Rasmania 102

Christmas is about celebrating the birth of our Savior, but it's also about spending time with those you love, making memories, and strengthening relationships.  We did a lot of that type of celebrating this week. It looks like Avie was excited to make this cute Christmas Ornament.   I've had a few similar ornaments on my tree over the last 40 years. This week we were rewarded with opportunities to see some of our grandchildren's accomplishments.  Oli and Gunnar had a piano recital and they both did a great job.  Adrienne played a duet with each of them.  She said that Finn wants to take piano, now that he's seen his brother's come home with prizes from their group lessons. Ila gave me about two minutes of attention. This was their group.  Each child played two pieces--most had a duet with a family member.  It took about 25 minutes. On the other hand, this was the group that Dan's kids performed with: This recital was an hour and 15 minutes. ...

  Not the best Sunday for this poor little guy.  Ollie's croup got so bad that he ended up at Primary Children's Hospital.  Thankfully they were able to make him comfortable, and he's being monitored.  We hope he'll return home tonight.  (Ollie did return home Sunday evening and was able to sleep well after being awake for 36 hours.  To have a 9 year-old struggle with croup like this is very rare.) Our sacrament meeting was quiet this week since the Dan Rasband family are enjoying their time in Hawaii.  Usually Yuna scoots over to sit as close to grandpa and me as she can.  Dojin is indifferent towards us, except when he wants a treat out of my bag or something to color on.  Jennie and Jordan were lucky because they were invited to share the condo in exchange for a little help with the kids.   Dan and Jieun; Jordan and Jennie--time for a vacation! Jordan and Yuli Apparently, Yuli didn't like the beach very well.  But as you can...

It has been a fairly uneventful week, which has been nice as we are entering into one of the busiest months of the year.  Christmas is such an exciting time, especially for the kids.  Phil said in his letter that Thanksgiving is his favorite holiday because he gets to spend the holiday with his family and it's not as expensive as Christmas.  I have to agree, except that Easter is my favorite holiday.  At Easter, we can gather as a family and center our thoughts on the Savior without all of the commercial distraction.  Plus, it's a great reminder that we can be with our family forever.  However, Christmas is still wonderful, and we can make it even better by making an effort to remember our Savior.  His birth and life, and especially the infinite gift of His divine sacrifice.  One way to do that is to find ways to give of ourselves. Luckily there are many opportunities and we don't even have to get very creative.  Our ward is doing several dif...