Peter Pan OVERLOAD!

"Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning!"

"All the world is made of faith, and trust and pixie dust"

"The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it"

"I suppose it's like the ticking crocodile, isn't it? Time is chasing after all of us"

"Oh the cleverness of me!"

"I taught you to fight and to fly. What more could there be?"

"Build a house?" exclaimed John

"For the Wendy" said Curly

"For Wendy?" John said aghast. "Why she is only a girl!"

"That" explained Curly, "is why we are her servants."

"Never is an awfully long time"

"....children know such a lot now, they soon don't believe in fairies, and every time a child says, 'I don't believe in fairies', there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead."

"Pan, who and what are thou?" he cried huskily

"I am youth, I am joy," Peter answered at a venture, "I am a little bird that has broken out of the egg."

"Tink was not all bad: or, rather she was all bad just now, but, on the other hand, sometimes she was all good. Fairies have to be one thing or the other, because being so small they unfortunately have room for one feeling only at a time. They are, however, allowed to change, only it must be a complete change."

J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

(but not necessarily in the Peter Pan jr. script)

11

Just like 11 years ago...the Patriots won the Super Bowl on the eve of her birthday!

While we watched, we made sugar cookies for her class treat.  I know...I know...you aren't suppose to bring home made stuff...her teacher is a super cool rule bender, which is my kind of woman (and I know all the kids in Miriam's class, all their food allergies and stuff).  It didn't matter anyway, it took a few batches before they started to turn out so we didn't end up with enough for her class anyway, I ran to Costco for a treat.

So, we had yummy cookies for lunches all week long!

(they were really good...her friend has an almond allergy so we used lemon in the icing...so good!)

This birthday fell on a busy time in M's life! Her birthday was the opening night of the school play Peter Pan so she had 2 performances that day.  Then there were performances every night that week that I had to be at, and she performed in 3 of them. The weekends are taken with her ski group, and History Fair is looming over us, so a friend party would be a bit much for me this year.

Also, we bought her gift back in September.  She loves to have season tickets to the local theatre and you have to purchase them early so no surprise gift to open.

And yet, I think this was her most exciting birthday ever.

We wrapped a lot of little things for her to open all day long.

Instead of a birthday shirt, we got her a Tinker bell shirt (her part in Peter Pan).  She really is Tinker bellesk....spunky, smart, brave, spontaneous, loyal, yes even bossy, but that is a good quality in moderation.

Instead of flowers, we got her peridot earrings to wear during the play.

A ballet leotard she has needed, a giant peanut butter cup, some caramels....and of course a reminder of the plays she gets to go to all year long.

Soren and I took her out to lunch at Cutlers.

Darin came through with flowers for me.

There were lots of flowers for Miriam throughout the week from sweet friends and family who came to watch the play.

We saved doing the singing the cake until G'ma & G'pa Rass and Ray could come, along with Tatum. So fun to have them come to watch M in the play!

11 amazing things Miriam has done this year:

1. Tried out for the school play, performed as Tinker bell.

2. Sang 3 solos in church

3. Finally got her pet Rats (Opal May Blossom Ray, Megan Tatum Ray, and Nicolette Ray).

4. Biked 10 miles in the rain.

5. Started to babysit for $ and took care of a neighbors dog (saved $ for Legoland and SYTYCD Tour).

6. Joined the Ballroom dance team, tried tennis lessons, started skiing.

7. Read the whole Harry Potter series in 2 months.

8. Visited Arches and Goblin Valley for the first time.

9. Ballet Solo.

10. Miss Pleasant Valley Days first attendant.

11. Cleaned her pet rats cage nearly every week since she bought them.

Happy 11th Mir-cat!

FIZZ and Ice Skating with Friends!

I talk to my friend Mirissa almost every weekday.

I do.  Seriously.  It's just one of those little details that makes up my daily life...texting Darin and talking to Rissa. We have such a backstory; college roommates, served missions the same time, got married close to the same time...and we are continuing to lead parallel lives (3 kids, same ages, same genders).  So there is a lot to hash out! 

We don't get together a lot.

She has her stuff...we have ours, so it's mostly a phone relationship. 

But every once and awhile we do!

These two were going to kill us off at first. 

They caught on by the end.

“We'll be Friends Forever, won't we, Pooh?' asked Piglet.
Even longer,' Pooh answered.” 
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

it's been about 20 years....

The 5th grade (unofficial) Ski Club!

These friends/neighbors/class mates/soccer teammates/or cousins have been taking advantage of the Utah 5th grade pass! So far they have only been to Brighton and Nordic Valley together but there are plans to visit as many resorts as we can before the season is up.

My family skied quite a bit when I was little, but when we finished off the cabin and bought snowmobiles, we started spending our winter time there instead of at the resorts.

Here I am back on the lift!

I ski like my mom, steady, perfect, slow turns all the way down the hill.  I never was a speed demon, and am even further from that description 20 years older! 

I loved it!

The adrenaline when the lift picks you up, the fun conversations all the way up the hill, the sense of panic when you look down, and then the determination to maintain control as you figure out a way down the hill.  I was exhausted by the time we finished, but I love that feeling too!

This trip also made me more aware of the sacrifice and effort my parents put into getting my family up on the hill.  They got us up at 6:00 am if not before...skied all day long with 4 kids (this was before Mark) and then had to drive 2 hours all the way back home....feeling every bit as exhausted as I did this day.  Amazing.

So glad we know so many cute families to car pool with.
These kiddos are having a blast....we just need MORE SNOW!!!

Lego Legue

Byron and the 1st grade Lego Legue Club from his school.

They presented their stuff at his school STEM night.

We made the tallest (for a moment) straw tower, and our tin foil boat held 100 dice!!

MLK Weekend

There is ZERO snow in our yard. 

It is all gone...blown away, and now melted away.  I forget what a winter girl I am until a winter that feels like spring makes me all melancholy. Luckily, we had a family weekend at the cabin planned where there is still plenty of beautiful fluffy snow and beautiful blue skies! This was our last weekend to hang with Mark before he returns to Korea.  So happy we got to be together where so many of our fun family memories have been made.  

I didn't think to pull out my camera until the last two days, which is unfortunate because by that time Grandma & Grandpa, Aunts & Uncles and cousins had left.  Our school districts had different days off so there was an overlapping of together time, but we also had family alone time at the cabin.  It was a nice balance I thought. 

My one goal for the weekend was to get in a snowshoeing trip with Darin.

Check!
And even better, we ran into some friends who were visiting their cabin.  They decided to come with us.

Then we did some "old fashion sledding".

That's what we call it when we don't have a snowmobile to pull us up the hill.
We have to use our own two legs!

It's worth the effort.

Darin and Miriam got their daddy-daughter snowshoe trip in.
We played some entertaining rounds to Telestrations (4 year old art increases the fun in that game).



The kids fell in love with the snowboard Marcus has left up at the cabin.  They didn't go far but they were getting braver and braver each try! We had to pull them off the hill to make it back home in time for basketball and piano. It was sad to leave because I am not sure if we will make it back up to the cabin before the snow melts.  I am secretly hoping there will be terrible snowstorms in April to extend the season a bit.

Then we really became wilderness family by walking our stuff down to the parking lot (there is too much snow to drive up to the cabin...people usually snowmobile in and out).

The kids sled all the way down,

which is by far the best way to do it!

I am grateful for the memories and wonderful moments the cabin has created in my childhood.  I am thankful for the memories it is creating for my children.  It's a gift of comfort and groundedness that my parents have been able to provide for all of us (not easily....it takes SO. MUCH. WORK) and perhaps it won't be in my life or my children's life forever.  But.... I am not going to let fear and worry about what may be, steal the gratitude in this moment, I am just going to sit back and be grateful.

(and remember these grateful feelings when it's time to paint the deck this summer)

2015 Baby!

 I am keeping the Rasmussen family traditions alive and well, even when not celebrating with my family.  We fondued (word?) with friends and played UNO Dare...no pictures because I was snarfing on food and trying to win UNO.  We did an early (8:00 pm) popper mini celebration, saving most of the poppers for the real (10:00 pm) deal but wanted to yell "Happy New Year!" while friends were around.

Miriam then went to a little party with friends till midnight?! I know....I am surprised I let her go so late too...it turns out it was just easier on everyone if I let her stay till midnight when the mom hosting was bringing everybody home. She had a great time.

So it was just us and the boys.

How to Train Your Dragon 2
Martinelli's

Many many many POPPERS!

Some jumping off the chairs....

This next photo is in because it makes me laugh REALLY HARD!

I wanted a family photo on the deck with all the town lights below.

It was REALLY COLD so the boys were less than enthusiastic.

The second this beauty had been snapped, Soren jumped out of my arms and ran face-first straight into the sliding glass door.  Ever seen a bird do that?  I know it's terribly sad but it makes me laugh every. single. time. and this was no different.  I belly laughed while trying to hug it all better. 

He is fine, he is a tough little guy.

As luck would have it, another family in our neighborhood likes to celebrate at 10:00 pm so there were some great fireworks to hoot and holler at!!

Darin and I did stay awake until 12 and again watched a couple firework displays from our bedroom window. 

The next day we had breakfast pizza AGAIN because we all loved it, and I decided it is to be our New Years morning tradition.

Then I made everyone go sledding!

Manditory Family Fun Time!

Another tradition I am holding firm to, and really once we were all out there ready to go it was so fun! 

We went to Byron's soccer field because all of us during one game or another had looked around at the mutiple rolling hills and thought "this is a perfect place to sled!"  Others have obiously had that thought as well, we weren't alone in our adventure.

In some places the snow had blown away durring the wind storm earlier in the week but there were plenty of steep snow covered hills.  They were quickly becoming ice moutains as more and more people were taking advantage of the time off.  I am glad we went when we did.

Me, in my silly too big men's hat and my 3 sizes too big snow pants.  

As always, looking hot on the hill! 

Of course we ended when Miriam and Byron took a second try at a jump and Byron got hurt...but that is to be expected on sledding trips.  That doesn't ruin a good sledding day, it adds a good story to our sledding day!