Life Update

It's time for a life update, because everyone is growing up, and there are things I don't want to forget. There are also some things I do want to forget, but I'm sure I'll be happy I documented some day; probably so I can use it as payback for all my pain and suffering. ;)

Nils: Nils' job at OC Tanner is going well. It's, as he puts it, a "big boy job", and comes with a fair amount of stress and pressure. The commute is a real butt-kicker. Aside from these less than ideal circumstances, it's a wonderful company. Their whole business is centered around recognizing excellence in the workplace, and they practice what they preach. We're willing to give it at least a year to gauge how we feel about everything. Nils is in India for the next two weeks for work, and I hope he has a good time and doesn't get too much diarrhea. I also hope we all survive back here at the ranch and don't get too much diarrhea. I'm so funny! The YouTubes have been put on hold a little bit- this new job is taking a lot more time and energy. Nils has been able to release a couple new videos in the last month or so, but just hasn't had the time to put in like he used to. It somehow continues to grow, though, and he's up to 200,000 subscribers. Crazy.

Katrina: Life is crazy for me, and I realize I've mostly done it to myself by deciding to get a job outside the house. When I think of the alternative, though, which is staying home by myself all day while the kids are at school and going slowly insane, I think it's worth it? I think? The jury's still out. I like the job, and when I'm there I feel good. I like contributing, I like associating with people, and I like stretching my brain in a new way. The people there are A++...they couldn't be nicer. However, there is a bit of mom guilt happening over here. I have 2 days off in the middle of the week, and I LOVE THEM. So, I don't know what I'm trying to say. I like the job, and it makes me appreciate being home when I am. I've asked the kids how they feel about me working, and I mostly think they don't care that much, except when I'm not available to be at their beck and call.
I continue to not eat gluten and plan on avoiding it for the rest of my life. I think people think this is a phase. Sometimes I eat fries from places that don't have dedicated GF fryers, and I ALWAYS suffer the consequences. I kind of always have some sort of a rash that varies in severity, but it has never been the full-body situation since I stopped eating gluten. Anyway, I'm not going to eat a sandwich or normal pizza ever, and it's a real pain in the butt. It's also put a major damper on the happiness I get from cooking.

Anders: Anders is a full-on angsty teenager, and just about every teenager cliche is true with this kid. Pray for us. We're making him drive more and more, because we really are looking forward to not being his chauffeurs much longer. He's excited about getting his license, dating, and getting a job. All of these things are scary to me, but I recognize they are things he needs for his happiness, and therefore, my sanity. As I've mentioned, marching band has dominated his life for the last three months, but it ends tonight. The amount of time and work marching band takes is astounding. Too bad no one cares about it except marching band parents. :)
I think I FINALLY found a piano teacher for him- I've had like 3 people tell me they'd teach him and then flake out. So annoying. Anyhoo, Anders is quite good at piano already, but he can tell he needs help with theory and technique, so we need someone who knows what they're talking about. He takes all the honors classes at school and is in concurrent enrollment chemistry. He's enjoying being a sophomore and was thrilled to death to leave the middle school behind him.

Addie: Addie is becoming very teenagerey as well. It's just delightful (sarcasm font). She's still a great kid and very easy going for the most part, but she has almost no enthusiasm for anything outside of reading. She takes a book with her wherever she goes, no joke. Birthday parties, restaurants, friends houses, grandma's house, etc. She also likes goats. She has a several close friends, but is honestly just totally content to be in her room reading 24/7. She gets straight A's without any prodding from us. Almost every day after school, she goes to her friend Lina's house (in our neighborhood) and helps her with math, and also hangs out. She really likes playing the viola, and "jams out" to classical music in her room or while doing her chores. She hates doing her hair, and I've been really, really, really trying to get her to part her hair on the side. I have to do it for her, and the last time I did, she called it "the dreaded side-part". I don't even know. Anyway, for the most part, we're just thankful for Addie and her natural goodness, even though there are a few things I have a hard time not controlling at the moment.

Aani: Aani is in 6th grade and is a pretty cool cat. She has a few friends in the neighborhood, but also likes being home a lot. I guess that's what happens when you're the middle sister. There's almost always someone to hang out with. She does a great job of looking out for Ava, and is a great sounding board for Addie. She plays violin in the Saratoga Strings orchestra for 5th and 6th graders. She says she likes reading, but I sure don't see her reading very much. :) She likes going places and almost always asks for dessert. She has a fairly adventurous palate and will try and like lots of different foods. It's so wonderful. She's itty bitty for her age and hates it. She prays and fasts for growth spurts. Last Sunday we went to my mom's house for dinner, and Aani asked me if I wanted to go on a walk with her. The two of us went on a walk for about 45 minutes and had a great chat about all kinds of things, and my heart was full of love for her. When we finished, she said, "Well Mom, thanks for going on a walk with me!" Please stay nice forever, Aani.

Ava: Ava is in 3rd grade, and is in a traditional class as opposed to ALL. Thank heavens. She tested for ALL and was 2nd alternate, but I mentioned to her 2nd grade teacher last year that I kind of didn't want her in ALL. I'm a bit over it, and Ava is the type of kid that will do great wherever she is. She also hates reading, so there's that. The teacher she has this year is over the top amazing. I feel like I say that every year, but it's true. He's OVER THE TOP AMAZING. He went to Harvard to get a master's degree in education, and came back to the same school after graduating to continue teaching 3rd graders, which is what he did BEFORE he went to Harvard. He just loves teaching 3rd graders, I guess. Anyway, I'm enjoying this experience. Ava is almost always happy. She gets along with everyone. She has an unmatched enthusiasm for life. She joined the school choir and tumbles. She loves going to Activity Days. I can't believe she's going to be 9 soon. Her room is almost always hazard-level messy.

Pip: Pip continues to be a bad dog. If left to her own devices, she digs through the trash, poops on the carpet, destroys retainers, licks Anders' pillow obsessively, and barks too much. She's banned from PetSmart, and even the vet has written in her chart that she's a bad dog. We keep her because the kids love her for some reason. She loves me so much and is mostly good when I'm around. She pees whenever Nils comes home and acknowledges her existence.

So. Life is crazy right now, and I really don't see it letting up anytime soon. We're blessed and stressed and trying to enjoy the ride. Most nights we collapse in bed and marvel at how wonderful it feels to lie down. I love these people to the point of utter exhaustion.

That September Life

'Tis been a full, busy month, with work, school, and all the extra curriculars starting up. Marching band has taken over Anders' life, and he's acting like he's over it. I think he has more fun than he lets on, it's just that by the time he gets home, he's exhausted and starving so he can't remember the good times. Aani has orchestra in the evenings twice a week, as well as activity days, and Ava has tumbling and activity days. Addie doesn't do after school activities just yet, but she reads a lot and hangs out with friends, so it's fine. :) 

Pictures: 

Marshall's opened up in Lehi, and we spent like 2 hours there and had a great old time. Ava made this "super cute" face with the unicorn mugs. I dunno. 

A lovely fall morning, and the back yard is starting to look a lot better these days. So much stinking work. We hydroseeded the non-grass areas, and it's slowly starting to fill in. It will probably actually look good in about 2 years.

We had a YW mother-daughter "Nailed It" activity, where we decorated sugar cookies to look like each other. Addie told me I needed to give her poofy hair, so I did.

Nils, Anders and some of the young men and leaders hiked Mt. Timpanogos on Labor Day. Nils' fingers turned into sausages, and his big toenail is black now. Getting old is super great.

 This picture makes us laugh a lot.

Speaking of getting old, I had an MRI on my thigh/femur to see what was going on. The sports medicine doc saw a stress fracture on the x-rays and it was killing me. After 2 months of inactivity, there was very little improvement. The MRI showed nothing. NOTHING! It was also one of the most panic-inducing experiences of my life. The claustrophobia is alive and well my friends. Anyhoo, I've been sent to physical therapy, which is convenient since that's where I work and all. This lovely picture is of dry needling in my quad. It's kinda like acupuncture with electrodes. Very weird, but I do think it helped. 

Nils is getting more and more into 3D printing. He printed this Millennium Falcon and has done lots of other things. 

Apparently this is what Nils' work days consist of. Meetings, meetings, and white boards. It's been a little rough, Nils' new job and me working as well...

which is why dinner sometimes looks like this....
Thanks, McDonald's, for feeding our children.

 (and IKEA)

So, there's been quite the fire burning in Southern Utah County, and although we most definitely don't have the worst of it up here, the air quality has been pretty crappy for weeks. The Father's and Son's campout was scheduled a couple weekends ago, and was cancelled due to the terribly smoky air. 

So they had Fathers and Sons Dodgeball night instead! Addie went with Nils, since Anders had to be at the Homecoming football game for band. 

 Breakfast for dinner.

 Anders had an assignment for one of his classes to make a vision board. I was pretty impressed with it. "My Lit Future". 😎

I told Nils that it was probably time to get a nicer TV. Why do I say things like that? Look what happened. 2 TV's. In our defense, every TV in our house has been a used KSL deal, so this is fine I s'pose. But, I'm keeping my big mouth shut for a long time now. 

I'll try to take more pictures this next month. I can't believe how bad I've been at it. See ya's.

August photo dump

So much going on. We're trying to stay afloat and will probably survive it all. Here are some pics, but we've mostly forgotten to take pictures of life lately.

Aani, Ava and I drove a few miles down the road by the lake with Nils so he could fly his drone. Then he lost his drone, and it turned into a whole thing, but this picture is pretty cute. 

Our nephew Stockton returned home from his mission in Brazil. He's a good one. His 2 grandmas kissing him. 

Ava and cousin Oakley are the babies of their families, so we call them "the babies". We went to dinner at Tucanos and called out "Baaaabies!" and they came running. Pretty dang funny. Oakley is 14, so it's extra great.

Nils' 40th birthday happened to be on the same day as his sister's memorial services. We canceled the party we had planned for obvious reasons, and I asked our friends and neighbors to heart attack him while we were gone. They did not disappoint! We are blessed with a pretty fantastic community. Our bishop and his neighbor pulled together a surprise "cake eating" the next night for Nils, so it all turned out awesome. Nils felt very loved.

Aani spent an afternoon at work with Nils, and he asked her to write 3 pieces of advice for him on his white board. Not too shabby, Aani Flaani. 

The kids started school, hallelujah! This summer about killed me. Anders 10th, Addie 8th, Aani 6th, Ava 3rd. I do love them. 

I started my job! I was so nervous. It's going fine, but I must admit it's quite an adjustment after being home for almost 16 years. Everyone is very nice and I have no complaints.

Nils started a new job this week, too! This is major, people. We thought he'd be at the Church for forever, but along came O.C. Tanner out of the blue, and straight up offered him an opportunity that seemed stupid to pass up. This pic is of Nils and Dave, his cohort at the Church. It is very bittersweet leaving his church job- it has been an enormously huge blessing for us. O.C. Tanner better deliver the moon, y'all.

Nils almost went blind last weekend. He was in excruciating pain and couldn't stand the smallest amount of light. Turned out he had a corneal ulcer, which is actually considered a medical emergency. We found an eye doctor who was open on Saturday and saved the day with antibiotic eye drops and a magical numbing drop. It turns out that changing your contacts every two months is dangerous for your eyesight. #lifelessons (Nils still isn't sold on the idea.)

I have a new physical ailment, too! Nils isn't the only special one! My femur has been aching non-stop for almost 2 months. I finally went to an orthopedic doctor last week since I'm a genius, and lo and behold, guess who has a stress fracture? What caused this remains a mystery, but I'm glad to know I'm not crazy. No more jump squats for awhile, I s'pose.

This has been a month, indeed. Peace the heck out.

Loss

Events and circumstances are much more far-reaching than we understand. This month has been full of all of the emotions life has to offer.

Nils' little sister, Harmony (Gwen, as she preferred to be called), passed away on August 2. She has a husband and 4 young kids. She suffered for many years from depression, and I don't think we'll ever understand what she endured. It's just so sad. There is much to be said, but I don't think this is the place to say it. We're comforted knowing that she's not suffering anymore, but not having her here on Earth is a massive loss for so many people who knew her and love her. I hope she is able to better understand now, and I know this experience will make us all kinder and more sympathetic and empathetic to those who struggle.

This is the only picture I took on the day of Harmony Gwen's memorial service. All of these people knew her from the time she was a toddler in Connecticut. This was a Goshen Ward reunion of sorts under the worst circumstances imaginable. I didn't grow up with them, but Nils did, and I know all of them; these people are legends in my book.

When I was 19 and spent a week in Connecticut at the Rasmusson's house, Harmony was gracious enough to give me her room to sleep in. She was a bridesmaid at our wedding. She was always kind. She lived in Orem/Provo for awhile after high school, and was always willing to babysit Anders and Addie so Nils and I could get away for a rare date. As we all got married and scattered across the globe, it became more difficult to keep a close relationship with her; she and her husband, Ben, have been in the army for the last many years, and have never been close geographically to us. However,  she would go out of her way for years to hand-craft birthday cards for every member of the family and send them. All of my kids got birthday cards from Aunt Gwen. It was no secret that she struggled with deep depression. There were peaks, deep valleys, and some mole-hills for her, and I don't think any of us allowed ourselves to think she would leave us. We will always miss her, and I can't imagine that this will ever feel normal. We don't know what is next for her hubby and kids, but we hope to be a source of love and support them however we're able. We love you, Harmony Gwen! We truly miss you.

I don't even know!

We went to Port Townsend, Washington for a week for RARARA. It was chilly and cloudy almost the whole time, which was so weird for us desert folk. Back here in Utahr, it's been wicked hot for weeks on end. Bleh.

We stayed at Fort Worden, which is an old Army fort. We stayed in Colonel's housing, which was cool. The houses reminded all the Rasmussons of Connecticut of the old, 100 year old house that they grew up in. Some of them thought the houses were haunted, even! There was a beautiful beach within walking distance, a light house, and Nils' maternal grandmother about 20 minutes away. We spent a lot of time at her house. It was a busy, fun week.

We got Ava's ears pierced at a tattoo parlor in Seattle. (She's been asking for months to get her ears pierced.) It was a much different experience than Claire's, haha. They were so pro. It was muy expensive, but I feel like we'll have a better outcome than we have had with the Claire's regimen. The guy that did the piercing was very sweet to Ava, and clearly a total professional at this business.  Two thumbs up!

There is a needle sticking out of her ear in this picture. Look at her fists. 

Nils' Grandpa built this boat, and it's been sitting in their front yard for close to two decades. I let Nils know that he's not allowed to do this.

Fremont Troll

"Whale Watching" (See story below)

We had a sawdust hunt- we threw a bunch of change into a pile of sawdust and had the kids search for it. They all loved it! 

With Grandma Cook- can you tell I only took one sweatshirt? So chilly! 

This picture of Par and Jenny hanging on Grandma Cook's wall just gave us all a lot of joy. So awesome! 

FYI, the next several paragraphs are me complaining about crappy stuff that's happened, and about how we're annoyed with our children right now. 

We decided to go whale watching right before the reunion started. We read reviews on the internets about how amazing it is. The reviews said things like, "This was the best thing we did on our vacation", "Will remember this for the rest of my life", "Totally worth it", "If you do one thing in the PNW, do this", etc. Well, we were sold! So, we spent kind of a lot of money on tickets thinking this would be totally fantastic. The company has a 96% whale-sighting success rate.

We spent 5 1/2 hours on a boat, on very choppy water, and saw ZERO whales. We saw seagulls, lots of water, a Canadian shoreline, and 3 sea lions on a buoy. We also saw sea-sick passengers, which was a real highlight. The great news is that we can go back any time and try again for free. I think we may be up for it in a few more years, but we need some time to heal emotionally. 

This was about as exciting as it got.

 

Nils and I have been struggling for the past couple of weeks with patience with the children. We definitely feel like we're in the thick of life at the moment. It's probably normal to have peaks and valleys with parenting, but we are in a low valley right now, and we basically feel ready for the kids to move out. The non-structure of summer is killing me. I have summer-time guidelines in place, i.e., no screens before noon, rules for self-care, etc. By noon it's 12 million degrees outside and no one wants to be out in that. The teenagers don't want to do anything, because their brains have turned to mush, and the non-teens want to be entertained all day, which often means going somewhere that costs money. I guess we did too good of a job of making our house an enjoyable place to be, because none of these dang kids ever want to leave (unless it's somewhere expensive). GET OUT MAH HOUSE. Addie is perfectly content to sit in her room all day and read, Anders is content to scream at the XBOX all day, and Aani and Ava are fairly content to play with each other, rather than friends every day. In addition to this, there seems to be a level of slobbishness/laziness/lack of courtesy happening that is just really grating on us parentals. By 9:30 this morning, we were ready to give the teenagers up for adoption, due to their inability to get out of bed/off the couch and complete their responsibilities. 

It doesn't help that the sun goes down at 9:30 pm, and it finally starts cooling down then so we want to stay up late and enjoy it. Therefore, we have no alone time in the evenings to decompress and build the love-levels back up for the offspring. We decided today to bring back reasonable bedtimes so that they all survive the next month. We're just tired. It will be fine. 

As a side note, Nils has been swearing more than ever since he was called as EQP. I wuv him.

Anders went on High Adventure last week. They hiked King's Peak, which is the highest point in Utah, and about a 28 mile hike. When they got back and he walked in the door, he completely lost it emotionally. In addition to it being incredibly difficult physically, Anders' most prized possessions, his Apple Watch and his phone both got destroyed. His phone dropped out of his pocket right as he got out of the car on the first day, and he didn't realize it. It got rained and hailed on for 3 days. His watch spontaneously popped open and broke. He was very upset, to put it mildly. After he took a shower, he was able to talk to us reasonably. He was asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting the next day, and he talked about trials and how we have to go through hard things sometimes, but they help us grow. His YM president bore his testimony, and said this hike was the hardest thing any of them had ever done- including all of the leaders. He said they all wanted to give up at some point, but every single boy and leader made it to the top. He related the view at the top to our trials- how we don't see the big picture while we're in the thick of something hard, but the clarity will come, and we can rely on our Savior to help us through. Wow. I needed to hear that, because after witnessing Anders breakdown, I kinda thought these experiences were just a pain in the neck for everyone. I'm very thankful for the proper perspective. Anders has since talked about the positives from the experience, and expressed that it was a spiritual experience for him. As for his watch, Apple is going to replace it for free because it was defective. He's been earning money this week to buy a replacement phone, and in the meantime has been using an extra Android (the horror) that Nils has. Everything works out in the end, doesn't it? 

Speaking of things being destroyed... that new car we bought for Nils 2 1/2 months ago blew up on his way home from work last week. I mean, it didn't blow up, but a piston punched through the engine block and ruined the engine. What. the. poop. Goodbye, $3,000. We didn't need you, anyway. 😐Super lame. 

As it turns out, our neighbor owns a car dealership and was able to hook us up with a mechanic and tow truck, so at least we can feel like we can trust the work that's being done. We are seriously traumatized in the car-buying department, though. What are the odds that we'd have TWO nice (Honda, ahem) vehicles need new engines?? No more Hondas for us, I guess. 

Our Blendtec blew up last weekend, too. Geez Louise. Refer to High Adventure lesson above.

In non-negative news, Addie went to Girls Camp and had a great time. They did goat yoga, which apparently is a thing. Addie happens to love and adore goats, so this was a major life highlight for her. Addie has been blessed to be naturally receptive to spiritual things, so she just eats it all up at girls camp and Young Women. 

Hey, I got a job! When school starts, I'll be working in a physical therapy clinic 3 days a week doing office stuff. Our friend and neighbor owns the place, and 3 of my other friends work there. In spite of these stellar connections, however, I did have to interview with three different people who I don't know. As far as I can tell, this is the perfect job for li'l old me. Everyone is so nice and has been willing to work with the needs of my family in regards to the schedule. T'will be good. Thanks, Heavenly Father! I'm ready for a new experience, and this is about as good of a family balance as it's gonna get. 

I was waiting for my interview- my first one in 16 years! So nervous! 

All is well in Zion. We really are A-OK. Just gotta muddle through some yucky stuff, as per the norm of life. Good thing we have some good stuff peppered in!