There are few things I enjoy as much as being out in nature. With our little river park by our house it is so easy for me to step out into nature on a daily basis. It is such a heaven sent. I feel closer to Heavenly Father when I am able to take in the beauty of the earth. Now that it is finally warm enough I have been dragging the whole family out on Sunday walks so we can soak in the beauty of the earth all together. For me it is pure bliss and I think they have a good time too - well, as long as they take their allergy meds first. ;)
When we bought our little home we felt distinctly that it was going to be a sanctuary for our little family, a retreat from the chaos of the world. It becomes more of that for us each year. We love our little house and our little neighborhood, its got its quirks but it is a sanctuary nonetheless.Benjamin is learning new words everyday and he really loves talking about the wonder of rocks. Its fun to here him walking along pointing out each rock and telling us that it is indeed a rock. And why do you think rocks are so much fun? Because you can throw them of course!
Our rock throwing contest. A popular pastime in a state where rocks are the number one commodity. ;)
I love this guy so much. I am not sure how I tricked him into marrying me but somehow I did. I am so glad he likes me too.
Lately I have felt a bit like a broken record saying the same things over and over again. I cant help thinking that if you capture the most common phrases at your house it would tell you a lot about each person and their relationships. Here is a look at ours:
Benjamin: "NO", "No no", "Grrrrrr", "Mama!", and "Dada?"
Bridger: "I want to talk to you.", "Why?", "Mom!", and "I'm starving!"
Angeli: "Mom help me!", "Bridger hurt me!", "Benjamin Hurt me!", "Why?", and "Its ok."
Mom: "Ask nicely.", "Please hold on a second." "Because God made it that way.", "Hurry please we are going to be late!", "Say you are sorry.", "I love you so much.", "Can I get a hug and a kiss?" and "TIME OUT!"
Dad: "Talk nicely to your mother.", "Mom said no", "Share the iPod.", "Gunny Bag is coming!", "I missed you today." and "Bed time!"
I am 25. Sometimes I forget though. This is true. The other day someone asked me my age and I had to say, "I think I am 25. Maybe 26. I cant remember." It was a really awesome moment. :O)
Seriously not only is my mind going a little my body is falling apart. I feel like I have the body of a 50 year old. Now I know when I am fifty I will laugh at my juvenile self for writing this but every day it is something. Its either my shoulder, my hips, my varicose veins, my knees, my stomach twisting and turning, or a head ache. I have so much gray hair and I am getting wrinkles! Ugh. I know aging is just a part of life but I thought I would feel this way when I was 35 not 25. Shouldn't I sort of be in my prime? Yet here I am, I cant remember my age, my veins are throbbing, even typing is making my shoulder ache, and the dark circles under my eyes are black. Does anyone else feel this way or am I seriously aging five times too fast?
I used to get people commenting all the time that they couldn't believe that I had so many children because I looked so young. I never hear that now. Which I am glad I don't look like a teen mother but still it'd be nice to surprise people that I have three kids instead of it being obvious. I guess its a part of life that I now have the opportunity of embracing extra early. Lucky me! ;)
I left for a run this morning. I packed the kids in our triple wide and we were off. It was sunny. It was warm. I brought blankets because there was a slight chill in the breeze and I am glad I did because half way through our run I looked to the west and saw giant gray clouds blowing up our canyon. By the time we got home it was snowing! In a matter of 50 minutes it went from warm spring day - thinking I better turn the sprinklers on so my flowers don't dry out to snowing worrying that my flowers will die from frost. Silly weather will you make up your mind? I am just glad I went for my run early because I would not take them running in the snow purposely.
but I am not a big fan of the new sharing time outline. At first I was so excited to have my lessons already put together for me but I think they are boring. There I said it. I feel guilty saying that but it has been a big stress for me. They are not fun lessons for me to teach and I don't feel like they are fun or really touching our kids hearts. I feel we have lost our primary kids' interest (reverence) in the past couple months and I am afraid it is that the lessons aren't that engaging anymore. Perhaps it is totally my fault. I am not prepping as much, not praying and pondering, searching as much and thus not getting the Spirit and inspiration as I did before. I know that is because there really is so much less need to do that when the lesson is right there in front of my face but I am sure that is at least a factor. However, either way the lessons are boring and rather uninspiring. So today at the end of my teaching month I decided that on my next month I am shaking things up. I am praying just as hard as before and pondering just like old times and just using the outline to help me get my feet off the ground. Plus I am going to be checking out Sofia Primary Ideas blog. She is talented and I cant wait to try out some of her ideas.
Oh, this is special! All Family and Friends, you are formally invited to the Rasmussen Getaway. Come to our house and enjoy the many amenities we have to offer. First and foremost, you get to enjoy the company of our three delightful cute kids.- That is super Special! You'll have your entire family's meals provided for you - and we cater to your likes no matter how varied: specializing in: Italian, Thai, Mexican, American favorites, kid friendly meals and even meet the needs of special diets like vegan, vegetarian, and meattarian.;) You get to sleep on a hand blown air mattress with your pillows hand puffed for you! - Oh, my! And your family can chose from a variety of exciting activities...
- Swimming, hiking, camping in scenic Lake Tahoe- Enjoying special features at our very own Planetarium
- Visit Wild Island Amusement park just five minutes from our house - with a water park, bowling, mini golf, and tons of play stuff for the kids!
- Hiking up wild horse country and seeing at least 25 wild horses and their cute babies- Camping in one of our many local camp sites- Free access to our indoor pool - Tubing/rafting in the Truckee River - BBQs with roasting marshmallows included - getting fancy now!
- Visit the world's largest sporting good store - Shop at the fun Legends outlets
- Get free and discount impressions of your family - See many live shows at one of the many Local Casinos
My dad is such a great dad. He had some medical meetings in Tahoe and with us living so close to Tahoe he was able to spend some quality time us. He has never been able to come to Reno to visit us so it was a treat for us to show him the house he owns half of (poor man) ;) and what our lives are like out here. It was so fun to spend time with him again. He is one of a kind - sort of a character, a lovely one but still someone who does not fit in with the masses. While he was here I remembered all these things that I love about my Dad:
- How he always wears his flannel shirts. Well, he is either dressed like a very professional doctor or a farmer, one or the other. Oh, and his suits are always blue, always. - He smiles with his eyes - How sweet he is to my kids and when they are jumping off the walls he delights in it - How he is 81 and still working like a work horse - How when he makes up his mind it is made and there is no persuading him - That the one thing he likes most about my house is how well it is insulated - That he tells me what a patient mother I am and how well behaved my children are and its not to flatter me but as a simple observation he's made - Listening to him tell stories about his childhood - poor man had a traumatic youth, bless his heart! But he never complains, just tells the stories with the attitude of someone whose had decades to appreciate the growth they've benefited him, and has a sense of humor about it all - That he can sit with my husband and talk all about medical stuff and about technological gadgets - That when he saw my back yard he said, "Wow, this really is big." :) - That he loves going on walks as much as I do - That he is so content to spend normal everyday time with us - He thinks my house is lovely even at its absolute worst - That even though I've told him a millions times about my business I can tell him once more and find he really has forgotten about it and he'll be astonished by it and tell me how talented I am. - That he still gets all our names mixed up :) a trademark quality - That he is always a student. He always has the attitude of someone wanting to learn from you, never condescending always wanting to learn from you. - How he tells me about the text books he has bought and is reading about anthropology and other random sciences. - That despite what a remarkable man he is he's understated and down to earth. - That he is so generous - perhaps to a fault, one of the most generous people I know - That he will tell me something about the lifetime he lived before I was born (he was 55 when I was born) and it will be totally new to me - like the fact that he bought a property in Truckee California once paying for it with a Corvette, I had no idea people could do things like that, and then a couple years later sold it and happened to make a killing on it. Or how he owned a fabric store and then sold it to the little ladies he had running it for just one dollar - not much of a killing there. But super nice of him :) - That I know he worked so so so hard for his entire life to be the man God wanted him to be, the best husband he could be, and the best provider and protector to his children he could possibly be and he is still working as hard as ever at that labor today.
The older I get I realize just how much I like about myself that I owe to my parents. This trip I got to see more of my Dad in me. I don't wear flannel shirts, I will probably know my children and grandchildren's names perfectly, I will probably never own a fabric store, fly and own a plane, own and operate a ranch on 1800 acres of California Red Woods, be so very humble, or save lives in the E.R. BUT in little ways I am like him. I am a work horse, I love to walk, I love plants, I am super decisive, I love the Lord, I delight in jobs completed, I love real estate, I like reading text books and value education, and I will work my entire life doing the best I can to please my God and serve my family. My Dad helped give me those traits and I thank Heavenly Father for him.
Daddy, thanks for making time to visit with us while you had your medical meetings. I know sometimes you wonder if you did enough for all your 12 kids but I think you were the perfect dad for me. I have always appreciated you just the way you are. The kids keep telling me, "I like your Daddy!" :) I do too.
I bought the kids matching little outfits for Easter. Bridger was excited to get a belt and a tie so he could be just like his daddy. Angeli and Bridger agreed that she looked like a princess. The entire time we were taking pictures Bridger called her "My Princess." :) I was glad she kept her head band on for the pictures because it sort of camouflaged the lovely side burns she cut for herself a couple weeks ago. Her bangs are still crooked - I just couldn't get myself to cut them as short as they would have to be to be straight, nonetheless she is a princess. :) When I put Benjamin in his new little outfit with his new shoes and belt I couldn't help but realize he is becoming a boy, the baby in him is fading away. I will miss not having a baby.
We went to a local park to take the pictures and I am so glad Spring was starting to show a little there. At our house it still looks very winter-ish. It is apparent I am not a professional and that our camera is not fancy but despite their humbleness I am so glad we have these pictures of our adorable kids. Someday I will get a good picture of all three of them together...it just might take a few years. ;)
Grandmas and Grandpas aren't they just so cute!?!?!? - I posted a lot of pictures especially for you all. :) We miss you all!
We had a really low key Easter this year. It was nice to have the change this year because I felt like we could focus on teaching our kids the true meaning of Easter. This year was also so much fun because all of our kids could get into the festivities. Fun for all...
We planned on making these cookies to take to our neighbors and invite them for Easter dinner but when we all came down with the stomach flu we thought it best to spare them our germy cookies and company. But once we were done throwing up we loved eating them ourselves. Didn't the kids do such a good job? I helped some, but seriously I was impressed.
We had our annul Easter egg hunt with the little kids in our ward. It was a lot of fun. I loved watching Benjamin have his first Easter egg hunt. Here they all are on the hunt!
With their loot! All the Littles that took part in the egg hunt. When Daddy was at priesthood we got to our egg coloring. I never really look forward to this but I always seem to be surprised how much fun it is for the kids. We got glitter eggs this year. Very fancy.
Easter morning they all climbed up on our bed and we read about Christ's visit to the people in the Americas and talked all about the resurrection. After we said our morning prayer the kids were ready to storm the living room.
Benjamin screaming because he saw the eggs scattered outside and thought we were the meanest parents for making him wait a second more!
This is what they found. Lucky kids. The Easter bunny sort of went crazy this year.
Maybe it was because we thought to leave him a little snack. ;)
We spent the rest of the morning watching conference and it was fun to see the kids working on their conference packets so intently. We loved conference, so uplifting.
It was a great Easter. I am already looking forward to next year!
I know this will look and seem lame but keep in mind that the last couple years have been hard. We have not had a lot of things we've wanted. Its not that we sit around counting all the things we want its just thoughts in passing like, "I wish our kids could run around outside without us being afraid of them running into the street" . Little by little things have come together and each time a little wish comes true I cant help but feel so excited and grateful for their achievement. Last summer I remember telling Stewart how my dream was to have a patio and a kids table where the kids could eat on so we could have real BBQs outside together. When we tried to do our family BBQs they were more like picnics which is fine except we live in a windy canyon and thus picnics are annoying to do and the kids always spilled something and we'd have to all jump of the blanket and thus a big lame-ish BBQ experience. Yesterday we had a "real" BBQ.
As I sat there looking out our window at us I saw in real time my dream coming true. I almost cried. There we were having a BBQ! I know that is mundane and simple to most but to me it was a moment to realize that Heavenly Father cares about giving me my little mundane wishes. I just feel so cared for and so grateful for that. Here's to many more BBQs!
Hi, I'm Emily. My life is made up of my totally handsome hubby who is busy surviving residency, Me playing with my four crazy cute kids everyday along with our two puppies. We strive to dedicate our lives to the Lord. We are happy. We are busy. We are a little out of our minds. We love the Gospel of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. We are bent on taking the steep and sometimes unpopular road less traveled. We adore our extended family like crazy. We are dreamers that believe in working hard for them. We are poor in possessions but rich in love. Our family is a balancing act of restless and peaceful, practical and emotional, playful and bashful, passionate and light hearted. We are excited for our future. AND I am narrating it all as it unfolds. So read on if you like wordy writers who have gramar issues. ;)
Benjamin is learning new words everyday and he really loves talking about the wonder of rocks. Its fun to here him walking along pointing out each rock and telling us that it is indeed a rock. And why do you think rocks are so much fun? Because you can throw them of course!
Our rock throwing contest.
I love this guy so much.
So act now to book your reservations before all our vacation packages are full!
