Christmas Greetings 2012!

December 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas!

This has been a year of many adventures, beginning in February with a fun family trip to the San Diego area, where I unfortunately got the worst cold ever but still enjoyed our family time together. In March I gave a presentation at a Utah water users workshop in St. George, and as part of that trip was able to visit with Dad the site of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. After reading Richard Turley’s book on the subject, this visit was stirring and more than a bit haunting, but I'm glad we made time to do this. In July/August I vacationed in NYC after an 11 year absence and had a great time there with friends and family, and I finally fulfilled a decade-long dream of seeing The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess on Broadway (with amazing Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis in the lead roles). It was a stunning show and one I’ll never forget. Finally, my most recent travels took me to Austin, Texas for a fun-filled 6 day visit with Dave and Karin and family during which I relaxed, watched Doctor Who with the kids, went to Karin's Body Pump class, ate great food, and read a 500 page book. It doesn't get much better than that!

This has also been a year of comings and goings in our family with Grandma Thomas passing away in August just days before her 90th birthday followed by Grandpa Thomas almost 3 months to the day after at 96 years old. Eleven days after Grandma died we joyfully welcomed my nephew Rhys Thomas Ashton into the family. These are certainly tender and sad and happy times, but I mostly just feel overwhelmingly grateful for the love we share in our family and among friends.

And now as 2012 draws to a close, I would like to share a video (with lyrics below) featuring David Bowie and Bing Crosby that aired just a few months before Bing died. It includes one of my favorite carols (Little Drummer Boy) and has a beautiful message of peace and hope.


Peace on Earth, can it be 
Years from now, perhaps we'll see 
See the day of glory 
See the day, when men of good will 
Live in peace, live in peace again 

Peace on Earth, can it be 

Every child must be made aware 
Every child must be made to care 
Care enough for his fellow man 
To give all the love that he can 

I pray my wish will come true 
For my child and your child too 
He'll see the day of glory 
See the day when men of good will 
Live in peace, live in peace again 

Peace on Earth, can it be 

Can it be 

I believe it can be, and I am grateful for this season and the time to reflect on and celebrate the founder of peace and good will. I am also so grateful for all of you and wish you all the best in 2013.

Love and Peace,
Susannah

"[I]t was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge."

Scrooge died this week. Ok, he didn’t, but the man who brought Scrooge and A Christmas Carol to life for me had his final curtain call on Monday night. Here is his obituary. He was actually BYU Law Professor Richard Wilkins. I sort of got to know him while I was at BYU Law School, and in fact I was in his class for three days before I decided to drop it (another story for another time), but for many years I only knew him as Ebenezer Scrooge at the Hale Center Theater in Salt Lake City (later in West Valley City). A Christmas Carol has long been one of my most favorite stories in large part because of Prof. Wilkins’s perfect portrayal of Scrooge. (I also grew to love it from many home viewings of the George C. Scott production.)

HCT put on its first Salt Lake City production of A Christmas Carol in 1985 when I was almost 9. It was either that year or shortly thereafter when Prof. Wilkins first invited the Law School faculty and families to see the dress rehearsal. After that first year, I’m not sure exactly how many more years we continued this tradition of seeing the play at a dress rehearsal or in final form, but it was more than a few – it felt like every year! – and I remember being so happy and excited to see it each time. I had known and already liked the story from the George C. Scott movie, but it truly came to life for me in HCT’s small old theater-in-the-round at 28th S./Main St., SLC. Something about that intimacy really drew you into the story. One year I remember we were sitting really close to Scrooge’s bed, and Prof. Wilkins, I mean Scrooge, was right there, feet away from us as if he were talking right to us. It was amazing. I also remember feeling deep disappointment whenever a year would pass without the opportunity to see this play with Prof. Wilkins as Scrooge. The last time we went to the play with the Law faculty was in 1998 when HCT moved to its new West Valley location. Although we didn’t go as a Law School family again after that, I have attended the HCT production on my own several more times, loving it even more each time. I know that the others who play Scrooge are amazing, but there was something that Prof. Wilkins brought to the story and to that role that no one else could do.

Though I didn’t know him well, I am very sad at his passing and will forever be grateful to him for helping me fall in love with one of the greatest stories ever written. RIP

Happy Holidays! 2011

Dear family and friends:

I know this is a day late, but I hope you all had a nice and peaceful Christmas holiday yesterday. And actually, today is the official federal holiday, so maybe I'm just in time. :)

2011 has definitely been an eventful year. One of the most significant events for me was on January 3 when I walked boot free and crutch/scooter free for the first time following my ankle surgeries and rehab that began on November 4. After a few more months of physical therapy, by the end of March I was able to get back to a regular running schedule, and despite another setback that I'm still working through, in August I accomplished my goal to run my first half marathon race, which was an amazing experience after all my hard work this past year. I felt a lot of mixed emotions as I learned to walk and run again, but I mostly just felt a huge sense of gratitude. Not one day has gone by since January 3 that I haven't felt grateful to be able to walk and run--activities that I will never again take for granted.

Another significant event this year was the passing of my dear Grandpa Rasmussen. This was my first grandparent to pass away, so I'm not very experienced at this. It was so hard, but such a wonderful time as our entire immediate family and all but one cousin and 3 in-laws in our extended family were able to reunite and celebrate Grandpa's amazing 95 years. I miss him every day but am confident that we'll all be reunited someday.

The rest of this year has been marked with fun travels with family to Hawaii (first time!) and Disneyland (not the first time, haha), an awesome family reunion that Christina and I planned this year, a job I love with its variety of interesting challenges each day, my continued service as the Relief Society president in my LDS ward, and of course all the many great times I've spent with my wonderful friends and family.

And so, while 2011 has been a year of sorrows and joys, a bit of tragedy and lots of triumphs, one of the greatest lessons I've learned is that, as "Tiny Tim" sings in the Muppet Christmas Carol, "Life is full of sweet surprises/Everyday's a gift." I wish you all a wonderful 2012 and hope it is full of sweet surprises for all of you.

love and peace,

Susannah


Below are a few highlights of events of this past year:

On our beach at Makena Surf, Maui (still wearing ankle braces):

One of my best pics of the humpback whales from our beach:

Our last sunset from our lanai before heading home:

Disneyland (Hollywood Tower of Terror--our family is in the entire middle row and front left row--and Mickey's Fun Wheel):

My beloved Hawthorne in my backyard finally split in Nov. 2010, so out with the old...

...and in with the new. Crabapple that dad helped me plant this Summer:

Provo Freedom Run 5K, Provo Pioneer Day Classic 10K, and Provo Canyon Half Marathon:

Hike to Timp saddle in September:

A prank from some loving neighbors during rivalry week :)

Slate Canyon to Slide Canyon August 28, 2010

Last August (2010) Christina planned a hike from Slate to Slide Canyons. We'd done the other loop from Slide to Rock Canyon and vice versa several times, and we'd been up Slate quite a bit, but never the loop to the other Canyons, so this would be a new experience. The 3 of us on this hike were Christina, her friend Mike, and me. We parked cars at both canyons so that we could do a shuttle. (Slide Canyon parking is the trailhead to the Y.) The total mileage for our hike was 6.8 miles. (There is an option to walk 1.6 miles of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail back to Slate Canyon if you don't want to or can't park cars at both locations, which would make this an 8.4 mile hike.) The hike also has a 3000+ foot gain and then drop in elevation. With our 6.8 miles and that kind of elevation gain, that's pretty dang steep! No matter how you figure it, it's close to 1000 feet per mile both up and down. But was it worth it? YES! Enjoy the pictures below. (As always, I've included links in album and slideshow formats.)

Slate Canyon to Slide Canyon

Catherine Pass August 21, 2010

Last Summer Christina orchestrated a hike from the Albion Basin at Alta over Catherine Pass to the main Brighton parking lot. Our small group included her, mom, dad, and me. We were also very happy to have Mignon and Gary join us. It was a beautiful hike at a beautiful time of year. Below are links to the pictures both in album and slide show formats. Enjoy, and if you ever get a chance, make sure to get yourself up there sometime!

Catherine Pass (Alta to Brighton)

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Ever since Grandpa passed away, I’ve been enjoying reliving so many memories of him. During the following couple of weeks after he died, it seemed like each day I came up with 100 more. I’ve been wanting to write this post for some time, but it’s been hard to make myself do so. I guess I just haven’t felt quite ready to accept that Grandpa is gone (for now), and maybe writing this forces me to accept that reality. But, today is Grandpa’s 96th birthday, and it feels like a perfect time to write this post and pay tribute to him by sharing just a few of the many hundreds of memories that have been floating in my head for the past few months. As a preface to this blog post, I refer you to Erin’s and Jill’s blog posts about Grandpa, which were so amazing to read, along with my earlier posts called On Death (Tues, June 16, 2009) and Sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa’s House! (Mon, Aug 24, 2009).

When I think of Grandpa, one of the first images that comes to mind is Grandpa ice-skating. He often spoke of his love of ice-skating on Redmond Lake. I’ve visited Redmond Lake several times, and I can remember standing by the lake on a late warm summer’s day, imagining teen-age Grandpa ice-skating like a pro. Fortunately, I also got to see this pro-skating first hand at the cabin many times. This picture was taken in December 1987 at the cabin when he was 72. To this day, I can still see Grandpa gracefully gliding along the pond and canal, doing turns, and then coming to a perfect skidding stop. It was so awesome! After Grandpa stopped skating, there were many times when I would be on the pond and canal almost aching for those old days when he would come skate with us, but also feeling so grateful for the memories of those days. I can only hope that I’ll still be skating well into my 80s some day.

Another fun memory I have of Grandpa was in late June 1992, the week of John’s farewell and possibly even the night before. We were all out on our back patio on a beautiful summer’s night. At some point in the evening, someone brought out our old-school jumprope, and we started taking turns jumping. I don't know if the grandparents were already there or had just arrived as we were jumproping, but Grandpa decided he wanted to join in the fun, so at nearly 77 years old, Grandpa jumped right in and didn’t miss a beat! I'm so glad that dad captured this moment. I don’t think I have laughed so much. It was amazing!

In December 2001, Libby Aagard’s mother, Ruth Enke, passed away. Shortly before she died, the Aagards called Grandpa to come give her a blessing to release her from this life. He was also asked to speak at her funeral. A few days before her funeral, I went over to visit the grandparents. Grandpa was in his study working on his talk and so we started talking about our philosophies of death. Sort of a weird subject to be discussing with someone who was within less than 10 years of dying, but the weirdness quickly passed, and it became kind of a spiritual experience. Grandpa told me about his experience with Ruth during those last few hours. He said that she started having a lot of serious questions about life after death and whether she really believed everything she was taught. Before he gave her the blessing, in response to her growing fears about dying, Grandpa shared with her these beautiful and unforgettable words: “I think death is a sweet experience of exploration and new discovery.” After he told me that, I just stared into his eyes, tearing up wondering what I did right to deserve such an amazing grandfather. He had no idea what a gift he gave me by sharing that experience, but now, anytime I feel sad about him or anyone dying, I repeat to myself those comforting words.

In May 2006, I had a laparascopic surgery, which, by today’s standards, was pretty much a run-of-the-mill surgery. I was mostly just really tired and in some pain as my body was trying to get rid of the carbon dioxide gas that was necessary for the doctors to perform this procedure. The pain from the gas mostly affects your shoulder and upper back area and can be as painful as any disc flare-up you’ve ever had. It comes and goes, but when it’s there, it’s kind of excruciating. Following the surgery, mom took me down to Orem to spend a few nights there. Once we got home, I was feeling well enough for a few minutes to walk around. I remember standing in front of the grandparents’ house talking to them along with mom and Pat Shaw. The gas pains started up again, so I announced that I needed to go lie down. Grandpa insisted that I come rest in their house and escorted me to his special chair. He asked if I would like something to drink. I told him that the doctors recommended that I drink soda to help the gas get out of my system, so Grandpa promptly disappeared for awhile. I had no idea what he was doing, but at this point, all I cared about was trying to find some comfortable position while the gas pains were moving around my upper back. Maybe 15 minutes later, Grandpa re-appeared with a tray in hand, two different soda cans opened, each with straws prepared for my sipping. I realized then that he had been down in the basement carefully and thoughtfully preparing these sodas, not sure of which I would prefer, so he brought them both. He made sure that the tray was set where I could reach it, and then he quietly exited the room, leaving me for a few hours while I got some much needed rest. At 90 years old, he was starting to get used to everyone doing everything for him and telling him to not do this or that, but this time he got to be the one doing something for someone else, and for his 29 year old granddaughter, no less! You could just see the joy and delight and excitement in his face as he waited on me that afternoon. Selfless to the end.

The last memory I want to share was from sometime in the last couple of years. Grandpa’s memory was at the stage where names no longer stuck with him and he began to need reminders of who his own family was. By this time, I was kind of used to him not remembering my name, but for him to need reminders that I was his granddaughter was a new thing and it definitely upset me a bit. So on this one particular Friday night (maybe in 2009?), I slept over at the grandparents’ house. I was planning to make an early escape Saturday morning, but you know, the best laid plans.... So I ended up sleeping in and joining Grandma and Grandpa for breakfast. While Grandma was preparing oatmeal and toast, Grandpa and I sat by the island talking. I was pretty sure that Grandpa knew I was someone in the family, but I wasn’t so sure he knew exactly what our relationship was. Grandma may have told him who I was sometime that morning, but not while I was present. Grandma finished breakfast and then asked Grandpa to bless the food. During his prayer, he said the usual things about gratitude for the beautiful day, for the gospel, for the food, and then he said, “And we’re grateful that our granddaughter could be with us today.” I somehow managed to not start sobbing right then and there, but I couldn't control the tears. Thank goodness his prayer went on a bit longer so that I could collect myself before everyone opened their eyes again. Even as I’m writing this I’m sitting here crying all over again. That may have been the last time he really consciously knew who I was. I’m so grateful for that memory, and probably hold on to that one more than any other.

Grandpa, I love you and miss you. I’m so grateful that circumstances made it possible for you to be a part of almost every day of my life. I hope you are having a happy birthday today with your mama and other family members. Maybe they'll even be up for singing you the long song! :)

Much love til we meet again,
Susannah

Mesa Verde July 17, 2010

Still continuing my goal of catching up on photos from last year! :)

On their way back to Texas after Pear and Travis' wedding, D&K and kids wanted to stop by Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon. Mom and Dad and I decided to join them for the Mesa Verde part of the trip. This was my first time back to the park in 26 years, and it was as fun as ever! Below are links to the pics in album and slideshow formats.

Mesa Verde