Merry Christmas 2015!

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all!

2015 has been full of many fun adventures and some not-so-fun health challenges, but overall it has been a fantastic year!

January began with the unexpected early arrival of my nephew Graham. He had a few challenges that come with an early birth, but he is healthy and has continued to thrive this year.

Baby Graham in his NICU bed

February began with what would become a series of cold viruses and asthma flares throughout the rest of the year. Thankfully I received some expert medical assistance and was able to get just barely well enough to fly with my parents to meet up with some other family members for a weeklong vacation in Florida. (Now that I’ve had this experience twice in my life, the first in 2010, I’m convinced that Florida is the cure for all illnesses and one I would highly recommend!) We started our adventure at Universal Orlando where we enjoyed a full day of the Wonderful Wizarding World of Harry Potter and other attractions. The crowds were minimal so it was a lovely day. While we were at Universal we looked up in the sky in time to see a rocket that had just launched from Cape Canaveral. That was so amazing! The next day we traveled to Ft. Lauderdale where we spent a lazy 5 days on the beach and took one road trip to see alligators from the safety of an airboat. That was so cool!

Hogwarts (Mom, Afton, Bec, Miranda)

Gringotts Wizarding Bank (Afton, Aubrey, Winston)

Miranda helping Winston practice his wanding skills (Bec in the background)

Ft. Lauderdale - Mary photo-bombing my oh-so-gorgeous selfie!

Ft. Lauderdale - Cousins sand-castling (Miranda, Phoebe, Afton, Aubrey, Celia) 

Beach time in Ft. Lauderdale (Aubrey, Piper, Finnegan, Celia, Phoebe)

Alligator!

In March, my sisters (and in-laws), mom, and I enjoyed a two-day retreat in downtown SLC where we enjoyed good food, fun conversations, walks, and lots of time to strengthen our love for each other.

Sisters and babies! (Amanda, Rebecca, Christina, Mary, Erin, Graham, Cohen)

In April I traveled to NYC to support my niece in the Youth America Grand Prix ballet competition and to just enjoy spring in NYC. During my 5-day vacation I was able to visit the 9-11 Memorial and the Natural History museums, attend several ballet concerts at Lincoln Center and 3 other Broadway plays, run all over the upper west side, and explore beautiful Prospect Park in Brooklyn. The morning after I returned from NYC, I ran my first of two races this year, a 5K in support of autism research. Despite my fatigue I actually set a new 5K personal record!

I finally got to see Lincoln Center for the 1st time. A childhood dream come true! 

9-11 Memorial Museum

Prospect Park in Brooklyn

Enjoying Prospect Park with Mary

Run for Autism 5K with the Ashton Family!

In May I began some yard improvements that lasted for the next few months, including planting 4 new trees, adding some accessories to my new pergola, and refurbishing a rock wall. We also had a nice cousin gathering with my Grandma Rasmussen to visit my Grandpa's grave at the Orem Cemetery. This would be our last Memorial Day with Grandma.

Orem Cemetery (Annmarie, Emilia, Grandma, Amanda, Marianna, Ted) 

Orem Cemetery (Rhys, Mom, Marianna, Annmarie, Theo, Ted, Grandma, Curtis, Amanda, Graham)

Orem Cemetery (Grandma, Hugh, Rhys)

In June I traveled with my parents to Las Vegas to see my brother-in-law graduate from Pharmacy School and to help him and my sister pack up to move to Indiana for his residency. Vegas is not my favorite place, but we really enjoyed our time there with everyone. And oh yeah, later in the month I attended my 20th High School Reunion (Go MVHS Bruins!). It was really fun to reconnect with old friends and make some new friends!

Roseman University of Health Sciences Graduation, Las Vegas (Erin, Travis, Cohen)

New hair for high school reunion 

In July, less than a week before my nephew Henry departed for his LDS mission to Calgary, Canada, a group from my family summited Lone Peak. We have been planning this for years, so it was fun to finally do it. It was HARD but so beautiful and so worth it. And nobody died, which was a bonus! J  The negative result of this hike was that after such a long day and an already low immune system I got sick again, which resulted in an asthma flare that was truly epic and lasted for the next few months. (I wrote an earlier blog about this on October 8, so if you are interested you are welcome to read more there.)  We also bid a tearful but happy farewell to Henry as he began his 2 years of missionary service.

Lone Peak summit in background (John, Susannah, Erik, Christina, Mary, Henry)

On top of Lone Peak

With Henry at the Draper LDS Temple

In August I drove to Calgary, Canada with my sister Amanda and her family to visit my sister Rebecca and her family. The only downside to this trip was that my asthma flare took an even worse turn that left me unable to sleep for almost a week and nearly landed me in the hospital. That aside, we enjoyed a wonderful 3 days together exploring Calgary’s Heritage Park Historical Village and the Calgary Zoo, celebrating Rhys' 3rd birthday, taking walks, swimming, watching movies, attending an awesome production of The Mikado, eating, and talking.  We definitely had to go to home too soon.

Trying to not die from asthma in my hotel room in Great Falls, MT

Crossing the border into Canada (Rhys, Hugh, Ellis, Curtis driving) 

Calgary Heritage Park - Kids training for the RCMP Corps (Winston, Aubrey, Hugh, Rhys) 

Calgary - Getting ready to go swimming on Rhys' birthday (Rhys, Susannah looking hot in the cowboy hat)

In September I flew to Austin, Texas to spend a week with my brother Dave and his family. We had a lot of fun hiking on beautiful trails, traveling to San Antonio to see the Alamo (my 1st time!), watching movies and other TV shows, eating amazing food, having great conversations, and watching US Open tennis.  I also returned to DISNEYLAND at the end of the month with my parents and my sister Christina and her husband. It had been 18 months since my last trip there, so I was way overdue. As always, we had such a great time.

New Braunfels, TX

The Alamo!

Disneyland! (Christina, Dad, Susannah)

Disneyland! (Dad, Mom, Susannah, Erik, Christina)

Disneyland! (Dad, Erik, Christina, Mom, Susannah)

October was a quieter month. The biggest adventure was that I saw the original King Kong on a big movie screen for the first time. The other big news was that after a 2-month hiatus because of my asthma I finally got to run again, and it was amazing! I was able to get in about 20 miles each week until the asthma flared up again in December (more later).

King Kong at BYU Motion Picture Archives (Amanda, Ellis, Hugh, Susannah) 

In November I ran my second and last race of the year, which was a Turkey Trot 5K hosted by the Young Women in my LDS ward. I’m pretty much a solo-loner runner, but it was really fun to run with my friends and neighbors, and I either matched my PR from March or possibly set a new PR. Either way, it was a great way to kick off the Thanksgiving holiday. On Thanksgiving we enjoyed a big extended family gathering, and the following day helped my Grandma celebrate her 96^th (and what would be her last) birthday.  My sisters and mom, a few aunts and uncles, and I decorated her living room for Christmas, which has been a tradition for many years.

Enjoying a Sunday visit with Grandma Rasmussen

Grandma Rasmussen on her birthday with Graham

Grandma Rasmussen's 96th birthday

And now December. This month I colored my hair blue, and it is AWESOME.  I got yet another cold virus, which of course flared up my asthma – again, so I’m still dealing with that as of this writing. (I just want to say here that I have the best doctors and nurses who have been so great to always help me through these challenges.) We also had record snowfall that was a pain, but it is still so beautiful outside.  I also returned to DISNEYLAND to spend a day there with one of my dearest childhood friends, Stacia, and her family. It was a quick 35 hour trip, but so worth it and super fun. Finally, the most important news of this month was that my beloved Grandma Rasmussen passed away on December 14, just a few weeks after her birthday. I was able to see her the day before and say my goodbyes. I feel so sad that she is gone, but also so happy for her to be reunited with my Grandpa and her whole family. As my sister said, it’s an emotionally fragile time, but mostly I just feel overwhelmingly grateful that she was such a (nearly daily) presence in my life. I will miss her and all my other grandparents so much, but I also look forward to the day that we can all be together again, which is possible through Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate this season.

Blue hair!

Helping Cohen frost a sugar cookie (he just wanted to eat it, but so did I!) 

The first of 16 inches of snow that would fall at my house in a single day!

Disneyland with Stacia!

Grandma and Grandpa Rasmussen finally together again

And so with that, I want you all to know how grateful I am for your love and friendship. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year in 2016.

Love and Peace,

Susannah