Happy Birthday, Jesus

I love Christmas. I love the cookies, the food, the family, the Christmas tree, the music, the presents... It's great. And it's even better experiencing it with my children.

We kicked off the Christmas season by making spritz cookies (can you tell I had help with the sprinkles?)

and then decorating the tree.

Craig raised the star over his head and said he was the tree.

In spite of the fact that I can't get a decent picture of all three kiddos,

They loved having the Christmas tree up,

and I frequently caught them rearranging ornaments or just sitting in awe.

Um, adorable!
We had some other decorations they enjoyed playing with, too.

At least stegosaurus is a herbivore...

Craig and Calista were in the same concert this year,

And both did fantastic.

Oh, kindergartners...
Cooperating for a little pose for me, post-concert.

Well, mostly cooperating.

We are still exploring Edmonton a bit, and decided to try our Candy Cane Lane this year. 

The kiddos walked (or strollered) the whole route.

It was a pretty mild evening, so nobody complained too much about the cold - thank goodness!

It was beautiful and fun. I think we'll try and go again next year.

We'll see if it's warm enough to walk again, or if we decide to drive it...


As always, kiddos had fancy clothes to wear to church before Christmas.

Craig insisted on the hat himself.

Caleb wasn't sure he wanted to sit still to pose.

And this beautiful girl...

All she wants for Christmas is her two front teeth!

I love my little family!


Going to Raymond for Christmas meant lots of time with the big family.

Obviously. It's like, the whole point.

Caleb got lots of snuggly attention.

Aunts are pretty great, right?

Raymond also meant the annual Rasmussen Family Show-thing. Hmm. I should work on the name.

Calista practiced "Silent Night" for months in preparation. It was her first time performing on the piano, ever.

She was incredibly nervous, but did fantastic.

I was so proud of her (and Kyler).


And of course, there was Christmas.

Kiddos all loved their presents.

I mean, in case the dancing wasn't a big enough clue.

Particularly popular were books.

For Calista, this one in particular. The Ultimate Ocean-pedia. It's what she asked Santa for, and the Big Man delivered.

So did The Anna Maund, sending some present money that resulted in hours of Lego fun.
Caleb's favorite present might have been Calista's doll box.

He is not a toy, a promise.


Merry Christmas, and

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Trick, treat, or roar!

Yup, it was Halloween in the Rasmussen household.

We started our celebrations by doing some painting! Craig painted a pumpkin mask,

Calista did a skull, and Caleb napped.

Pretty awesome work, right?

Such good use of color!


And, of course, we had to do some carving, too.

This year, we have a gourd decorated with stickers,

a watermelon Calista carved the face of by herself,

Tasty watermelon!

and a bell pepper, because Craig asked to make a Halloween pumpkin out of one.

Weirdos, all of them.

Spooky!

Craig's pepper got a little singed when we lit them, ha.


And of course, there were costumes.
All three kiddos!

The black cat, dinosaur, and, um, fish monster? I think Craig said Caleb is an ichthyosaurus. Caleb just wanted to roar.


Yeah, Calista is a dinosaur, still sticking to that list she made the August she was 4.

Makes it easy to plan ahead, I suppose. 

I didn't realize dinosaurs could climb monkey bars...

Apparently this one can.

Craig came back to his original idea last year, and was a black cat.

He was most excited to have whiskers drawn on his face.

My black cat! Mee-ow!

Cats can climb monkey bars, too.

And, youngest sibling gets another hand-me-down.

This has been a fish, a Big Blue Monster, and now an ichthyosaurus.

Aww, that smile melts my heart!

Caleb liked the big eyes on his costume the most. Probably because they match his!

We had a very successful Halloween. Caleb said "trick or treat!" and "thank you" so well, and walked on his own. Craig loved it and then happily decided he was done when his bucket was full, heading home well before bed time. Calista wanted to keep going to another house or two, and then also willingly went home to check her spoils. 

We tricked. We treated. A good time was had by all.