Rasmania 101: Elise's Memories of our family and pictures of Mav, Max and Andy

I received Elise's memories of our family. Now I've had three of my children respond (Crista, Adrienne and Elise). I am putting Elise's memories in its own post.

Memories:
As I read Crista's memories, it triggered many memories of each sibling, so I think I'll copy her method, if that's okay. But this edition I'm focusing on spiritual experiences related to each individual. I will do a more fun memory one later.
Dad: as I was preparing for my mission I was terrified, but dad always gave me the courage to do what I knew the lord wanted me to do. He never pressured me about it, but after I had come to the decision on my own, he said, "I knew you'd serve a mission."
"I wish you would've told me that before I went through all of the stress of deciding."
"If I had, you may not have realized it's what you wanted and maybe it would've kept you from doing what you were supposed to do." Dad knew me well. Though by my college years I had matured.... a bit... I was still a stubborn (did I say was?) soul.

Mom: I look at mom as a well of knowledge. Isn't that a beautiful thing? That a woman who dedicated her best years to raising 8 crazy kids is known for her intelligence? Yes, she is definitely known for her spaciness (and side note to Crista's comment, we were talking about someone's talk from sacrament meeting who said they'd take their leftovers from dinner or hotel soaps and shampoos and give them to the homeless and mom, who was in some other realm, blurted out, "that's not true!!" She was very passionate about it which was weird to the rest of us (because we're thinking, how would she know if this man delivered stuff to the homeless or not?) but then later explained she thought we were talking about some creepy urban myth. Not sure where the disconnect was.) anyway I'm surprised Crista didn't say she remembered me for my tangents.
So mom's intelligence excels when it comes to the gospel. I definitely grew in my desire to be studious of the scriptures because of listening to what mom knows and watching her take the time and effort for her daily scripture study.

Nik: I always looked up to Nik and Dan growing up both spiritually and otherwise.
When I was in college I had a huge naive crush on this roommate (don't even remember his name) and Nik kept telling me to drop it. At first I thought it was because he was embarrassed by me, but then later discovered it was because he didn't think that guy was good enough for me. I also remember the summer I turned 20, Nik was in California doing pest control and he told me, "ya know if you met The right person I could see you getting married." Not sure exactly what he meant by that but it meant a lot to me. I felt like it was his way of saying, you're mature enough. Though I'm sure I wasn't.

Sara: she has been such a wonderful addition to our family. She has been a great example to me of being nonjudgmental and accepting while still standing up for what you believe in.

Dan: during my college years he was my rock. They were some of my best yet, but amongst crazy roommates, lame boys, and especially learning Italian, he helped me with advice, letting me vent, and tutoring me.

Jieun: I have had many wonderful spiritual conversations with Jieun on walks when I come visit Utah, I really wish I could get that in Houston.

Adrienne. I think overall the gift of forgiveness comes to mind. Not me to her though if I ever was upset with her I am not any more, but her forgiveness of me. Though I'm sure a lot of our fights were mutual and sometimes got physical it was my harsh words that still linger with me. I have been trying to tame my tongue since adulthood and I'm grateful for those who forgave me for my words in my adolescence (namely mom, probably dad, Adrienne and Crista.) I hope that if I ever do offend someone that they'll come to me. Because I love y'all so much I would never do something to intentionally hurt you. So if I have, please let me make it right.

AJ. Well since he stole my sister from me while I was on a mission I don't have much else to say. Just kidding. I admire AJ's calm nature and he always seems to know how to break the tension if there is any he is such a great addition to the family.

Crista: adorable Crista. She has always been Adrienne and my guinea pig. Lol. We would play school with her when she was like 3 or 4 and she figured out how to memorize multiplication tables before she even went to kindergarten. She's always been destined for greatness. (Well what Rasband hasn't?). She has always been our peacemaker and many times she helped me calm down and allowed me to vent when I was a hormonal teenager. She was my best friend for many years and helped me get though some tough times.

Matt. Well let's just say he ain't no door mat. Lol. What joy he has brought to our comedic bunch. We love you Matt.

Jennie jennie jennie. You have always been so unique but what I love about you the most is your ability to see past people's shells and love their spirits. I remember going to a play in Cedar City with you and you sat next to a cute girl about your age. While I would've been pretty shy, by the end of the show you two seemed like best friends.

Cait de bait!
You are our angelic caboose. I am still impressed that though you have a sassy side to you, you seem to have deliberately avoided caving into the teenage drama. I am so impressed with the woman you are becoming. What a gift it was to see you born. While Adrienne was right, at the immediate time of birth you resembled an alien, it didn't matter because that moment was so beautiful. The veil of heaven was so thin and you were so precious. I had almost forgot how worried we were because they found fluid in your lungs, but also I was so relieved when shortly after they concluded it was nothing dangerous. You are such a blessing to those around you.

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As I was rocking Maverick to sleep tonight, a memory came to my mind and maybe it was not exactly this way because it was so long ago, but I think I remember you moving me into Thomas' room because of my heart surgery so that you could hear me and him on the baby monitor. I remember the pink curtains and white bed frame and pink covers. I remember calming him down in the night once when he woke up upset. I think I remember me waking up in pain from the surgery and dad coming in to help me. These memories are so faded. I wish I could see them more vividly because I feel like tending to my brother's needs would be a very sacred moment now, knowing that I lost him soon after that. I have other memories too, during that age. I remember playing ring around the Rosie a million times with Thomas, it was his favorite. But I remember one particular afternoon we were on the driveway waiting for dad to come home and we were playing Ring around the Rosie. Every few minutes he'd pull away to point out a plane. When Max started pointing out planes, it made me smile. It was such a fun experience with Tom. I remember going to dad's airport to watch him practice flying (and seeing scantily clad women on calendars in the waiting room which had holey furniture and smelt of oldness, dust and petrol). I remember the drive to the airport, passing deep green pastures and lots of horses. No wonder Thomas loved planes so much. It must've been pretty neat to see dad fly when I was that age.
I remember Nick and Dan locking me up in who knows what kind of places. From Velvet's (our rabbit's) cage to the playroom/train/rock room closet, to rolling me up in their blankets and tossing me around. I remember Christmas eves, so excited I couldn't sleep. The first year I knew Santa wasn't real (I think I was 7) I lay in bed trying to pretend I knew he was real I thought somehow that would still get me presents (I guess I had to believe to a certain extent if I still thought that). I remember in the Derby Ct. house we'd sleep as long as we could (till like 2 or 3) and sneak into Nick and Dan's room and play Nintendo. Although, I'm pretty sure they played and I watched). I also remember having to wake Nick up for high school every morning and one morning he had locked his door in his sleep and I was banging and banging on it to wake him up.
I was also thinking about the haircuts that my younger sisters all got. I am pretty sure all of them got caught with scissors and as consequence ended up with boy haircuts after that. I'm not sure if those haircuts started Adrienne's pilot bob but I adored that hair. I also remember being so upset when she got a perm. I couldn't believe she stole the one thing that was uniquely mine. Lol. Now I think all of the arguments we had growing up were so comical. I'm so glad we're close now.

[I told Elise that I didn't remember a lot of the above. I'm pretty sure that Jennie was the only one that cut her hair enough to warrant a boy's haircut, though Adrienne probably cut her own hair, too. I was sitting in church one day playing with Crista's hair (she was lying in my lap) and a big clump of hair came out. I found it that while Nick was tending, she got gum in her hair and he didn't know what to do, so he'd cut it out. I certainly was unaware of the boys locking up Elise in various places.]