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!

Back from Horse Country

We enjoyed a nice trip to the Lexington, KY area over the weekend. Jason interviewed with a hospital there. We'll keep you updated on what materializes! The area was beautiful and we lucked out with perfect weather. Here are some photos:

Here are Anna and Ben enjoying the pretty green grass

Picture from one of the neighborhoods we drove through


We see dogs in yards here; in KY you see horses =)


Anna loved riding the pony!

The kids loved the indoor pool!

Ben trying on daddy's shoes

I ordered room service and Anna asked "Is it my birthday?" when the tray arrived =)

Anna in front of a school we checked out for her