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.

Luke goes from 5 to 6...

...overnight. The years just fly by. Luke is a great brother and Steve and I love him immensely. We had a lot of fun celebrating his sixth birthday together. The kids were still anxious to repeat the waffles breakfast we had done for our family birthday party just a couple weeks before so that is what Luke chose for his birthday breakfast. This time we wrote out a number 6 with the whipped cream instead of 10 (although it won't be long before we're doing that for him too...yikes.).

Before Steve left for work we gave Luke one of his gifts, a fun Lego set he had wanted. I love that both our boys are very fond of legos. They are getting so good at putting them together on their own even. Luke also received a new video game he had been hoping for. 

Luke was generous enough to let his older (and VERY anxious) brother assemble his new Lego ship. 

 Luke also received a new bike. He was VERY overdue in getting a new bike but we just couldn't bring ourselves to get it before his birthday. At the rate this kid grows we knew we had to hold out for a milestone in hopes that we could catch him at a plateau? Alright, maybe we're (and by we I mean Steve...haha, love you, hon!) just logical about it.

Luke wanted to hit up Chuck E Cheese's (NOT my favorite place on earth) for his birthday. We spent a couple hours there and I think everyone had fun. Then we headed to Souplantation (his pick) for dinner.

We celebrated with the family the following Sunday with pizza dinner and cupcakes.

Happy Birthday Luke Daniel! We hope your wishes for this year come true.

10 year milestone

Our 10th anniversary was so fun! We celebrated with our kids on the actual date of our anniversary by having a family birthday party. Tke kids and I made a special waffle breakfast and after Steve headed off to work we went out for some fun. First off a stop at the temple. I had this idea of peacefully walking around and talking about the temple and each of my kids would be so touched by the Spirit their testimonies would immediately be founded in its importance. Ha! But it was nice nonetheless...after I recovered from being looked at like I was a looney tune and I cooled off from being frustrated. Next stop was the Irvine Spectrum for a ride on the ferris wheel and some lunch. When Steve got home we headed out for some family bowling (got to love a two and a half year old trying to bowl!) and dinner out. Happy birthday to our family!

That weekend Steve and I caught a boat ride to Catalina to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We had convinced two of our favorite people to join us, Allen and Anna (since their anniversary is just a few shorts weeks after). What a boat ride it was! Everyone around us began vomiting and the four of us were doing our best to NOT join in the fun. Thankfully the weekend got better from there.

Steve and I on Avalon beach (someone has GOT to teach me how to pose for a picture...yikes!) 

We checked into our cute hotel, saw a movie (the not so romantic Planet of the Apes, that's what you get when there is only one theater on the island with ONE movie playing a month), had some tasty dinner and enjoyed time without our lovely babies.

The next day Allen, Anna and I went on a zipline tour of Catalina. I was pretty bummed that Steve didn't get to go but it was the funnest thing I've done in a looooong time AFTER I got over my fear of plummeting to my death. I was so glad to have Anna and Allen there with me.

When the three of us were done with that we decided to rent tandem bikes and ride around the island. Then someone suggested, don't know who... (ahem, me), that we ride UPHILL to the botanical gardens. Wow, that was a bad idea. But everyone played along and the ride down hill was superb.

I love my Steverino! At times we are polar opposites. He is so logical and I am so emotional. His engineering mind helps keep me grounded. When we were married 10 years ago I could not imagine what 10 years together was going to feel like and I am so glad I know. My marriage to him has been the best decision I made. I love the life we are continually trying to create together, as frustrating and patience-testing it can be sometimes (for loads of reasons, not just each other), and the children we have added to our family. I am SUCH a lucky girl.

Once Upon A Time...

Sadie turned three! A few weeks before her birthday I was driving in the car with Sadie and she began telling me what she was going to do for her birthday. She had the theme picked out...princess! I did my best to make her dreams come true.

I found this cute cardboard castle on Amazon. We all, kids and adults alike, enjoyed coloring it in and going in and out.

 I tried to get the kids to play a game. It was a version of pin the tail on the donkey but with princesses and castles. This group wasn't really interested in being blindfolded, or really interested in the game.

So I scrapped the other game and just went with the flow, free play it is!

We had tasty cupcakes and crown shaped pb&j sandwiches.

Grandma & Grandpa even called to sing her Happy Birthday, all the way from Sweden! 

Sadie now has a dress for each of her favorite princesses; Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Belle. She's absolutely adorable in them!

The food table!

Our knight in shining armor, Evan!

Princesses Amerie and Eva, we loved partying with you!

Sadie also celebrated her birthday in our Wednesday class. I made chocolate popcorn and oreos that were a big hit at snack time. Miss Jeanette let her get up on the table as we sang Happy Birthday to her and she was so cute being so timid yet proud.

Sadie is such a marvelous addition to our family. We love her girlish ways. Sadie is often mistaken for being older than her age because of her height and stature. She is fond of princesses and singing. She loves her brothers and cousins bunches. I can't believe my baby girl is three years old! Make it stop, make all the growing up stop.