Our Top Ten of Utah (a.k.a "the longest post ever")

10. My sisters and I hit up Barnes and Noble, then Walmart to grab our copies of Breaking Dawn at midnight. They were some weirdo super-fans at Barnes and Noble (dressed in wedding dresses and chanting and stuff...), so we headed to Walmart and got our books and were driving home fifteen minutes after midnight. I have never seen such efficient service at Walmart.

Lindsey made us these wicked t-shirts. On the back they said, "frequently dazzled." She is so clever:) By the way, I won't put my thoughts on the book since maybe some haven't read it, but basically I thought it was entertaining, but lacked what the other 3 books had.

Following in the Roundy tradition, Lindsey was grateful for a diet coke.9. The main reason I was out in Utah...this little "dudeski." I was helping watch Max while his sisters and parents were away. Reagan loved having a constant companion and mimicked EVERYTHING Max did. She would watch Max all day long.
Highlight for Reagan: getting a lift in the ol' John Deere that Max calls his own!
8. This place rocked. It was the rec center in Bountiful and had an indoor water park, complete with a huge slide and lazy river, as well as an outdoor water place for younger kids, with a pirate ship. We all went crazy and for 5 bucks a pop (Max and Reagan were free!) you just can't beat it. The weather was morbidly hot, so this place felt good.

We all went down the slide, it was pretty fun. Not exactly Raging Waters, but hey...5 bucks, remember??! Actually, Matt and Lindsey both took Max and Reagan down on their laps and they LOVED it!

This is Matt and Max splashing into the water. Max swallowed a little water on that one, but he was up and waving in no time! We were sad to go, but it was getting late. Max fell asleep around 7PM that night and didn't wake up until past 8 the next day.
7. My sister Lindsey knows all the hot-spots for kids in Utah, especially because she works for Kindercare. So she also told us about the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. It is much like the Discovery Museum at Gateway, but smaller, cheaper, and less crowded. It was perfect for our little tots. My mom and sisters were present, which I was MORE than grateful for, since Max and Reagan both wanted to explore their own areas. This was the first place Reagan went to...naturally. She loves babies.
Lindsey dressed up as something Alice in Wonderland-ish. She looks like my mom here. Not the outfit, her expression.
Max and Reagan in the kitchen. The cooked us plenty of pizza and vegetables......while we lounged on this bad boy. Most comfy spot in the house and once we snagged it, we didn't move till exit time.
6. Watching Reagan this time around with her grandparents was a real treat. I didn't grab any photos of her with my parents, but I did get some of her with Gram and Gramps Rasmussen. It was awesome to see her go to everyone so willingly and wanting to give love. She remembered names and faces, which is really special when you live so far away.
5. We were so lucky to be out here on Utah's very own holiday, Pioneer Day. We spent the day down at Mel and Aaron's house, which really is more like Disneyland, when you count all the toys that they and their neighbors have. We had a great time. Mel and Aaron bbq'd some tri-tip, which was AMAZING! I think I had about 5 pieces of steak. The kids and a few adults slipped and slided and tried out Mel's skim board. We visited the fair in downtown Spanish Fork. Even though we felt like we were somewhere between Tijuana and RedNeck-Ville at the fair, it was still so much fun. Reagan and Brooklyn rode this ride together.

Driving the cars.
Reg, Lindsay, Whitney, Mel and Lyle.
I would have liked to have gone on this ride, but we sent Matt and Aaron instead. It went really really fast. Like just watching made us dizzy.
Mel, the family pyro, let off some amazing fireworks. I like a woman who will take her shopping money, and instead of buying shoes and purses, she buys fireworks!!! Awesome.
4. Our Pioneer Day celebration began the night before the 24th. My sister wanted everyone to come down to Bountiful and see the parade and fireworks. It was hot as hades, but we had fun anyways! One of the first floats was the Utah Jazz, which featured more cheerleaders than players and Matt kindly asked me to get a photo of it. Out of kindness I took one, but out of spite, I will not post it. Instead, I will post my mom, Regs, Lindsey, Emma, Kelly and Max.

Once Reagan realized these floats were tossing candy and we were eating it, she became VERY insterested in the parade. I had to hide some of the candy from her because she was eating all of it.
This was Reagan's favorite float. She is really into singing lately, especially the songs she learns in nursery, which includes The Ants Go Marching. That was the theme of this float. There were some gorgeous floats in the parade and most were North Salt Lake stakes ;)
Most went home, but a small group of us hung out for the fireworks. We had Pier 49 Pizza. I was super tired, but so dang glad I did because it was by far the best fireworks show I have ever seen. It was beautiful and unique, and very long. We must have had like 5 finales. I did, however remember why I usually stay indoors during the summer nights in Utah...I hate mosquitos.
3. Miss Reagan got to experience her own seat on the slight. This is actually her (and her baby) on the flight out there. It was really early, left at 6AM, so she was out of it, but liked having her own seat buckle.

2. Matt is such a kid at heart. He and Max spent a very long time playing Legos and building this award-winning pirate ship below. I know that he is into it when I hand him a microscopic piece that is a wheel to a boat and he says, "Thanks, I have been looking for that piece forever!"


1. My 27th birthday was last Sunday, so Matt got me some roses on Saturday, my favorite cookies which also happen to bear my name (although spelled wrong). He arranged a sitter, took me to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Walnut Creek and we did some shopping afterwards. It was such a treat to come home after not seeing him and being dead tired and he lined up all this!

One last pic for the record: Reagan's favorite spot in Grandma Rasmussen's house! Move over Little Tykes Kitchen, here is the hot spot.

White Water Rafting (Click on picture)

Novogradac Party

A couple Saturday's ago, we went to Matt's annual company picnic. Reagan and Matt went straight to the pool when we got there. NorCal has pretty hot as of late, so the pool felt fantastic. As demonstrated below...our child can fly! Oh, the ice cream cone. This chic went nuts. The food, as usual, was great at the picnic. It was catered by Back Forty Texas BBQ and also Tucker's Ice Cream had a cart there. The waffle cones were fresh and there were 6 different heavenly flavors to choose from. Reagan went crazy over the ice cream. It wasn't exactly a small cone and she downed the entire thing. She would not let go of it and it got all over her shirt. She made quite a scene. The baby wipes came in handy.

It was a great day and Matt continued his winning streak of the games by taking both rounds of the potato sack race. Unfortunately for him, I was his partner for the egg toss and just maybe we would have won that if I hadn't nose dived backwards over the hedge behind me. I even have the cat-like scratches to prove it. It was a clumsy, awkward fall that actually kind of hurt and I am sure it only added to the wonderful reputation I have at these parties that began three years ago when I tripped during the potato sack race, getting egg all over my hair and taking Matt out with me. I vow next year to remain out of these games.

Apologies for our lack of blogging lately. We are in Utah helping watch my nephew and being with family, so I haven't had much time to post, but I have a gazillion photos and maybe some news to share here and there when we get back, so stay tuned. Love to everyone.

Budding Artist and 4th of July

Reagan showed off her skills as an up and coming artist. The name of this piece is "what can I do while mom is in the shower?" She was so proud of it. As long as the pen only ends up on her epidermis, I must leave it out more often.4th of July began with possibly the best breakfast ever: pancakes, bacon and eggs at the church. This is probably one of the five mornings a year that I do not have Fiber One cereal for breakfast. It was followed by a bike parade in the church parking lot, which Reagan professionally "rode" in. Last year, I pushed her around in the stroller with my cool blades. This year, crippled Matt drove her around on the bike. Reagan loved it. She was surrounded by her favorites: friends on bikes.
For the third year in a row, we attended Singing Flag in Concord. Reagan didn't want to sit still for it, especially with a sno cone and a park nearby. But we enjoyed ourselves and got to see a great fireworks show. Reagan has fun no matter what if Addie is present. They could be doing nothing at all and Reagan will be giddy as can be.

Love this country.

For all you sports fans

Often when I am watching a tv show or a sports game or anything of the sort, someone will look familiar to me or look like someone I know. More often than not, these famous people look like my family. For instance, today as we watched the Wimbledon tournament, I was trying to figure out who Nadal reminded me of. Then it hit me: he resembles our brother-in-law Aaron (slightly...). Someday when my dad's hair turns completely gray, he will look just like Don Nelson, coach of the GS Warriors. When my brother Lance flares his nostrils, he looks like Kobe Bryant. Yes, I know all of these are a bit far-fetched and I may be the only one who sees it (although Matt DOES agree with me on the Kobe/Lance thing). But there is ONE comparison that nobody can deny and all our family does agree on this one: my brother Lorenzo is a DEAD RINGER for Kevin Youkilis. Youkilis plays for the Red Sox, so if you don't watch MLB, don't worry about this post. But if you know my brother, then catch the next game and I promise, you WILL SEE IT! For those who don't know and never will know my bro, here is a photo comparison.

My bro
Kevin (Boston)
My bro (who might make me remove this photo if he sees it)
Kev
Bro

Kev
Bro
Kev
Because of this comparison, I tend to be more of a Red Sox fan than anything else, so tonight when Joba the Hut tried to nail him with a pitch, I wasn't too happy about that. Please see this post where I discuss my temper when it comes to sports and loved ones. Thank you.

Chocolate Malted Krunch Ice Cream

If you don't believe me that this is amazing ice cream, just ask Reagan. You can't go wrong at a mere 1.99 per half gallon. And thanks to Matt, the nutrition facts are completely unknown, so who knows? Maybe it is fat-free or something.


As a side note, have I ever mentioned that Reagan likes to beg?

Reagan's Birthday Bash

Reagan woke up on her birthday to see her new bike, a gift from mom and dad and Grandma and Grandpa Rasmussen! My dad made his famous stir-fry. It was one of the best meals we have had in a long time. We even put in the baby corn on the cobs, just for Matt.

My mom and I made a double chocolate pecan brownie cake for Reagan. I didn't have enough of that writing gel, so that is why her cake reads, "Happy Birth R." Ghetto, I know.
Reagan didn't know what to do with the candles, so she stared at them. She tried a couple of times to blow them out, but since it barely caught the flame at all, I ended up blowing them out for her.
She sure did love the ice cream, though. Chocolate Malted Krunch from Thrifty's!!

She opened her presents. Do you like her shoes?


Grandma and Grandpa Roundy gave her the rocket from Little Einsteins to ride on.
It was a great day and I think Reagan really picked up on the mood of the day, that it was all about her.

Lindsey and Loni come to visit

We had my two sisters, Lindsey and Loni, out here last week to visit. Loni put some cute pics on her blog if you want to see them, and here are a few of mine. We had a good time.

Lindsey and Loni love accessories and Reagan loved that she could steal them from their suitcases and the bathroom and she would wear them around.
Lindsey did Reagan's hair almost every single day, which I loved. Doing her hair isn't my favorite part of the day, but I have been better this week. Driving around was pure entertainment for Reagan. She never took her eyes off L&L. Except for this photo, where she was really really tired.
We spent last Saturday at Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk. It was overcast and a little chilly, but we still had a great time.

Reagan and Matt played with this football for a while. Matt would toss it and they would chase after it, pushing each other out of the way. Reagan was laughing her head off, she loved it.
Despite the chill, Matt (as always) had to somewhat venture into the water. His cast kept him from completely immersing in the waves.
Before we headed home, we had to get one shot in front of the H20.
Proof that you CAN still sunburn in the overcast temps! Matt's mom is our own personal pharmacy consultant and she advised us to use barbasol on the burns. The next two days, Loni and Matt were spreading this stuff all over their faces, arms, and legs.
Feeding the ducks at Newhall. Reagan would not leave the bike. It was one of our first outings with it and she loved that I could push her. She threw bread from her parking spot.

Lindsey got in a little "scuffle" with this duck. It was extremely greedy and would get out of the water to come get bread from us. Lindsey would pat it on the bottom and scoot it back in the water, yelling at it. She didn't like his (her?) attitude.
Reagan is a professional eye-roller. We laugh daily at her when she does it, but here is a dark, but somewhat okay pic I finally caught of her starting to give me the "I'm gonna roll my eyes at you" stare. Hugging Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory bear outside the store in Vacaville.
Fishermans Wharf this week was sans Reagan and Matt. It was chilly and Loni was really smart and wore a dress. Lindsey bought Roland (her husband) some pants at the Alcatraz store and Loni begged her to let her wear them. Here they are at the famous Pier 39.

Waiting for the cable car, it was an hour wait! But towards the end, we had some slight entertainment when a guy popped out in a straight jacket and chains and attempted to undo the chains from himself. I was laughing because he looked JUST like Michael Scott does in the beginning of that episode where he is trying to be a magician and drops his key and Jim covers it up with his foot. Anyways, of course, the dude asked everyone to pay up, and Loni did give him a dollar because he was a total riot, even though he flashed his plumbers crack at everyone a few times.
We had to have Boudin again. If you had asked me 5 years ago if I would ever someday enjoy clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl, I would have laughed at you. Now I love it. I used to hate sourdough bread and although I still do not like fish, clam chowder is pretty dang good. Oh yeah, and Boudin's chicken salad sandwich is the best.
After we dropped Lindsey and Loni off at the airport, I wanted to cry. I was so sad for Reagan especially. She had been surrounded by family and undivided attention for the last 10 days and now it was just me and Matt. Don't get me wrong, we love Regs and give her plenty of attention, but this kind of attention is different, you know how it is. Reagan still wakes up every morning and says "where Loni go?" However, since we will be spending the last 2 weeks of July in Utah, I don't feel so bad now for her now :):):)