pics of him with his class (I do have video of him reciting it but I'm not going to post that here).
Ethan's poem was:
"Twas The Night Before Thanksgiving"
Twas the night before Thanksgiving
But I just couldn't sleep.
I tried counting backwards - 3, 2, 1
I tried counting sheep - (snoring)
The leftovers beckoned, the dark meat and white.
But I fought the temptation with all of my might.
Tossing and turning, with anticipation
the thought of a snack became infatuation.
So I...raced to the kitchen, flung open the door
and gazed at the goodies galore.
I gobbled up turkey, buttered potatoes,
pickles and carrots, beans and tomatoes.
Uhh...I felt myself swelling, so plump and so round.
Til all of a sudden! I rose off the ground!
I crashed through the ceiling.
Floating into the sky.
But I managed to yell, as I soared pass the trees,
Happy eating to all! Pass the cranberries...please!

And Sadie made a turkey hat at preschool that I just thought was the icing on the cake!

I am IMMENSELY grateful for my lovely munchkins, for my sarcastic and funny hubs and for the life we all get to share together. Happy Thanksgiving!!

A November List

1. Carden holds these monthly quality assemblies to teach the school about a new quality that is good to put into practice in their lives. One class performs a skit to illustrate what the quality is and awards are handed out to the students who have been observed to portray that quality. The awards are a surprise to the student and teachers, supposedly, do not share who they have chosen with each other. I got an email letting me know one of my children would be recognized and was surprised to find out both of the boys had been chosen! Love these boys!
  
2. Soccer! Soccer season ended for both boys and it was a good season. Luke played for the first time with AYSO and I “got” to be his assistant coach (Red Dragons). He was such a great team player and very willing to make sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to be and happy about it (I think it helped that he was one of the biggest kids on the team). Ethan finished his third season. We are still learning the ins and outs of this soccer league and one big lesson for me this season was to not procrastinate registration. The kids that register late get thrown on a team but the kids that register early can choose teams. I saw how many teams have been playing together for the past three years and how much more cohesive they were. I was team mom for Ethan’s team (Blue Dragons) this season and was glad to have parents that supported me. Next season for Ethan will involve try outs so that will be interesting but I’m excited to have him on a team with a more even playing field.
   
3. Carden Country Fair: Carden holds a country fair at the school as a fundraiser each year. We had a blast attending and getting to ride a bull, get faces painted, play some games and eat some yummy fair food.
     
4. Dress up is never ending around our house but this month princess Rapunzel has been the favorite. And since we can’t grow our hair out any faster what’s the quickest way to have floor length hair? a blanket. You were thinking wig, weren’t you? I don’t know why the picture is not cooperating and will only post sideways…sorry!

5. To wrap things up, because Thanksgiving is going to be a post of its own, I had a race. I love doing the Dana Point Turkey Trot and each year I do the 10k. Pretty soon I’ll be able to run the coarse with my eyes closed. This year I talked a couple friends into running it with me. I ran a pretty respectable time considering I had to stop and use the porta potty once, finishing just under an hour.

2nd Grade and 1st Grade here we come!

Back to School was different this year because we changed schools again! Towards the end of the summer we learned about the passage of Senate Bill 48 here in California. We were very concerned about what this meant for education in California but particularly at the schools are boys were attending. For those of you who don't know, SB 48 (also called the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful Education Act) is legislation requiring public school teachers teach about homosexual individuals who have contributed significantly to society. I think this senate bill is ridiculous. Please teach our children about people who have contributed to society! Yes, I love that idea! But do we REALLY need to start saying..."oh! and they were gay! isn't that wonderful?" SB 48 mandates that the teaching be done in a "positive light." I don't believe this is something that needs to be taught in our schools. Sexuality should be taught in the home. We do not need to glorify gay or transgender people in the attempts at tolerance, that is the wrong way to do it.

I do admit that some who call themselves Christians have said and done things that are in no way tolerant, respectful or Christian and that is unacceptable. Human beings deserve to be treated with respect, no matter their color, race, gender or sexual preference but I do not believe that elementary school age children need to be taught about someone's sexuality because that person was a famous writer or artist or politician etc.

So we prayerfully sought a different solution for education for our children and a wonderful opportunity arose. We are so excited to have our boys enrolled in Carden Academy. Carden is a fantastic private school. Not only do we get to avoid SB 48 but now the boys get P.E. every day, they are learning Spanish at school, they say prayers in class, the English they are learning in their spelling is amazing to me, they have music class more than once a week, the class size is no more than 12 students! I mean, I just can't sing its praises enough and I am so humbled (sounds cheesy but thats me!) that they get to attend such a fine school.

First day of school in their handsome uniforms!

Of course we couldn't start school without some father's blessings. My heart swells with gratitude for the sacred power of the Priesthood in our home.

Sadie had to have one too!

I know that we can't keep our children in a bubble. I've been amazed at the responses I get when I tell people our children attend private school now. What started as a "moral" decision has led to being something about giving them a better environment to learn and grow within. The environment at Carden has opened my eyes to what a school should really be for children. The public schools my boys attended previously were great but unfortunately they were also wrapped up in too much politics.

This was the first year that Ethan didn't ask to be home schooled throughout the entire first month of school, that says something pretty significant to me! I am still adjusting to the new commute to school and I'm sad that we no longer have that community spirit as we did when we were at the public schools within our neighbordhood but I've already seen my boys flourish and grow by leaps and bounds, I could not turn back now.

An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. ~Author unknown, commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin

Mother/Son Date and a camp out

Ethan and I headed out on a little date together a couple months ago. We saw Seussical at a local community theater. I wish I went on dates with my kids more often. I do love getting the chance to spend some one on one time with my kids. Most of the time I sneak those opportunities in with smaller events but this time Ethan and I got a more elaborate date. I think he was done with the play soon after the snacks ended (after the intermission) but he was a good sport. He even held my hand walking in and walking out! I love this little man.

The first weekend in October we had what will probably be the last campout of the season. The weekend started off with a bang as we headed down to the annual Miramar Air show and met up with our Oside cousins.

There are never enough artillery to handle, planes to board, tanks to climb, and helmets to try on for these Rasmussen boys. They have such esteem for the men and women of the armed forces... but sometimes I wonder if its just because of all their cool "toys."

After we could no longer hear anymore we headed to the campground. We met up with the Johnsons and the Willifords too and enjoyed lots of yummy food and play (Harry Potter theme reigned supreme again! Thanks be to Adam.)! Saturday morning Anna lined up our two families and took a pic of the kids. I hope they have these memories locked inside their hearts forever. These faces will forever be locked in mine.