Happy Holidays!!

Happy Holidays from the Rasmussen’s – 2007

We are so grateful for each one of you. We love you and hope that this Christmas as we celebrate our Saviors birth that we can all remember and celebrate Christ’s life and what he and our Heavenly Father have provided for us. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends and know we will all be together again someday. This year has been as always –busy! We wouldn’t have it any other way. The only thing I don’t like about it is that I feel like my kids are growing up way too fast. Sometimes I have to step back to realize they are bigger than I may think and I need to give them more room to grow, which for me as a mom is hard. We moved again –but well worth it!! We have a much roomier home, which we are all enjoying! Toby is working from home and is employed by OfficeMax. He loves his job, and I love the freedom it affords me to help with the kids classrooms and of course being able to see him so much is a definite bonus!! It’s nice to have lunch together and talk for awhile before the kids get home from school and are going in all different directions! It’s been so fun to watch them grow and mature and develop into their own person with their own distinct personalities. We feel so blessed, they are such neat kids. They bring such joy, happiness, challenge, perspective, and many other things into our lives. Here is a fun update on each of our children.

Jaron: Is 9 years old. He has grown and accomplished so much this past year. We are so proud of him. He is in 4th grade and his favorite subjects are Science, Reading and Art. He loves playing basketball and is playing on a team this winter. He is also in the 4th grade choir and performs at various concerts throughout the year. We are looking forward to the Christmas Celebration Concert. He has earned his Bear in Scouting and loves going every week. He loves to play video games and has become quite the Guitar Hero player. He wants to take guitar lessons now. He is very creative and loves to draw every time he gets a chance. He loves to bowl, golf, ride his scooter and run!! Jaron has a huge heart and always carries his emotions and passion for life on his sleeve. He is always concerned for those around him and makes friends easily. He is a wonderful big brother to his two sisters. He looks out for them and always makes sure they are o.k. –and doing the right things. He is quickly growing –and is fast approaching being as tall as his mom. He is also starting to want to do things with older kids and adults.

Mikenna: Is 6 years old. She has also grown and accomplished so much this past year. We are so proud of her. She is in 1st grade and her favorite subjects are reading and P.E. A whole new world has opened up for her now that she is a good little reader. She loves it. And she loves to write and draw funny little made up stories. She is very active and loves any sports. She is very competitive and takes it serious. When we do anything together as a family that involves competing or scores –she is all business and hates to lose. She played on a competitive girl’s soccer team this past Spring and Fall. She can’t wait to be on a Basketball team and Volleyball team next year. She loves hot pink, movies, board games, sports, and anything she can compete in. She is our Sunshine. She always has a smile on her face ready for the day, and can’t wait to try new things. She is happiest when she is on the go and doing something at full speed. She has a quick sense of humor and loves to make people laugh with her sayings and jokes. She loves to help in the kitchen and loves to cook! She loves dogs and is pressing us to get one. We’ll see next spring. She is also tall for her age and many people think she’s older than she is. She is our pretty tomboy.

Brielle: Is 2 years old. She brings so much craziness, humor and laughter to our days. She is definitely her own little person. She loves her dolls and blankie and loves getting into Mikenna’s stuff. She is the sweetest girl, and loves to give kisses and hugs to everybody, and has really opened up a lot this past year to other people besides Toby and I. She is a total ham, and loves to dance, sing and talk at the top of her voice –which is loud! But we are thankful she has started talking a lot more and using words instead of just crying to communicate. Socially she has also taken off. We can leave her with other people besides my parents or relatives –which has been a challenge especially trying to go out on dates. She loves her one on one time with Toby and I at night after the other two have gone to bed. She will put on a show for us and wants our full attention. She loves to sing and knows lots of little songs along with their hand actions, and she loves to dance and put together routines –which are hilarious! She either loves something 150% or wants nothings to do with it. There isn’t a whole lot of grey area with her. She knows what she likes and doesn’t like, and it doesn’t vary much. You can’t trick her into something –she can see through anything. She can be a total daddy’s girl –and has Toby wrapped around her finger. Toby has already had to tell her that she doesn’t run our household, he does. She is our sweet, intense, singing, dancing baby girl!

We Love You,
Toby & Mandy
Jaron, Mikenna, Brielle
Rasmussen