June Shenanigans...Mountain Edition

We started out June with youth camp- it was stake camp and we had YM and YW camp both at Heber Valley at the same time, but not together. We were in separate camps and nothing was combined other than dates and location. Sandi and I cooked for the YW of the stake, and it was crazy and exhausting and a little traumatizing, but we pulled it off and have another bout in the trenches together. The morning of camp, we did the majority of the shopping so everything would be as fresh as possible and we wouldn't have to worry about storing food and keeping it cold. We cleaned out Heber's Walmart of parmesan cheese. We literally bought it all, and probably ended up using 1/3 of what we bought, so it was a continuous joke. 

A small fraction of what we purchased. 

Nils spent most of his time with the young men, I saw him for a few minutes here and there, and Ava would pop her head into the kitchen whenever she could. Sandi and I really didn't venture past the kitchen and pavilion, we were cooking/prepping/cleaning for about 18 hours a day. Totally nuts. 

After camp, we needed to get a couple of videos shot, so Nils worked on two projects; a mini-split install, and a solar demo install. Neither were small projects, but they're done.

We had a couple of sprinklers break and start leaking into Aani's window well, and it took a few days to realize what was happening since she doesn't live in there at the moment. A good 3 days were spent sucking up water, trying to dry out the carpet, and get the horrible smell out. 0/10 do not recommend. 

Aani had her golden birthday this month, and we got to talk to her 3 times in one week. P-day, her birthday, and then Father's Day 2 days later. And then we got to talk to her the day after Father's Day because it was P-day again. :) She's still doing well, has had 2 baptisms so far, and has 5 more scheduled. She's taking Kansas by storm. 

We went on a 9 day road trip to Sun Valley/Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho, and then we drove up to Banff in Canada. Both were beautiful. Idaho was way more chill, way less touristy and exceeded our expectations. Banff was jaw-droppingly beautiful, but totally packed and such a tourist trap. Anders and his 2 friends Alex and Don came along, but they drove separately, which worked out well. We had fun going on scenic drives, hikes, having a lake day at Stanley Lake. In Banff we saw Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, and tons of stops along the Icefields Parkway. We drove and drove and drove, got lots of steps in, saw some of the most beautiful sites, and even saw a bear on our way out of Banff on the last day. 

Okay, here are pictures, in no order. I will try to narrate. 

Nils opened this can for me. It's hilarious. I don't open my soda can very wide, so he opened it as little as possible to mock me. 

Sending Aani's birthday prezzies back to her in the box she sent to us. 

This was not a great situation. 

Same day as the window well/room flooding, I went to Taco Bell to get lunch for everyone after we all handled the flooding, and the wind blew the bag out of my hand. I had my hands totally full, and it was already precarious. This is Anders' taco on the blacktop. Not the best day ever. 

We got locked out of our rental in Idaho, so Nils was climbing all the things to try to see if any doors or windows were opened. Then I literally picked the front door lock with a bobby pin and it worked. Who knew I was a natural burglar?

View coming out of the Safeway in Canmore, Canada. Not too shabby.

Babddie in Banff.

Skipping rocks at Bow Lake

We got to sit in the middle seats a lot while Addie drove. 

Hike around Stanley Lake, Idaho

Alex, Don, Anders at Stanley Lake

Ava at Stanley Lake

Nils at YW camp, nice shot. Woowoo! 

Red Fish Lake, Idaho

Somewhere in Banff

Somewhere in Banff

Moraine Lake Banff

Chocolate log roll for Father's Day. Nerm nerm! 

Either Lake Louise or Moraine Lake, Banff

Katrina, Stanley Lake Idaho

Talking to Aani on her birthday. We may or may not have been reenacting her birth. Don't worry about it, we're totally normal. 

Nils was a little spoiled for Father's Day.

Stanley Lake hike

Lake Louise, Banff. Just missing our li'l Aanster! 

The Bear! 

May Shenanigans...Late Edition

Oh my, it might be June 28, but we're gonna do our best to remember May through pictures and whatnot. 

May was a li'l crazy, and June has been a li'l crazy. The end of May and beginning of June were extra crazy because girls camp was on June 4. My church BFF Sandi and I were in charge of feeding the stake at girls camp, and the plan we had to order food from a food service company fell through less than a week before camp, so we had to come up with a new plan, precook lots of meat, and figure out all of the logistics, and shop 3-4 days before camp, so that was a whole big thing. It was all kind of awful and I think we both have some trauma to work through. Definitely still processing. 

So that's my excuse for not blogging at the end of May. 

We also launched the new basement finishing YT channel at the end of May, along with the course/software, so that was also a whole big thing, and the focus for the entire month. 

The Children:

Anders did lots of work work, also did lots of work on his and Alex's channel. They released a short film, had a premiere and it was a whole production full of whimsy. He and Cameron started going places together with other people, which I guess means they're like officially dating and stuff. There's a whole vocabulary now with dating that we don't understand, but it's fine. We like her, she's very sweet and likes Anders a lot, what more can we ask for? 

Addie finished up her first semester of college and overall enjoyed it. She actually realized she enjoys learning so much that she gave herself a summer curriculum. She particularly likes learning about ancient history and has a fascination with archeology. She has been real busy with getting the outdoor pool ready for the summer, of course, with hiring, training, getting the pool repaired and patched up, etc. etc. There has also been a lot of drama and issues between other employees which has led to some heartache. 

Aani had her first baptism of the mission! She and her companion Sister Dent get along amazingly well and have lots of fun together. She's been in Junction City, which is by a military base, so she's loved getting to know the members there, as well as teaching a lot of friends in the town and on base. We love talking to her every week, she's always making us laugh with her stories. She's got a powerful testimony and it's so awesome to be able to see her understanding of the gospel grow. 

Ava finished up her sophomore year of high school, and has a goal to graduate next year. Crazy! We're calling this next school year her jenior year. She'll have to do a few online classes and she'll find out in January if she can actually walk with the graduating class, but it's her plan for now. Spent a lot of the month of May working at the pool and getting it ready for summer, too.

Nils and Anders re-wrapped the Cybertruck. They used the neighbor's garage while they were out of town. The neighbors granted permission. While they were doing that, we had a family from Aani's mission come visit us and drop off a box from Aani. They were so nice and we chatted with them for awhile. 

This picture of all of our li'l babies makes my heart hurt for those days, but I love it so much. 

We went to the cemetery with Grandma and then to lunch afterwards. 

Nils went geode hunting with his brother Grove and niece Saylor while they were in town. 

The premiere. 

I went on a tear and cleaned out the fridge, freezer and pantry. It was a much overdue, much needed project, and I've been trying hard to be much more judicious in our grocery purchases. We'll see how long that lasts. 

Apologies for the lameness and lateness of this post. May was a weird one. 

April Shenanigans- Ugly Cry Edition

 Ugly Cry:

We dropped Aani off at the Provo MTC on April 8, and I was ugly crying before we even got out of the car. I really didn't think I would cry. She was ready, we've been talking about this and preparing for years, and she's all in. We said our goodbyes, went home, and I had to lie down and feel my feelings. Later that evening, I went to the SLC Costco with Ava, and cried all the way there, and all the way home. Geez. The MTC was good. She loved her comp and did well in general.

Worst dang day.

She flew to Kansas on the 21st, and is in a great area with a great companion, has taught lessons already and is enjoying it. There was a tornado on her 2nd day there, so that was exciting.

Saying goodbye to Sister Taylor, MTC comp. They love each other. 

We had a straight up miracle on April 17. My niece Olivia got married and sealed in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. We were sitting in the sealing room waiting, and my sister-in-law Tonya came up to me and said, "Olivia is saying her cousin is here, and that her cousin is a full-time missionary. Could that be Aani?" Before I could even make sense of anything, Aani walked into the room. Nils and I jumped up and couldn't believe it. We were all bawling our eyes out and it was just an amazing miracle for Olivia, Aani, us, and lots of other people who love those two girls. I'll copy and paste Aani's email so you can read it from her perspective:

I'm sending two emails today I'm so sorry! Yesterday I experienced the most amazing miracle and I think it deserves it's own email 

On Thursday my district went to the Timpanogas temple and did endowments! I was so blessed that my brother Anders got to join the session and I could see him. We said bye, he gave me the girl updates (successful), and it was so nice!

On Friday, we went to the temple again but for sealings. As I walked into the temple, something Anders said the day before struck me. My cousin livvi's wedding was today! In the exact temple I was walking into.

I started to freak out, I had no idea when her sealing was, but it was a packed day so there was no way to know. I asked all the temple workers if they recognized her last name or knew anyone's live sealings today. One kind temple worker told me, "it's a Friday in april". Essentially, there were a million and ten weddings happening. 

I went on with my day and began doing sealings. The way that it was set up for missionaries was 45 minutes of sealings, 15 minutes in the celestial room, then 45 more minutes of sealings. So, about half way through the session we all got up and walked single file to the celestial room, my comp and I last.

When i walked in to the celestial room, I literally jumped, gasped, and ran. The first two people sitting there were my cousin and her about-to-be husband, preparing to get sealed. I ran straight into her arms and we both started sobbing. 

Before i keep going, i want to go back in time a little bit. Just a few days ago, I had a really hard day. I had bombed a teaching lesson and felt super inadequate as a missionary. I felt like no one was proud of me or saw my efforts. I had prayed to God asking if He was proud of me, and received no answer. For a couple days I have searched for this answer in prayer, scriptures, even asking others to look for scriptures about it. Nothing. I have felt so sad and struggled a bit with patience.

The first thing Livvi said to me when I ran to her was,

"I am SO proud of you".

God spoke through her in that moment and I have not one doubt in my mind about that. We hugged and cried, then talked to a temple worker about any possibility of me joining her sealing. The workers sadly told us that there's no way a missionary can, but we were just happy to see each other anyway. What a blessing!

As she left to go get re-ready, I sat in the celestial room thanking Heavenly Father. In the middle of my prayer, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked up and two temple workers were staring at me, and they asked if I'm Sister Rasmusson. They looked relieved and a little bit scared when I said yes, then told me "this is completely unprecedented, but come with us". I wish you could see the grin on my face as me and my companion hurriedly followed them through hallways and into a small room. We changed our clothes super fast, and suddenly, I walked into a room with my entire family.

I was immediately barreled into a hug with my aunt, and suddenly I was sobbing again. The shocked look on my parents face and instant tears will forever sit in my mind. It was insane!

They told me that the temple workers kept whispering "Olivia's (livvi's) cousin is here" but everyone was confused what that meant. My cousin Oakley said he watched me walk past and thought "wow that looks a lot like aani". And then I walked in like 30 seconds later.

Livvi started crying and hugged me immediately as she walked into her sealing room and saw me sitting there with my parents. The spirit was so unbelievably strong. As I got to watch my cousins live sealing, I got such a confirmation that God had everything to do with this. Over and over temple workers told us "this is not a coincidence".

I got to hug her and my family one last time, then hurried back to my own sealing session and finished there. I bore my testimony for the people in my session and the workers were so happy and excited for me. I even saw my family in the lobby as I walked out. I got to talk to them more, and I broke the rules and held my baby cousin. What a miracle, I've missed babies.

God is so aware of us and our struggles. Jesus suffered in Gethsemane and died on the cross for that exact reason, so he can understand us and succor us, which means "run to" us. Although my prayer was not answered immediately, God knew exactly when that prayer would be answered most clearly and powerfully to me. He is so happy with my decision to serve a mission, and on those hard days he helps me grow. Seeing Livvi in the celestial room was not a coincidence. Witnessing her get sealed to her eternal companion was not a coincidence. God was in every single detail. I am so grateful for the spirit that was felt in the temple yesterday, my mind has been going back to it over and over. I know God loves me and is proud of me, and He is proud of you too. If you have a question, ask. Then wait. The answer will come.

I love my Heavenly Father and brother Jesus Christ. And I love you! Look out for a more silly email about my week! And thank you for reading this far if you did 

-Sister Rasmusson

So... that was amazing. God is good. 

I made (with the help of Ava, Nils, Kevin, Tonya, Cassie, Tom, and my Mom) these cute charcuterie cups for the reception. Pwetty fweekin' cute! Everything came together so nicely for Olivia and Jantzen, which was so so awesome. Lots of people were involved and it was a great day. 

Best dang day ever. 

Okay, here are submissions from Anders, Addie and Ava:

Haper and Ava

Alex and Anders, of AlexAndersProductions

Anders' has a girlfriend. And she wanted him to dress nice for her graduation, so he went to Ross to buy a polo. That is love. 

Addie knitted and crocheted a baby blessing outfit for baby Graham (Cassie and Stockton's baby), and Anders tried it on. Didn't fit. 

Addie in sticker form.

Baby Graham on his big day. Pweety fweekin' cute!! 

Anders and Cameron! 

Anders and Cameron at Blake's graduation

Fweekin' pigeons!! It's an airsoft gun, panic not. 

Nils has shifted gears and decided to start a new business. It's a long story for another day/another post. All is well, all is well! Lots of potential, things are looking good and Nils is really excited. I'm here for the ride. :)  

Ava and bestie Harper. They went to prom with a group of friends. 

My pretty baby girl. Oh yeah! She got her license. She gave me a picture to post, but I thought I probably shouldn't post a picture of her driver license on the internets. 

We celebrated our 26th anniversary last week. We went to Park City for a couple of nights and discussed starting a new business and it was very romantic. Then on Saturday, Nils made me these little shelves so my nightly medicine regimen would stop clogging up my nightstand, I wuv him. 

Baby Graham in his bespoke blessing outfit ala Addie. She's a master. 

Other big happenings/blessings this month:

We did our taxes and owed $0 in federal taxes. Last year, our tax payment legitimately wrecked us, so this was a complete shock and we nearly cried from relief.

We purchased a plot of land to build a future home on. It's in Woodland Hills, which is an hour southeast of us. Right now it's a mere dream, but we have the location secured should things work in our favor in the next few years. We drive down there sometimes on a Friday or Saturday night and just look over the valley and dream about our future deck. 

Leaps are being taken! Thanks, April, for being a good one!