Rasmania 101: IT"S A BOY!!!

I was (sort of) awakened by a worrying text Monday morning. It was from Dan and it said, "We're going to be poor." I quickly texted back and asked, "Why, what's wrong?" He said, "Nothing's wrong, ask dad." I hurried outside--Roy was taking the garbage out. I told him what the text said, and he said, "Oh--that means it's a boy! Knowing that Jieun was going to find out the sex of the baby on Monday morning, they devised a code. "We're going to be poor meant that Roy was right and Jieun and Dan would owe us dinner. Of course, if it had been a girl, then Roy would have had to buy them dinner. Knowing Roy, he'll treat them to dinner just for giving us a grandson with the "Rasband" name. We are excited by the news. It will be fun to see what a boy in their family will look like!

I was able to drive up to Logan during the week, to see Crista and attend a wedding reception for my cousin's daughter. I had met her at the Alonzo Laker Cook Reunion that Nan had put together and had a nice talk with her. Roy said, "When we come to your wedding reception my wife will bring you something cool that she made." Which meant that I felt a little obligated to embroider towels and drive up to Logan to deliver them. It was great, though. I love visiting with Crista and Matt, so the drive was worth it--and at the reception, along with Geoff and Peggy and the bride and groom, I was able to see Randy, Roger and Vivian Smith and their spouses and some of their children; and also Bob Cook. He came over and said, "I saw that Nan was here and I wanted to make sure that I visited with her, so I had Roger help me find you." I said, "That's great but I'm not Nan." Of course, I told him who I was and that Nan is LOTS older than me :) I guess Nan and I do look a little alike.

Another fun event of the week was Cameron Cook's wedding. He married Colette Nebukker on Friday, August 26. The prior evening we went to the Cook home for a barbecue dinner and a fun program. We sat down and were soon joined by the bride and groom, the father of the bride and his brother, as well as his mother and her partner. It was fun to talk to all of them and get a glimpse of what her family is like. Phil's backyard was beautiful, the weather was perfect, and I was able to visit with all of my siblings except Glenn, who fortunately showed up the next night at the reception with Rosilene, and Josh and his family, whom I hadn't seen since my father's funeral; and Emily and Ila, too. They had spent the week at Aspen Grove with their entire family. Jed did not come to the reception as some of his kids were sick.
The consensus in our car on the way home was that it was one of the funnest receptions we've been to--dampened only by the news that my dear brother Glenn has been diagnosed with prostrate cancer. He said that he is planning on getting a second opinion and looking at possible treatment options. Please put him in your prayers.

At the wedding:

Finn and Doyeon

Doyeon and Gunnar

Ollie

Catharine, Adrienne, Christy

AJ, Adrienne, Crista, Matt and Ruby (Ruby loved
the dancing!)

Gunnar and AJ dancing, with Crista and Ruby
in the background

Ruby

Adrienne with Finn and Gunnar, Ollie, Ruby and Yuna

Yuna and Jieun

Saturday morning Roy and Matt were able to put in 20 miles on their bikes. I'm glad Roy has a biking partner once in a while as it's definitely not my thing. When they returned, Crista, Matt, Ruby and I headed downtown for lunch with Nan, Christine, Carol and Norman Wright and Alice (I just realized I don't know her last name, but her maiden name is Cook, of course.). It's amazing the connection that you have with people just because they're family. I can probably count the number of times I've seen these cousins on one hand. Alice even less than Carol, but we had a wonderful visit and you could feel the love that is automatic when you share the same grandparents. We talked of ward callings, genealogy, knitting, quilting, and many other subjects. We visited for about 2 1/2 hours. Crista and Matt visited with us for maybe half that time and then took Ruby out to play on Temple Square. We all had a very pleasant afternoon.

Saturday evening found us magnifying Roy's calling. We served at the Young Single Adults Stake Barbecue. It is fun to "mingle with the singles". Even more fun was running into Steve and Marydel Kimitstch (spelling?) They had both gone to High School with me and had been High School sweethearts since the end of their junior year. We had a great time catching up and talking about all our mutual acquaintances. Steve is in the High Council with Roy.

It's Sunday morning and I am writing this letter. Roy is in his ward giving talk #1, and later this morning he'll give talk #2 in our ward. I'm not sure where he found the time to prepare his talks, it's been such a busy week--I do know that last night while I was visiting with Marydel, he snuck off to the church building and found a quiet room to work for a little while on them.

For a fitting end to the week, all our family except Elise, Andy and her boys, came over--some for dinner and some just to visit. I know some of you have Sunday night pictures, too--so send them on and I'll add them to this letter. Below the cousins are getting to know Effie. It's the first time most of them have seen her.