July Check-in

Just a quick check-in before we leave for the rest of the month; I don't know if I'll have time to write a post while we're gone. Nils, Aani, Ava and I went to Bryce Canyon with Saren, Randy, Red and Gracey at the beginning of the month. The temperatures were amazing (around 70) the whole time, and it was delightful. It's so beautiful there, and we had fun hiking a bit, looking at the stars in the dark sky, horseback riding, eating at the meager selection of restaurants, playing games, etc. For the record, riding a horse for 2-3 hours is painful and I'm thankful I'm not a cowboy.

Ava forgot her swimsuit, and the only swimsuits her size in the store were for boys. So, we bought her some trunks and she made due. She was the only person in the pool at one point, so we had to document.

Who needs to steer when you can drive with your knee? Nils, that's who. This doesn't work for me. I need longer legs. 

Got home one day and the house was empty, but the oven was on, with a camera looking at the timer, and the Alexa was set up to turn the oven off when the timer was done. This is the life I live.

We went to The Mending Shed in Orem to get something repaired, and these folks were standing outside. Super weird. 

Aani got her second Covid shot, so I got her some sushi to try to help her through the trauma. She liked it. I've never tried sushi, because I'm allergic to nearly everything in it; I don't think it would go well for me. 

More Bryce: on our last night there, Nils stayed in the park until about 12:30 am to get some star shots. He said it was pretty scary being there all by himself, but he got some great shots. 

Addie backed into Saren and Randy's rental car when they were parked in our driveway. Deep breaths...deep breaths...

Anders bought his very own car! His internship has been extended- he's been hired on as a junior test engineer, and got a pay raise. We found a good deal on this little Toyota Corolla. Pretty fun! 

In other news, I was called a couple weeks ago as Relief Society President. When the bishop extended the calling, I didn't feel many emotions. I had less than 2 days to pick a presidency, and didn't feel many emotions. We got set apart and I didn't have many emotions. I was thinking, "this isn't going to be too bad, because I am obviously dead inside." Then we had our first presidency meeting, did some visits, I met with the old president and some other sisters about callings, and that night I had a complete breakdown. So, I guess I'm not dead inside, but I have no control over when I feel things and when I don't. So this should be real fun. 

Now we're leaving for 10 days and I hope everything just runs by itself and no one dies. The bishop is also out of town for 3 weeks, as well as the 1st counselor in the bishopric, so really, no one better die. 

I have an awesome presidency full of doers, and there's lots to do. Looking forward to the adventures ahead, and hoping for not many mental breakdowns. 

The worst part is that Nils and I are being split up and not teaching Sunday School together. They're letting me keep teaching with him until they find a replacement for me, but we rarely get callings together, so it's been a fun 9 months or so. 

June 2021- Bring the Heat!

Oh hey. How you doin'? We made it through June. It was mostly really hot and we were and are thankful for air conditioning. But some other things happened, too.

Take, for instance, this towel. This towel happened. Nils designed the t-shirts for the family reunion we have coming up. I had the genius idea (if I say so myself) to put the design in an online store, and have everyone order their own shirts- that way, they can get whatever sizes, colors, and shirt types they want. Or towels. We're excited to go to Charleston later in July and melt with the rest of the Rasmussons! 

Cuzzin fun

Traditional Father's Day lunch.

Our Sunday School class. There are a lot of them, and they mostly never stop talking, but they're great and we like them.

This is Landon, who Nils challenged to not put that chair down for the duration of class. He took the challenge seriously.

We went down to Zion area in Springdale and had a retreat with some other YouTubers. There were laughs, a lot of crying (seriously), and we learned a lot. But really, the last thing we expected was any crying, and there was a lot of crying. 

Aani's birthday dinner! She also had a party with some friends, and I didn't take any pictures. 

 

Beautiful southern Utah

Extremely hot southern Utah

Ava is still nice and leaves us cute notes.

All 3 girls went to girls camp! What? They went to Bear Lake and a great time. 

Anders is enjoying his internship with OC Tanner. 

Ava working in the shop with Daddio.

Giving Pip a haircut is always a traumatic experience for everyone, but this one turned out pretty well, considering everything.

Addie got her driver license last week, hoorah! She had a goal to drive to Culver's after she got her license so she could eat chicken fingers. She's a pretty good driver- she's a conscientious person and generally a rule follower. What more can we do than just pray that she's safe out there? 

The DMV needed to be a sisters experience. 

Ma peeps

Got together with my childhood friends for breakfast a few weeks ago. It's always the best.

We're headed to Bryce Canyon this week, and will spend July doing research for work. At the end of the month we head to SC for the Raggy Reunion, yahoo! 

Let Summer Begin!

School's out, we seem to be done with masks for the most part, and summer is shaping up to be a little nuts-o! Girls camp, YouTube conference, a trip to Bryce Canyon, a trip to South Carolina, Youth Conference, an internship, and then school starts again. Phew. 

May in Photos: 

The sheep came back to our neighboring field. They multiplied by about 3x, with lots of little lambies. They're SO LOUD. When there aren't any lambs, the sheep are super quiet, but those lambs make everyone really loud. We enjoy them a lot- but they do tend to escape, and Nils has had to herd them back more than once already. 

We've been able to go to a couple of Jazz games this month- the last regular season game, and a playoff game. Gooooo Jazz!!

Ava tried out for 6th grade student council for next year, and she made it! We had to make a video for her application where she showed how peppy she is. Success. 

We got new carpet upstairs in the front room, bedrooms and stairs. The old stuff was so garbagey- it was so thin, our toes would get caught on tack strips. Bleh. The new stuff is like heaven under our feet. We had to move everything out, which was a bit of an ordeal. 

Just Timpanogos being super attractive.

We were at Target and found this Cabbage Patch doll named Katrina. She looks just like me.

My skin has been acting CRAZY for awhile now. I made this list for the dermatologist, and came home with 3 prescriptions. My skin is nuts. It's not great. 

Ya know what is great, though? Addie. She got a job as a lifeguard for the summer, and started this weekend. Here she is, demonstrating blowing her whistle at pool violators. Watch out, everyone, Addie's on the case. 

I came upon a little store that sells Brazilian goods, and bought some of Nils' favorite treats from his mission. He's talked about these cookies forever, so it was fun to find them.

Nils and the girls had a good time trying to kill dandelions with a blow torch. Result: They're growing back...but it was fun anyway.

Aani got an award at the last orchestra concert for showing leadership. After the concert she said she knows about 4 people in her orchestra class, so she was a little perplexed. I will say she practices regularly, and she does lots of extra things in orchestra to help out, so I'm sure her teacher knows all of that. :)

Aani and Ava went to a lady bug festival with Nana and had a blast.

Aani got a frog, and his habitat with her babysitting money. Pip was intensely interested in this situation.

Meet Phred the Phrog. He does not love being held, or being outside of his home.

Work on the camper has started again. We hope to be able to use it this summer at some point. 

Anders graduated! Westlake put on a really great graduation ceremony. It was held at Rio Tinto stadium, so anyone got to go, and we didn't even have to wear masks. 

Anders starts an internship with OC Tanner next week, which they're paying him for. Payment was unexpected, but he's obviously super happy about it. When that's over, he plans on working for a few months, and then deciding whether he wants to do college or a mission. He's a good kid, and we're excited to see what he does next. 

All of the cliches are true. The days are long, but the years are short. Time is a thief. Life's a trip.