Anna the Model!

Anna had her picture taken at school and we were shocked when we received them back. They look nothing like the school photos I took growing up when the photographer took one snapshot and half the time my eyes were closed! Now in 2010 the photographer offers a disc with multiple photos to choose from -- why, how times have changed! I wasn't with Anna when she had her photo taken but she sure looks like she was having a great time!

Ben wasn't at the school for photos but here he is looking cute as ever. What a handsome young man!

On Saturday I ran the American River Half Marathon in Sacramento. It didn't turn out quite as glorious as my 30 seconds of fame at the Fairfield 5k but I finished! I trained well for the race, slept well and it was a beautiful day except for being a tad warm for a 13 mile run. Jason dropped me off at the race and met me in the middle so he wasn't able to take many photos. I've done the best with some other photos so you can feel the experience:

This is how I felt waiting at the start line:

About 30 seconds into the race an alarm went off in my head when I could feel everything I ate and drank for breakfast bouncing around in my tummy like the Energizer Bunny:

What I was saying in my head:



Me at the 10 mile marker:

At the finish line:

What was thrilling was that Mary (Anna and Ben's sitter and friend of ours) was a total Rock Star and she sprinted through the finish line looking like this and this was her first half marathon!

Okay, so I really don't look that bad in this photo of Mary and I right after the race but if you notice my medal is backwards. I think the volunteers have a secret code for people who look like they are about to be sick so they marked me to warn others to stand back!

The other fantastic thing about this race was that the weather was warmer than all of my training runs and my feet swelled up so much that they were rubbing raw in my shoes that felt like shrinky dink. Anna nursed my feet with a lot of Scooby Doo band-aids!

All kidding aside, I love running and it has been great for me. I love having a goal to reach for and I've come along way. I remember when I ran a 5k after having Ben -- it felt like the longest run on earth! After I got beat up at my half marathon on Saturday I was crazy enough to register for my second 26.2 marathon in beautiful:

I will be running with Jason's dad Lee of course. I am hoping I can keep up with him and feel victorious on October 3rd. I'll just make sure not to drink 32 oz of Gatorade before the race!

Love from us all!

Running, Running, and more Running!

The Rasmussen family has been having a lot of fun running at local races lately. Last month Anna had a great time at her kids 1/4 mile race. This month I ran in a 5k in my hometown of Fairfield with my sister Devona, my brother-in-law Freddie and his brother Adrian. Jason was in Washington D.C. for a work conference so he couldn't be there. My dad was there and it was so cool seeing him cheering me on when I was approaching the finish line. I was shocked when I found out I was 2nd in my age group and 7th overall out of 300 women -- I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks! My next race is a half marathon this weekend in Sacramento -- wish me luck!

Devona and I before the race

Hanging out with dad before the race

Waiting to start!
Coming in to the finish line. I've never seen myself look so serious! I finished 1 second before this lady -- it was close!
After with my medal =)
The hat I won =)

Here are some recent photos of Anna and Ben:

Taking a walk at our local shopping center

Cruising around the grocery store

Anna and Ben getting their hair cut together -- this lady is good!

Anna yesterday at the dentist. She walked in and told the hygienist "I'm only doing this sitting up and I'd like Dora teeth". She's a girl who knows what she wants =).

Spring is Here!

A lot has happened in this past month since our last post. In mid-March we made a house hunting trip to Lexington. Jason's parents met us out there for part of the week and it was a lot of fun spending time with them in KY. We are thrilled that after looking at quite a few houses we found one that we love! Our offer was accepted by the sellers and we plan to close in May. May is supposed to be a beautiful time in Kentucky and Jason will get to see first hand when he goes out there for the closing. For some reason the photos I saved of the house from the MLS listing are really small so I will work on fixing these photos! We also have a video of the house that is about 10 minutes long. You can see it by clicking here.





Other VERY exciting news is that Jason passed his General Surgery Board Examinations and is now a Board Certified Surgeon! He also was granted his Kentucky Medical License. You can check Jason out on the Georgetown Bariatric Center web site.



Anna is making her mark as an athlete =). She participated in a fun kids run a couple of weekends ago. It was a 1/4 mile long and Anna was the recipient of a very nice medal =). Here are some photos:

Ben after the race =)

Finally, Happy Easter! We spent Saturday coloring eggs with my sister Devona's family and Sunday we spent at my brother-in-law Freddie's sister Ada's house (did you catch all that ? =) ). The kids had a really fun Easter Egg Hunt at Ada's house despite the rainy weather. Unfortunately we left our camera at home so we weren't able to take any photos there. Here are a couple of photos at the end of the day when we returned home. The kids had way too much candy by this point =).

Happy Spring!

Happy Birthday Anna and Ben!

Anna celebrated her 4th birthday on March 10th and Ben turned 2 on February 27th. They had a joint birthday party last weekend at my parents house with a Little Mermaid/Elmo theme =). Here are some photos:

Happy 2010!

Hello everyone! We hope you had a fabulous holiday season! It looks like we are still recovering since we are so behind in updating our family blog =). Jason's parents came out here this year for Christmas which was a first for them. It was so nice to have them here to celebrate with us. We went over to my sister Devona's on Christmas Eve for a big party celebration including a ton of scrumptious Mexican food, pinatas and a visit from Santa! On Christmas Day we had both of our parents and Devona's family over. We weren't sure if we could do it but we squeezed 12 people in our kitchen for dinner! Since this was our last Christmas in Sacramento it was very special that we were able to host Christmas for our families. The day after Christmas we took a road trip to Monterey with Jason's parents. The kids loved the aquarium and staying at a hotel for the night =). Here are some photos from the holidays:

At Auntie Devona's House:

Anna with "Chico"

Maddie and Anna with Chico

Ben with Grandpa Jim

Anna after receiving her bag of presents from Santa

Ben with Grandpa Lee attempting to break open the pinata

Anna with a piece of the broken pinata on her head

Christmas Day at our house:

Anna and Ben at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Outside of the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Kids with Grandpa and Grandma Rasmussen

Anna and Ben in Grandpa and Grandma's hotel room

Ben in his element at home. He loves balls -- can you tell?

Princess Anna =)
Jason giving Ben a hair cut! Ben did quite well!
Future Cal cheerleader? I guess we need to trade this uniform in for a UK cheer leading uniform instead!