Hoot Owl

Sammy is also a Hoot Owl and loves to watch football!

comin down the stairs

Sammy has been practicing sliding at his mom's house...

Christmas 2008

Cole with Santa - Cole told Santa that he wanted "to play in the NFL"

Sammy wasn't impressed with Santa but he did like unwrapping presents.

I didn't think Sammy was old enough to get the whole present unwrapping thing but he did. I know for a fact that he did because the last present was clothes and he didn't even bother finishing unwrapping it. Once he knew it wasn't a toy he just threw it aside.

Sammy loves food but he is very picky. Look at his tray.. He is eating bacon, cheese, cucumber and olives. Sammy always looks like he is having so much fun!

Cole, Sammy and I spend Christmas Eve day at my parents with all of my brothers and sisters. I have 7 brothers and sisters and they are all married. There is a combined 18 grand children. Mom and Dad and Grandma. If I am doing math correctly there was 36 including me. We started at 9AM with breakfast and went all day and into the evening. To make a long wonderful day short all I can say is I am very blessed. I have a big family and we all have means to get together as often as we like. My parents also spoil their grandchildren. I was going to post pictures of the tree and presents, but 18 grand kids with lots of presents isunbelievable and made me feel spoiled as well.

Thanksgiving

The Rasmussen Thanksgiving was great this year. Cole, Sammy and I was able to spend time with my family and a lot of time together. I was able to get some projects done around the house. The picture below is my decorating attempt. I don't like holes in my walls but I love pictures so my life is in constant torment. The picture below dominates this wall but I already had a nail in the wall so I figured (picture on dinner table that needs a home somewhere other than the table + nail in wall = to small of picture on big wall but picture is off the table). I am joking I hung some pictures that worked well. However this picture will need to be moved.

Katy came over on Friday and decorated our tree. The tree looks awesome...

Cole played video games in his underwear. Is that bad?

Sammy pulled on the PlayStation cords bugging his big brother. Notice Cole in the background trying to get out of the picture but he is still holding his PlayStation controller. I wish he had this concentration at church.

The last picture is of my Dad, Sammy and their face licking dog that I don't like around Sammy. I would never tell my mom that though, I would be dead.

Cole and the attacking Poodle

Cole was viciously attacked by a miniature poodle today. The poodle was small as far as miniature poodles go but very very mean. Cole described the attack as taking several minutes and a few times the dog was very close to Cole's neck witch could have killed him if it had bitten his jugular vain. Cole was able to deliver a fatal blow killing the undersized miniature poodle. However at this time the old lady that owned the miniature poodle stepped in. Cole was able to land a hard right and she lost her dentures. By the time the ambulance arrived Cole had lost most of the blood in his little body. He was saved by the fast work performed by the paramedics. He was flown to the new hospital on 5400 South and underwent 7 minutes of surgery. He is in fair condition after he received 8 stitches to close his gaping wound and is resting calmly now. There is a slight chance he will lose his leg to infection because the attacking dog has rabies. It's been a long long day for me. Look for more details tomorrow...

Update - I had the story wrong. Cole fell out of a tree at recess. He will not loose his leg.

breaking and entry

Sammy likes to crawl into my office and "help" me work. He is my paper shredder, slobber's on envelopes and destroys anything else that I need. I decided to barricade him out. I think he likes the barricade more than the papers in my office. He drops his cars over the top then retrieves them from underneath. I am very grateful for the happiness that Sam brings me.

2008 Football Season

It's hard not to brag about your children so I am not going to make any excuses. Cole was simply awesome this year. Cole was the quarterback and I think he only missed one or two plays all season. Cole was tougher than I thought he would ever be. He must get it from his mom because he is a lot tougher and smarter than I was at his age. His team the Hillcrest Huskies season record was 6-3 and finished 2nd. Hillcrest was "upset" by Olympus in the playoffs. I said upset because Hillcrest beat Olympus pretty bad in the regular season. Love.. Love.. Football.



Scrambling out of the pocket..

Hand off to Davis. Look for both Davis and Rasmussen in the 2022 NFL draft :)

Escaping death by Bountiful linemen...

I think Cole had the best arm in our division.

I can't even explain how fun it was coaching this team this year. Lots and lots of fun.....

Deer Hunt 2008

Cole and I had a great hunt due to a terrible end of our football season "see other post". Cole spot it and I shot it. It happened just about that fast too. We decided to go hunting on Wednesday the 5th because there was snow the previous 3 days. We left at 4 AM and arrived at about 8AM. We unloaded the 4 wheeler and headed up to the top of the mountain. It was still snowing hard and the trip to the top that usually takes 30 minutes was taking hours. Our 4 wheeler was pushing snow and I was thinking that we may have to turn back. There was a few spots that I had the machine full throttle just trying to keep moving. It was in one of these places that Cole spotted the deer. I slammed on the brakes. I didn't see it at first it was in thick trees. When I did see it I knew that my hunt was over because this was our deer.

Cabin

I hope I remember how to post a blog. It's been so long...

Cole, Sammy and I went to my parents cabin to ride the 4 wheeler. It was the first time Sam has spent serious time in the mountains. He didn't like the sun on his face and there was little I could do. I had brought a hat but it didn't help that much. We had fun but next time I will be more prepared for an infant. We did see some nice big deer... These in the picture will both be nice 4 pointers.

Our Yard

OK, the picture below is Michelle and Cole on a 15 minute break. Both Michelle and Cole are awesome helpers. Michelle actually planted every single plant, I didn't plant any of them. I am in charge of preparation of soil, clean up, pond maintenance and sprinklers. Cole was in charge of running for items and grunt work. We all did our part and this is the result. We need more flowers though, it looked like we had so many in the truck and so few now they are planted.

Front flower beds. Michelle said that the photographer did a crumby job with pictures. I am the photographer :)
This is my favorite flower that Michelle purchased. I don't remember the name but I remember that it was only 8 dollars. I asked Michelle to get more. I recommend this flower to everyone. It's the yellow flower.

Yard Work

Cole is almost 3 in this picture. The company that I worked for sold pressure washers. Cole had to learn to use a pressure washer early in his life :)

Today I worked in the yard for a few hours. I have been getting rid of bark that the previous owners laid down in the flower beds. I don't like bark because it blows into my garage and looks bad after a couple of years. At least that is my opinion. I like maintenance free when it comes to everything but flower beds. I am taking out the bark and most of the plants that are planted. I plan on replacing them with as many flowers as I can afford to purchase. Michelle has the "beautiful" eye and she is going to buy the flowers "hopefully" tomorrow. I was thinking about my children when I was in the yard today. I was wishing Sammy was old enough to be out there with me. I was also thinking about all the times Cole and I worked together in the yard and on the cars. I was also thinking that I hope the girls marry well because they don't like to work, ex specially in the yard. I can only find one picture of Cole and I working in the yard. Well we were washing the car. Cole has always been able to handle my mood swings and I have them often in the yard. Cole has always been a equalizer and been able to calm me down. Not to mention that he also a good helper. I remember what he would say to me if I was pushing him to hard. "Dad, I am just a kid. Your frustrating me because your making me hurry. I am not as big as you and it takes me longer". Each time he would say this to me I would melt. I love working with my children. Jane is going to be mad at me because I didn't mention how she helps me in the yard. Jane will come out and work with me in the garage and she is also a very good helper. Jane like to organize so she spends extra time on the buckets with the balls and toys in them.

Sammy is 6 months old today!

Sammy is 1/2 today! In the picture below Sam is still in the Hospital and he is 1 day old.



In the picture below Sammy is about 3 months old.







I don't have a 6 month picture yet but I will get one and post it.



An update on Sam's progress;

1. Sammy is trying to sit up on his own but still needs help.


2. Sammy is not crawling but he can move forward. How he moves forward would be hard to explain, its ugly but he moves a little.


3. Sammy is eating a little baby food and I think he likes bananas and prunes.


4. Sammy is eating these puff ball things. I haven't caught the name yet but the look a little like Cheerios.


5. Every time Sammy makes eye contact with me he smiles. This is my favorite trick of his.


6. Sammy open mouth kisses his mom each time mom asks. He looks like he is eating Michelle's face but he doesn't do this to anyone else so I know they are Sammy Kisses.


7. I think he will be crawling very soon.

An update on my progress;

1. I forgot how bad baby puke stains... and stinks.


2. I forgot how heavy 10 pounds can feel after an hour.


3. I forgot how calming sweet and innocent a newborn is.


4. I forgot how all a newborns needs are "Right Now".


5. I forgot the smell of an infant after a bath.

I could go on and on but I think Michelle already thinks I need intervention when it comes to blogs. I am also going to quite because I am not very descriptive with words and there is no way to explain how happy Sam makes me feel. I am going to keep Sam away from the other kids so he stays sweet forever... Just kidding.

Deer Hunt 2002

Hello my dedicated following, I think there are 3 of you now.

I found our pictures of 2002 but I cant remember the hunt. I remember taking this deer. I was riding my 4 wheeler and I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. About 50 yards to my right I spotted this deer looking at me. It was with about 10 does and they started running every way. I was lucky because the first deer I saw was this buck standing still and looking at me and it wasn't moving. It was in thick cover and not very visible but I had a lot of time to make my shot. I made it and hunt 2002 over. I can't believe that I don't remember how many days I hunted or anything. Having my own blog is going to be good for me because I am going to accomplish 2 things. I am going to organize my pictures and I am going to use this blog as my diary.

Cole was so cute at this age, he was 3 1/2.

Deer Hunt 2003

I am so excited.... I have my own blog spot! I think the name of my blog is very dumb, but whatever. I am just glad that my sexy wife set it up for me.





OK, I am going to spend time talking about Cole and my hunting trips. I am doing this because I want Cole to help me write the stories. Cole and I have hunted together for 6 years. The two pictures below are the year 2003. I can't find any pictures of the previous year, but I will soon.

This is what I had to deal with for 12 hours each day we hunted. Cole was remarkably patient for a 4 year old, I wasn't remarkably patient for a 33 year old dad. I remember the exact moment that I took this picture because I shot at a deer about 30 seconds after this picture was taken. It was late in the afternoon as you can tell by the picture. Right after I snapped this picture I was looking at Cole and saw 2 deer running outside his window. I jumped out of the truck with my rifle and Cole was freaking out asking me "where's the deer". I pointed and told him that they were both bucks, but they were a long ways away and it was almost dark. I knew they were both big but I didn't think I could hit either one of them. I decided to shot anyway just for the excitement. I had never shot at a deer when Cole was with me. It was just like I thought he would be. He was screaming "did you hit it dad, did you hit it dad". I knew that I didn't hit it because I could still see them both running away in my scope. I told Cole that I wasn't sure if I had hit one or not. We went over to where we had seen the deer and starting looking together. When we got to the place the deer were, I was surprised because it was almost 600 yards away. I thought when I shot that they were about 300 yards, which means the deer where bigger than I thought. While Cole and I were looking around for a deer that I knew wasn't there I was thinking to myself that I should have keep shooting earlier. We searched until dark and then searched some more with flashlights. I was having so much fun holding Cole's hand and looking that I didn't want to ever stop. He was so excited. Just thinking about makes me smile ear to ear, because that night was one of my best 10 nights ever.

Cole and I hunt the same way and in the place every year. We hunt on 12,000 acres by Fish lake that is private. The hunt is from late August to early November, so we have a lot of time together. We are usually the only ones hunting on the property. We ride around in the truck or on the 4 wheeler and road hunt. I am a very paranoid Dad and I am afraid of losing Cole in the mountains, so we never get far enough from the truck or 4 wheeler that we are not able to see it. We stay at the nicest Hotel Richfield UT, I am laughing because its a Days Inn. It has a nice restaurant and Cole orders crab legs each night. Last year I told him that he couldn't order anything that didn't have a price other than Market Price. I explained that was what people ordered when they are celebrating something. He then asked me if he could order crab if we get a deer to celebrate and I agreed.

The picture above is where Cole and I would sit in the afternoon. I am not going to go into the way I ended up with the deer below. Cole wasn't with me so it didn't matter. This is the second year that Cole and I hunted together. This is the second year hunting and the second time I shot a deer when Cole wasn't with me.






This deer wasn't mounted and if anyone would like to come over and touch the antlers you call call me for an appointment ;-) By the way look at me in the above picture, I am so skinny and good looking. Those of you that know what I look like today keep this in mind. This is what happens to a body that is neglected for 5 years. Ooh that just gave me an idea for my next blog. I am going to write about my exercising schedule.

I'm The Family Blogger

Casey asked me to set up his own blog. Oddly enough, he really enjoys blogging and keeping up with our neighbors and family. So, I made this one for him. The reason for the name of it is because I have always thought about that song about the train named Casey Jr. that's "comin down the track, comin down the track". Don't know if anyone else knows it, but it's what I think of. That and Casey up to Bat. Anyway, so here's Casey's blog. I will have to put some good pics up for his profile. FUN!!