Awww..so sad!

Well, I decided to switch and start blogging over at wordpress. Our new address is sanfranrasmussens.wordpress.com I am going to try and import all our blogger posts from this site over to that one. So make note of this new address in case my blogger blog gets deleted or removed!! Hasta la vista, baby. See you all on the flip side.

Help

Wow, I have never had to back track this much on the blog. Summer is halfway gone and we have had a blast these last couple of months. However, I sit down to blog about it and for some reason, blogger won't let me post pictures? It is saying I have exceeded my picasa web limit. Anyone know what this means? I really can't post without a pic to go with it. If anyone can enlighten me on this prob, leave a comment or shoot me an email!

40 Years of Cinco de Mayo

On May 5th, my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary!  This was an exciting year because not only is it 40 years, hot diggity dog.  But when my Grandma and Grandpa Roundy celebrated their 40th anniversary, all my dads siblings threw them a surprise party.  I remember being like 9 years old and traveling to Utah for this.  It was made into a video which we have watched through the years.  

Probably a year ago, my eldest bro and the main planner behind this shindig, told us all to clear our schedules for Saturday, May 5th.  Something was going to go down!

We ended up doing a luncheon with the siblings and their spouse (no kids) and a reception that night at Loren and Kelly's house.  We had catered desserts and invited all my parents siblings families and a few close friends.  It was a blast, but the best part was keeping it a secret for my parents.  They hate surprises, especially my dad!!  He tried for months to get it out of us what we were planning.  He told Loren that he would probably take my mom on a cruise that weekend.  Loren laughed and told him to have fun :)  

I went without my family which was sad.  Matt couldn't take any time off work, with him already taking 2 weeks off in June and July.  I was gone for 4 days but I think Reagan thought I was leaving her forever.  She had anxiety for weeks before I left, crying uncontrollably at times.  When Matt and the kids dropped me off at the BART station the morning my plane flew out, I just remember seeing them pull out and Reagan just staring at me out the window bawling her eyes out.  But no worries.  A trip to IHOP for pancakes and a phone call less than an hour later, she was feeling better. 

Right after flying in, we went (where else?) to Cafe Rio for lunch.  My dad knew I was flying in, but it was a surprise to my mom.  I hid in the corner of Cafe Rio and then snuck up behind her.  I felt special because it was the 2nd time that day someone cried over me! 

This is my sweet niece Jane playing in her field of dandelions.

My sister is this total Zumba pro and becoming an instructor next month.  She gave Loni and I a Zumba lesson on Friday morning.  It was fun to have Loni and Dallas there the whole weekend.  I was a little less scared sleeping by myself on that side of the house :)

Lindsey really helped me with one of the gifts, which was this family tree with the thumbprints of all our family.  Roland sketched it and we picked out the antique frame.  Each of my parents kids has a branch and then tiny branches coming off that for all their kids.  It turned out beautiful.

 Hard to read in this pic, but it says Alan and Julie Family Tree May 5, 2012

We had lunch at Corbins in Layton.  I would totally go back there for the fried brie, dang!  Something so disgusting sounding never tasted so good! 

We let them open their gifts and my dad gave my mom a ruby necklace.  A ruby is the 40 year symbol. 

Here is the family, posing at the entrance.

 

After that, we set up for the party, which was tricky trying to hide from the parental units again.  Loren and Kelly have a fabulous backyard.  Lindsey got a great cake. 

 

Loren and Kelly took care of the desserts.  They got cookies from Harmons Bakery, brownies from this fab place don't know where, and donut holes from MadBrooks. 

 

Landen and Caitlin took care of the decorations.  I loved them.  Each table had a picture of my parents on it, some old, some more recent.  This pic below is of my dad when he was in the army and engaged to my mom.  It is a pic of him with a pic of my mom sitting next to him.  Cute, huh?

 

Here is my mom below, does she look like me?  Everyone says yes, so I guess so! 

Another one of my dad.  This picture could easily be passed off as my brother Lance.

The highlight of the evening was easily when my dads fishing buddy Dave Brown (DB, as he is affectionately known in our family) showed up.  Long story, but basically, he is my dads best friend from childhood and closest friend outside of family.  Dave battled cancer a couple years ago and it really shook my dad up.  About a month ago, Dave got really sick and was in the hospital again with blood clots in his heart and lungs.  They didn't think he would make it.  We all fasted and prayed for him to recover and to the amazement of everyone, he made a miraculous recovery.  We weren't sure if he would feel up to making it that night, but when he walked out and we all saw him, it was such a moment.  Tears everywhere, it was so neat.  That moment alone made all this worth it!

Here is my mom and dad with Dave and his wife Robin.

 

 Cheesiness alert--my parents cut their cake and fed it to each other, all wedding like.

 

Here is my dad with 2 of his brothers, Dave and Shad.  Yes, Dave is a real cowboy and Shad is the one who supplies my family with tons of Oasis Plumbing shirts with the fun slogans on the back.  

 

My dad and mom with some of his siblings--he has 8!

 

It started getting chilly, so we built a fire and stuffed our faces with even more cookies and donut holes.  It was so great to see Lance and KT, they came all the way from New Mexico to be there.  They spent more time driving to and from than actually being in Utah, so it was a sacrifice.  KT made the invites to the reception and they were awesome!  And because we don't want to leave them out---Loni and Dallas made a great slideshow of my parents from when they were babies till now, set to music and everything.  It was so fun to bring home my own copy to show Matt and the kids.

Luck could not have been more on my side and the next day ended up being the Sunday the Melanie and Aaron were blessing their newest baby in church.   So Lyle and Bev picked me up and we headed to Spanish Fork for the afternoon.  I got to meet my newest nephew, Marcus, who was only 6 weeks old.  It was really neat to see Jeff and Selly as parents!
 

Cutest pic ever of all the newest Rasmussen grandkids-Marcus, Brinlee and Ashley, the star of the day!

Great trip to Utah, but I missed my 3 loves terribly.  More than I thought I would.  I am glad that we will be headed back to Utah all together in July.  So is Reagan.  I have already promised her a dozen times that I will never fly to Utah again without her. 

Love to you all!

Countdown to Summer

Well, we are on the final home stretch of our structured daily life: school is almost out and we survived our first year of elementary school!  We are ready to party hardy this summer and make it totally bomb (thinking of Loni as I write that). 

Blogger must have done something to change their uploading process because it was a heck of a lot different this time and took me a while to figure out.  We have been missing from our blog for nearly a month and please accept my sincerest apologies!  Our computer went through an incredibly slow period and getting on the internet was an impossible task.  Then of course, just taking the time to blog and make it sound worthwhile to read...sometimes that can be hard!

The last couple of months have been full of fun things.  In April our ward had their father/sons campout.  Only in our ward, a couple of the younger daughters got to go.  So Matt took Reagan and Nolan and you guessed it...momma got to stay home and PLAY!  How sad that playing consisted of me cleaning the house for 3 hours, then watching Downton Abbey till I fell asleep.  They were back from camping the next morning.  

They had a great time!  They got to do smores around the fire at night and then sleep in a tent (big stuff for Reagan and Nolan)!  They went on a hike and then explored Rock City the next morning.  Camping is so dirty.  Seriously, 10 minutes after the camping party arrived home, my 3 hours of cleaning was a waste :) 

Our weather has been pretty much perfect (minus the horrid allergy season upon us) so we have had some warm days, some medium days, and a fair share of slightly cooler days.  The hot days called for a run through the sprinklers and slip and slide. 

Nolan is my little buddy these days.  He still cries a bit when mom gets out of his sight and part of me secretly likes that.  He talks a ton and sometimes has a hard time shutting up :).  He has the cutest little "man" voice.  Anyone who has been with him in recent months knows what I am talking about.  He has a low raspy voice and I still have yet to figure out if it is his real voice or if he is playing around.  He loves Wall-E, Lightning McQueen and of course, THOMAS his bff forever.  He asks me almost every other day when we can go trick or treating.  He loves yogurt, veggie flavored crackers and cherries.  He has been potty trained for a week now and is doing FABULOUS....as long as mom doesn't forget to ask him if he needs to go to the bathroom.  We've had a few accidents, but he picked it up pretty quickly.  Putting a pull-up on him at night has become a must and he HATES it!  We fight him at bedtime over this every night.  I sure love Nolan and he has brought such a fun atmosphere into our home!

Reagan is my little princess.  Seriously.  She really is into this princess thing and we are rounding the corner to 6 years old.  I thought it would have been gone by now :)  Besides that, she is growing up right before my eyes and it is such a sight to behold.  She has so much compassion for others around her and is always concerned.  The day before Easter, a little girl from her elementary school was killed along with her father when they were hit by an SUV while riding their bikes.  It was such a sad situation and we had many long talks about this with her.  She didn't know this girl at all, but just knowing what had happened and driving by and seeing where she died really stuck with her.  She made pictures and took them to the scene where she was killed.  Then a few days later, her ladybug she had caught and made a home for, died.  We had quite the emotional week.  I don't think Reagan has been the same since.  She has become much more vulnerable and realized how difficult things can come to good people.  I am grateful for her sensitivity and compassion towards others.  She will make a great mom someday.

Other fun things about Reagan: she LOVES Phantom of the Opera.  Random, I know.  What almost 6 year old likes this musical?  Oh, she TOTALLY does.  We have the 25th Anniversary on our DVR and we watch it all the time.  She knows most of the songs and likes to listen to it at night when she falls asleep.  She had me curl her hair this morning for school so that she could look like Christine.  We also watch youtube videos of all the performances.  She is really into singing and it will be interesting to see if she pursues that because heaven knows I had NO interest in that stuff when young.  Another fun fact about her is she LOVES that she is a redhead.  She is very proud.  She points out others who have red hair when we are out in public.  Lots of strangers comment on her haircolor and I can always tell when she overhears.  She gets this look on her face like, "yeah I pretty much freakin rock."  I love it.

Reagan recently lost one of her front teeth and it is one of the cutest things I have seen.  Pic to come later, it is still on my camera.

We took a trip to the Lindsay Wildlife Museum one Saturday.  My kids loves owls lately (they love the book Owl Moon).  So we got to see all the owls and their injuries.  We saw the bald eagle presentation and the kids petted a gopher snake.  Funny story: my allergies SUCK this year and I didn't buy Allegra at first because it is expensive.  So I was taking Benadryl.  I took 2 capsules before heading to Lindsay Museum and yeah, right in the middle of the bald eagle show it hit me....like a ton of bricks.  I could have laid down on that hard linoleum and slept.  Matt was a kind sir and let me go sleep it off in the car.  90 minutes later, they were done and we drove home.  I slept 2 more hours after arriving home.  I decided investing in Allegra was worth the price after that. 

Thanks for reading, friends!  More to come.  Life is good :)  Love to you all!

Kitchen, Easter and such

Thanks everyone for your enthusiasm over the kitchen!! I've had some texts, phone calls, comments, etc. all wanting a peek at the progress of the kitchen. I say progress because I thought by now, our kitchen would be fully functioning, but it is not. As is the case for most home remodeling projects, it can just take longer than you expect!! But I will give you what we have so far :)

This is what our kitchen looked like last fall. So it was better than when we moved in, but still reeked of 80's refinished cabinets and aqua blue tile, original appliances (our home was built in '62), and ugly soffet above cabinets. Plus, it did truly reek. I am not sure why, but it just smelled old, musty, stale, like moldy food stuck somewhere we could not see. All the scentsy bars and Yankee candles could not completely cover up this smell. It was still there when I walked in after being out of the house for a while.
We always hated those hanging cabinets above the peninsula, so a few months ago, Matt actually went to town and tore them out. It opened it up a bit and we realized how BADLY we wanted to redo our kitchen. So the project began...

Late March, we had the demolition of our kitchen. They took out everything except our fridge (we plan on hanging onto that one for a little while).


The night of the demolition, Matt came home and started tearing down the soffit. He started with a hammer, but it wasn't hardly putting a dent in it, so I borrowed a sledge hammer from our neighbors. Boy that did the trick. A little too well.
Here is a pic of Matt, taking a swing and this pic was probably taken right before one of those long beams fell and hit him square on the top of his head. Blood everywhere. I almost called 911, but Matt just grabbed a kitchen towel, threw it on top of his head and drove to the hospital. Our kids were sleeping, so I had to stay home.
He came home with staples in his head and a fury over this incident that caused him to sledge hammer the rest of the soffit at midnight while we and the rest of Concord slept. When I woke up the next morning it was gone.We filled in the floor where the counters had previously existed and we hired a friend of ours to come and wire for electrical, move our plumbing and patch up the drywall. We were changing from a wall oven and microwave to a range with microwave hood, which required new outlets. We also changed the location of our sink and dishwasher, requiring plumbing movement. We also needed new drywall and insulation where the soffit had existed, because right then it stood as a huge gaping hole into our attic. :)


Once that work was mostly completed, our drywall was up and ready for texturing.


The next day after texturing, the new cabinets showed up!! They were so beautiful. Matt and I had it narrowed down to 2 styles for such a long time and we had chosen one that was a bit darker, but at last minute, Matt changed to this style. We are so glad he did!!

We got rid of the peninsula counter that jutted out and put an island in. I am LOVING this island!! I now see what the fuss is all about :) We decided to make our island more of a focal point by putting in cream colored cabinets instead of the maple. Matt isn't too sure about it, but I love it.
So here is the new kitchen with our new cabinets.
The next day, they put in the countertops and sink. We went with a granite counter with a 6-inch backsplash. We debated whether to do a tile backsplash, but we felt our workload with this project was large enough as it was. We may end up tiling in some future year, but for now, we are sticking with our 6-incher.
It feels so much more open and bigger without the soffit and counter jutting out.
We are hanging onto our fridge because the stainless steel style we want is pretty pricey, so we are waiting for a good sale. Our previous dishwasher was actually in pretty good condition, but older. However, to re-install it would cost more than what the washer is actually worth, so we are also scoping out deals until then. So the hole you see in this pic below where the dishwasher will go may be a hole for some time.
Our range and microwave arrived the next day after the counters. I also painted the kitchen and dining the green color that was in the adjacent living area. We are having some problems with some of our outlets, so while we wait for those to get fixed, we will wait on installing the microwave. We also need our sink hooked up, so while our faucet is in place and sink is there, we actually can't use it yet. Soon, hopefully!

So this is pretty much what our kitchen looks like today, in all its glorious mess :) I should have picked up for the picture at least, but hey now you get a glimpse of our real life! There is still a few things to do: install the microwave (which is in that big box), hook up our sink, fix outlets, install recessed lighting, trim out our window and put in our hanging pendant light. I will be sure and post when all those things are done!!
I also painted our dining room green. It is hard to see with the lighting in these pics, but I like it so much better than the blonde color that used to be here.
So because it is tradition to do before/after, here is what you will see:

BEFOREAFTER:BEFORE:
AFTER:

Whew!! I should have put that as a separate post. But here is our fun Easter weekend.

The kids in their Easter clothes. Matt actually picked out their stuff while on a trip to Costco one day. He was pretty excited about Nolan's outfit, especially.


The day before Easter, we headed to an egg hunt put on down the road at the swim club. The kids got to see lots of neighborhood and school friends and we found out that the price of the swim club membership was lowered this year, so we will be joining!! We live a block from the pool, so this will make for a convenient way to cool off this summer.Easter morning came too early for the kids. Reagan was up at 5am, looking for her basket of candy.
Both enjoyed their loot and I think that Nolan ate most of his candy in one day (probably one sitting). So when he laid down that afternoon and said his stomach hurt, we were not a bit surprised. It is detox time this week, though. Tough for the kids---when they ask me for a snack and I offer carrots or apples, they look at me like I am from another planet.

It was a neat opporunity to teach the kids this year about why we really celebrate Easter. Last night for family night, Matt asked the kids what the most important thing about Easter was. Without hesitating, Reagan answered, "Jesus was resurrected!" And my proud mom heart almost exploded. What a great gift it is to teach my children what is most important in life. Blessings abound here for sure!

Love to you all!