We made it!

Well we made it to San Jose. Here are some of the highlights and low-lights of our journey...

Highlight: All the help packing us. Thank you Mom, Tamy, Matt and Pete.
Lowlight: Seeing our house empty and realizing that this was for reals. We are really going to miss Idaho.

Highlight: Making it from Rexburg to Winnemuca on our first day of travel
Lowlight: Losing Noah's blanket in the hotel parking lot (I assume, I know I had it when I walked out of the hotel but realized a couple of hours down the road that it wasn't anywhere!

Highlight: Seeing the beauty of a snow covered Donner Pass. We didn't expect the drive to be so mountainous but it was really pretty and covered in snow.
Lowlight: Realizing after his 4th time puking that Noah just might be one that gets car sick. Apparently the mountain passes and being in the middle of the back seat wasn't doing it for him. We had to roll down the window so the rest of us didn't add the lingering odors. I think the fresh air put his stomach at ease.

Highlight: Arriving in San Jose a day earlier than we expected.
Lowlight: Car window being smashed open in the hotel parking lot our first night there. We were the last in a string of cars the vandals got. I heard they caught them with our car door open and so they didn't take much and took off running. They were caught and were staying in the hotel next door. We have an appointment to take the truck in on Tuesday.

Highlight: Finding a pet friendly hotel room that was large enough for the 5 of us. It had basically two rooms and best of all two tvs for the kids to turn on and off over and over and over!
Lowlight: Luke pulling the fire alarm in the hallway. Yep, opened up and pulled the handle. He also almost removed the fire extinguisher and pulled off the inspection stickers on the emergency lighting on two other trips to take the dog out.

Highlight: Finding an all you can eat buffet after what seemed like weeks of fast food. It was like Ryan and I were in "real" food heaven
Lowlight: Ryan getting sick for 2 days following the "real" food.

Highlight: Having the movers drop off all our stuff and being able to shut the doors and have our own space for the kids and dog to run.
Lowlight: UNPACKING! It has taken me a week but I feel like this is our home now. (I did leave a lot packed in the garage, seeing as we are only here for 6 months.)

Highlight: Beautiful weather, sunny and 60 degrees. This is a summer vacation for us.
Lowlight: People everywhere! No more wide open spaces of the Idaho countryside.

As you can see it is all a matter of perspective. We are here, healthy, and happy to be together. I feel like I can breathe after a month of the stress of moving hanging over my head. We think that we will really like it here but miss Idaho already.

I will try to post pictures of our new house but Noah is waking up from his nap and that means my time gets eaten up pretty quick.

Do you know the way...

... to San Jose?

I didn't until about three weeks ago. Now I do.

Life changes so quick sometimes. About 3 months ago Ryan's friend approached him about applying for a job with the company he works for that owns and runs Skilled Nursing Facilities (Nursing Homes) in California. On a whim... or so it seemed... Ryan and I decided to look into it and see where it lead.

Long story short. We accepted a job and are moving to San Jose, California. So at the end of December we will wish the snowy wintery weather a fond goodbye and move on to the warmth of California weather!

We will be keeping our business here. We have some great managers who are more than competent to run things and we will manage remotely with several visits a year to calm the homesickness that will surely hit.

We are excited and apprehensive about the change of direction that our life is taking. It is funny how things change so quick... did I already say that? My brain is on overload and that thought is a repetitive one when my cognitive powers are breaking down.

So come one come all to San Jose and visit us!

P.S. While I am breaking news... we are expecting! I am only 11 weeks along and will be due at the end of June. We are very excited about baby #3 (or 7, depending on how you look at it) joining our family

Our Boys

I am really bad at getting professional pictures taken of my boys. We got around to it with Luke when he was 1 year and so I kind of decided that was a good time to make sure I get it done. Well Noah is now 15 months and we had them taken this week. I was waiting for a time when he didn't have scratches, cuts, goose eggs, bruises, or any other war wound on his head or face. I can't keep this kid down! Well I decided to schedule a date and take my chances. Luck was on my side! I had my cousin Kassie Crapo take their pictures. She did such a great job. Considering what went on at the photo shoot she is a miracle worker to get some great pics of the boys. Enough of the explanation on to the pictures!

It took us awhile to get him loosened up for the camera.


A lot of silliness later he started cracking out the smiles!


I love how this shows a glimpse into our little guy.

Ryan and I both think Luke looks so old! Our little boy is growing up.

He has been doing this weird crooked smile as his "best smile" lately. Waiting for the phase to pass. This is mild but you can see the beginnings of it.

This looks more like the Luke we know!

This was the best that we could do with both boys together. They would not cooperate in anyway other than being interested in the same book. Still I think it turned out to be a sweet picture of the two of them.

Halloween Melodrama

What is Halloween without a couple of Jack-o-lanterns? My parents were kind enough to let Luke pick his pumpkins out of Grandpa's garden. He still equates any pumpkins with Grandpa and the garden. Anyhow, after carving pumpkins with the boys I attempted to get a picture with them and the pumpkins. This is a photo version of the event...

This is Luke's new "best smile". I can't get him to smile naturally. Everything was going well until Noah inadvertently did something to irritate Luke. Of course it being Halloween this was his natural reaction...

I should have dressed him up as a vampire... but I didn't want to encourage anything. This is Noah's reaction to the whole experience.


And this is Luke's reaction to the ensuing discipline.

He is perfecting his pout. He must get that from Ryan, I don't ever remember pouting! And this is Biscuit's reaction to the incident...

Not phased a bit. I think he is still wondering why we brought the little munchkins into his perfect life.

Luckily the boys are quick to forget, forgive and move on. They were just fine by the time the ward trunk-or-treat rolled around.

Luke is supposed to be a giraffe. Ryan says this is not a masculine costume and he will hate these pictures when he gets older. I kind of agree, but hey, I let the kid pick out his own costume and there was no changing his mind. Noah made a very ferocious tiger, if I do say so myself.


Goodbye Halloween and onto Thanksgiving and all the fun that comes with the Holidays!

Just Hanging Out

A frequently asked question in our house is "Luke, what are you doing?" His favorite answer of late is "Just hanging out Mom, I'm just hanging out". That kind of sums up the past month. Here is a photo re-cap of us "just hanging out"...

Luke & Ryan frequently go out on the trampoline at night and look at the stars. Luke does this during the day too. He tells me he is looking at the moon.

Dinner time is always on of our favorite hang out times. Noah has this habit of rubbing excess food into his hair.

Puddle time at the park. Way more fun than any of the playground equipment.

Nap time= Mom & Dad's favorite hang out time. This is on the way back from one of our recent trips to Utah.

Family Outing to the BYU game... Go Cougars!

Helping Mom clean out her car.

Luke blowing kisses to Dad

Noah's version of "just hanging out". This is where I found him after realizing one day that it was a little too quiet around the house.

Transitions

We are all making big changes around here and transitioning to new phases of life. Ryan is transitioning to a tonsil-free existence. He had his tonsils out two weeks ago. I think he is still regretting the decision. It has been a rough go of it. We had to take him back to the hospital around day 5 or 6. He was dehydrated, in pain and couldn't keep anything down. After an overnight stay in the hospital, we got things under control... for the most part. He is now back to functioning and working but still trying to fully recover. I had my tonsils out right after I graduated college. I can't remember much (probably due to the drug-induced haze my brain was in) but I do remember it was the worst thing that I ever did to myself. So if you are considering a tonsilectomy and are over the age of 5, think very hard about your decision! I would post pictures of the back of his throat but they are nasty and so we will spare you the visual re-cap!

Luke is transitioning into being a big boy with big boy underwear! I decided that while I was stuck at home taking care of Ryan I might as well potty train Luke. Sounds like a good idea right? Maybe not one of my best ideas but we went for it. It has been warm and it is so much easier to check for accidents w/o pants on, that this is the M.O. at our house right now.

The pant-less wonder is doing pretty good. We aren't one of those done in a day stories you hear about but we have gone to far to go back so we are pressing on. He has almost mastered peeing. Pooping in the toilet is still the uncharted territory off in the distance. I found that a box of latex gloves makes me much less upset about the accidents. It has saved Luke from the wrath of a mom covered in poop.

Noah is transitioning into a toddler. He is walking around everywhere and has the bumps and bruises to prove it. He now can follow Luke just about anywhere. He screams when we close the door on him to do our thing in the bathroom. If we let him in he is WAY to busy and curious to be of any help. He is still our happy, easy-going guy. We took away the bottle with no serious meltdowns and are praying for the day when he can consume dairy products without repercussions. (The doctor says most kids grow out of it, here's to hoping!)

I am transitioning into the frazzled Momster of our house, trying like crazy to keep everything under control and succeeding at keeping nothing under control. Know the feeling? The other day I decided to try to mop the floor while the boys were awake and on the prowl. Of course they ended up at my side "helping" me. I decided I need to start letting Luke help more and teach him to work... you can't let one help and not the other.

2 minutes after I took the picture Luke had dumped the whole bowl of water on the floor and while I was trying to frantically mop it up, Noah slipped and fell at least 10 times trying to get up and walk away from the scene of the crime. We were all sopping wet and at least two of the three of us were crying by the time we got things under control. It might be awhile before my "helpers" are back in action!

Brrrr Lake... I mean Bear Lake

Rasmussen tradition stands. Last week in August everyone (who can) gets together at Bear Lake for a great time. We were a little late to the party because Ryan had some meetings that he couldn't miss but we made it just in time for the cold and rain.

This was the coldest year ever. We got some pictures of the 30 minutes of sunshine on Monday. As you can see we made the most of it. We were grateful there were hot tubs and indoor tennis courts to keep us busy. We actually braved the lake for a little jet-skiing but I didn't take any pictures... to busy chasing Luke chasing seagulls.

Grandma and Luke on the 4 wheeler

Racing across the deserted parking lot

The man's play pen (the boys love it!)

A couple of days before we left we had a really warm day and so I thought I would give the boys one last hurrah with the pool.

I think he is doing "Ring around the Rosies" or maybe it is the Native American rain dance

Noah watching from the sidelines wondering the same thing

Isn't that was a swim towel is for? To swim with?