Rasmussen Family

Fishing!!!

2011-05-02T20:32:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, it was beautiful and sunny! We took the kids and Blizzard to a park with a lake that only allows kids to fish! Brayden had fun fishing! He can't wait to take Xander in a couple weeks when they come to visit!!

Mt. Rainier....A picture just can't capture how awesome it looks in person! SO, I guess you'll have to come visit if you want to see!!

Starfish!!

2011-04-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, it was sunny and warm, so we ventured out for a short hike to a beach in Olympia! Brayden got to see several starfish. A couple were on the edge of the water and he just went right to them, picked them up and wanted to take them home! We convinced him to toss them back into the ocean!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-26T12:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!! Here a few photos of the kids coloring Easter Eggs!

Look McKenna! You got yogurt melts!

How do I get into these???

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! We spent the day at home since we had two sick kiddos! They were troopers and enjoyed the day despite being sick!

Our New House at Fort Lewis

2011-04-08T13:48:00.001-07:00

View out our front door:Our house
Entryway:

Living Room:
Dining Room:
Downstairs bath:
Kitchen:

Mud room/back door:

Laundry room:

The kid's bathroom:
McKenna's room:

Brayden's blue room with his brand new bunk bed!
Landing/Hall:
Master Bath:
Master Bedroom:

March 2011

2011-04-08T13:33:00.002-07:00

What?? I don't know how that happened to the toilet paper! Brayden is finally potty trained!! YEAH BRAYDEN!Helping to get ready for the movers to come load our stuff in California!!

Taking a bath together at the hotel during our move:

McKenna and YaYa
Brayden loved sleeping on the sofa bed, especially since Blizzard slept with him!!

February 2011

2011-04-08T13:33:00.001-07:00

Here are just a few fun photos of the kids!

And we'll end February with Brayden's painting of the carpet and his cars:

January 2011

2011-04-08T12:57:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos from January! Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything here! It's been a busy beginning of 2011. Enjoy:

Making bear cookies:

Grandpa's visit to California:

Visit to Santa

2010-12-11T15:13:00.000-08:00

Brayden has been asking to go "say hi to Santa". He wants to tell Santa that he wants a Mr. Potato Head for Christmas! We took him to the Christmas Wonderland at Bass Pro Shops today. He was able to see a train, drive remote control race cars and monster trucks, shoot at targets with a toy BB gun and also a nerf bow and arrow!

Brayden and McKenna also got to sit on Santa's lap for a picture! The kids weren't so sure about this Santa (he was a bit grumpy). Neither of them cried and so we considered it successful!

3 months old

2010-12-11T15:01:00.000-08:00

McKenna will be 3 months old this week on December 14th!

She weighs in at 13 lbs 5 oz.

She can sit in her Bumbo chair now and enjoys playing on the floor.

She is starting to smile lots more!

Brayden loves playing with her!

Christmas Light Parade

2010-12-11T14:38:00.000-08:00

Brayden is fascinated with Christmas lights so we decided that he would enjoy a light parade.

We went over to downtown Pleasanton for the annual parade. It was a beautiful evening, no need for coats! Brayden did so well waiting for the parade to begin. His favorite parts were the bands and all the decorated cars and trucks! McKenna slept through most of the parade...the life of a baby!

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T14:21:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving at home this year! We had a wonderful day! Brian deep fried a turkey and made homemade apple pie! The kids played, we took a nice walk with the dog, we hung up Christmas lights, and ate a delicious meal together! On Friday, Cindy went shopping while Brian and the kids played at home!!

Blizzard

Brayden

McKenna

Busy making pie

injecting the turkey with marinade, yummy!!!

The frymaster

How did we ever learn to carve turkey's without the internet??

Happy Thanksgiving!!
"Brayden's" Christmas Tree...that's what he calls it!

5th Anniversary

2010-11-28T14:13:00.000-08:00

Brian and I celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary on November 20th!

Hard to believe it has been 5 years already!

In 5 years, we have lived in 2 states, Brian has been deployed to Iraq once, and we have 2 beautiful children! God is good and we look forward to many more years and blessings to come!

The beauty about having an anniversary in November (and a husband who's thinking)...you can use the flowers he gives you for your anniversary to decorate for Thanksgiving also!

Love you Brian!

New Rain Boots!!

2010-11-28T14:08:00.000-08:00

The rainy season has sort of begun here in California, at least we have had few rainy days!
We decided that we should go get Brayden a pair of rain boots, so he could play outside when it was wet without getting his tennis shoes all wet! He picked out the tractor rain boots! He wants to wear them everywhere!

We also know that they will get plenty of use in Washington!

Visit with the Cousins!!

2010-11-28T13:41:00.000-08:00

Uncle Adam, Aunt Katie, Judah, and Levi were flying to Colorado from Michigan for a visit and we didn't want to miss out on Brayden and McKenna having the chance to see all their cousins at once...so, Cindy, Brayden, & McKenna flew out too! It was so much fun to see all 6 kids together playing. It was chaos, but so much JOY! The only thing missing was Brian.
Six cousins, all 2 and under.....

Waiting for our Michigan cousins to arrive!

Eating Breakfast with YaYa

Sure 4 boys can fit in 1 bathtub

Aunt Katie and McKenna

The babies of the family

Trying to take a photo with 4 two year olds and 2 infants!!

Family photo (minus Brian) :(

Levi and Judah Dorband

Brayden and McKenna Rasmussen

Xander and Axl Dorband

The Big Boys

Xander, Brayden, Levi, Judah, McKenna, & Axl

YaYa and ALL her grandkids!

A Balloon war with Xander, Brayden, and YaYa

This snow is neat...we don't have any of this in California!

Great Grandma Meets McKenna

2010-11-28T13:28:00.000-08:00

Cindy, Brayden, and McKenna flew to Colorado for a visit with the cousins in November. While we were there, we were
able to visit with Brayden and McKenna's Great Grandma in Denver. She was delighted to see the kids!
Brayden had a great time playing! I managed to get both Brayden and McKenna to look at the camera at the same time,
but no luck with Great Grandma...she was too interested in the kids!

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T23:11:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a fun Halloween together this year! Brian finds it hard to believe that he has been home for the past 4 Halloweens. Before that he was either in the field training or deployed for almost every single Halloween since he joined the Army!

This year Brayden was Clifford the Big Red Dog. McKenna was a snowman. She did also have a skeleton outfit she wore to a party! We thought the snowman outfit would be too warm for the party!

Brayden really got into his costume. He kept wanting us to say "Come on Clifford, Let's go".

One day we were getting ready to take Blizzard on a walk to the baseball field so she could play ball. Brayden told us that Clifford wanted to go on a walk too and insisted on putting on his costume. So, being the nice parents we are, we let him. He even wanted Clifford to fetch balls with Blizzard at the ball field. He even barked while wearing his Clifford costume! So much fun!

McKenna did a great job being a snowman. She was quiet and sat very still. She did almost melt, being that we are in California and it was quite warm for the end of October! A few people even gave Brayden candy for McKenna and told him he could eat it for her! Thanks!

The community where we live held a Halloween party for the kids this weekend. There were crafts, games, food, costume contests, pumpkin decorating, etc. Brayden make a halloween craft with foam stickers, Brian decorated a pumpkin (for Brayden!), we ate, and enjoyed the company of our neighbors!

Traditions are important...so here are a few of ours....

Pumpkin carving-We went to Safeway and let Brayden pick out some pumpkins.

Then we decided to let Brayden decide what kind of faces he wanted...the kid is an overachiever! He chose Lightning McQueen, Clifford, and Elmo. We talked him out of Elmo and into a plain jack o lantern because Brian didn't want that much work. Turns out we should have talked him out of Lightning McQueen and let him have Elmo! Brayden loved the pumpkins and in the end that was what mattered! We told Brayden he could help carve by cleaning out the gunk from inside the pumpkins! He started to clean the first pumpkin and after two scoops told us "Too hard for Brayden, Mommy do it"

Pizza for dinner-this was a new tradition this year. We went to Papa Murphy's and got one of their Jack o Lantern pizzas. So simple, yet so impressive to a 2 year old!

Trick or Treating-After a long day of playing, Brayden was tired out. He fell asleep watching the World Series! I think he was just warming of for Trick or Treating, he needed some extra energy. After his power nap, he got all transformed into Clifford. Once dressed in his costume, he saw no need to wait and thought we should go now...he had a hard time waiting for mom, dad, and sister to get ready! Brayden loved trick or treating (except at the "loud" houses..those would be the ones that were playing scary music and had lots of scary decorations). He was very polite and told everyone thank you and goodnight! When he got home, we let him have a couple pieces of his candy and then it was time to say goodbye to daddy because he had to leave to go to Reno for the next week for work. After daddy left, we headed to the bath and to bed!

Now we are excited to have YaYa come visit on Thursday!!!

Happy Halloween to everyone!

Meet McKenna Shower

2010-10-31T23:01:00.000-07:00

My dear friend, Amanda, threw a shower for me so that everyone could meet McKenna and shower her with girlie clothes!
We had a great time, chatting, eating, & passing McKenna around. Everyone commented on how little she was! Funny, I don't think she is little at all. Then again, I am the one carrying her everywhere!! You think 12 pounds is light until you carry it around all day! Guess it is just a matter of what you are used to!!

Brian was in the field the weekend of the shower so Amanda's husband was kind of enough to take Brayden with him and Savannah (Amanda & Ryan's daughter & Brayden's good friend) to the pumpkin patch and the fire station. I'm not sure if the girls had more fun or if Ryan and the kids did??? Brayden had a wonderful time!

THANK YOU Amanda for organizing and hosting! THANK YOU Ryan for entertaining the kids! and THANK YOU to all of the ladies who attended! We were blessed by the clothes, prayers, and good wishes!

Welcome McKenna!!

2010-10-20T14:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been so long since we updated this! We have been busy adjusting to our newest addition!!

McKenna Eleanor Rasmussen
was born September 14, 2010 at 7:36am
She was 9 lbs 2oz and 21 inches long

Brayden loves his new sister and is a good helper most of the time!!
We are starting to settle into a new schedule/routine! We are working on getting McKenna to sleep through the night.
We think that she has acid reflux. The doctor has her starting a medicine today, so we will see if it helps!

We will try to be more consistent in updating this!!!

2 Year Photos

2010-08-16T14:42:00.001-07:00

Here are a few of the photos from Brayden's 2 year pictures session! He was having a great time until we changed him out of his Army clothes! But, overall, we love his pictures!!! Enjoy!

Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco

2010-08-16T14:03:00.001-07:00

Another day while Grandpa was visiting, we went into the city (San Francisco) to go see Fisherman's Wharf. It was a cold, cloudy day (very normal for summer in San Francisco). We walked around the wharf, saw lots of boats, saw the famous sea lions at pier 39, ate lunch, and Brayden went on a carousel ride. After all that, we headed to Ghirardelli Square to get some of their delicious ice cream sundaes! Unfortunately, Brayden fell asleep on the walk there and missed the ice cream! After ice cream, we decided to head home....should have just stayed and did more sightseeing with Grandpa because it took us 2 1/2 hours to get home (only should have taken 45 minutes to an hour! But, oh well.....it was a great day anyway!!

You can barely see the Golden Gate Bridge with all the clouds!

Black Eye

2010-08-16T13:57:00.001-07:00

Brayden got his first black eye 3 days after his birthday! He was outside playing ball with Blizzard, when they both went after the ball and neither were paying attention to where they were running and they bonked heads! Blizzard's both hit Brayden right on his cheekbone! Here are some pictures as it progressed! It was mostly gone when we had Brayden's 2 year old pictures taken this weekend!!

Muir Woods with Grandpa

2010-08-16T13:45:00.001-07:00

Muir Woods is one of our favorite places to visit! It is located right along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. It is just north of the Golden Gate Bridge and is an amazing forest of redwood trees. We highly recommend you visit if you are ever in San Francisco! This was our third visit to Muir Woods and hopefully we will go again before we move! I mean sister has to see Muir Woods, right??

Brayden turns 2!!!!!

2010-08-16T13:04:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Brayden's 2nd Birthday with a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, CA. We are fortunate to live only 1 1/2 hours away, so we took advantage of that and took Brayden to see the fish and sharks!! He really enjoyed touching the "fish".
Grandpa came to visit for Brayden's birthday and Brayden just loved going everywhere with "Pa". I think Brayden had a great birthday....his last in California! He will celebrate number 3 in Washington! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRAYDEN!!!

Brayden's 2nd Birthday Party

2010-08-16T12:24:00.000-07:00

On August 2nd, Brayden turned 2! It was his golden birthday...2 on the 2nd!

He had a Cars themed party and had two friends come celebrate with him! They enjoyed playing and eating cake! All Brayden wanted to do was eat the cake. He was very patient waiting for that part!

Daddy's Home!!!!!!!!!

2010-08-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

We've been busy since Brian got home from his summer away! So, I am just now posting those pictures! Brayden was so excited because daddy brought him home an Army truck. It is a Stryker vehicle, which is the type of vehicle Brian will be working with when we move up to Fort Lewis next year. Brayden wouldn't let Brian out of his sight once he got home. He even helped mow the lawn! One of Brayden's favorite things was going to work with Daddy one day. He got to ride the "Daddy Bus" which is Brayden's term for the 15 passenger van from Brian's work. Then he got to catch a bus and a train to come home from work! Too bad he can't go to Daddy's work everyday!!

We are glad Dad is home and are now getting ready for sister to arrive!!

Laying on Dad's bag so he can't leave without me!

Brayden's new Army truck

Cousin Xander's 2nd Birthday

2010-08-16T11:57:00.000-07:00

While we were in Colorado, Xander celebrated his 2nd birthday! Brayden had just as much fun playing with his new toys!
We also got to meet Brayden's newest cousin, Axl, while there. He was born July 7th! Soon Brayden will also get to meet his new sister! Only 3 1/2 weeks until her due date!!! We can't wait!

Enjoy some photos of Brayden and Xander........

Xander's airplane cake!

Brayden and Uncle Robert

Playing in Xander's new water table....notice Xander is playing with the water toys and Brayden brought his cars outside to drive them underwater!

Zoo with Xander

2010-07-17T11:33:00.000-07:00

While we were in Colorado, we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo with YaYa and Xander! The boys had a great time. Brayden really liked feeding the giraffes!! They were both asleep within 5 minutes of getting in the car!!!

Swinging

2010-07-17T08:48:00.001-07:00

Brayden's 1st time on the big swings! He may never want the baby swings again!

Haircut

2010-07-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

Brayden went to get his haircut before our trip and he sat in the chair all by himself for the 1st time!! The lady even put gel in his hair and styled it for him!

Alameda County Fair

2010-07-02T21:01:00.001-07:00

took Brayden to the Alameda County Fair today! It was free day for military families, so we took advantage of it and enjoyed the afternoon at the fair! Unfortunately Brayden is too short to ride any of the rides, so we tried to avoid seeing those! He really liked going into the livestock barn and seeing the sheep (he refers to them as baas) and especially the pigs (which he calls pinks).

I thought he would like the petting zoo, but he didn't really want to do that today, so that was a short stop! He wanted to go back and see the pinks in the barn instead! Too bad he couldn't pet those!

Enjoy some pictures!!

Washington

2010-06-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of June, we went to Washington to check out Fort Lewis and the surrounding areas. We are set to move there in March of 2011. We really liked the area and think we have decided that we would like to live on post because of the location of the housing area we would be in. It is across the street from a huge lake. We didn't take lots of pictures, but here are a few of Brayden!!

Blueberry Picking

2010-06-03T15:08:00.000-07:00

Today, Brayden and I went blueberry picking with friends. We had a great time. Brayden picked some blueberries and put them in his bucket and then he proceeded to sit down and eat them all!

He enjoyed picking the blueberries and running around the farm! The kids even got to bounce in the bounce house at the farm afterwards!!

We got too many blueberries to eat before they go bad, so we will probably eat some, freeze some, and cook/bake with some this weekend. I am thinking that blueberry frozen yogurt sounds good and maybe some blueberry crepes for breakfast on Saturday!

Memorial Day Weekend 2010

2010-06-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

We had a very enjoyable Memorial Day weekend here in California! Brian had Friday and Monday off work, so we took full advantage of it since Brian will be leaving on June 8th to go to Fort Lewis, Washington for his summer ROTC leadership camp. He will be there until the end of July. We spent most of Friday doing chores and projects around the house.

On Saturday, we decided to do something fun instead of working around the house. Our neighbors had told us about a regional wilderness area (yes, they have to designate those in California) where you can hike and play in the river and many more things. We took the dog and headed out. Blizzard was thrilled to be able to run off leash and even more to swim in the river. As soon as she saw the water, she was in it! And Brayden then named the river the "Blizzard pool". Brayden was a trooper and hiked about a mile up and down hills without being carried! At the end he even waded across the river, he ended up falling down and getting all wet, but was all better once he got out and got a snack!

On Sunday, we stuck around home. After Brayden got up from his nap, we went to the pool and then we came home and BBq'd in the backyard.

Monday Brian talked us into letting him go to REI, so after haircuts for the boys, we went to REI. When we got home, Brayden napped for 2 hours, while Brian and I worked on cleaning out our garage. We got about half of it done and got rid of a lot of stuff, which is good since we are moving next spring. Now to finish going through cabinets and closets in the house...maybe I will get that done this summer!!!

Enjoy the pictures from our hike!

Brayden likes to hike....by himself! He did let us hold his hand on the steep parts!

For those of you who know Blizzard well, you may be thinking she forgot to bring her ball...no, she brought it, she just lost it. However, she found it on the way back!

Brayden named the river the Blizzard pool!

When Brayden got in the water, he said it was BRRR bubbles.

Help, mom, I fell in!

It's hard to walk when you are all wet!

Niles Canyon Railway from Sunol, CA to Niles, CA

2010-05-24T22:19:00.000-07:00

Right down the road from where we live, they have an historic train that goes between two small towns. They give rides to the public every Sunday in the summertime. Brayden loves trains and we thought he would enjoy riding a real train. So, this past Sunday, we took him to ride the train!

He had a great time! He had so much fun, it wore him out and he fell asleep on the train ride back!

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-24T22:06:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to have YaYa visit us for Mother's Day. That weekend Brian and I went to the University of San Francisco ROTC Military Ball. Brayden got to stay home and play with YaYa. Mom and Dad got to stay overnight in San Francisco without Brayden for the 1st time since he was born! It was a great weekend!

Muir Woods Redwood Forest

2010-05-24T21:25:00.001-07:00

My mom came out to visit for my birthday. While she was here, we went to Muir Woods Redwood Forest one day! It was a beautiful day and we all enjoyed being outdoors! It is amazing how tall the redwood trees are!!

Brayden even got to go on his first hike with YaYa!! He walked the entire mile long trail through the redwood forest! Good job Brayden!

What Little Boys Do When They Have A Dog!

2010-05-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

I walked out in the backyard one day and saw Brayden eating grass, like the dog does sometimes.
Then the next day this is what he did when I was feeding the dog....

Blizzard says that he is crazy and she has no idea where he learns these things!

Lego Land

2010-04-09T17:34:00.000-07:00

We had fun at Lego Land, but we were a bit disappointed with it as well. It seemed kind of run down. Many attractions were closed and it just seemed that they weren't keeping it up. For the cost of the tickets, we expected much more. It also turned out that Brayden was about 2 inches too short for almost all of the rides. He was able to go on a few and enjoyed those! He really liked playing at the waterpark area and he got soaking wet....lots of laughs! He also enjoyed all the cars made out of legos that raced. It was hard to get him to leave the mini land because he was enthralled with the cars!! We had a good day, but wouldn't go back until Brayden was quite a bit older if at all! It is amazing to see all of the things built out of lego, millions of legos...literally!

Isn't that a cool giraffe??

These are the cars where Brayden loved pushing the button to make them race

Brayden and Mom in front of mini land San Francisco...it's all made out of Legos

Trying to stay dry...

It's more fun to get wet!

That one is going to POP up next, dad!

Good thing Mom brought me extra clothes!

Can we stay here longer??

Sea World

2010-04-02T18:38:00.001-07:00

We thoroughly enjoyed our day at Sea World. Brayden called everything "fishes", the dolphins, whales, rays, sharks, fish, everything. We went to the Shamu show, fed rays, almost touched a dolphin, saw lots of animals, rode a few rides, and had a lot of fun! One of the fun parts of our day was seeing our friend, Lisa (Peek) Yates, who works at Sea World. She was working with the bat rays the day we were there, so she let us help feed the rays. Brayden was afraid of the food(fish) at first, but he was brave and took them and threw them in the pool. He ended up really enjoying it. It was a beautiful day, a little too hot at the killer whale show!! Enjoy the pictures!

Are we there yet??

Dad feeding the bat rays

Our friend Lisa (Peek) Yates works at Sea World and let Brayden help feed the rays.

Throwing the food in the pool.

Waiting for the Shamu show to start...

Taking a nap at Seaworld in my wagon!

Riding the "Elmo's Flying Fish" ride with Daddy. Maybe you can see me.

Taking a break and having a drink with Dad on a warm day at Sea World.

Spring Break 2010

2010-03-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

Brian had a week off in March during the University's Spring Break. We had been talking about going to San Diego to go to Sea World because they have the "Here's to the Hero's" program, where they offer free admission to any Sea World or Busch Gardens park to military members and their families. Since we are so close now and don't know where we will be heading next year, we decided to take Spring Break and have a family vacation to San Diego.

We got to see Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, Legoland, the San Diego Wild Animal Park, and the beach. I think our favorite of all the places was the Wild Animal Park. Sea World was very neat also! We were disappointed with Legoland and probably wouldn't go back, at least until Brayden was much older! He was too little to go on most things, but he seemed to enjoy playing at the water park there and seeing all the cars built out of legos! He did love the boat ride he got to go on there.

It was a very fun trip and we had a great time! I will add pictures and posts from each place, so you can enjoy our fun as well! I have some videos, but look for those later in the week, as I need to find the cord to connect the video camera to the computer!

San Diego Zoo

2010-03-29T13:06:00.000-07:00

Our first stop in San Diego was the San Diego Zoo! After the airport, we got our rental car, headed to the navy base to get lunch and get a few things at the PX and then headed to the zoo. Brayden loves going to the zoo and seeing all the animals, especially the giraffes! We had to make sure we found the giraffes. The zoo is very big, so we didn't get to see all of it since we arrived midafternoon. We did make it to the giraffes, the petting zoo, the bird aviary, the kids area, and several other animals! The San Diego zoo supports our active duty military with free admission to the zoo and 10 % off for family members, so if any fellow service members are ever in San Diego, take advantage!!

Brayden hanging out in his wagon....over the course of our trip, I think 50 people must have asked where we got this foldable wagon! It is AWESOME!!Thanks YaYa!
I believe you can find them on Amazon.com

Looking at the birds!

Mom trying to hold onto Brayden as he tries to escape to get to the giraffes!
So much for a nice picture!

Petting goats at the petting zoo

Brayden was exhausted after his busy day! He hasn't slept a night since without his giraffe that he got at the zoo!

Disney on Ice

2010-03-01T12:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we took Brayden to see Disney on Ice in San Jose. The show featured Cars, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and Tinkerbell. At first Brayden was a little overwhelmed with the big arena, the noise, and all the sights to see. After a little bit, he got used to it and started laughing and clapping! We had a great time!

Family Pictures

2010-01-17T14:53:00.000-08:00

Colorado!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-01-17T14:45:00.000-08:00

We all had a great time in Colorado meeting Judah and Levi and also visiting with family and friends!!!

New Cousins!!!!

2010-01-17T14:35:00.000-08:00

Uncle Adam and Aunt Katie adopted Judah and Levi in November from Rwanda. We got to meet them for the 1st time in Colorado in January! Brayden seemed to enjoy playing with his new cousins!

Judah Uwimana Dorband

Levi Kwizera Dorband

Uncle Adam, Levi, Cindy, and Judah

Brayden giving hugs

YaYa and all her grandsons!!

Arizona Trip

2010-01-17T14:26:00.001-08:00

After Christmas, we spent a week in Arizona with Brian's family.....

Visiting Uncle Tim at the fire station!

Playing with Grandpa at the playground!

Arizona cousins

At the zoo in Phoenix, we had SOOOO much fun!

Even got to pet the deer

Christmas Day

2010-01-17T14:16:00.000-08:00

Brayden spent almost all of Christmas Day playing with his train table that he got from Santa! Now, he doesn't have to go to the store to play with the trains, he can stay home and play!!

Even his cars can drive on the train tracks!

Eating monkey bread and bananas for Christmas Breakfast!

Mom didn't need all that stuff in the basket, it is put to better use with me sitting in it, reading a book!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-17T13:52:00.001-08:00

The Christmas season started out on a sad note for us, as Brian's Grandfather died on December 10th. We made an unexpected trip to Colorado for the funeral. It was a nice service in remembrance of Grandpa Jim. When we returned to California, we were busy finishing up last minute shopping and preparations for Christmas.

Brayden was unfortunately a bit under the weather for about a week, including Christmas. Despite not feeling well, he enjoyed Christmas very much this year.

We took Brayden out to see Christmas lights on the 23rd, as we were afraid that he would be too tired after church on Christmas Eve, which turned out to be a good choice with him feeling yucky!

He had many "wow's" to say about all the lights!

On Christmas Eve, we spent the day together as a family, went to church, opened some gifts and after Brayden went to bed, Brian and I spent the evening snacking on Cheese, crackers, and wine and tackling putting together Brayden's train table!!

New Pictures Coming!!

2010-01-15T20:19:00.000-08:00

We have been away from home quite a bit in the past month. We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We will have new pictures and videos from Christmas and our recent vacations by the end of the weekend! So, stay tuned for more......

2009-11-28T18:46:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We stayed in California for Thanksgiving this year! We were very blessed to have a family from our church invite us over for dinner! We enjoyed turkey with Keith and Debbie and their 5 adult kids. Brayden found many new friends. He really enjoyed chasing the dogs around!! He loved eating all the Thanksgiving food! We hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving!!

November 20, 2005

2009-11-20T10:05:00.001-08:00

Today is our 4th wedding anniversary! Thought I'd post a few photos from our wedding 4 years ago! Enjoy!

15 Month Stats

2009-11-16T12:38:00.000-08:00

Brayden turned 15 months old on November 2nd.
He was very healthy at his check up with the doctor!
He weighed in at 23 pounds, which is the 35th % for his age.
He was 31.5 inches tall, which is the 60th % for his age.
He is very active and is getting really good at throwing the ball to Blizzard.
He has learned that running gets him places quicker and that he can hide under the table from mom and dad!!!

Gymnastics Playdate

2009-11-16T12:21:00.000-08:00

This morning, Brayden and Mom went to a gymnastics playdate with our friends from MOPS! This was Brayden's first experience with gymnastics activities. He had so much fun! I wish it didn't cost so much to sign up for a class! He made it home awake, but went to sleep in about 30 seconds once his head hit the mattress in his bed!!

2009-11-08T10:59:00.000-08:00

Playing in the pool at Lake Tahoe.....

Walking through the woods....

Lake Tahoe...

Reno Trip

2009-11-08T10:28:00.000-08:00

We spent last week in Reno. Brian had an ROTC conference and Brayden and I went with him! We got to go shopping and play at the park! We had fun! The first picture is a picture of Brayden last year when we were in Reno, the second picture is from this week!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-05T10:01:00.001-08:00

Brayden was a bumblebee this year for Halloween! Those of you who know the Hermie and Friends bug movies, will know Buzby the bee. That was the inspiration for the bee costume! Brayden loved going trick or treating. He especially liked the houses with dogs. He just wanted to pet the dogs, wasn't interested in the candy!! He also loved getting to run (yes, run, Brayden rarely walks!) around the neighborhood at night! He was one tired boy afterwards!

Carving Pumpkins

2009-11-05T09:57:00.000-08:00

This was Brayden's 2nd year to carve pumpkins....well, ok, Dad did all the carving, but Brayden helped! He wasn't sure about the gooey insides or the seeds. He did try to eat the raw seeds and he also tried to feed them to Blizzard. We had a fun time and he really enjoyed seeing them lit up at night!!

Getting Big!

2009-11-05T09:47:00.000-08:00

Brayden is getting bigger! He goes to his 15 month check up next week! Check back for his latest statistics!!
He has finally been able to wear some of his long sleeved clothes...luckily the ones we have still fit!!

All Done

2009-10-26T21:59:00.000-07:00

80 degrees in October....

2009-10-26T20:14:00.000-07:00

Trip to the Oakland Zoo

2009-10-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of a recent trip to the Oakland Zoo. We went with Brayden's friend, Savannah and her mom. Brayden was asleep when we arrived, so he missed the beginning of the zoo. After a short snooze, he got up and enjoyed the rest! He really liked the train ride at the end!!

Our Crazy, Wonderful Pets...Blizzard and Arctic

2009-10-01T11:40:00.000-07:00

Blizzard is so good with Brayden, for the most part she lets him crawl all over her and pretty much harrass her!! Arctic lets Brayden harrass him as well, but I think that Arctic thinks they are playing a game and playing games usually involves claws with Arctic so we have to be careful! For the most part, they both love Brayden! Arctic has even confiscated the high chair at night!!!

September in California

2009-10-01T11:32:00.001-07:00

Who knew that September in California would bring 100 degree days?? Brayden enjoyed the extension of summer. Brayden sure is growing fast. In the last month I think he looks so much more like a little boy than a baby. It is hard to believe that he turns 14 months old tomorrow!

Summer Time Fun!!

2009-08-31T22:43:00.000-07:00

Brayden enjoyed his first summer. Here are few random pictures of his summer fun!!

Of course, when you turn 1 you should have a beer!
Laughung with YaYa!
Making a BIG mess eating lunch....

That wore me out....

Helping dad build the shelves for my toys!

This is hard work and makes me tired!

Here Dad...this is where it goes.

Can you believe my parents let me have mud pie for dessert???

Discovery Museum of the Bay

2009-08-31T22:18:00.000-07:00

This past Friday, Brayden and I met some friends at the Discovery Museum of the Bay in Sausalito, CA. We had never been there and I had heard that it was a great place for kids, even little ones like Brayden! Sure enough! It was a great place and we plan to go back! There were amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge, as we were pretty much right underneath it at the museum! Even better, they give military families free admission!!

Before the museum, we met Brian at his office in San Francisco for lunch! Brayden loved visiting dad at work!! Enjoy the pictures!!

1st Haircut

2009-08-17T17:42:00.001-07:00

The day after Brayden's 1st birthday, he got his first haircut! He did pretty well!
Dad was afraid his curls would be all gone after a haircut, but they stayed!

Brayden's 1st Birthday Party!

2009-08-17T16:38:00.000-07:00

It is so hard to believe that Brayden is already 1! This year flew by! He wanted to have a pool party for his birthday! Since he is only 1, his party pretty much consisted of eating lunch, opening presents, eating cake, and swimming! Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with us! Be sure to scroll all the way through the pictures to see the videos of Brayden and his cake!

Making Brayden's Birthday Cake!

2009-08-17T16:24:00.000-07:00

Brayden loves swimming, water, and fish so we decided to have a pool party with a fish theme for his 1st birthday! I found a great fish pan to make him a cake. Luckily it also included decorating directions. I thought it was going to be really hard and was scared to start because I thought I would mess it up! The first obstacle to get over was actually baking the cake without it sinking (in the high altitude of Colorado) and getting it out of the pan in one piece! It worked! Then I had to tackle the decorating. I learned that when you use the Wilton colors, that they darken as they sit. So, when trying to make black icing, don't use the entire bottle trying to get it to be really black...it tastes gross and then you have to start over and try again! So, with Brian's help, the cake was completed at 11pm the night before the party!

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

2009-08-17T16:06:00.000-07:00

The entire time we were in Colorado, we had been wanting to take Brayden to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. We must have had it planned 4 times and it rained everytime. We were even going to take Xander while his mom and dad were at work. Finally, at the end of our trip, we made it to the zoo! Brayden loved it, as he thinks animals are the best! He got to pet a wallaby, it jumped right up to him and was in an area where you just walk amongst the animals! Brayden wanted to walk rather than ride in the stroller...there are lots of hills at this zoo and it wore him out! He fell asleep before we even got out of the parking lot when we left! A very fun day!

Visiting Great Grandparents and Colorado Rasmussen relatives!

2009-08-17T15:48:00.000-07:00

While in Colorado, we were able to see Brayden's Great Grandparents and also Brian's aunt, uncle, and his cousin and her kids. We had a great time! Brayden and Brian got some birthday presents and we enjoyed a yummy lunch and some birthday desserts! Here are some pictures from that visit!

Daddy's Birthday!

2009-08-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

We did not think that we were going to be able to celebrate Brian's birthday (July 27) with him this year, as he was supposed to still be at Fort Lewis. When he arrived at Fort Lewis in June, he found out that he got to leave a week early, so we got to have him with us to celebrate! We spent the day as a family and then had a homemade lasagna dinner with Robert, Lacey, Xander, and YaYa. After dinner Xander and Brayden were very helpful in opening Brian's gifts and we had strawberry rhubarb pie for birthday dessert...note for next time.....don't put candles in a hot pie! We had a great time!

Playing with my cousin!

2009-08-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

While we were in Colorado this summer, Brayden got lots of time to play with his cousin, Xander. Here is a video of the two of them playing on Xander's airplane he got for his birthday. Brayden liked it so much that he used his gift card from his birthday to get his own!! He just misses having Xander to push around on the airplane! So, if anyone wants to be pushed on a toy airplane come on over and Brayden will play with you!!

Our Trip to Colorado for Xander's 1st Birthday!

2009-07-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

Brayden and I went to Colorado to celebrate cousin Xander's 1st birthday! We had lots of fun and it made us wish we lived there. Someday! We spent lots of time playing. We went to Xander's party and also went to the play place at Focus on the Family! Brayden is already excited for his upcoming birthday! He LOVED playing with all the new toys that Xander received for his birthday!

Walking and Dancing Boy

2009-07-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

Brayden learned how to dance last week while visiting his cousin. One video is of him dancing tonight and the other is so you can see his current walking ability! Enjoy!!

4th of July

2009-07-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

My mom came to visit for the 4th of July! We had a great time enjoying the 4th in California! Here are some pictures of the weekend! Brayden seemed to like seeing his 1st fireworks!!

Playing

2009-06-23T22:16:00.001-07:00

I thought you might enjoy seeing just a normal everyday playtime with Brayden! He is very busy and active! Can't believe how cute he is, but I am biased! Wish you could all be around to play with him!! We always have room for visitors if you want to come play!

One week Down, Four or Five to go!

2009-06-23T22:00:00.001-07:00

Brian has been gone for a week now and it seems like forever! Brayden and I are doing alright! However, Brayden has decided to have sleeping difficulties, so it has been a long week! As I write this he is sleeping soundly and hopefully will continue for a long while!
Brian is doing well in Washington. He has had some long days, but seems to be enjoying it as much as he can. He has even been able to go to Cabelas a couple times already...don't know if that is a good or bad thing!!

We are excited for YaYa to come spend the 4th of July with us!!

Here are some photos of Brayden, most I took to send to daddy! Enjoy!

WALKING!!!!!

2009-06-15T23:09:00.000-07:00

On Sunday afternoon we were sitting around playing with Brayden. He was having a good time, making a big mess with his toys. He is good at that! He likes to pull himself up on the coffee table and walk around it while holding on. All of a sudden, he let go of the table and walked to the couch where Brian was sitting, giggling of course...he is almost always giggling! Well, once he figured out that he could walk by himself, that is all he wants to do!

We were so happy that he walked yesterday because Brian left this morning to go to Fort Lewis, Washington for 6 weeks and he was so worried he was going to miss Brayden starting to walk alone! YEAH!!

The end of Vacation

2009-06-15T23:01:00.000-07:00

On our way home, we stopped so Brian could fly fish one last time. Brayden got to play in the sand and was happy as could be!! We had a great vacation and hope to get to go back one day!

Waterfalls

2009-06-15T22:38:00.001-07:00

We took a short hike to this waterfall. This is valled Bridal Veil Falls. We got pretty wet when we were at the base of it!

After we saw the waterfall, all Brayden wanted to do was get out of his stoller and go play on the rocks and in the water!

Here is a video of Brayden at the base of Yosemite Falls. Sorry about the background noise (that's what happens when you are at the base of a roaring waterfall!!!) He loved the rock and screamed when we made him leave (that's not on video, however!!) Enjoy!

Views of Yosemite Valley from the top!

2009-06-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

We drove to a place called Glacier point where there were incredible views of the Yosemite Valley! Brayden loved walking around!

On the way back to the valley, we stopped right after a tunnel for these views!

Giant Sequoias

2009-06-15T21:53:00.001-07:00

On our second day, we went to the Mariposa Sequoia Grove. We took a tram tour through the grove. Brayden slept most of the way, but did wake up at the very end!! The trees are amazing. The are huge. I learned that the sequoias are cousins to the redwoods!

Yosemite Day 1

2009-06-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

Last week we took a vacation to Yosemite National Park. We had a great time enjoying the outdoors and spending time together as a family. When we arrived Brayden was asleep, not wanting to wake him we started out by just driving around and getting acquainted with the park!

When Brayden woke up, we stopped at Yosemite village and walked around a bit. Here are some photos of Brayden with Mom (Yosemite Falls are in the background). Brayden with Dad playing on a rock and getting a ride on the shoulders, he LOVED the rocks at Yosemite.

On the way out of the park for the day, we stopped at one of the pull offs on the Merced River!

Playing Ball

2009-06-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

Brayden has always thought that the dog's ball was actually for him to try to eat. Recently he has started playing ball with her. Blizzard is so good with him and he is so in love with her! Here is a video of one of their play times!!

Saying Hi!!!

2009-06-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

This video is especially for Aunt Katie, who asked for more videos of Brayden! Brayden loves to wave now and also loves to stand up! No walking yet, but he is working real hard on that! Enjoy!

Swimming Video

2009-06-05T12:06:00.000-07:00

Here is my first attempt at a video! One of Brayden's 1st swim lessons...he's much better now!

Summertime!

2009-06-04T19:25:00.001-07:00

Summer is here, though I sometimes feel like it is summer year round in California! The weather is nice now, not too hot, but I know the heat is coming!

Brayden has his last swim lesson next week. We are not enrolling him in the summer session due to the cost and the fact that we have a pool in our neighborhood that we can use for free....it's even warm!

Brian goes to work tomorrow and then he is taking leave next week before he leaves June 15th to go to Washington state for the summer! Brayden and I are preparing to keep ourselves busy while he is gone! We will miss dad lots and will be glad he will be home for Brayden's 1st birthday!

While Brian is on leave next week, we are planning a mini family vacation to Yosemite National Park. We will post pictures and maybe even some video when we get home! We figure while we are stationed in California we need to take advantage of the sights here! If Brayden had been older, we would have been going to Disneyland to take advantage of the free military tickets! We will have try to go there before we move when Brayden is a little older!

Welcome!

2009-06-04T17:24:00.001-07:00

Well, I decided to give in and start a blog to hopefully allow everyone to watch Brayden grow up! I also thought that this would be a good place to put videos of him! So check back often to see what is going on in our little corner of California....