Happy Thanksgiving!!

We spent Thanksgiving with Andrew's side of the family this year. We ate in my mother-in-law's garage which was great because there was a lot of room and she didn't have to worry about her house getting too messy. The weather was really nice but we had heaters in the garage to keep us warm (just in case). We have several vegans on Andrew's side of the family. So, half of our Thanksgiving dinner was vegan. We had so, so much food. We had fun eating, catching up with those we haven't seen lately, and playing games. I really enjoy Thanksgiving day mostly because I can reflect on all of my blessings. I have been blessed with so much in my life and I am very grateful for all I have especially my family. They are truly my greatest blessing.

Scott, Michael, and Amanda

Andrew's really excited about Thanksgiving.

Grandma and Grandpa Rasmussen.

Chuck and his homemade bread. Yumm!

Bonnie with baby Alex.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAMANTHA!!!

Today we also celebrated Samantha's 5th birthday (which is on Dec.1st) because she will be in California for her birthday. Madeline and Samantha got to dress up like princesses and have a princess party. They are so cute.

All dressed up and excited for the party.

Samantha with her little mermaid cake.

Two princesses.

Yummy frosting.

Samantha and Maddy eating cake and ice cream.

OPENING PRESENTS.

PLAYING WITH PRESENTS.

We got Samantha a Beauty and the Beast talking tea set. As you pour tea out of Mrs. Potts, she makes bubble noises. The girls had so much fun playing with the tea set and they were so cute to watch.

Samantha pouring tea.

Maddy and Samantha having a tea party.
They invited Grandpa to join them.
Grandpa is having so much fun!

After Thanksgiving dinner at my mother-in-law's, we went to visit my father-in-law. He and his wife are going back to Mexico on Sunday. We had a nice visit with them.

Scott and Andrew with their Dad.

Here are pictures of Madeline and Samantha with a new puppy. Rick (Andrew's stepdad) got a new puppy from his sister. She is house-training it and then will give it back to Rick (what a nice sister). If someone would house-train a dog for me, I think I would consider having a dog.

WHAT A LONG DAY!!

St. George DAY 3

JUBILEE OF TREES!

We went to the Jubilee of trees at the St. George convention center. It was free admission today. The kids really enjoyed seeing all the decorated trees and gingerbread houses. There were some really creative decorated trees. You could vote on your favorite tree.

Maddy and Samantha's favorite tree was Cinderella.

This was my favorite tree. It's the Grinch carrying a christmas tree. So creative! I loved it.

Our little family.

Two sweethearts.

Scott, Brenda, and kids.

ZIONS NATIONAL PARK

We spent a couple of hours at Zions National Park. I haven't been to Zions National Park since before I was married. It's so beautiful. I wish we had more time to spend at the park and go to Angel's landing. But we only had a couple of hours and then we had to travel home.

Weeping Rock.

If you look close in the picture, you can see the water falling down the rock (that's why they call it weeping rock).

Maddy and Daddy (I love this picture).

We saw a lot of deer.

Daddy's and daughters.

We took the free shuttle to our various destinations.

Brenda and Cody.

Michael lost one the the lenses to his sunglasses and didn't realize it until we were on the shuttle.

St.George DAY 2

BREAKFAST!

Madeline and Samantha excited for the day.

SWIMMING!

Madeline went swimming with Samantha. They had a lot of fun! It was too cold for me to swim. Luckily Andrew took Madeline swimming and I just supervised and read a book.

THE BIG RIVAL GAME!

Some of us went to a sports bar/restaurant to watch the BYU v. UTAH football game. Most of Andrew's family live in SLC and are Ute fans.

Bonnie and Andrew.

Kyla and Tyler.

Heather and Nathan.

Amanda and Michael.

THE DINOSAUR DISCOVERY SITE AT JOHNSON FARM.

Those of us who didn't want to wrestle kids while watching the football game went to a Dinosaur museum. The kids had a great time watching a little movie and running around the museum. It was really neat seeing all the dinosaur tracks.

Scott, Brenda, Samantha, and Cody. Mommy and Maddy.

Madeline: a junior paleontologist.
Cousins.

Samantha and Maddy making dinosaur pictures with stencils.

St.George DAY 1

Today we traveled to St. George, UT for the weekend. All of Andrew's siblings came except for one brother and his family. Scott and Brenda have a time-share through Worldmart, so we got to stay in a really nice resort. We stayed in two rooms which each had three bedrooms. We carpooled with Scott, Brenda, and the kids. We were able to borrow my Mother-in-law's van which helped so we didn't have to take two cars. We stopped off in Cedar City to get dinner for the kids. We went to McDonald's and the kids got kids meals and played on the play structure. Inside the kids meals were little Madagascar 2 figures. We got to travel from Cedar City to St. George (about 45 minutes) with three toys singing, "I like to move it, move it." It got really annoying. I wanted to throw those toys out the window. We all made it to St. George safely; now it's time to party.

Primary Program.

Our Little Star.

Today was our ward Primary program. It was really exciting because Madeline is in Primary and was able to participate. We have been practicing her part and the songs. Yesterday we had a program practice and pizza party. Madeline did a great job on her part during the practice. But she didn't do so great for the real thing. She was really upset because Andrew didn't take her up on stage. Sometimes Madeline can be really stubborn. Today was one of those days. She woke up really early this morning and just didn't have a great day. The program went really well. There are a lot of kids in the Primary. We had to have a lot of extra chairs set up. I'm used to the Davie Primary with fewer kids. But I really felt the spirit and was proud of all the Primary kids. We took a couple of picture before we went to church.

Madeline excited about the Primary Program.

Daddy and Maddy.

Mommy and Maddy.