Can it be true?

For the first time in our marriage... and my life for that matter... I have got some Christmas cards done. The bad news is that I don't have most people's addresses, emails and/or phone numbers. So I am putting it out there. If you would like a Christmas card, I would love to send you one. Just put your address in a comment.. I moderate them all before they are posted and then I will just delete it and not post it! Or you can email it to me at general@niguelsante.com (my junk email just incase there are spammers following my blog...ha ha ha.)

October Escapades

The easiest way to record what we did in the month of October is to show the photographic proof. If you regularly read our blog you saw the Monkey video. This "funky monkey" (as the boys refer to him) paid a visit to our house. He knocked on the door and Luke let him right in. I don't know if I should be worried that Luke and Noah didn't question a giant monkey knocking on the door and coming in to visit. Maybe it was the bananas and candy that we was carrying, or the games of peek a boo he played.

Either way he was a hit.

Later that day we went to a car show at a friend's facility in town. The boys loved the old cars. This was half of an old model T that you could sit in and mess around.

Luke and Allie had fun. Luke kind of has a crush on Allie and would follow her around all day if he could.

The bounce house was a winner as well.

What kids don't love them?

We hit the local pumpkin patch one Saturday. The boys were very excited to get "face painting" done. I convinced them that getting something on their hands was much cooler than their face.

Thank Goodness because the paint was smeared in about 10 sec. It looked good long enough for a picture.

The other thing they were excited about was measuring next to this pumpkin. They LOVE to measure stuff. They like to measure how tall things are and everything is 13 tall. Whether it is me, Charlie or the stuffed animal. Luke always reports that it is 13 tall. You can see him explaining this to me here.

We also took a little family drive up to see General Sherman in the Sequoia National Forest. It is about and hour and a half away and so worth the drive.

You can park and take a little hike to the General Sherman (the largest tree in the world, no joke). Luke was excited and showed it with his classic thumbs up.

It is hard to explain how huge these trees are. It is very awe inspiring to see the groves of them. They bring a feeling of reverence and awe of God's creations out of me. Here are the kids nestled in the trunk of one.

You can just here them saying "CHEESE". Here are the boys running out of an alcove in one. You can kind of get a feel for how large they are.

And here is the big one.

The boys are learning their letters and like to pretend to spell things out and read them. This is them "reading" the sign.

Luke's preschool took a field trip to the pumpkin patch so Noah, Charlie, and I tagged along. Here are my little turkeys.

The boys enjoyed the hay ride and the whole experience (again).

Luke loves his pre-school and all that he learns and does. He recently explained to me the difference between deciduous trees and evergreens. Here he is with his teacher, Mrs. G. She was kind enough to take him and Noah on the hay ride while I stayed with Charlie.

Noah loves to run around. He has an innate need to move and run. He especially loved the little maze they had. I couldn't get him out of it because he would run back in as I would try to grab him.

It was a lot of fun to go with the kids and Luke's class.

October was a really fun month for us. I have enjoyed the warmer California temperatures and extended fall weather.

Charlotte's Blessing

We blessed Charlotte Labor Day weekend and so it was a really fun weekend. We had Ryan's parents up as well as his sister, Casey and her three boys. We spent the weekend enjoying the heat in the pool.

The boys loved having cousins and grandparents to share the pool with. Kevin is Luke's best buddy.

Charlie enjoyed some quality pool time with Grandma.

As well as a nap in her pool-side bed a.k.a. the camping chair.

Here is grandpa and the boys. I cut off heads and half of Kurt trying to get the shot before they all jumped in the pool.

Ryan made a cool video of the day. You can view it here... Summertime fun

Sunday was all about Little Miss Charlotte.

She behaved as beautiful as she looked. She went to sleep at the beginning of Sacrament meeting and slept through the blessing. What more could a mom want? Ryan gave her a beautiful blessing. I always love baby blessing day. I feel so close to the quads at each child's blessing. I think because it is then main earthly experience we had with each of them. Anyhow, here is our family after church.

And here is the whole group.

Nine o clock sacrament meeting doesn't lend itself to pre-blessing pictures, but here is Charlotte later in the day.

My mom made the dress and it turned out beautiful. We are lucky she is so talented and enjoys sewing for the grandkids.

Great day, good friends, and wonderful family. We are so glad this little girl joined our family.

What's the difference?

Blogging/ Journaling... are they synonymous?

The other week Ryan and I were scrolling through our blog looking at back posts and I realized that despite my best intentions this is probably the best family journal/ record that we have got right now and so I am going to back post so that some day we can look back at this to get our stories straight.

Eventually I will catch up to the present but until then enjoy looking back with me...

Happy Birthday Noah!

Our little guy turned 2 this year.

Hard to believe that they go from this

to this

so fast?

We had a pretty low key day. Ryan took Noah to work for part of the morning as a special birthday treat. It was a treat for one of them...

We decided to celebrate big and go to Chuck E. Cheese's, always a hit with the kids. The boys loved it. Luke was determined to have a conversation with Chuck E. Cheese. I had to tear him away so not to monopolize the mouse's time. We did sneak in a quick picture.

Then home for cupcakes, ice cream, and candles.

The birthday boy

Laughing at his Dad trying to get him to smile.

I love the way you can see how he adores Ryan.

We celebrated a couple of days later with our friends. Pool and piñata party. What could be better?

Maybe by three he will hold the bat right...

Happy Birthday Little Man! We love you and are grateful your sweet spirit came to join our home!

Monkey Business

Can you take a wild guess at who that monkey is?

Monkey Business from Ryan Rasmussen on Vimeo.

Benson Bash 2011

I come from a large family as most of you know and currently we are scattered everywhere from California to London and Chicago to Houston but for the past 3 years or so we have been lucky to get everyone together once during the year. It started with my Dad's graduation from MBA school and now has become our own reunion. I guess our family has grown old enough to have those. Anyhow, this year was great.... and CRAZY. I have posted about all the babies that were born (5 boys Noah's age) and then the next round of 6 new ones. So all in all we had 15 grandkids 7 and under but of that 15, 11 are 2 and under. It was toddler town. I guess I should start at the beginning...

The drive to Utah.


Thanks to Grandma Rhonda (who rode along for most of the way only to turn around and ride right back home), Jacob and Deidre (who let us crash at their house there and back, sorry about the futon!) and two good boys. This is what we saw most of the time.

Once we got to Utah the cousins got right down to the nitty-gritty of getting aquainted... fighting over who gets to play with Lighting McQueen and who get Buzz Lightyear.  We has our fair share of toddler squabbles while the boys figured out the pecking order. But for the most part they got along fabulously.... as you can see...

This is Andy and Noah catching up

J.Will impressed us all with his flexibility while welcoming Charlotte to the family by tickling her nose with his foot (She didn't seem to mind)

Park time was great lots of races in between trees and around the trees

The Ipad was a big hit... Monster at the End of this Book was a crowd favorite. (Luke, Russell, Noah & Andy)

Luke and Madison played house. Madison was the baby in the crib and Luke played the part of a very competent father tipping the crib over to get the baby out of it. This got old quick and so they moved onto dress-ups. Madison was Cinderella (sorry no picture) and Luke wore his "man-dress". 

This might have led Ryan to question the wisdom of letting me take the boys.

Russell and Noah shared some good times at Bridal Veil Falls thanks to Uncle Mike for chasing them around!

We hit the Springville pool. I had never been there before but it was awesome. Who knew?  It was perfect.

Some adults lounging the toddler end watching the kiddos play. Others played hoops at the opposite end.

The water slide was a big hit... even with the little ones. Luke may have manipulated multiple aunts and uncles to take him on them while I tended to little Charlie. Thank you all!

Even Charlotte enjoyed the outing and I enjoyed dressing her up in a little swimsuit. (Why are the hats always so big for such a little suit? Or do I have pinheads for kids?)

With more swimming, lots of popcicles and great weather the weekend flew by. Noah may have lost a popcicle or two in the pool but somehow he would come back with a new one.



Luke ventured into the bouncy house for a bit and loved it.



All in all it was a fabulous trip. So much fun to see everyone together. It made me wish we all lived closer to each other. Maybe someday. For now we are looking forward to Benson Bash 2012... and looking for a compound/cabin/ranch that could hold us all under one roof.


Last but not least I need to thank my sweet grandma and grandpa for letting me and the kids crash at their house for a week.



I loved the opportunity to visit with them daily. What a blessing they have been in my life and still are. I have been blessed with wonderful family from top to bottom!