5 Years of Rasmussen

Its hard to believe 5 years have gone by! I guess there is supposed to be something monumental about reaching the 5 year status...we are no longer considered 'newlyweds' and we are on the up hill climb to becoming parents of teenagers. On the 5th year Anniversary, American wedding traditions would have the couple receive gifts of wood. As exciting as that is, I think Jason and I will have to pass...candy bars, a long nap or the garage swept are other viable options.

To sum up the past five years is very difficult for me. 1: Because I have a horrible memory and 2: Because there is so much that we have shared together, it's impossible to pick just a few things for your reading enjoyment. I will try and follow some sort of chronological order to help me. Here I go... Obviously the day that will live in infamy (at least for us) Friday, August 8th 2003. We arrived at the Temple at 8:30 am and by Noon we were husband and wife. We spent our honeymoon in Midway, UT and then headed to Vegas for 3 days. Upon arriving home, we opened gifts, cleaned our house, had our first fight as a married couple, and ate wedding cake for dinner.

Fast forward 8 months and we were headed to Bountiful where Jason was going to attend school at the U and I would work at Lakeview Hospital. With nothing but Fruit Loops in the cupboard we enjoyed our time there for 9 months. The joyous news of a baby was echoed in that tiny, dingy apartment and upon hearing the news, Jason laid face down on the bed for a few hours to recover. We moved just 2 months later...

TO SPRINGVILLE!! With the purchase of our 2nd home and a new fridge we were ready to become suberbians! We fell in love with our new neighbors and thoroughly enjoyed the morning sickness for 11 more weeks. Dawson arrived on September 6th, 2005 and we brought him home to his fully decorated little nursery. We were such proud parents! With Jason's work going well and a new baby in our lives, we loved our 2 years in Kelvin Grove. During that time, we took our first international trip together, back to Jason's mission. It was a growing experience for sure! I had never been further than Texas and for a girl from a small town, I was thrown into a scary world (lions included) that I'd only seen in the movies. For 2 weeks, we depended on each other for everything. We left our sweet 14 month old, Dawson and I almost couldn't handle it. Jason was so patient with me and by the 9th day of crying non-stop he finally started to ignore me. Upon arriving back home, we decided it was time to add another little Razz to the mix and 2 months later, our little Carter was on his way! In October of 2006 we decided to build our home in Spanish Fork. With a lot of thought and prayer, we knew it was time for a change.

April of 2007 we went to Hawaii for 9 days and it was amazing! We got to swim with dolphins, kayak, sail, snorkel and eat way too much good food.
In June of 2007 we moved into our new home. Again, enjoying almost 8 more weeks of morning sickness. By the way...Jason is the best when is comes to comforting me during my not-so-glorious moments of pregnancy. He likes my feet and therefor likes to rub them A LOT! That has been a valuable tool these past 5 years!! Jason got his basketball court and Man Cave and I got a craft closet in the new house...not bad huh? Well, November came and Carter was born. He was truly the blessing we needed. He kept our lives positive while Jason switched companies and kept me sane during my post partum 'mother of two' times. He was (and still is) such an excellent baby. With the past 8 months, being a family of 4, we feel our lives are heading in the right direction as far as we can tell. To sum everything up, this is how its been- in 5 years we have between the two of us: lived in 4 cities, 3 homes and 1 apartment. Held 13 church callings, attended 6 wards and gone to the temple approx. 41 times (for those of you calculating...we havn't gove EVERY month, but we are setting goals to do better) We have purchased 11 cars, 2 motorcylces and traveled to 9 countries (more Jason than me). We have brought 2 beautiful children into the world and plan for one or two more. Lost and/or gained over 50 lbs and spent countless $$$ going to Wendy's. We have loved, cried, fought, mourned, rejoiced, laughed, laughed, laughed, cried and loved some more. Jason is amazing and I am such a lucky lady to have him forever.

Happy Anniversay 08/08/08!