What in the December?!

Oh my heavens, we've nearly made it. We were looking at the calendar for 2025, and we're already booked 6 months out. What even is happening. 

2024 Rasmusson Family Newsletter: 

• Anders is working for us full time and is doing a great job. He's a great editor and has helped tremendously with the workflow. He's learning the method to the madness of content creation, and we're genuinely thankful for his talents. He travels as much as he can, whether with us or smaller trips with friends. It hasn't been the easiest year for him, but life is trending up for him, and he continues to work hard to feel well and to do what he can do to help himself. He dislocated his shoulder while snowboarding a couple of weeks ago, and were told today that surgery is going to be a good option. *Cue crying by me*. So, that's going to happen sooner than later. *Cue crying by me again.* Friggin' shoulders! 

• Addie became a certified medical coder, and then proceeded to avoid doing anything related to that. She managed the outdoor pool, taught all classes related to lifeguarding, CPR, lifeguard instructor training, etc. She couch rotted for about 2 months after the outdoor season ended, then started and is finishing up EMT school. She'll continue on to AEMT school (Advanced EMT) in February, do some ride-alongs with the paramedics, plans on managing the outdoor pool again this summer, and then is looking to go to paramedic school in the fall. What a switch-a-roo! We're excited for her since she's really enjoying this field. 

• Aani's life has changed a lot this year, too. She started out with regular high school, working at McDonald's, hanging out with friends, and all the other normal high school things. Now she's basically done with high school, works at Swig, goes to Cosmetology school, and hangs out with friends when she can- but they call her a "side character", since she's largely unavailable now. She's loving cosmetology school, but it's a really big commitment. When she's not working or at school, she's doing homework. Who knew it would be so much? Not I. 

• This year has probably been the last super chill year for Ava. She's enjoyed plenty of time "hanging out and having fun" (Addie's favorite phrase of what she always wants to do, aka NOTHING). She's a good student, and a good kid. She just got her learner's permit, and is currently taking a lifeguard training class (taught by her big sis, Addie Paige). She'll likely start working as a lifeguard before long. Crazy stuff! Ava has taken to reading big time this year, and is mostly found reading in the book nook she's created in her room. 

• As for Nils and me, this year has been absolutely crazy in so many ways. The bishop thing has really been a kick in the butt. We've had to restructure many aspects of life because of it. It's like a 25-30/hr a week job. We've had a lot of heart to heart convos to figure out what needs to be eliminated from life in order to make room, and I'm sure we'll have to continually analyze and adjust as time marches on. As much of a challenge it's presented, it's also been a very cool experience for Nils and he's doing a great job. 

The business is going well, we've got lots of plans in the works and are anxious to see how 2025 goes.

We've traveled more than ever this year, both because of work, and as a family. We're taking the philosophy that we need to cram it in while we can and enjoy this phase of our family life. 

My shoulder is still on the struggle bus, 9 months after surgery. They lie and tell you it will be 4-6 months of recovery, and then when it's been 6 months, they tell you it will be a year. SHOULDERS! LIES! 

We're blessed abundantly in a million different ways, and are also challenged in a million different ways, and that's just life, ain't it? 

Newsletter: Fin

Photos from December:

We test drove a Cyber Truck today. Nils wants. Nils most likely won't get. Everyone in our family is super embarrassed of them except him. There's also the barrier of obscene cost. 

P.S. It's nicer on the inside. 

We had a yummy Christmas steak dinner with Kevin and Tonya's fam! All the Martinelli's! Anders cooked the steaks and they were delish. 

Christmas!

Ava's Christmas band concert. 

This kid lives in the neighborhood, and he likes to come over all the time and shoot pigeons with the air soft gun. The pigeons are legitimately out of control, so this is mostly fine with us. 

Ward Christmas party!

Addie and the Pipster. 

We played the game Pip (the game, not the dog), and I won with a low score of 9! I had to document, because it has never happened before, and I'm sure it will never happen again. 

Learner's Permit for the Flave!

This is how Aani sleeps. To say she's invested in her hair would be the understatement of the century. 

The sky was cool the other night. It was dark outside, but the sky was blue. 

Anders' Christmas van. 

Apparently Aani decorated all the eggs. 

Keepin' it classy with McNugget stockings. You know you're jealous. 

Ava and her friends, Harper and Julia, performed a song at the ward Christmas party. Aani also played a violin solo. Love them. 

May 2025 be filled with all of the best for you and yours! 

Nooooooovember

 Howdy Ho!

Ava was Aani's first real person haircut a few weeks ago. It took about 3 hours, probably because the instructors had to approve of every little thing, but Ava's hair was only about 1/4" shorter. I took a nap in the car while this was happening. No room in the salon for spectators! 

Addie at IKEA tonight. More on that below. 

Ava's birthday is tomorrow (Sunday), so she and her friends decided they wanted to go to IKEA. They ate meatballs, got matching stuffed bears, chose a room for everyone, and Aani led the way. She then took them to Swig, where she works now, so that they could get a soda. Aani handled this like a champ for us! Thanks, Aan Aan! Nils, Addie, and I shopped for a new dresser for Addie, and got a cute chair for the great room. 

Aani painted this pumpkin for Halloween and it's been too cute to get rid of. I think the time has come, though, so I had to get a picture of it. 

Just a girl and her pickles. 

Just a dog with a fresh new cut, who is now freezing to death all the time. The kids wrap her up.

A little deacon knocked a piece of bread out of the tray onto the floor, and then picked it up and put it back in the tray. I managed to grab it before he could move on, so it lived on the bench until we could find a trash can. Who knew we could have so many adventures during Sacrament Meeting? 

Addie started EMT school! Long story. She likes it and is actually feeling like she could do this for work. The medical coding thing did not excite her, unfortunately. We're excited to see where this leads! First day of school pic. 

Aani gave Anders a fresh mullet. 

Sad before pic. 

Addie signing up for EMT school. :) 

Nils also freezing, hence the hood, and drinking Guarana.

Aani and I had a little date to Build a Bear. Clearly the coolest kids. 

This week, we had Nils' brother and family here for a few days. It was fun. The day after they left, we hosted my family for Thanksgiving, so it's been a real busy week. I managed to hurt my back somehow, I honestly have no clue, but on Thanksgiving morning, I woke up at 5:00 in pain bad enough that I was crying like a little baby and wondering how in the world I was going to get anything done.  

Nils helped with the last minute shopping, some heavy lifting of the turkey in and out of the oven, and we were able to do Thanksgiving. I didn't take one picture, which is a tragedy. We had cute table decorations, and lots of people here. By the end of the night, my back was feeling a little better. Thanks, ibuprofen and Tylenol! What a crazy day. 

We're launching our first course next Saturday! Fingers crossed! December is also shaping up to be a bit nuts with all of the church things, work things, holidays, oh my. Why life gotta be so crazy? 

Our Wild and Crazy October Adventures

Oh hey! Let's just get some business taken care of before we get to the most picture-heavy part of this post, shall we? 

Big news! After a real roller coaster of events, Aani was offered a spot in the cosmetology program at MTECH at night. The night class is 5 hours a night instead of 8 hours in the day, so it will take longer to complete, but we decided to accept the spot for her so she could get rolling. Otherwise we'd have to wait until January to see if she got a spot. Ugh. She started last week, and is enjoying it so far. We just miss her every night. She also has no classes at the high school except seminary, so that's pretty weird! She said there are two types in her class: Basic white girl, and Emo girl. She likes everyone. :) 

Ava had her first band concert of the year last night. She likes band and playing the clarinet. 

She also finished out her tennis season for fall. Her coach this season was really great. He offered private lessons, which we took advantage of, and Ava improved a whole lot. In fact, she qualified for the state tournament (by winning in region and sectionals)! She wasn't able to play in the state tournament because we were going out of town the night before it was held, but it was still so fun to see how well she did this season. 

Nils and Scott ran the St. George 1/2 marathon and did great! 

         

We took a trip to Orlando for our 1 Million Subscriber Celebration! Universal Orlando/Harry Potter world has been on Nils' wish list for a long time, so we thought we'd go for it, and do Disney while we were at it. We'd never been to either place, so it was a little intimidating. I did a lot of research and tried to understand the WDW ecosystem as best I could before we went. We're Disneyland people, ya know, and they're different in lots of ways. 

ALSO. Hurricane Milton was posing a big threat the week we were supposed to be leaving, so we were pretty uncertain if this trip would even happen. Every couple of hours we would look at our flight status, and it remained "on time" and didn't change ever, even though they closed the Orlando airport for 2 days. The hurricane rolled in on Wednesday night, and by Friday, everything was operating again, so we hopped on our on-time flight and everything was great. We even flew on Spirit for the first time, sort of expecting the worst, but it was actually totally fine.     

Photo Dump:     

2 Days at Universal: 

First time butter beer drinkers. That froth is something special. 

The girls met Gary. 

And Patrick.

We met Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona, and that was really fun. Donkey was talking real-time to everyone and it was very entertaining.

I was fortunate to capture this precious moment as we waiting in line for the Hagrid ride. We were all pretty wiped out- jet lag, getting up super early to get to the park at opening, walking miles and miles and miles. Pooped. When they saw me taking a picture, they stopped this instantly. 

3 Days at Disney: 

We did Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom, and Epcot. 

These pictures from the Spaceship Earth ride cracked me right up. 
                                                

Aani in China

Anders looking special at the hotel. 

All the ride pics. We did single rider whenever possible, hence the many strangers. 

Aani in Italy

Aani in Japan

Best picture opp from the pinnacle of Tiana's Bayou Adventure. Hello! 

Oops, a straggler Universal pic.

We had a lot of fun. We didn't love love Universal. The Harry Potter stuff is fun, and they have some good roller coasters, but they have so many virtual reality rides that just make you wanna puke. It was still a good time and a learning experience! 

WDW was fun, we liked it. The parks are so far away from each other, so that's very different from Dland. We rode all the rides we wanted to and managed to not spend too much time in line. We liked the food and treats. We felt like a lot of the rides were 3/4 as good as Disneyland. It could just be our prejudice, but we've heard the same from others as well. Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, etc. are all a little different between the two coasts. Our last park was Epcot, and we had a fun day there doing the things, visiting the different "countries", trying the food, looking at the shops, and then riding the cool rides in the park. Oh yes, I'm just going to say it. The Tron ride in Magic Kingdom is way over hyped. All of our kids love Tron and we were all way excited to do that ride. It needs to be twice as long! If you're going to go to the trouble of building a cool ride, do it right, we said! That's our rant. 

Alright, I think that's about it from this month. Other than the fact that we switched accountants and it's been a bigger deal than we expected. 

Welp, see ya.