Happy Christmas

i am sure almost everyone can relate to this saying..

"it's december already?!"

or

"where has this year gone?!"

i have had such a wonderful year. heavenly father has truly blessed me and my family.

let's recap:

january - i started dating jay, the girls were thrilled. we had known jay for some

time now and for him to be regular around our little family was great.

february - my relationship with jay was steadily moving along. i attended church with jay for the first time. it was also the first time i remember feeling the spirit so strongly..of course

i didn't really understand what i was feeling to tell the truth. i just knew i wanted more! i

found where the church that was within my boundaries and the girls and i went the next

sunday. not too long after, i called the missionaries and scheduled a time

for them to come to visit with me.

march - the discussions with the missionaries were life changing! i had learned so much and was always ready for more. in a couple of weeks i had set my baptism date for

march 22, 2008. that was going to be a day i won't soon forget. i had so many people

around me that loved me and were supportive of my decision.

april - jay took the girls and i home (albuquerque, nm) to meet the family. they are

all loving, caring, giving, funny, sweet, kind-hearted people and

i am blessed to be a part of their family. the girls jumped

right in on all the fun that all the other kids were having. grandma and

grandpa have a very kid friendly house and yard with plenty to keep them

busy for days. needless to say, none of us wanted to leave!

may - summer break was here! but for me, that is not always fun time. the girls left

to spend the summer with their dad in san antonio, tx. this was the first time

they were going to fly - all alone! my nerves were shot by time they landed.

but they all had a good time and were looking forward to spending time with their dad.

june - june 1st, jay proposed! we went from boyfriend/girlfriend to being engaged

to be wed. ahhh! i was so excited! we set the big day - august 23, 2008.

we knew we didn't have much time so we started planning. i still couldn't

believe i was planning my wedding! to jay!!!

july - what i was thinking, i don't know, but i had told jay that i would hike havasupai

with him and a group of friends. i wasn't sorry i said yes until about half

way out of the canyon. it looked like i was never going to make it out! but for

the view of those beautiful waterfalls and the amazing color of

the water, i would do it again!

august - the girls are back! they made it back safe and sound. and the next day

we were off to colorado. jay's family was having a reunion and

we weren't going to miss it. the family had two cabins to hold 14 adults

and 16 kids! it was fun to be around everyone again. and the days

were winding down till the big day! and it was finally here!

i felt like a princess! and jay was my handsome prince!

the day came and went. and we were off for our 7 day caribbean cruise.

september - we are sill house hunting (since july!) the whole process is getting

depressing. the girls are all loving school. alexis is in 3rd grade and is

just zooming past the other kids in reading. caprice is in 2nd grade and is

opening up more and more. ariana started kindergarten this year! and is just

loving it. and i am loving the fact the i don't have to pay

full time day care anymore. yeah for me!

october - still no house! enough said!

november - yeah! our offer on a house has been accepted! it is still in our ward

so we don't have to leave all the good friends we have made.

we went to nm to spend thanksgiving with all of jay's family...our family!

december - still no keys for the house! i am beginning to think that we are going to

live with my brother forever! i really didn't want to adopt a 25 yr old boy! lol

the girls are back to tx for christmas so jay and i are going to

nm to be with our albuquerque family.

i am truly thankful for all our heavenly father has given me and my family.

i wish you a very happy christmas and a blessed new year!

Thank You

on monday night, while i was helping diana de-bone a few turkeys for enrichment
and jay was out christmas shopping with the girls,
a wonderful package arrived on our doorstep

the card read:

rasband family-
merry christmas!
we are so glad to have your family in our ward!!
from-
???

so to whomever left this package...thank you!!!

Mashed Potatoes

MASHED POTATOES WITH SOUR CREAM

12 med. potatoes
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 c. sour cream
2 tsp. salt or garlic salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 c. chives
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 tbsp. butter

Cook and mash potatoes. Beat cream cheese, sour cream, salt, and pepper with potatoes until smooth. Stir in chives. Spoon into lightly greased baking dish (10 cup). Sprinkle with paprika and dot with butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or brown and heated through.

Shout Out

www.people.com/lookalikes

go here to vote for katie as reese

best of luck katie!

November 25, 2008

today my youngest daughter, ariana, is 6 years old!

it seems just yesterday i brought her home from the hospital. where has the time gone?!

it all started on sunday, november 24th, 2002 (1 day before my expected due date)...

i woke up just like normal, got ready and went to church with alexis and caprice in hand just like normal, and came home just like normal. that's when i noticed... something wasn't quite normal. i felt like i was leaking something and this close to my due date, i knew that was probably not a good sign. to be safe i headed down to the hospital to have it checked out. the doctors and nurses thought it best to admit me because it was my water that was leaking. i sat around for quite some time... i wasn't in labor yet! i was getting frustrated (pregnant and frustrated don't mix well) so they started the potassium to induce labor. it worked, but not as fast as i would have liked. after a couple more hours a contraction, then another, and another. ouch! i had not yet experienced back labor. man oh man that hurts! ariana was trying to come out face up. that wasn't gonna work for me! the doctor suggested some exercises to try to help her to flip over. ha! exercises! did he not see how large i was (i had gained 68lbs by this point)?! regardless, exercises it was. they brought over this giant exercise ball and put it on my bed. i was then instructed to kneel over the ball and thrust my hips into the ball. um.. excuse me.. you want me to do what?! as soon as i did, it was immediate relief from the back labor! ahhh that's nice. the next time they checked, ariana had flipped over. i was still very tense and that was keeping me from dilating anymore. caprice was born naturally and i was determined to do it again. after pleading from the doctor (i think it was way past his bed time) i decided to go ahead with the epidural. so much for that! all that got numb was my leg before ariana decided it was time. after a couple pushes ariana arey was born!

even the newspaper reported her birth.

ariana was born weighing 7 pounds and 14 ounces and was 21 3/4 inches long.

here we are a couple days after returning home. she was so small and beautiful.

now, 6 years later, she is growing so much and is as beautiful as ever.

ariana loves her family and friends and loves school too!

happy birthday my little turbo!



birthday lunch with friends

it's time to blow out the candles!

New Hair Do

it seems that this past year i have gone through many color changes as well as style changes with my hair. but i believe i have finally found the one! while talking with my lovely hair stylist she got out a picture of a hair style that i just loved.

victoria beckham (aka posh spice) had the hair i wanted!

and julie being the amazing stylist that she is, made that happen.

what i think to be some what of a big change took my girls a while to even notice. i don't think they would have said anything if jay had not brought it up. real observant huh?!

so...what do you think?

Fall Festival

oakwood elementary holds an annual fall festival. we have attended for the past two years so why would this year be any different? two words - talent show. and which child would you guess would sign up for the talent show? yep, caprice! she loves to show off all her um... 'talents'. of the many she has, singing is her favorite. we were asked to arrive an hour before the festival was scheduled to begin for the kids to rehearse.

caprice and ariana met up with sarah, who would be doing the lead vocals.

after a quick practice run, the girls were set and ready to preform... but not for 2 1/2 more hours. it's a good thing the festival was ready to begin. the school had rented several jumpy things, rides/games, each grade was in charge of a booth, and of course they had food.

alexis had a hard time trying to climb this ladder.

but she's no quitter! she was on to something much more challenging. her goal to run as fast as she can and place the bean bag as far as she could reach - the catch - she was strapped to a bungee cord.

try #1

try #2

try #3

that was fun! and after some hot dogs and chips for dinner, it was time to get back to the talent portion of the evening.

here are the girls all dressed and ready to preform.

caprice, sarah, and presley

you girls looked and sounded fabulous!

Pulling Teeth

why is going to bed like pulling teeth?! you really want it to be quick and painless, but that 'tooth' has a mind of it's own. on tuesday night we kinda had one of those nights...

jay and the girls had the day off, dinner was started (chicken, rice and broccoli - one of the girls favorites), homework was done, the missionaries were due at any minute and ariana could not keep her hand out of her mouth. it was her first loose tooth!

she has been so excited about this tooth and it looked like tonight could be, would be the night she finally lost it. after dinner, the girls sang every primary song they knew to the missionaries. then, the elders shared a quick thought and were on their way. the girls were free to choose the rest of their nightly activities before they had to go to bed. alexis and caprice were busy looking at pictures of the larsen family online and ariana was in the bathroom wiggling that tooth till she could make it bleed. every time she would make it bleed, even just a tiny bit, she would run in and show us the tissue. as it approached bed time we told her that we should pull it tonight or she would have a hard time at school with such a loose tooth. it would be hard for her to eat her favorite things, etc. after 15 min of coaching, she agreed to let me pull it. (i think she really liked the idea of getting money while she slept) so she held on to daddy mack's thumbs while i quickly and painlessly pulled the slippery tooth out!

we finally got them all to bed after all the excitement only to have even more when ariana woke up to find the the tooth fairy left her $5! she was eager to spend that hard earned money at school today (wednesdays are popcorn & snow cone days)

congratulations ariana! you are so big and brave!