Volcano Time

Santa brought Aidan a volcano for Christmas. First, he and Mikey made the mold of the volcano. After waiting for 24 hours, the volcano was ready for action.

Oh, here it comes.

Slowly, that is...

"That's it?" Avery says.

Hmmm, we must have done something wrong.

Well, at least Aidan got a taste of it - must not have been toxic, he seems fine.

Grandpa Rasmussen

Mikey's grandpa, Calvin Rasmussen, died on December 29, 2010. He was a really great man and everyone will miss him.


The funeral was held on January 3, 2011. Everything was very nice and went incredibly well.

Lachelle took this wonderful picture of Grandma placing a rose on the casket. I absolutely love this picture.




Uncle Dell drove 5 hours up to the funeral from Kaysville and turned around and drove back as soon as it was over. He is just that kind of guy.

I love this picture of Becky and Mikey's Grandma Smith. Grandma and Grandpa Smith wanted to show me where their new home was going to be. I asked, "where?" and they pointed across the cemetery to a couple of plots. Funny.

It was so very cold.



Three of Grandpa's 14 siblings made it to the funeral. 7 preceded him in death and 7 are still living. (His mother had 15 children and still lived until she was in her nineties!)

Lucy enjoyed the chocolate cake.

Grandma Rasmussen and her three children. She looked so beautiful that day.



Grampa Terry and Gramma Becky with their five grandkids.

Mikey, his parents, and siblings.

This is the first picture ever taken of all the grandchildren together. I love this one because Kade (even though very sick) bunny eared Tom.


This one was taken by a very old man (I think one of Grandpa's brother-in-laws). He did a nice job - I was impressed. This is the ENTIRE family gathered to remember Grandpa Rasmussen.

Starting off the year...

We spent January 1, 2011 traveling back to Utah. We had more lovely flight delays in Atlanta. Before we left Atlanta, Avery and I were walking to the bathroom at the airport and the man right in front of us stopped and started puking like ten feet in front of us. When we got on the plane, the flight attendant refused to get us milk for Lucy until the "official drink service" began, even though she was screaming "want mulk, want a bottle." When we got to SLC, the airline had lost one of our bags. Luckily, we were able to get it later that night when Mikey went to go pick up Carly when she arrived. I really hope we don't have to fly anywhere with all three kids anytime soon.

The next morning, I woke up and unpacked us and repacked us. We were so, so, so tired and Mikey was feeling really sick. By noon, we were back in the car driving to Boise for Mikey's grandpa's funeral. We were pleasantly surprised at how relaxing and enjoyable the drive was (and how fast it went by) compared to our flying experiences over the holidays and compared to our snowy, blizzardy drive to and from Boise over Thanksgiving. By the time we arrived, we were relaxed and felt oh so much better (and it didn't hurt that Becky had the best roast and veggies ready for us to eat as soon as we walked in the door!).

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve was our last night in NC. We had a nice party and Grandma Raine's and Grandpa Stanley's (aka Papa TanTan). Evan, Bridget, and Kaden came and spent the night. Nana even came and stayed for almost three hours - we are pretty sure this is an all time record! We ate seven layer dip, hot wings, ham rolls, and a bunch of other yummy stuff that helped me gain more love around my waist. The kids jumped on bubble wrap to welcome the new year at 8pm. After they went to bed, Bridget actually convinced my parents to play games with us - and it was really fun and incredibly funny. Carly, Bridget, and I help bring in the New Year with a little Zumba to Shakira. Here's to a fabulous New Year!

SciWorks

SciWorks is a children's science museum in Winston-Salem. When I was a kid, it was called the Nature Science Center. It was cool then, but it is way cooler now.

Okay, I was amazed at how much force the bike wheel provided.


Lucy LOVED the huge floor piano.


THIS is my childhood. This was my favorite part about the Nature Science Center - the HUGE mouth - and it is still there!



Lucy decided to run the maze.
Hmm...this is taking way too long.

Problem solved. Smart girl.


We also got to go to their Planetarium and see a Christmas show which the kids loved (even though it was too old for them and kind of boring). We bribed Lucy to be quiet with a lollipop. Avery is sitting right here and wants me to say it wasn't boring.

Old Salem

Old Salem is the historic settlement where Winston-Salem began back in the 1700's. My dad proposed to my mom here under a big beautiful tree in the courtyard.



This brings back so many childhood memories.

Evan, Bridget, and cutie Kaden.

Occasionally there is proof that I am around.

Kids love rocks. Always.

There is this new beautiful bridge at Old Salem with lots of gorgeous Moravian stars hanging. I want this at my house - the whole bridge.