Beauty Queen for the Day

Anna had her very first hair cut today! Well, it was really just a little trim but it was still a big deal to her. I was a little worried about Anna's curly hair being butchered at a kids salon so I took Anna with me to my appointment today. I was nervous about how she'd feel at an adult salon so I wasn't even sure if she'd go through it. Well, I was totally wrong... she loved every moment at the hair salon! She checked everything out including the bathrooms, spa area, and manicure area. When Kelly (my hair stylist) called us back Anna jumped in the chair. Her favorite part of the whole experience was having her hair washed by the assistant Michael. Anna just kicked up her feet and closed her eyes ... it was too cute.

California International Marathon

After five months of training I completed my first marathon last Sunday, December 6th! Besides being rather chilly (28 degrees at the starting line), I think everything went quite well. I finished so I consider it a success! Jason met me three times before the finish line and it was always very motivating when I saw him. Here are some photos:

Still smiling at mile 22!

We went down to my sister Angie's for Thanksgiving and enjoyed great time with family and great weather. We also celebrated Jason's and my mom's birthdays. Anna insisted on having a Backyardigans themed birthday party for them =).

Happy Holidays!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Belated Boo!

Now that we are preparing for Thanksgiving I realized I haven't even posted our Halloween photos ... I'm a little slow these days =). Anna was very excited about Halloween this year and we were the first family out "Trick o' Treating" in our neighborhood. Benji had to warm up to what we were doing but after a few houses he got the hang of things and would go up to doors with Anna.

Today was probably one of the most exciting days in Anna's life: she received her very own "big girl bike". Anna was very lucky that her cousin Emma was sweet enough to part with her bike and pass it along to Anna (Uncle Matt works for Trek Bikes). Anna waited patiently for it to come in the mail from Wisconsin and it was worth the wait! She has big plans to ride all around our neighborhood tomorrow =).

It was already dark when the bike arrived and we couldn't make her wait!

Anna had a Thanksgiving Day Feast at her school for lunch today. I signed up to bring the turkey this year and opted to make a large breast instead of a whole turkey too make things easier on myself. I think this little preschool turkey is the best turkey I've ever made! Last year I made a beautiful turkey for Thanksgiving that I brined in advance and took all of the measures to ensure it wouldn't be dry. Well, it was pretty good but the breast I made today was delicious and SO much easier. I'm bad at writing things down as I go but I'm pretty sure these measurments are accurate for my recipe:

• 1 31/2 to 4 pound turkey breast ( I used a Foster Farms breast from Costco that already had a little bit of herb seasoning on it)
• 4 TB butter softened and mixed with 2 TB each of finely chopped sage and thyme
  
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 2 whole carrots
  
• 1 onion
• sprig of thyme
• kosher salt

Brown Sugar Rub:

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 TB kosher salt
• 1 TB smoked paprika
• 1/2 TB ground coriander
  
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Take turkey breast out of packaging and remove net if it has one. Place turkey in a 9" x 13 " roasting/casserole dish and pat dry. Gently lift skin up and season breast under the skin with kosher salt (eye ball it) then rub herbed butter on breast meat under the skin. Next, rub the outside of the skin with a small amount of softened butter or vegetable oil (just enough to make the rub stick, about 1/2 TB). With your hands rub the brown sugar rub all over the outside of the breast on top of the skin. Place 2 chopped carrots, 1 chopped onion and the sprig of thyme around the breast and pour 3/4 cup chicken broth into the roasting pan. Roast breast uncovered for about 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 165 degrees. If it takes more than 1 hour 15 minutes to roast the turkey you'll need to cover it with foil during the last 15 minutes so the skin doesn't become to dark. Let turkey breast set 20 minutes before carving. Reserve the pan drippings to make gravy. This really is good!

Big News!!!!

A lot has been happening with us in the last couple of days! Do you think you can guess where Jason accepted a job?

Still guessing? Maybe this will help:

All kidding aside, Jason accepted the surgery position in Kentucky so we will be moving to "Horse Country" next July! This will be a huge change for us and we know it will be difficult at times living somewhere without any family nearby but Jason and I feel this is the right thing for us to do for our family and Jason's career right now. We hope we will have a lot of visitors ... hint, hint =). Our new neck of the woods is also known as "Bourbon Country" so if horses aren't your thing we can take you to some bourbon distilleries =). Now we have the daunting task of cleaning out our house --uggh! We don't plan to move to KY until July so at least we have plenty of time to prepare. Southern Living magazine had a nice article about Kentucky a couple of months ago: http://www.southernliving.com/travel/south-central/kentucky-bourbon-trails-tours-00400000053964/

Jason celebrating with his favorite ice cream: Gold Medal Ribbon from Baskin-Robbins

Today I ran a half marathon in Folsom (13.1 miles) around Lake Natoma. The day was beautiful but a little warm for a long run. It was 76 degrees by the time I finished and I felt like putting my bathing suit on and jumping into the lake! Jason and Anna were my cheerleaders and it was incredible seeing them when I ran up the last of too many hills. We signed Anna up for a 1 mile kids walk/run but she had plans of her own and preferred to play at the playground instead =).

Okay, no comments about the socks please =)

My birthday was last week and my parents had a nice get together for me at their house. Anna felt this was a very special occasion so she wore her purple princess dress first and then changed midway through into something else. She is a little fashionista I guess =). It must be fun being three!

Fall Fun

When I hear, "mom, I want to show you something" I know I need to be a little worried =). Yesterday Anna and Ben were playing in the backyard while I was unloading groceries and I heard Anna's little voice full of excitement. She couldn't wait long so she brought the excitement to me:

That's a juicy worm in case you can't tell from the photo =)

Worms and bugs are great as long as they are outside. A couple of months ago Anna brought something from outside wrapped in a tissue and placed it in my purse. She said, "mom, I brought you a present". I assumed it was a flower but the voice in the back of my head told me to check it out sooner rather then later. Sure enough it was a rolly polly family crawling around in my purse!

Last weekend we enjoyed some fall fun by taking the kids to a pumpkin patch. Anna loved all of the pumpkins and she made sure to pick out the "very best one". Ben enjoyed eating while we pulled him around but what he loved even more than his beloved food was the tractor ride! The kids both enjoyed the baby cow and very friendly donkey at the farm as well. Here are some photos:

Halloween Preview

Halloween seems to be a month long festivity in the Rasmussen household =). Anna picked out what she wanted to be awhile back and will wear her costume any chance she can get so she jumped on the chance to show off her costume to Grandma and Grandpa Roerkohl this past weekend! Anna and I picked out Ben's "first" costume: a cute Kermit the Frog outfit but Ben protested and almost ripped the costume off so it's being returned ( I did get a couple of snapshots at least). Costume option #2 is a race car driver suit from the Disney "Cars" movie and this option went over much better with Benji. He smirked when he first saw himself in it and then he became very serious. Maybe he really thinks he's a race car driver?

Before ... not happy

After ... his face says it all!

Ms. Tinkerbell

Anna had her back to school night at school last week. It's always a lot of fun to see her in her school environment with her best buddies. Ben enjoyed himself very much there. He wants to be a big kid and go to school like his big sis!

Anna and her best friend Maddie

Big man on campus =)

Future party animal?

Anna is a big fan of maps and puzzles so when I came across a floor puzzle of the USA I knew she'd love it. She learned where California, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Kentucky are in a matter of minutes =).

Sorry, don't know why this is uploading sideways!

Ben trying on daddy's pagers ... he was so happy!

Ben being silly (he recently became attached to his binky =( )

I bought Anna a holiday dress from Costco and she went crazy when she saw it. She wore it four days in a row and only took it off to sleep. I think she stopped wearing it when she felt everyone she knew had seen her in it =). You can't tell in the photos but the dress is a bit over the top with sparkly sequins and lots of "bling". Definitely the perfect "everyday" dress for a 3 year old girl!

The Kentucky Horse Park sweatshirt looked absolutely lovely with the dress =)
Can you think of a better outfit to pick strawberries in?

Finally, she changed her outfit!