Boys Kick Off 2026

 Camden was for sure our best Get Out Pass Utilizer.  He really wanted to try Bonsai Bai Me and our get out pass gave us a free entrance to the studio.  No one else had an interest so just Camden and I went one night.  We each picked out a baby bonsai tree, we got to plant it, fertilize it, trim it and adorn it.  There were people there who were experts to help us through the whole process.  Now we both have two still thriving Bonsai trees greening up the house.  I paid a little extra to have a little hobbit door on mine and it lives in the library.

Cam also performed in his beginning of the year band concert.  He is so thrilled that his band has an actual singer now because he never has to introduce any songs or sing.  He just gets to play and he is getting better and better all the time. 

The boys finished out their junior jazz season with Derek coaching.  They actually grew to really love basketball this season.  In fact shortly after basketball season someone asked Carter which sport of all the sports he played was his favorite and he said basketball.  Their team was much better than last year even though we only won one game.  All the games were super close.  They also played stake basketball which was super fun and the boys were great contributors to the team. 

The boys are starting to prep for their week long back packing trip in the Wind Rivers.  They had their first preparatory overnight back packing trip to Hidden Valley.  The boys hiked up earlier with all the YM and leaders.  I hiked up with Kota and Derek when Derek got home from work, then Kota and I hiked down.  Sounds like it was a little cold, but a good night.  A great warm-up to the backpacking season. 

Starting 2026 Off Right

 We watched a lot of BYU basketball.  We were big fans.  We were all heart broken when Richie tore his ACL.  The boys went with Derek to the game where Jimmer retired his jersey- the passed out Fredette jerseys to everyone!  The Rasmussens had seats right in front of Steve’s handicapped seats sometimes Liv and Emma would squeeze in next to Soren to watch the games.  The season ended a little disappointing, and the team didn’t end up playing as well as anticipated.  Hopefully next year will be better. 

There was literally no snow this whole winter.  This was sad because all the kids asked for season passes to Sundance for their big Christmas gift.  Parts of the park never even opened and most of the snow was man made and it took forever for them to get the back mountain opened.  I had purchased an S-card at the beginning of the season.  I watched the weather and two weeks before or biggest storm of the winter, I told all the kids I was going skiing on my day off and would check anyone out of school who had all As.  They all worked really hard and had all As when the day arrived.  We had the best day skiing together on the slopes and had fairly great snow actually just got better as the day went on.  One great ski day was all I got.  The boys still used their pass several times with their friends and Chase despite the bad snow year.  Liv only went a few times.  It was a sad year for the ski resorts. 

The night before St. Patty’s Day I got some inspiration to make the holiday fun.  Despite all the lunch requests my kids told me the night before, I had a leprechaun hijack their lunch and fill it with only green things to eat.  I think the kids even though they are grumpy teenagers enjoyed the little trick. 

We made it to our first BYU baseball game to watch the kids 3^rd cousin play.  He played great.  It was blazing hot.  We saw cute cosmo in his baseball uniform.  And the game ended with a walk off homerun- super exciting. 

New Year's Eve

 This year  Derek was pretty sick on New Year's Eve so in lieu of having our own get together for New Years' we let Liv invite a bunch of her friends over to party.  She had quite the group (even even let her brothers join in) She planned a bunch of games for them all to play and had snacks/sparking cider.  Derek made if fun by getting a few aerial fireworks to set off for the kids.  

Christmas

 Babi and Papou came up a couple weeks before Christmas so we sort of celebrated early with them while they were there.  They came with us to our ward Christmas Party and we all dressed up for a photo op. 

While there Babi took both boys on lunch dates for their birthday. 

This year for the first time in a long while we had none of my family coming for Christmas.  We debated about going to Orlando for the BYU pop tart bowl game.  Derek actually bought tickets and everything, but when Notre Dame dropped out he got mad and cancelled the trip.  Which would have been very expensive.  Then we toyed with the idea of spending it in San Diego as canceling the trip was a bit of let down for the kids.  But ultimately, we decided to drive out to Reno and spend Christmas with Kylie and Jordan. 

In honor of visiting Jordan (and mostly because I didn’t want to pack all the kids presents out to Reno and back), we decided to celebrate Hanukkah this year.  We bought a menorah and candles.  Each night we would light an additional candle and let the kids open one gift.  They loved it.  The first night learned about why Hanukkah is celebrated and the miracle of the oil lasting 8 days in the temple.  The next night we learned about dreidels and sang a dreidel song and played a dreidel game.  The next night, we made potato latkes.  The next night we learned some family history about the Roshen family from my line who were orthodox Jews from Odessa Russia (Ukraine) who left due to persecution after some horrible pogroms and came to New York City- they changed their name from Roshen to Rowe.  The next night, we called Jordan on the phone and he recited the Hanukkah prayers in Hebrew for us.  He would say a line and the kids would repeat it back.  One night we actually did a Christ spin off and talked about how our Savior is the light of the world and how the light the Jews were trying to keep burning in the temple was to help them look forward to the coming of The Messiah (The Light of the world).  And the last night, we made fried donut holes!  It was really a lot of fun and the perfect year to do it so most all the presents had been opened when we left on Christmas Eve for Kylie and Jordans. 

I only packed out stockings for each person and Christmas jammies that matched their cousins.

  The 8 hour drive to Reno was pretty painless.  Our kids are becoming great car travelers and our new expedition is so nice to travel in.  I loved getting to spend time with Ky.  All the kids loved beating up on Derek- even Ava got in on it.  

We had great food.  A charcuterie snack, cheese and chocolate fondue, halibut that stunk up the whole house the rest of the time we were there. The last night there we had prime rib and Ky made a homemade Ceasar Salad. 

Despite the picture, JoJo absolutely abhorred the boys and would bark and growl at them every time they walked past her. 

One day everyone went to see David in the movie theater, but Ky and I stayed back at the house with Ava.  

Then next day, we all went to Wild Island- rode go karts, played arcade games, bowled. 

Liv and Derek mini golfed while the younger kids played in a big indoor playground.  The last day there, we sent Kylie and Jordan for a spa day and we watched the kids- took them to the park and watched the BYU bowl game with Dad at the house.  It was a close game with Georgia Tech, but BYU won!  It was so fun (and exhausting) to spend time with our young cousins.  The baby cousins woke up early (about 6:30 every morning and would wake up their older cousins too). We played some games- LIFE and we taught Jordan and Kylie Idiot.   Dean is so funny right now- will only wear black tshirts and khaki shorts or jeans.  I think Kylie and Jordan really loved having us in their home and it was nice for my kids to spent time with their grandpa, uncle, aunt and cousins. 

How the Boys Wrap up 2025

Ander invited the boys to his EMT class on pediatric day so all the students could practice these skills on pediatric patients.  Carter got strapped into a body board. 

The boys are officially teenagers and all they wanted to do for their birthday party was play tackle football in the backyard with their friends and then they watched the BYU basketball game. 

They got Nike slippers from Babi and Papou for their birthday. They were pretty excited about it. 

Camden is playing the French Horn in the junior high band.  Not sure he loves it or carrying that awkward instrument around, but it has been a good experience learning a new instrument.  Carter has learning percussion instruments and seems to really enjoy it.  They both did great in their Christmas band concert. 

Carter is now in round two of braces.  Camden has to get 4 teeth pulled in the coming weeks and will get his second round on soon too. 

The boys got into a free basketball camp put on by the BYU player Rob Wright.  It was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning.  They had free breakfast and lunch and free haircuts (but the boys didn't have time to get one) and ran some basketball drills.  

How Liv Wraps Up 2025

 Liv is still participating with her acapella group Amplify.  They had a fun photo shoot of the kids.

One day at school they had the option to pet alpacas for flight time.  Liv decided she loves alpacas and wants one.

Liv is getting better and better at driving.  She was so proud of herself the first time she parked between the lines in a parking lot that she took a picture to send her Dad.

Liv and her friends love Taco Bell- mostly for the baja blasts during happy hour.  Almost every Friday she convinces me to take a car full of kids to Taco Bell after school. 

Liv and her friends love a local artist, Paige Fish, she was playing at the Depot in SLC so they all got tickets and went to the concert together. 

I got invited to go with Liv to see the second half of Wicked with Emma and her Family.  Our musical loving selves loved it of course. 

Liv was invited to participate in a BYU film student’s final project.  It was a great opportunity to get some film experience.  It was a cute story called "To Love Somebody" by Ella Revill about a grandma getting her granddaughter ready for her first date dance and reminiscing about her first date dance with her husband who had since passed. 

Liv killed it in her voice recital this year.  She sang Grown Up Christmas Wish.  

Thanksgiving

We hosted Derek’s familys’ Thanksgiving this year. We hosted 80 people! Liv was totally upset and thought it isn’t Thanksgiving if it isn’t at Jennifer’s house, but it ended up being a great day.  Lots of prep gathering enough tables and chairs for everyone.  We cleaned out the garage and set up a bunch of tables and chairs in there.  

Food wasn’t too bad because everyone brought stuff to shar.  Derek smoked two turkeys and they were fantastic.  I made mashed potatoes and gravy and cranberry sauce. 

Luckily, it was a lovely warm day, so people were able to go outside and play pickleball and basketball.  It also wasn’t too cold in the garage.  I didn’t know but the kids snapped a photo of themselves on Thanksgivng- they all love Thanksgiving.  

Everyone stayed till almost midnight playing games.  Then, people went home, Chase spent the night.  And the next morning we had Steph’s family and Grandpa all over for breakfast and they helped us take down all the tables and chairs.  Then the kids played games with their cousins all day.