New Christmas quilts

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is having Christmas blankets. When we were little, our mom made us each a Christmas quilt. We would get them out on Thanksgiving night and then be able to have them on our beds until New Years Day. I've carried that tradition on with my kids and this year, Lindsey and Jack both got new quilts. They were so much fun to make and when I check on them after they have gone to sleep, I just love seeing them snuggled until their blankets.

A Day of Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! It was such a treat to be back in Utah and be with our family. During the 7 years that we were gone, the kids and I came home for one of those Thanksgivings. We LOVED our Thanksgivings in Ohio and thought of and missed the Rasmussen's & Johnson's. It is such a fun holiday and all of them are so great. I know that we will remember this year for many years to come.

Thanksgiving always starts the day before with pie making. Jon is the pie maker in the family, so he worked with the kids to make 2 pumpkin, 2 chocolate cream and 1 apple pie. They were all delicious! When Jon went to work, the kids and I went to my parent's ward building to help set up for the next day. There were 35 of us all together (parents, brothers, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, missionaries, friends, etc.). We played a fun game of soccer and tag, so the kids had a blast playing.


On Thanksgiving morning, the kids helped decorate sugar cookies to look like turkeys. We got our other cooking assignments done and then our friend, Julie (who moved into our ward about the same time we did) came and we drove to my parent's ward.

My second cousin, Annie, made these darling placecards.

My dad and Uncle Bruce were the turkey carvers.

Julie was so great with our kids. She played with them and helped them with whatever they needed. Thanks again Julie - we LOVED having you with us for the day.

We had a ton of food - including this fruit & dip platter - prepared by my cousin Meg and her husband Jason. You'll notice that the "Y" is crossed out. We have a mix of "Y" and "U" fans in our family.

My parents with my grandma.

Mike and Candy with Candy's grandma Ellen.

John and Becky

Hannah and her grandpa

This picture definitely captures our little devil. Ohhhh, she is a stinker!

After we ate, several people played flag football outside and then came back in for several rounds of lightning. It's definitely a family tradition to play lightning and I think some rounds as many as 25 people played.

Everyone that wanted to could play - as evidenced by the fact that I am holding Ellen's oxygen tank so she could shoot.

This is my Aunt Becky. She is such a joy to be around (as well as her cute kids). She was posing in Candy's heels.

After several hours at the Church, we headed to our house and most everyone was able to come join us there. We ate leftovers, visited, played Dance Dance Revolution, and Mad Gab. We got the Christmas blankets out for the kids (more about that on the next post) and my mom gave them a new coloring book, crayons, night lite, Christmas movie, advent calendar and puzzle.

What a wonderful day - full of delicious food, delicious company and delicious blessings!

Bathing Beauties

Ever since getting her cast off, Kate has really loved and appreciated baths! It's hard to drag her out of the tub after a night time bath, so yesterday she took a nice, long, afternoon bath. As you can see, Hannah thought it looked like fun too. I don't let the kids do bubbles in the house, but I had the thought that the bathroom would be a perfect place for that - so I blew bubbles at the girls while they were in the tub and they had a blast!

Winter Wonderland

Snow came to Utah on Sunday night and we enjoyed the beauty it brings on Monday morning!

Guess who was in the Frosted Flakes?

Thankfully, not a mouse! Just a snack-loving baby, who left some evidence behind!

Sleepy Head

I have always loved looking at my little kids when they sleep. Every single one of them sleep like this when they are little - on their stomach, legs tucked up under them and little bum in the air. So cute.... And then, there's nothing quite like snuggling up to a sleeve of Ritz crackers and taking an afternoon nap!

Disney on Ice

Saturday was our annual visit to see Disney on Ice. For the last 6 or 7 years, we've gone in February with a lot of our friends in Ohio, so it was sad to not be there with them and we thought about them a lot! We missed you guys!

But, it was fun to see it in Salt Lake and see it with my parents and Becky & John. (My Jon was at work, so he wasn't able to come with us this year). It was Princess Classics. We've seen it before, but it was just as fun as ever! John and my dad were such good sports because you pretty much have to check your manhood in at the door and then pick it up on the way out. John was funny and commented that we all needed to go to a Monster Truck Rally now.

The kids were great during it - only a few trips out with Hannah - so that was good! That little body just doesn't sit still for very long. Thanks again to mom, dad, Becky & John for the fun afternoon!

Emily's 10th Birthday!

It seems impossible that our oldest child could already be 10, but she is!!! Emily turned 10 on October 28th and we love this beautiful girl more and more every day. Emily takes such good care of all of her younger siblings and is such a big help to have around. I have had several moms tell me that they wish they could take Emily home with them, because she is so good with little kids and is such a pleasure to be around. She is very aware of others around her and tries to make sure they are happy and taken care of.



She works really hard in school and her teachers have always loved having Emily in their classes. She still keeps in contact with her teachers from Greensview Elementary in Ohio. She works hard at soccer, basketball, dance, swimming and art classes. She is a good friend to everyone at school and goes out of her way to play with a special needs girl in her class. She is always ready to stand up for what's right and be an example to those around her. She continues to make us all very proud!



We love you deeply Emily and couldn't be more thrilled with the wonderful girl you are! Thank you for being such an important part of our family! We can't imagine our lives without you!

2009 Family Pictures

Several weeks ago, we had our family pictures taken. For me, family pictures are usually so stressful and so much work to get a good shot. I knew a few people who had used a gal from Ohio, and from her website, I knew that she took great pictures! She was visiting Utah while her husband did a rotation here, so we booked her. We took the pictures at Gardner Village and I told the kids that if they were good, we'd go to the candy store and they could pick out a treat. I had told them for several days beforehand that they needed to be really good and listen to what Kara said - and to smile good.



The weather was perfect, I thought our outfits looked great, and the kids were awesome! Even Hannah was great and it was a really fun photo shoot. I love how they turned out and here are a few highlights. She was also able to take the beautiful pictures of Lindsey in her baptism dress. If you want to check out her website, it's: karahphotography.blogspot.com.



Thanks again Kara! They are wonderful!