Baby Noah comes to play!

For weeks now, my kids have been really excited to see "Baby Noah" and his parents of course! Noah is actually 1 year old and not quite a teeny baby anymore, but I guess all kids are considered babies to Reagan and Nolan? Anyways, we had a great time! We went to the city and toured Alcatraz.

Lori, Nick and Noah in front of Pier 39
Reagan and Noah

Matt took the kids in on the train and met us at the pier. The entire day Nolan kept exclaiming "choo-choo....BOAT!" He was pretty jazzed about taking the boat over to the island and now has a sort of new obsession. Here is a view of the San Francisco from Alcatraz.

A view of the Golden Gate from Alcatraz.

Nolan and mom (and Nick and Noah) in front of the city.

Our family posing for a very windy shot! (You would think that after experiencing chilly wind like this Nolan would want to wear his jacket...but nope!)

Cool eagle outside of the jail.

This was the dining hall in Alcatraz. Matt thought the saying was something I would like, "Take all you want, but eat all you take." In other words, don't waste food! That one was for my kids...

We especially enjoyed the audio tour this time around. Matt and I saw a documentary on the 3 escaped convicts that were never found and it was cool to see in detail exactly how they escaped. We saw the vent through which they crawled (tiny, they must have weighed 70 pounds?) And the venting system behind the walls where they slipped out. The big question remains...did they make it or did they die in the bay? You decide!

The rest of our week was a lot of fun, hanging out with the Moog's! Thanks for coming to visit us, we had a blast and can't wait to see you guys again :):)

Road Trip!

We took a really fun road trip out to Utah the last week in February to see family! I am so glad to have Laura as my friend that we can do these fun things together. Our kids love each other and got their fill with 12 hours each way in the car! We watched the weather for about 24 hours straight, deciding whether to make the trek over the mountain pass in snowy weather. We found a few hours break Saturday morning, so we headed out. The pass was very clear on the road and it was really pretty with the freshly fallen snow! We hit some traffic near the summit, but other than that, we were stopping for lunch in Sparks about 4 hours later.All was going well until we hit snow about an hour outside of Elko. We stayed the night in Elko. I think Laura and I each got about an hour of sleep that night, LOL. There is nothing quite like sharing a bed with your toddler. But we made it to Salt Lake early Sunday morning and parted ways.

Our week was a pretty good one. I ate Cafe Rio 3 times, saw family and the kids got to play with their cousins.
Here is Nolan, Reagan and Jane sitting in a Ben Franklin display.

Kristen had us over for lunch and so that the kids could play!

We had dinner in Provo one night, eating Red Robin hamburgers and then let the kids toss coins into the fountain. Reagan, Emma, Nolan, Chase and Jane. And all the adults in the background watching them splash :)

Emma, Grandma and Reagan

One of our days was spent going to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. Here is Little Red Reaganhood.

Reagan playing doctor. Not many pics of Nolan....he didn't leave the train section and he was angry most of the time anyway, yelling at kids who dared to enter the train section with him.

We spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa Rasmussen and got to see our cousins.

Reagan and Grandpa My sister bought a house and we got to go inside of it. Here is her first pic in front of it!

The grandkids doing p90X or whatever it is called:) Doing chin-ups. It is crazy how much Nolan loved to do them, too. For skinny arms, he sure can hold his weight well.

Reagan and Whitney

We sure loved seeing family and are looking forward to the next time we come out...which won't be as cold and snowy! Love to all!

Da Flu

I am playing hooky today! And it actually doesn't feel good. We have missed church the last 2 weeks because we were out of town and traveling both Sundays. Well, now our family has been stricken with the flu. As Nolan woke up on a happy note today, Reagan woke up sick so it is another day at home!

And these pictures that follow are extremely old! I started a post about 2 weeks ago and never finished it. So here you go:

We had a treadmill competition one night. Reagan likes to go fast on the treadmill, but she can't go as fast as mom and dad. So Matt and I ran as fast as we could for a minute. I can't remember how fast I went, but it was too much and I stopped after 30 seconds.

The first weekend in February, we had an overnight retreat with the Young Women in my ward! We went to a cabin up near Sonora. It was a quick getaway, but the girls bonded in that amount of time. It was good for them. (siiiiiiiideways pic)

We went and played in the snow the next day. It was like 60 degrees in the mountains and after sledding, most of the girls removed their jackets.

Its kind of funny that I am posting pics of my YW, since most of you don't even know them, but I thought the pictures themselves were really great. I love the snow spraying up into their faces and their expressions.

My kids will only eat "snacks," so we refer to mealtimes as "snack." Well, this was a real snack and one they love to have. I put surprises in their mini muffin pans. I usually search around the cupboards and fridge for random items to put in them and they love some of the things they end up with. Today the big hit was pepperoni slices.

Reagan likes to have her picture taken.

Reagan and her friend Addie putting on a show for me!

Reagan cutting off a chain on her countdown trip to Utah. Again, old picture. We got back from Utah a week ago :) We went with the Berrett's and Addie made Reagan a chain to countdown. It was a fun way to pass time till we left.

We have a tradition for Valentines Day to eat in. In the past we have ordered takeout from Chili's and ate on our nice dishes. This year I did a little extra and made stuff from home. Well, sort of made....Costco did most of the work for me! Our menu was panko-breaded shrimp for appetizer. Tomato soup with parmesan crisps (Trader Joes did the work). Spinach, feta and carmalized onion pizzas on flatbread (I did the work, with recipe credit to Our Best Bites). They were delish and Matt even loved them! That is saying quite a bit since he isn't a big fan of meals that don't contain meat. The kids got their own marinara and mozzarella cheese pizza. My inspiration for these pizzas was a recent meal at Cheesecake Factory, where I had their pear and gorgonzola pizette. Uh, yeah, to die for. I have been craving it ever since. These were a good second.

It was a good Valentines Day spend with the ones I love most :)

Some January Lovin

Wow. Today is one of those days where I remember why I live in California. Even with our school budget cuts, sucky real estate market and dramatic politics, it is nearly 70 degrees today. I registered my first born for kindergarten today. Surreal, I tell you! We had a picnic lunch outside, then both my kids took naps. Reagan has not napped forever. It has been nice. And here I am, blogging about it. The bond between bubs and sis continues to flourish. They really love each other. They fight like crazy and tears come, but in the end, the love is there.

Reagan climbed the wall at REI. This was a fun experience for her and if we had spent all day in the store, instead of just an hour, then she would have climbed over and over. I am glad I had my camera :) She was so proud of herself.

The train obsession with Nolan continues. He sleeps with his trains, he walks around all day with his trains, he plays with them. He calls them his "choo-choo's." He is normally a great sharer, but hates to share his beloved trains.

We took the kids to ride the steam train at Tilden Park. Nolan was a little scared at first, but he ended up enjoying it and the whole ride home was talk of "blah blah blah, choo-choo!"

We caught a great view on the way home from Tilden Park. This is a view of the bay bridge leading to San Francisco.

Matt scored a train table at clearance for 20 bucks at Target and it is now placed in my "formerly staged well" living room. Oh well :) The kids love playing in here and it is large. I always knew that my furniture would get pushed back for train tables and legos.

My dear friend Laura turned 30 and we kidnapped her and surprised her with a girls night out at Cheesecake Factory. It was a success and we had a great time with some equally great food! Yowza----the cheesecake is out of this world. I think I peed straight sugar for several days :)

We got new windows!!! This (along with our cheap bathroom makeover, which I will reveal another day) is the official completion of our home improvement process. Other than small projects here and there, we have upgraded it to our liking. We are spent (financially and physically) and are ready to just take it easy and build our lives and bank account back up. But don't they look nice :) Sometimes I find myself just staring off into the distance and I ask myself, "what am I staring at?" And I realize, "oh, its my windows!" They do look that good. Holla!

Last weekend a friend brought over a train set that her son never played with and she got it at a garage sale. I did not expect what she brought over to be the GeoTrax railroad set. Wow, my kids played ALL WEEKEND with it. The batteries are still going strong...

This is Nolan's smile when he says "CHEEEEEESE!"

It really has been a busy January. I am not used to this, as this is normally a slow, blues-y month for me. I got a new calling as Assistant Director of Stake YW Athletics, so now I am helping with volleyball every Saturday morning, through end of February. I also was asked to be the 3rd year leader for Girls Camp this summer. Oh and we are driving out to Utah with Laura (my 30 year old friend *wink, wink*) and her kids at the end of the month. Matt's dominating in ward basketball, and he is a happy camper. So February is not slowing down either. Life is good!