Temple Time

Being that awesome gal that Liz is she asked if we could all go to the temple together the day after she returned home. It was so special to be there all dressed in white with so many family members. Being in the Celestial room is that much more sweet when its filled with family. Liz thanks for the suggestion. My last memories I have of you before you left were when we went with you to receive your endowments. I loved how we got to send you off and welcome you home by being in the temple with you. And Miss Whit, thanks for watching the kiddos so we could all attend. I know very well the curse and blessing of being the youngest and I want you to know how much we love you!

SHE'S BACK!

Yup, this gorgeous Sorella (sister)Rasmussen returned from her mission to Milan Italy while we were in Vegas. It was so fun to be there to help welcome her home. Besides us getting there late and her wondering around the airport thinking we forgot her for 20 minutes everything was perfect. It was so good to be with so many family members! We missed you Kirsten and kiddos!
Liz, we are so proud of you. We really appreciate the example of missionary service you have set for us and our kiddos. We L-O-V-E you!

Waiting for Liz not knowing we missed her:)

finally all together

Wacky People! ;)Liz, and her aspiring sister missionaries,
"I hope they call me on a mission when I have grown a foot or two!"
Welcome home!!!

To the One we Adore

This little post is for the one we adore. He's the Daddy, the hubby, the handyman, the scholastic whiz, the protector, the someday to be"bread winner" ;), the peacemaker, the lover, the wrestler, the gardener, the encourager, and the priesthood holder that we count as ours. We miss him and love him like crazy. We are counting down the days until his return!

We took these pictures the night before we left Vegas for Reno. I wanted a blessing and we decided that all the kids should get one too. It was a really sweet experience. Bridger especially loved it. He kept trying to put his hands on my head to give me a blessing too. :)

Stewart, thanks for being so very missable. You are such a great father, and husband. We think you are the very best thing ever. ;)

Just to brag a little... he is doing so well in his rotations! He is knocking out all his surgery rotations. He's doing trauma, plastic, and general surgery this round and loving it. He was told by one of the top plastic surgeons in the nation that he would be a great plastic surgeon and could get into a plastic residency easy cheesy. That is a big deal because plastics is one of the most competitive programs to get into. I don't think he'll be doing plastics but to know he could if he wanted to is sort of an ego boost. It feels good to be making sacrifices that seem to be actually adding up. Way to go Stewy Love!

I Lost my Emily

When I returned home I saw that my sweet neighbor had her windows opened. A sure sign that she was home. I was excited I would get to visit her. I had thought about her a lot on my vacation and had been worrying for her. (When I left she had just gone into the hospital. I tried to visit her when I was back in Reno for a day but I went to her house and even let myself in (which is normal for us) to find her but she wasn't there. I worried she was in the hospital still.) I knew by the time I got back to Reno the final date for her divorce would have passed and I wanted to talk to her about how the court hearing went. As any one would be she was anxious about it.

When I went outside to start emptying out the van I saw that Emily had opened her door which with her debilitating MS was her not so small act to let me know that she would like me to visit. But I didn't realize that it was her daughter Sarah wanting to speak to me and not Emily. Sarah said that a little over a week ago when she was still in the hospital recovering from her broken ankle she had gotten a bladder infection that went septic and that ultimately her body couldn't fight off the infection. It so happened that she died on the very day she was supposed to go to court for her divorce....Last time we talked she said she had set a goal to be able to walk into the courtroom so her husband would never see her in her wheelchair. We never thought she'd wouldn't make it there at all.

I am sad.

I didn't get to say goodbye. I wanted to tell her how much I loved her and what her friendship meant to me. She was there for me and I was there for her through some hard times. She had MS since she was 25 years old and just last year her husband of 35 years had left her for a girl he met on the Internet. Even though she was 60 years old we were friends. We agreed that she was a third grandmother to my kids since she was afraid she'd never have any grand kids of her own and she often gave them little gifts and would sit and talk to them almost daily. She really loved my children. She would call on Stewart to do handy jobs and for medical advice. We'd have Biggest Loser nights at her house and she came over for dinners as often as she could. I often fed her her meals and came to her aid when she fell or had other accidents. She was a daily part of our lives. The day before we left Stewart told her that her ankle was broken and that she should go to the hospital as soon as possible. I never got to say goodbye because she went to the hospital before I had a chance. I wish I could say my goodbyes at her funeral but they are having it in Pennsylvania where she grew up.

I am happy for her.

She was in constant pain. When she was at her worst she couldn't even support her self enough to sit in a chair and could hardly swallow her food. But you'd never know it. She always had a smile on her face. I am sure she is thrilled to be freed from all the limitations MS put on her body. I know she missed her mother and father very much and she would often talk about seeing them again. I know she is in a much better place and is enfolded by the ones she loved.

I hope she knows I miss her. That I really loved her. I wish I could have said thank you. There is a bond formed that is hard to describe when you feed someone, have to help them to the restroom, hold their hand through divorce and heart ache, tend to them as they recover from surgeries, pick up from their falls, send them off in ambulances, and clean their home when they are unable to that is both tender and sweet. When there is a person that lets you into their life so fully and lets you help them with complete humility it allows you to serve and love in a really rare and sincere way. I will always count our friendships as one of my most treasured.

I remember my last conversation with my realtor after we bought our house that she wanted to tell me about the lady who lived across the street. She said she couldn't walk well and had some obvious disabilities. She thought I should befriend her. She said, "She is very nice and seems a little lonely. I think you would be a good friend for her." I never knew then how much she would enter my life. If my Emily was the only reason we had to buy our silly little house then she was well worth it.

Emily, if I could have said goodbye I would have to scold you! :) We agreed we'd hang out everyday while Stewart was gone. Now what will I do? I would have to thank you for always being there to talk to when all the rest of the world was busy about their lives. I would thank you for teaching me to see the silver lining when life is gray. I would want to tell you how much it meant to me that you celebrated with me my children's achievements. I'd thank you for sharing your life with me in a very open and humble way that changed me for the better. I would tell you that I loved you, that I will miss you very much, and that I will feel quite alone out in our little neighborhood without you there too. I would tell you how much the kids will miss you too. You will always be their favorite "Old Emily" :). And I would promise that I will look forward till the day we can meet again.

So here's to my beautiful Emily, who was my very dear friend.

"Mommy you did it!"

Those were the words from Bridger's mouth as we pulled into our driveway. Yup, I did it. I cant believe I did it. We survived this summer! WOW! I put a total of 3,901 miles on the van over the past 42 days. This last drive was the drive I have been dreading for months now BUT it went really well. It couldn't have been better. The AC worked almost the entire time and the kids even slept for over half of the drive. I made it in record time. Less then 7 hours. Thank you for all your little prayers. They worked! :)

I am still processing how I feel being home. The last hour or so of driving I was on the verge of tears the entire time. I just miss my husband so much already. I realize I have got to be a big girl now and take care of everything. And not just take care of everything, but in order for my kids to be happy I have got to do it with a happy heart. I feel overwhelmed because I feel like my children are in such important stages of development and I just hope I will have the patience and the energy to teach them and care for them all by myself for the next month. I am sort of freaking out that it is September. Time has gone so fast! Just a little too fast for me.

Reorienting is something we have become pros at but it has been a little weird being home. When we walked in the house for the first time I thought it seemed bigger then I remembered. My mother-in-law told me it was probably because we have been all cramped in a single room for the past month and a half. I think she is right on that. :) The kids had a hard time going to bed without each other in the same room. Angie kept saying, "I want Bidger" . They really are inseparable. I hate the vacant vibe our house has. There is enough dust on the counters to write in (its currently decorated with lots of smiley faces) and every room I walked into I walked right into spider webs. So pleasant. There is so much yard work to be done. Yard work is Stewart's department so I am a little overwhelmed to have to tackle that all by myself. Its a total jungle! Tons of spiders, weeds, sprinkler problems, some weird animal back there that I am yet to identify...

The kids are happy to be home though. Bridger ran around pulling out all the toys and showing me everything, "Mom, remember this?!?!" and building his forts which are decorated with his toys. All his grandparents can attest to his fort building skills/obsession. Think giant mounds of pillows, cushions, toys, and any other random item that catches his eye. Angie hugged and kissed all her stuffed animals and dolls. Benjamin has been having a ball realizing that since his return he can get into so much more then ever before! The shower was a fun discovery for him. :)

So we are back. I have a entire weeks worth of errands to run to catch up on for all that has gone undone. But it sort of feels good to be home again, just a little empty without our number one man. We miss you Stewy. We really really miss you. :(

a little petition

I have a little petition for your prayers. Our van has had some serious problems this trip. We took our car into the shop for the third time and this repair was quoted at 1,300. Ok, so we have already put more into the car then it is worth and thus we decided we are not going to do this repair. It is the AC which is sort of a luxury thing...you know the car still works AC or not. But in Vegas its not really a luxury its a necessity when you have three little ones to drive around. But thank heaven it has been working on and off. I drive back to Reno in a couple days and I really need it to decide to work for that drive. I know this is so lame but could you say a tiny little prayer for our AC? Eight hours driving in the Nevada Desert is not something I want to put my kids through without the AC.

Now we are starting to have to try and save whatever money we can to buy a car by next summer. I figure I can make it through the rest of the summer heat and through next spring without it but at that point it will be time for a new van. We are so grateful that we even had this van. It has been a heaven sent. However, with 200,000 + miles on it the writing is on the wall.

Playing at "Mama Smith's" House

We are tired but still very happy in our nomad existence. When we arrived at my parents house Bridger was delighted. He, with the expression of a boy who has just realized a happy truth exclaimed, "Mom, we have two (holding up his fingers)...No, Three houses! Mama Rasmussen's house, Mama Smith's house, and our house! THREE HOUSES!" When I asked if that was a happy thing he exclaimed with all the glee he could muster, "YES!"

We have been having a fun time this week at Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house. We visited the Disney Store. The kids thought they were at Disney Land or something. They really don't know how much cooler it gets (we'll let them be happy in their ignorance). ;) They are obsessed with Mickey and Minnie Mouse and have asked to go back everyday since.

They are as always really big "Helpers". They "helped" their grandma in the garden lots this week. She has been so patient with their "helpfulness". After their first big event of helping she helped them clean up their "help" and then in her total sweetness gave them their own little pots and helped them plant their very own seeds. (sorry about all the help in those sentences) the next day when they realized that the seeds still hadn't sprouted they got creative. They picked a bunch of her flowers and poked them in the pots and showed their grandma the beautiful plants that they had now. They were delighted with them selves thinking they were so clever, seeds just took to long! They thought transplanting was a much better way to go about things. When we explained that these flowers would not grow but actually die they were sad. BUT, we gave them a little vase to put their flowers in and they were elated once again. They carried it around like their most treasured possession. In another day their little seeds sprouted in time for them to be truly awed. I will always remember them tending the garden with my mother and together marveling at the beauty of flowers.

The next day we had a impromptu cousin tea party. It was fabulous with my mom's freshly cut roses and all our fancy tea party food including our home baked tea cakes. After our fancy tea time we headed outside for wild water play. I love LOVE seeing my kids enjoy their cousins. At one point Bridger's two beautiful 4/5 year old girl cousins (Gwen and Kira) were fighting over who would get to be Bridger's princes. He finally settled it by saying "I'll have two princesses! You and You!". And with that he grabbed both their hands. It was too cute.

On Wednesday we visited the Americana. It is part of the fancy downtown shopping center in Glendale. They have fun fountains and stuff for the kids to explore. We had a super yummy lunch at the Cheese Cake Factory with Anjannea and her daughters, my sister Shayla, and Grandma Angeli. Its been years since I have eaten there, YUM. The kids really love eating out - major event for them. :) A cool side note is that they have this big bathroom for kids: TV area , tables for drawing, chalk boards, building blocks, kid sized potties, nursing room... it was nice to be at a grown up place that catered to the little ones so much.

Thursday we headed to Huntington beach. It was so fun to be at the beach again. The kids had a really fun time just being able to run around free in the sand and play with the waves on the sea shore. It was great to be at the beach with my sister Shayla and my niece Christie. Just like the summer days we shared together as kids.

Now I am packing to drive back to Vegas to help welcome Sister Rasmussen home from Milan Italy! We really are having such FUN Times! May they keep on coming. :)

Too bad what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...

During our time in Vegas we played and hung out a lot and tried to be a help while Mom Ras headed out to Ohio to spend time with family there. Just before Mom Ras returned I found myself sitting thinking how grateful I was that the kids hadn't created any major disasters. But I must have jinxed myself because not 30 minutes later I look up to see Bridger and Agneli stark naked running up the staircase painted in multicolored paint marker or something. I couldn't tell what it was but I knew it was bad. I ran up the stairs and to my horror I saw a trail of pink and blue steps all the way up the stairs. When I got to the the kids I realized that it was food coloring and not just any food coloring NEON. I threw them in the bath and then Whitney and I set to work trying to salvage the stair case. It was awful. We got most of it out, thank heaven, but that pink just would not come out. After the stairs were cleaned as best we could I looked in the hall closet in which the body painting had taken place and it looked like a murder scene. Their was deep red/pink food coloring sprayed all over the wall and the floor. It seriously was a creepy sight. I thought that who ever bought the house next would have nightmares wondering what happened in there. We tried to clean it up but we sort of just smeared it. It looks pretty bad. I felt awful. Their carpet was ruined as was the interior of their closet.

Angeli was dyed pink for a couple days and she even sported some pink high lights in her hair. I would have taken pictures of all of this because they would have been really dramatic but I didn't want my kids to think their behavior was funny or cool, not even for an instant.

Mom and Dad were so nice about it. When Stew called his mom to tell her what had happened she was worried about me and if I was too stressed and if the kids' clothes were ruined. She is such a saint. Nicest lady I know! So if you ever visit them and notice the neon pink going up their stairs you'll know to attribute it to the Bridger and the Angie girl. Those crazy mischievous kids!

This is the boy who passed out in his time out...


Yeah, he got pretty worn out "making a party for me." as he later tried to explain his actions. He is always throwing pretend parties in which his decorations usually get him in trouble. This is always a sure sign that he needs to hang out with some peers...I figure if he got his social in he wouldn't need to imagine it so much. :)

Mom and Dad Rasmussen, I am so sorry about your carpet! I guess when you live in Vegas its a problem that what happens there stays there!

*At my parents house this happened only it was Angeli and Eden using matalic blue naill polish! Ruined the carpet in my sister's room! :( So sorry!

Summing up my life

Random thoughts about this summer: I can drive long distances by myself with three kids. I feel sort of proud of that acquired skill. I can handle driving at night. I can pack a ridiculous amount of things really quickly. It takes approximately six hours for me to start seriously missing my husband. I have nightmares every night if I am apart from my husband. I break out like cray when I am away for him... I have a pimple on my arm even. My skin is so effected by my stress levels, its hopeless! I don't sleep well with my kids in the same room as me but I like having them close to me and want them there anyway. When Stew is away I like cooking veggie loaded dishes that otherwise I would feel guilty serving because I know my husband would not really enjoy eating them. I don't really enjoy baking sweets when he isn't around to say "good job wifey" and eat them up. I do my make-up and hair for him. My kids get on my nerves a lot easier when I am the sole parent for days on end. Its tiring to be taking care of so many people feeling like there isn't really someone to take care of me. I really really need a daily run in to cope with everything. I really like LA and Los Vegas more then I thought I would. I keep thinking how lame Reno is comparatively. I really miss my small little house. I have grown to really have sentimental feelings for it. I love that my kids have so much time with their grandparents. I love how Benjamin loves and smiles at everyone. I think it is fun to find new and old friends in my parent's and my in-law's Wards. I love that my kids can see their cousins more. California is really humid compared to Nevada. My husband is my favorite thing ever. That I love how much he loves what he is doing in his schooling. I know he will really enjoy being a doctor and he'll be really good at it. Spending time with family for long periods of time has built stronger relationships for me. When will I have an opportunity or a reason to live with our parents like this ever again? What a cool time! Family relationships are priceless. That it is hard on me to have my future up in the air. Stew telling me he really likes this or that and maybe we'll go into this or that is really hard for me because I am so decisive. His indecisiveness tires me out emotionally, I plan a whole new life each time he mentions a new medical area he enjoys. Time has gone so much faster then I thought it would. Is Fall really around the corner? I have not done half the things I thought I would be doing on this summer "vacation". I get physically ill thinking of Stewart being gone in September, November and December. The Holiday months! How will there be any magic without him there? REMEMBER: Happiness is a state of mind not a destination! My kids are seriously so beautiful. When they are tan their eyes pop like cray and they are so dang cute! I am excited I have learned how to do french braids! :O) I like borrowing my sisters clothes...so fun! My favorite place to be is with my husband.

I could go on forever but I will stop. I just wanted to get those thoughts off my chest.

dimply smile, sparkling eyes, giggling jabbers, and soft sweet skin!

Not only is he as cute as any baby can be he is growing up so fast! He is now 8 MONTHS OLD! Everyday I am amazed at how much he has grown. It has been a busy and at times hard month for our littlest man but true to his nature he has never stopped smiling through it all. Most of this month he has been sick, growing in three new teeth, moving from house to house, enduring long car drives, growing in lots of super blond hair, and all the while he has been working hard to learn tons of new things. Busy busy boy! He has gotten so big that he really is a force to be reckoned with. He can tackle Angie and Bridger with ease. He is climbing all over the place and hardly takes time to eat. One of my favorite things is holding him and kissing him. He is so soft and is starting to call me "MaMaMaMaaaa..." and his Daddy "DaDaDa Da Da...". So sweet to hear. He is quick to smile, slow to cry, loves his family, and is excited to taste, climb, touch, and play with everything in sight. We adore him. We feel so blessed to have him as our own.

Weight: soon to come

Height: soon to come

Head Circumfrance: soon to come

Family Pictures

We took some family pictures before our exodus. The kids were pretty aweful the entire time...really they would not sit still for half a second! :) We were totally late because our next door neighbor had a crisis and needed our help so the lighting was bad by the time we got there...But we got one with all of us in it without one of the kids running out of it. My girlfriend sent me these ones as a preview. I am excited to get the disk and look through them all and see what else there is. Thank you Jessica! They are great!

This one is my favorite... such a cutie!

When I saw this the first thing that came to mind was, "Watch out Beyonce, I've got some back"! ;) I swear my bum is not that big...at least I hope! :) How sad, I should have thought about how cute my hubby was or something.

not quite according to plan.

So things have not really gone according to our plans. I am in Reno - don't want to be but have to be because some car and medical insurance problems. The kids, my sister, and I left LA at 8:00 pm via my just repaired minivan and drove to Visalia where we realized we were really locked out of my parents house there and then after an hour of driving around trying to get gas and access to a bathroom we decided the heck with sleep and drove all the way to Reno. At 6:30 am (10 1/2 hours later mind you...its supposed to take 8ish hours) we drove up to our humble abode. I don't recommend this sort of family road trip. Now I sit here more tired then I have been for a long time feeling slightly depressed and trying to make plans for the future that I realize will only be made to be changed four times over again. The Lord has been by my side every step of the craziness of the past week so I feel peace but still with such little sleep and tons of unpacking to do that I will only have to be repacked in a couple days, a car that I think will need to be replaced soon after its two break downs and repairs this past week, and fear that I will continue to be thwarted in my efforts to be with my husband has left me feeling rather awful. And the kids are sick, did I mention that? Throw-up and diarrhea are not fun at all. But alas I am holding on to the hope that in not too long I will be able to give my husband a big old kiss, take a nap, and not have to drive a long distance for at least a week. Doesn't that sound like heaven? Well, it does to me. :)

*This is Benjie sticking out his tongue in protest to our foiled plans. :) Such a "Cutie Bum"!