Rasmussen Christmas Party 2012

This year we sang at a rest home in Logan because we could bring Great Aunt Allie there to listen.  Aunt Allie (Alice) is my grandpa Lloyd Rasmussen's sister and I visited her several times while I attended USU. Funny story about her: one time when I went to visit her she told me that I was clearly a Rasmussen.  I said, "I don't think I look that much like a Rasmussen but when I'm in Cardston (my hometown in Canada) it is not uncommon for random people to stop me and ask me which Rasmussen I belong to."

Aunt Allie laughed and pulled out a picture of herself when she was 23 (I would have been 21 or 22 at the time).  I looked JUST LIKE HER.  I couldn't believe it.  So yes, I look just like a Rasmussen.

Great Aunt Allie, Cowen, Andrea, Eli, Emeline and Anders hangin' in the back. 

Aunt Allie, Lynnaea, and my mom.

Aunt Allie with Megan and Devaney.

It is so awesome to listen to all the grandkids (meaning my kids and their cousins) play the piano.  They are getting so good!  So much talent!  Pretty soon Miriam will be good enough to play for me so I can sing all my favorite songs.  Maybe I'll let her sing with me--as long as she can play and sing at the same time.  :)

DSCN5904 from Andrea Young on Vimeo.

Lynnaea and Kiersten played an awesome duet.

Anders wore a cool hat.

Lindsay Ann and Wyatt's family sang a song.  That was fun.  You can tell a good woman from a mile away--she can make her hubby do all sorts of things he wouldn't do if left to his own devices.  :)

I quite like this picture of everyone hanging out in the foyer between numbers.  It is proof that I am pregnant, and now I don't have to take any other belly pictures.  Hey Little Boy Blue--you were at the party!

When we were all singing it looked more like the above pic.

My favorite part of the rest home performance?  Myles.  After everything he did and some of the things other people did, he gave everyone a grade.  One piano piece received a "10%" another an "epic fail."  Hilarious.  I'm going to start judging random things so I can say "epic fail" as much as possible.  Of course, if I judge myself I'll be issuing a lot of "104%"--my personal favorite score to receive on anything.  Anything higher seems excessive, anything lower not quite a true reflection of my real potential.

After the rest home we sent the very youngest grandbabies with Grandpa and Uncle Wyatt to the church and the rest of us went to the Humanitarian Center in Hyrum.  I love this concept.  The center has numerous service projects going and has a lot of contacts with people in Cache County, and throughout the world.  In that way they can easily streamline their efforts and meet the most needs.

 

The younger kids stuffed fabric balls to give to kids in foreign countries where toys are hard to come by.  Good job Cassidy, Anders, Kiersten, Hailey, and Emeline!

Timothy, Miriam, and Lynnaea learned how to knit hats on looms.

Myles, Cowen, and Jared sanded the edges and oiled toy wood blocks.

Lindsay Ann (with Cassidy) and Danica sewed the fabric balls for the youngsters to stuff.  Danica rocks a sewing machine.  I was impressed.  Lindsay Ann looked good.  Also impressive.  :)

Sterling, Lindsay, and I tied this queen size quilt.  The peachy looking top with the holes is a PATTERN.  Isn't that brilliant!  You don't have to mark your quilt, you just put this pattern fabric over top and you tie in the holes.  I want one.

It was fun to tie a quilt with Sterling--it was his first time.  Mostly it was fun to harass Lindsay about her limited quilting knowledge.  I've helped my mom with a lot of quilts and I was rubbing it in, a little, until Lindsay figured out how to use the fancy clamps they had to keep the frames together and I, ahem, never did.  They weren't the normal ones, okay.  Sheesh.

Mom cut out fabric for baby gowns.  The Sister who explained all the projects started talking about cutting on the bias or . . . something and I tuned out.  Nobody attempted the cutting table but mom.  And I give my children lectures about learning things so they can be useful in the kingdom.

Megan, competitive as always, refused to help with the quilt the rest of us worked on. Instead she tied this whole baby quilt by herself while periodically pausing to yell out insults to those of us working on the other quilt.  She's good at smack when she knows we're a table away and working on SERVICE and therefore feeling too good about ourselves to go show her who is boss.  

Actually, my aunt-in-law Julie was mocking me at the Barney party because I was refusing to cooperate in acting out a version of 12 Days of Christmas until Megan told me to get up and do it.  I obeyed.  The programming runs deep, okay.

PS Acting out the 12 Days of Christmas was far more entertaining than I anticipated. Try it.  You'll like it.

After the Humanitarian Center we went to my mom's ward building for some serious eating.  We were all assigned a soup to bring.  Megan brought her white chili and it was divine.  I ate way more of it than is advisable.  Wyatt brought black bean soup--a favorite at our house.  I brought Tuscan Soup and Mom made stew.  Lindsay brought cheddar ham soup, which led to the incident of the burnt pan.  I'm pretty sure there are some persons *Wyatt* who would rather this story not be told.  Since the pan was salvaged, I'll spare you the sad and sordid details.  Suffice it to say that we did not eat the cheddar ham soup, which is disappointing since Lindsay insists it is the best cheddar ham soup ever made.  

We did things besides eat.  The kids played a game involving oven mitts and wrapped presents.  Eli won bingo (yay for the birthday boy!) and Megan brought some crafty stuff for the kids to put together.

Hi, Devaney!  At the Barney party last night (the benefits of my sister being my aunt is that she's at all the holiday parties with me) Devaney went to a lot of trouble to get Harriet a chair.  When I sat in it, I got a very crusty look.  Sorry Dev, I was tired and Harriet was playing with the ball.

The men folk had a spirited competition of who could throw a football through the basket from the farthest distance.  There were also competitions involving throwing shoes through the basket and various other items.  Much laughter ensued.  Ethan, the gimp, limped around trying to look manly, and Danica showed up everyone by bouncing a ball off her head through the basket not once, but twice.  Girl power.

Basically, it was a lovely day.  Merry Christmas, Rasmussen clan.  I sure do love you all.