Man, I miss these guys

I had no costumes to make.  No one had a hard time eating dinner because they were too excited to go out trick-or-treating.  I didn't cut out hundreds of bats to stick all over the house. There are no fake cobwebs anywhere.  We didn't carve a pumpkin.  There will be no piles of candy on the floor tonight with intense trading going on.  No one is going to say, "here Mom, you can have this Mr. Goodbar 'cause you love them."

I love the wonderful people that they have become, but man, I really miss the kids they were.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

It was Heaven on Earth

War college was over.  Jay would soon be beginning a new job, a new DEMANDING job, and Julie was leaving soon for college.  It was the perfect time to get away before all the madness began.  I had always wanted to go on a cruise, but Jay swore that he'd never take me on one since the time he took me on a dinner cruise around Seattle and I spent the whole time in the bathroom violently ill.

My motion sickness is legendary.  Every family travel story from my childhood includes some mention of me throwing up somewhere on someone.  So I pretty much ruled out the possibility of ever taking a cruise.  Then Jessica went on a cruise for her honeymoon.  She inherited my motion sickness gene, but... she didn't get sick!  "The ship is big Mom, you never feel like you're moving."

I armed myself with this knowledge and started my plan of attack with Jay.  But, you know, he loves me (and he loves a good vacation), so all I had to do was mention (over and over for about a month) that it would be a great trip and he was on board!  I also promised that I wouldn't get sick.  And I didn't!  Our trip was perfect in every way, perfect weather, perfect food, perfect ship, sooooo romantic, and tons of fun!

Our first view of the ship in the Port of Miami

Set Sail party on deck

Our first day was spent at sea so Jay tried to master the FlowRider and learn to surf

Our first port was Labadee, Haiti.  Beautiful!

The water called to us

The daredevils wanted to go off on their own, and fast!

After dinner there's always a new friend waiting for us

Heaven part 2

Jamaica and Cozumel were both stops on the cruise.  While parts of Jamaica were beautiful, I would never want to go there again.  For the most part, Jamaica is run down and a mess.  The people are rude and the taxi drivers were pushy and dishonest!!! Steer clear of Jamaica if you have the chance.  Jake and Julie explored the rain forest by going on zip lines through the canopy while Jay and I tried to have a decent sight-seeing trip around the island.  But it did not turn out so well.  But we did not let it get to us and we still had fun the rest of the day doing some shopping on our own.  Cozumel was beautiful and restful, the people were friendly, and the taxi drivers were REGULATED!  It was $6 into town and $6 back to the ship.  All the same price.  That made it so much easier.  The kids had a blast with all the shopping there.  Jay and I found a nice beach to soak up the sun and do some snorkeling one last time.

Jamaica is beautiful from afar, just not close up!

Jake ready to take on the zip lines

Julie  is ready to go!

Heading back to the ship after another fun day

When we came back from breakfast one morning this was on our door

Jay had called ahead and told them it would be my birthday, so they decorated the room!

Beautiful bird in beautiful Cozumel

Our relaxing beach that we found

Another friend waiting for us

Heaven part 3

Our day on Grand Cayman Island was lots of fun.  The island is the total opposite of Jamaica.  Grand Cayman is clean, everything looks nice, and the people are really friendly.  The highlight of our day was going out to Stingray City.  We went on a boat for about 1/2 an hour straight out into the ocean.  Then we came to a natural sand barge where fisherman have been cleaning their fish for many years.  The place is full of stingrays who are used to being fed by the fishermen, so they just swim all around people.  Our guide described them like pet cats who just go all over you, and they did!  Up our backs, through our legs, around our waist, and up over our shoulders.  Julie and I just screamed and screamed at first.  I held on to her and she held on to Jake.  Jay was off the minute he hit the water with his snorkel gear looking at them.  We had a bucket of chopped up squid and you would put a piece in your hand and make a fist and they would come up and suck it out of your hand.  Definitely the most amazing experience I've had in a long time!

Our guide giving us instructions on the way out on how to act in the water, like Don't Panic!  (we panicked)

You want me to get out of the boat with those in the water?

                    Brave family

Then, just to add more torture, I mean fun, our guide said if you kiss a stingray you get good luck.  So we did.  Still waiting for the luck.

             Can you believe Julie did this??

                       Or me????

Jay, of course, didn't want to leave the water

 At the end of the day, a stingray waiting for us in our room

Heaven part 4 (or the end of heaven)

Things we LOVED on our cruise...

Breakfast on our balcony - beautiful!

The ice skating show, they were fantastic!

Carved fruit!  Fruit and ice sculptures!  It was crazy!

Shuffleboard.  We usually played after dinner.  It's quite fun.

  The belly flop contest.  Large people + alcohol = FUN

Jose (from Columbia) our waiter.  WE LOVED HIM

Sorrentos.  Pizza 24/7

Looking down in the elevator to see what day it was

 Ping pong.  Jay and Jake had a rousing game every night

Our cruise director, Richard, a hilarious Brit

Mini golf at night

THE END (please can I go back?)

Congratulations Colonel Rasmussen

Jay spent the last year attending the National War College in Washington D.C.  It was a great experience for him and we are so glad that he was given that opportunity.  About a week before graduation he was promoted to Colonel.  We had a really nice ceremony at the War College.  We were excited to have General Carpenter come to promote Jay.  He and Jay have worked together many times, and Jay greatly admires and respects him.

I guess since this is my personal blog I can take a minute to express my love and appreciation for Jay.  He is everything to me.  He loves his family, he is a worthy priesthood holder, and he loves his country.   I don't think the kids or I will ever know all the sacrifices he has made for us.  He truly puts us first in every career decision he has to make.  I am grateful every day that of all those girls on campus in 1981 he chose me.

General Carpenter saying a few words about Jay   

Promotion orders are read to the audience

Changing his rank

Julie and Jake changing his rank on his shirt

Oath of office

Jay giving a few remarks

Receiving line (Julie's comment "I am not doing this at my wedding!")

My guys outside the War College back when Jordan was here

Kronik Robot

We are sad to say you missed a great performance by Kronik Robot at the ward talent show.  Jake plays guitar in this band, and I must say I don't think the old meetinghouse has ever shook like that!!  It was a memorable performance- little children covering their ears, devout christians fleeing the building, and lots of heads shaking (probably thinking "those Rasmussens...").  It didn't help that they were followed by a little girl singing "Families Can Be Together Forever" (her dad is deployed to Iraq).  But in our opinion they were the highlight of the night and it was crazy fun with our friends holding up their cell phones and swaying back and forth.  

Rock Star

Out with the old, in with the new

 One thing our family loves to do is go to sporting events.  While most families may seek out interesting historical sites while traveling cross country, we have always mapped out stadiums that we might pass, and we have always managed to take a tour (or at least sneak in).  We had the opportunity this summer to enjoy two great baseball games and be part of history also.  We attended a Yankees game in the last year for its stadium, and we attended a Nationals game in the first year of their new stadium.

These were both fun, but really different experiences.  When we were in New York we took a long subway ride out to the Bronx to get to Yankee Stadium.  It is surrounded by tons of bars and taverns and sports shops.  Very noisy and crowded, but lots of excitement everywhere!  Another thing we do (well, not WE, just JAY and the BOYS) is buy cheap seats and then move around during the game to better seats.  So there we sat in our cheap bleacher seats and when it came time for the boys to want to move we discovered that if you have bleacher seats it is a separate entrance and you cannot leave that section in less you are leaving the stadium.  And you cannot get in at another entrance with a bleacher seat ticket.  No seat hopping for the boys! Sadly, they had to stay put, but they still had a great time, especially seeing the famous Yankee players.

A couple of days later the boys went to a Nationals game.  The stadium is not a far drive for us.  We park at Ft. McNair (since we have military stickers on our car) and then we have about a 5 minute walk to the stadium.  There isn't really anything by the stadium, it is on the Potomac and has a beautiful view of the Capitol through center field.  You can walk around the whole stadium and there are lots of fun games and restaurants everywhere.  You don't even have to watch the game to have a fun time, there's so much to do.  Of course my boys watched the game, although they did have some fun in the batting cages.  It is a beautiful stadium and we are looking forward to many more fun evenings there.

Outside Yankee Stadium

Yankee Stadium

Our great bleacher seats... and it was raining!

Inside Yankee Stadium

All the famous guys!

Nationals Stadium

Jay and Jake at the stadium

It's beautiful inside - all red, white, and blue

The night we were there they had a tribute to Tim Russert who had just passed away.  He was involved with getting the stadium built for the Nationals

There is always the race of the Presidents at every game

The boys with the Presidents

My boys at the game