a HUGE update

We finally got our new computer and now I can download all of our pictures- so there is going to be a lot to cover.  This is our life the last couple of months.  

taking the moving truck back

we stayed at a hotel while we found a place to live

it worked out great and it was wonderful to have my mom there to help

Jansten, Sadie and Kael

best buds

i love the boys faces...

Our little happy Ella

Jean came to pick up the kids for 2 weeks.  

This was a REALLY sad day for me because 1. My kids were leaving for 2 weeks and although that might seem really nice, exciting, wonderful (all the thoughts I had before I realized how long it was actually going to be), it was a long time.  2. It really hit me that we were leaving VG and Sadie wouldn't play with her friends here anymore and wouldn't ride her bike around here anymore.

I balled my eyes out the whole night!  I just kept thinking about everyone and everything that I was going to miss about being here.  The only thing that kept me from crying a river is not having to go through another Omaha winter.  They are horrible!  

I had so many different emotions the last week that we were there.  I was excited to move on, but not quite ready for "real life" at the same time.  I was sad to leave VG, but at the same time was ready for my own space.  I was sad that Sadie wouldn't have her friends to play with and be able to walk outside and have 5 friends out there ready to play... yet......well it doesn't get any better than VG for that.  You get the idea.  Pretty much I was a wreck!  It got better the busier we became and then I was just excited to finally move and go find a place in Nashville.  (see some sad stories have a good ending).   

This was our last get together for our RDEP group.  It was a fun night of BBQing and playing volleyball.  We had some good times out here in Omaha.  Thanks for all the great friendships!!

Umm...can you say wierdos?!

VG Yard Sale

Sadie found some awesome deals!  She really went around with a little bag full of change and bought stuff.  She bought a Tetris game that Tyler and I played a couple times...then it broke.  

Garage saleing is hard work...time for a rest and a cold yogurt drink.

Sadie's Dance Recital

This was Sadie's first dance recital.  She did so good.  All the kids did so good and looked so dang cute up there dancing.  Thanks to Miss Hannah for all the hard work teaching these kids. 

 Good job Sadie!!  

i didn't get the e-mail about wearing a black leotard.  Oops...that is ok...Sadie didn't even notice.  It is cute how kids just don't care about the small stuff.

Ella had fun watching

Alex, Parker, Grace, Owen and Danny 

Just a day in the life of a kid at VG...so many friends to play with...so little time 

Parker and his buddies ridin' in the wagon

Slipin' n slidin'  

 

What a little stud muffin!

taking a little break from playing

These guys played ALL day...they were exhausted!  They fell asleep while reading books.  

Sadie and her good friend Alex

Parker & Ella playing

SENIOR BANQUET

April 19, 2009

Dave, Mindy and us

Mindy, me, Ashley & Keri

The RDEP group minus one (plus a husband)

The wives (minus one)

Sadie came up with this idea.  She wanted to pull Parker in his buggy with her bike.  I told her that it probably wouldn't work because the string would break, but I tied it on anyway...well it worked and she pulled Parker around for awhile.  It was actually quite nice because then I didn't have to.

She ended up pulling the neighborhood kids around too!  This is cute little Scarlett.

EasTer 2009

We had fun decorating eggs and then we left them out for the easter bunny to hide for them.  

I got the kids ready and then finished getting myself ready and when I came downstairs to leave I noticed that Sadie did her own make up.  Pretty funny!

nashville here we are

So we made it Nashville a week ago and we have been trying to unpack and get everything in order. It has been a lot of work, but we are finally seeing the end of all this mess.

I want to acknowledge my mom and Jean for all the help that they gave us. We could not have done it with out them! Jean came out to Omaha and took Parker and Sadie back to Utah with her and then had them there for 2 weeks while we packed up our house and drove to Nashville. Thanks to everyone at the Rass's for helping out. When my kids are with you guys I know that they are being taken care of, having fun and getting REALLY spoiled!

My mom was so awesome to fly out to Omaha, help us pack and then drive to Nashville with us. I don't know how I could have driven with Ella with out someone else with me (Tyler was driving the truck). She was so great and we actually had a really fun time. We made up a couple games to play when things got a little boring...and we were laughing our heads off.

We have the best family ever! We are so thankful for all of you and we love you so much!

Having said that....we are finally in Nashville. We drove out here with our 26 foot truck and no where to live. We luckily found a great place with in the first day and we were moved in by the time the kids got here. By moved in, I mean boxes everywhere...still full and only the kids beds put up. But at least we got everything out of the truck. Let me rephrase that...at least Tyler got everything out of the truck. We called our ward to see if we could get some help moving in and no one showed up. It was only 2 days in advance that we called, so it was short notice, but ya not one person showed up. I helped with what I could, but Tyler did almost the whole thing by himself. There were a few items that he had to wait on and luckily the guy that we are renting our place from showed up to finish some stuff at the house and so he helped Tyler.

We heard the best things about Nashville before we moved here. In fact, we never heard one bad thing from anyone and it is surprising how many people we talked to that either lived here or knew someone that lived here or just visited and loved it. I have to say....it is all true. I absolutely love it here! I didn't think that I would love it here so much...granted I have only been here a week. But it really is such a great place...so beautiful...and they have a Chik Fil A right by us. I have been waiting 3 long years to live by a chik fil a. I am not sure that we are going to be ready to move from here in a year.

We went to church Sunday and we have a great ward. Everyone was so nice and inviting. We went to the zoo a couple days ago and the kids loved it. I missed the aquarium at the Omaha zoo and the butterfly exhibit, but they have this playground at this zoo that is so fun. The playground makes up for the lack of a good aquarium. We will probably go there just for this playground. Way fun!

Sadie has met some new friends that she loves to play with. She misses her friends in Omaha though. She has some pictures of them that she keeps in her back pack. She wants to send them all a card to let them know she misses them..so when we get all settled we are going to do that. I miss everyone at the green! Make some orange julius's and do some porch monkeying for us. :)

to all you moms out there.....

Happy Mother's Day!!

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on..
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt..
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom..

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body..
I didn't know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom .

I am so thankful for my mom and for all she does for me. I love all the women in my life who inspire me and make me a better person. I love being a mom to my wonderful children. It is the best and most rewarding job in the world!

a little update

It has been such a long time since I have blogged...but I have an excuse. Our computer is full and I can't download any new pictures. We are in the process of buying a new computer so hopefully I can blog again soon. I still have pictures from Easter that I need to put up!

Everything has been going pretty good. We are just getting all of our stuff packed up and getting ready to move in a week. I can't believe how fast time flies when you are having fun! By the way, for all of you who don't know yet....we are moving to Nashville, Tennessee. We are so excited!! Things just fell in to place and we know that this is where we need to be right now. Tyler is doing an internship for Oral Surgery so we will be there for a year.

Sadie and Parker are in Utah so we just have Ella right now. I miss them a ton, but it is nice to be able to get things done.

who needs expensive toys?

Our friend brought over a ton of moving boxes and we just dumped them in the living room. The next morning Sadie and Parker woke up and played in them all morning. I was able to get ready by 10 am...that never happens for me! It was great for a couple days, but then I got really sick of having them all over the living room floor so we moved them to the basement. If any of you moms out there need some time to get ready in the mornings....grab a few boxes and let your kids go wild...it is actually really cute to see some of the things they come up with just by playing with a box.

I am attempting to make my first quilt. So far so good, but I don't think that I have gotten to the hard stuff yet. This quilt is fun because there are about 25 of us that got together and we each made a different square. So it is a reminder of our time out here in Omaha and the friends that we have made.

Ella pictures at 8 weeks old

ella 3 months old

Ella is such a little joy to have around. She is starting to laugh and she smiles anytime someone talks to her. Sadie and Parker still love having a little baby sister around. They love to kiss her and hold her. I just wish that they were as nice to each other as they are to Ella.

crazy kids
i love when they play together

getting ready to go to church

spring break

We went to Utah for spring break. We didn't get as much done as we would have liked to as far as getting a house (we didn't even look) and getting things squared away with a job, but we did have a lot of fun and we blessed Ella.

So Sweet!

This is my best friend Amber. We have been friends since we were 11. I love this girl. It is fun because our two youngest are the same ages. Well, almost...they are only 6 weeks apart.


I love my sister Deb so much!! She is the best!



grandma rasmussen


grandma ross (ella is a little cry baby)



We were hoping for some good weather, but it ended up snowing a few days while we were there. Emmy, Sadie and Parker made a snowman...best snowman I have ever seen!!

We celebrated Parkers birthday with a train cake. He doesn't get too excited about opening presents, but he loves to play with them after their opened.

As a mom you have good days and bad days...if i could explain the last few days in a picture this would be it....

our week at a glance

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Ella is getting so big and she smiles so much....well, when she's not crying! She can be such a little stink sometimes.

Really? Our kids are actually eating for once? And with chop sticks...And what is that I see...something green on their plate? This was a good dinner night. We don't have these kind of nights very often.


Ok, now this is a sight to behold. Parker eating a bowl of salad. This is how it all played out.
First the broccoli on the fork...


next it goes in the mouth. the fact that something green even touched his fork is unbelievable!


see it really is in the mouth...i can prove it.


maybe, just maybe he is going to start eating green things...probably not though.

how could you not think that is the cutest little face?

Sadie and Parker share a room now...yes Parker now sleeps in a 'pink' room. But this is not the most un-boy thing that happened to Parker this week....

...I would have to say that this wins. (can you tell that they are both saying "CHEESE")
-i hope that there are not any long term consequences for this little boy-when you only have sisters i guess you just 'go with the flow'. when in rome.

A couple weeks ago Emmy came to visit and we had a lot of fun. Sadie and Parker love her so much!

*flashback friday*

this is Sadie at almost a year old. She fit into a shoe box...I can't believe how little she was


me and my girl


Sadie and her cousins/best friends just hangin' out in the laundry basket

meet our new....

....pet dog.

Isn't she cute?