Twas the Week of Christmas

It was kind of fun to have Christmas fall on a Saturday so that you can celebrate it all week. It was a long week of waiting for the kids, but a fun one. Then it is nice to have today to rest and relax. Reagan and I went on a GNO last weekend to see The Nutcracker on Temple Hill. I wasn't sure how she would last through such a long time sitting and watching a performance, but she did really well. We went with friends and of the 4 girls, 50% were asleep by the final act :)

A pic in front of our tree in the kids best Christmas Sunday dress is a tradition, but it can take several tries...as indicated below.

We started with several with one kid not smiling.

Then one kid wouldn't look while one smiled and said "CHEESE" really loud.

Then she smiled!....oh, but the other one was eating his shoe.

And finally, this was our best! "Good job, kids!! Here's your piece of candy."

On Monday night for Family Home Evening, we went up to Temple Hill to see the lights and the visitors center. Reagan was sawing logs the whole drive there.

We woke her up, but she mostly complained about it being cold and rainy. And it was, so I can't blame her :) We saw several families from our stake, so we definitely weren't the only ones who had this idea for FHE activity!

One of my favorite things is the star on the side of the interstake center.

Oakland Temple with Nativity Scene

We found warmth and rest in the visitors center and everyone in the lobby got a good chuckle when my son walked in and upon seeing the Christus, screeched "OH, WOOOWWWWW!" and laughed like a hyena.

One of the reasons for visiting was also to see the Mark Mabry Photography exhibit on display called, "Reflections of Christ." Wow, it was amazing. One of his most stunning and popular is of the angels. But my personal favorites are of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ embracing as well as the Savior walking on water. I would watch the slideshow of his work, it is well worth a few minutes.

Love to all!

Rasmussen's Favorite Things 2010

This year we had quite the varied group of favorites. I won't waste any time, so here goes:

1. One of my favorite things to do during the month of December after my kids have gone to bed is plop myself down on the couch with a big glass of milk and dunk some Candy Cane Joe-Joe's from Trader Joe's. I tried to pace myself more this year, but we have already gone through 2 packages. And by "we" I mean 4 for me, 1 for the kids :)
2. A friend of mine is a Scentsy distributor, so when we bought the house and it wreaked of old people, I knew who to call. Although I can't smell it much anymore (I think I am immune :)) there are many things I love about it versus other home smelly things. I love that I can plug it in and warm it all day, all night, and even when I am home. Before when we burned candles, I would have to keep blowing them out all the time because we would be in and out of the house. These are not a fire hazard. With my wall plug-ins, my kids go to the outlets and remove them. This is on my counter, away from little hands. The wax is not hot at all, so even if you spill, it won't burn you. My absolute favorite scent is Peachy Ginger.

3. These are the best flour tortillas ever. They sell them at Costco. They come uncooked and you just heat them on your skillet. I have not been able to go back to store-bought Mission brand. They make excellent enchiladas because they fold easily without tearing. Sometimes if I have a surplus in my fridge (they come in packs of 22), then I will just heat them up and eat them plain. I also like to dip them in soups. I am warning you---you won't go back to store bought!!

4. My dearest friend just sent me this in the mail for the holidays. It is the soap flavor Twisted Peppermint from Bath and Body Works. I can't get over how good it smells. I look forward to using my bathroom, just to wash my hands. The positive side of Nolan pooping is that I get to wash my hands with this after. I can smell it for quite a while, too. I am sensitive to how strong mint can be, but this is the perfect blend. It is subtle, not overwhelming, yet slightly sweet. I love it. 5. Last February I went to a class on interior decorating and the lady teaching (who is ironically the YW president in my new ward) raved about spray paint. My favorite decorating blog ever, Thrifty Decor Chick, always raves about spray paint. So I gave it a try on a few things when we moved. I had some successes (one big failure, but I won't go into that). I was able to spray paint my wood mirror a satin black and several picture frames. I spray painted all our old vent covers a bright white or beige to match the carpet, depending on what room. I also redid our TV stand using--you guessed it--spray paint. It is quick and CHEAP! Like I pay 4 bucks a bottle or something. Rustoleum is my favorite brand. I actually like the 2X brand best, but American Accents has a great line of popular colors. Sarah at TDC always finds old things at Goodwill or thrift stores and makes them look brand new with spray paint. It is amazing.

6. Last year we won a gift card to a restaurant in Concord called Elephant Bar. We had seen it several times, but never ate there, probably because I always pictures them serving platters of elephant? I don't know, the name just sucks in my opinion. But the food was KILLER!! When we splurge--which is never these days, LOL--we alway go here. I love the Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi-Mahi, which is really funny since I don't like fish. They have such a wide variety of food to choose from.

7. Researching paint was the one thing I did while we waited for our house to close. I knew that would be our first thing once we got the keys, so I wanted to plan it perfectly. I looked into hords of paint colors, brands, etc and I just couldn't get over the wonderful colors at Sherwin Williams. I soon found out that their paint is way out of my budget, so I picked out my colors and had either Home Depot or Kelly Moore color match what I wanted. Worked like a charm. My absolute favorite paint in our house is Macadamia, which is in our bedroom. I am thinking of eventually painting our kitchen, dining, and living room in that...eventually, meaning not for a very long time:) Any color on the strip #18 is without fail. They are warm neutrals and go well with anything and looks amazing with white trim.

8. Several years ago some friends moved and they threw out their twice handed down cozy coupe. Matt rescued it before trash man got it, gave it a severe sanitizing wash and it has served as the absolute best toy we have ever had. Both my kids love this thing and fight over it all the time--not a good thing to fight, but sure glad they like it :) Matt and I laugh over the irony of how much this toy cost us. If you want a fun toy for your toddler/preschooler, this is it.

9. If I had all the money in the world, I would shop only at HomeGoods...and Costco, of course :) But seriously, if you are in the need of redecorating and have a HomeGoods nearby, RUN, don't walk!! This place is rocks. It is the home version of TJ Maxx. I have only gone once, it is a bit of a drive for me, but if you need a lamp, something to fill that one space on your wall, a rug, decorations for a cute kids room, you name it...this place has it.

Merry Christmas!!!

December Showers...

...brings green grass! I am grateful every day that we have rain because I know it is feeding my thirsty lawn. For free! We have had some good rain showers. We have immersed ourselves in Christmas already. We decorated before November was even over. Insane, I know, but Costco and Target were ready back in August, so this feels mild. We decided to head to the tree farm known as Home Depot Parking Lot, only to find that the trees were priced higher than our beloved Costco. So we took some fun pics (Shrek faces included) at Home Depot next to pretty full trees.

But ended with this one tree, still bundled up :)

Reagan had a ballet recital, it was so cute!!! She was very excited to perform for us and show us what she has been "learning." I think she still wants to do ballet, too. For a while there, she didn't want to go back because she doesn't like to stretch.

Reagan showing off her MAD hopping skills!

Great job girls!! Reagan and Addie with their teacher, Mrs. Heather (a Davis Dart, I might add!)

Last Friday was our ward Christmas party. The kids wanted nothing to do with Santa, but they seemed okay to sit on Matt's lap.

The primary did the nativity and Reagan was a donkey.

Reagan is the bottom right, 3rd in.

Merry Christmas!

Blizzard Thanksgiving

Highlights from our trip to Utah:

LONI AND DALLAS' WEDDING
Loni and Dallas got married on November 19th in the Salt Lake temple. It was BEAUTIFUL and as far as I could tell, the day went perfectly. It was cold, but the snow and rainy weather didn't hit until 24 hours later. Her colors were turquoise, purple and lime green and together they were spectacular! She looked radiant, Dallas was a handsome groom and all went well. After the temple, we had lunch at TGIFridays where we ate our hearts out and Landen and Caitlin freaked out because they saw George W Bush (he was signing books at Costco in Sandy that day). Our kids were good, Matt's wonderful mom watched them during the temple ceremony. After lunch, we headed to White Willow in Provo for the reception. A good day, very emotional for the parental units since she is the baby in our family. But we are so happy for her, it was hard to shed sad tears :):) I love my Lonsters!

Dallas is wondering what he got himself into...
Max, my nephew the TOTAL studmuffin. I love this dude!
Another studmuffin nephew, Elijah. I asked him to smile for the camera and this is what I got!!! LOVE! All I can say is he is definitely Lance's son.

The three young princesses in their purple attire. Reagan, Jane and Emma.

My two guys. It is hard to believe such a harsh diaper as one I changed 10 minutes ago could come from such a dang cute guy (Nolan, not Matt ;))

My family.The original Roundy's: (L to R) the parental units, LOTOJA, 2 of the hoes, FBI, Adam Sandler, and the hoe bride. LOVE THEM! Oh and my nephew Easton popping up in the background, LOL :)Loni and Dallas with the Roundy grandkids, looks like one is trying to escape. Who's kid is that???

Loni and Dad dancing.

Reagan and Emma dancing....so funny! They were totally going nuts.

The boys dancing some. I may have to post the video of Max break dancing. I am pretty sure I peed my pants a little.

Loni with some of the girls.

ZUMBA

So have you ever done a Zumba class? Well, I did! My sisters let me come to her class with her at the gym and man, it has been a while since I have shaken my thang like that. To be honest, I have never shaken "what my momma gave me" quite like that ever. But it was SO MUCH FUN! Such an intense workout, maybe knocked off several hundred calories of the thousands I ingested that week. The down side was the mirrors allowing me and the whole class to see how silly I looked.

2010 BLIZZARD

So while we were out there, the biggest blizzard of the year was predicted to hit Utah. Schools closed early, stores and restaurants closed, everything shut down and everyone was shouting from their rooftops to get in homes before 3pm. I have never experienced preparation of that nature, I was thinking a tornado. I half expected to see the neighbors putting boards up on their windows or something ;) Anyways, the blizzard came...and then went in about 10 minutes. Totally overhyped!!! We all got a good laugh about it and went on our merry way. If you see a t-shirt with the slogan, "I survived the Utah 2010 Blizzard," snag me one.

SNOW

Even though the blizzard was less than exciting, we did get a lot of snow! Reagan and Matt built a snowman, which in days following, leaned to the side, like he was doing aerobics. Nolan hates wearing jackets and hats and pretty much any sort of clothing, so he wasn't in the snow much. He seemed pretty content the whole week pushing his cars around the house, playing with the kitchen and shopping cart and running around downstairs.

POLLY POCKET

My older nieces and I held a contest using all of Ashlee's polly pockets to see who could make the ugliest doll. We presented them to all the adults. I am pretty sure the top left doll won.

SHOPPING

We did lots of shopping out there, two good reasons: 1-great deals this time of year and 2-we can buy our families presents and leave them out there and not have to ship from California. I sure like this tradition, though, because as I sit here on December 5th, I am totally done shopping. Such a good feeling. Matt was a sport and let me cruise the mall with my sister, only to find that he had squished Alyssa into a cart and we had to tug a bit to get her out :):)

Deseret Book had a fun Christmas display, which Reagan asked for her picture in front of. One of my favorite pics of her to date!!!

COUSINS

Hands down, one of the down sides to living away from family is the distance between cousins. It is fun to go out and visit and see how much fun Reagan has with her them. She and Emma would disappear for hours. Whitney and Brooklyn played polly pockets with her, Travis played with her, her older cousins doted on her. Nolan loved all the attention as well! We also got to meet our two newest nephews: Emmett was born in August and Trae (pictured below) was born in September. Two very handsome babies and such a treat to finally meet.

TWO TURKEY DINNERS=LOTS OF INDIGESTION

I was able to arrange it this year so that we could make it to both families turkey dinners. It was great to eat with both families, but my stomach couldn't handle it. I was sucking down Rolaids all night. But thinking back, it was worth it. I love my dads fried turkey, but smothering premium cranberry sauce all over Bev's traditional turkey also really hit the spot! By the time we hit the pies, I couldn't handle anymore.

The only down side to Thanksgiving was the knowledge we would be leaving the next morning, cutting our trip short by 2 planned days. The weather forecasted snow all day Saturday in Truckee and we knew that would make our commute Saturday and Sunday really awful. I sadly missed out on shopping with family Friday and the BYU/Utah game on Saturday, but the accounts from friends who traveled home when we had originally planned made me realize we had made a good decision. Besides, we stopped along the way and shopped...Walmart in Elko, Nevada (empty!), Target in Sparks, then Old Navy and Carters in Fairfield. It was a slow, casual trip home and I am glad we had a couple of days to recoup until Monday.

I am grateful for our families. They really put up with us this year, with all the chaos of holiday and weddings. We can't wait to see them next year!