RIP

Paul Koster
10/31/1978 - 3/9/2007
Wonderful friend to many and incredible father to Isabelle (Izzy) Koster.

Wow, we're at a loss what to say. We've just found out 3 hours ago of his death. Paul and Sonny grew up together at SDSD and have remained fast friends along with several other friends. He was in our wedding as one of the groomsmen. He has a lovely daughter, Isabella (3 in May). he has a wonderful family that we all feel part of. We love his parents and his sisters plus their family. We've joined them occasionally for dinner and they're fabulous. We're praying for them through this incredibly difficult time and hope you all will too. They need all the support they can get, especially Izzy.

Here is a link to an article about the incident. http://www.mankatofreepress.com/local/local_story_069235939.html

Here's some photos of our beloved friend.



Sonny and Paul at our wedding, July 28, 2001




Paul & his wife and us at Mt. Rushmore during Sturgis bikers week August 2006.




Paul having a blast riding a little motorized cooler at a booth at Sturgis.

This 'n' That

RIP
TIGER
10-01-1999
02-05-2007



This is Tiger when he was a kitten, wasn't he a cutie?


Tiger liked to do weird things like this one, I was bathing Ash and he decided that my back would be a comfortable spot for him to settle.


Tiger liked Ashton and was good with him. When we took walks, Tiger would walk with us outside. Even when we were walking the dog, Tiger would go with us. He was a cool cat.


I took a photo of him mid-leap.


We saw Tiger being born on October 1, 1999. it was a cold and snowy night and Sonny decided to let his mom in the house he was staying at temporarily. HIs mom decided to give birth so we witnessed the event. The first few weeks was touch and go because the kittens seemed to be sickly. Maybe two died, Tiger came down with some kind of respiratory infection and he was about to die and we took him to the vet. The vet saved him. We brought him back to the farm. He still carries some type of illness from almost dying as a kitten. The first year or two, he kept sneezing all the time and you wouldn't believe how much came out of his nose. Eventually that went away but he retained a cloudy eye.

Tiger decided to hitch a ride with our former teacher to SDSD. LaDonna lived on a farm near Brookings which is almost a hour drive from Sioux Falls. It was incredibly cold that morning and Tiger climed inside the engine. He ended up sitting in the engine for 1 hour in subzero weather. A teacher walking in the parking lot heard the kitten and brought him in the building to laDonna. LaDonna would not believe that it was one of her farm cat until I saw Tiger and I recognized him right away. Sonny and I decided to take him home with us that day. He kept appearing in our life and eventually in our hearts. He does have some side effects from the death-defying ride in the truck. His right leg would shake as he sits. He was in the same position without moving for a hour.

He has long since have done many things to run out of his 9 lives. He is declawed and hunts baby rabbits. Yes, he does hunt... clawless. He has come home with live animals, sometimes dead animals as a present to us. He has come home with injuries and multiude of other problems. We found out he's allergic to almost everything and we figured out, he just may be allergic to other animals. Unfortuately, we had him put to sleep due to many reasons but in our hearts, it was the right thing to do. He's in his cat heaven with his claws back and tons of things to hunt. He was happiest outside but also happy inside with us. His home is with us and never ran away, no matter how many time we moved.


Unfortunate Events

Sonny agreed to pet-sit his friend's hamster and hermit crab for about 3 weeks. We put the cages in the empty bedroom to keep them away from two menaces: Tiger and Ashton. Tiger sat outside the bedroom door for a full day, hulking...

I have to admit, both animals aren't my favorite pet on the list. Hamsters - ugh. I have many things to say about hamsters but I know some of my friends love hamsters and have history with their own hamsters. Hermit crab is a totally another story, they remind me of spiders. In fact, off New Jersey shores, a particular kind of crabs come up at tide and mate or something like that. The name escapes me but those crabs are either direct descendants of spiders or are actually spiders. That just gives me the creeps.

Anyhoo, one bright Sunday morning, Sonny got up for the morning and went to Ashton's bedroom. He found a empty crib. He started to panic. Checked under the crib, in closet, etc - no Ash. He ran through the house, still no Ash. He decided to check the bedrooms. No Ash in basement bedroom or bathroom. Sonny thought Ash was kidnapped right from under our noses. He ran upstairs, dreading the worst, checked the 3rd bedroom and he found this:





He shook me awake and I got up all dizzy and confused. My eyes were blurry because I was wearing contacts. I kept asking him what happened and he babbled. I'm like, I gotta fix my eyes and you calm down and tell me the whole story. Once my eyes were clear, he explained this:

He found Ashton in the 3rd bedroom in the middle of a huge mess. He climed out of his crib and either opened the door himself or the door was already open and he went in the 3rd bedroom where we kept the animals. He proceeded to rip apart the cages so he can play with the animals. There was no hamster and crab to be found. Tiger was sitting in the corner looking very self-satisfied. Tiger and Ash was shut in the bedroom with the two animals for who knows how long and anything could have happened. We imagined the worst. I wondered if I would find a little bloody hamster body with it's head ripped off. That's Tiger's trademark.

We asked Ash, "where's the mouse', he pointed to the closet and we had to tear out the entire closet and found the little hamster alive and well shivering in the corner.

We asked Ash, 'where's the crab.' He pointed to the closet again, there was no crab at all. The crab was in a bright yellow shell that isn't that hard to miss. We thought maybe Ash put the crab in one of the boxes so we had to go through the boxes. Still no crab. We asked Ash again and again, where's the crab. Sonny says that he ran through the house and saw no yellow shell at all. Ash eventually pointed to the bathroom. We looked at eachother and thought the same thing, 'The toliet?" - we looked, still no crab but it could have been flushed.

I ran downstairs to get cleaning supplies and out of corner of my eye, I spied a yellow shell. I got the shell and checked, the crab is still there alive and well. I'm guessing that the crab was probably under the couch hiding out from the two menaces and realized that we were out and about and decided to come out and make himself visible.

We assembled the cages back together, cleaned up everything and put the animals back to their respective cages. We put child-proof handles on the doorknobs the same day. Whew.

Here's a photo of Ash all conked out. He was THAT tired and just laid there like a dead body. I even went over to check if he was actually breathing.


Previously, Ash figured out how to get out of his crib, we thought it was time to try a regular bed for him. He did successfully so we went to the store and ordered rails to convert his crib into a bed. Ash is our little handyman and likes to help his dad do stuff like this.




Here's the finished result!


I know that was really long and I have lots more to say but I'll let you guys go and hope you enjoyed my stories. :)

Slinking back to Blogger...

Yes, I'm back at Blogger. it's easier than uploading via iWeb. The benefits to iWeb, I can upload a lot more photos but takes longer. Whatever.

Well, I know you all want to see whats up with Ashton so here it is!

Again, I'm so sorry for not updating my website. I don't know what's wrong with me! To make up for this, here's a couple of my favorites from the past few months. :) Ash is doing wonderfully and he's talking a lot. He also signs a lot so that helps make communication a lot better. He is constantly on the go and is everywhere. I'm considering signing him up for gymnastics for tumbling class just so he can climb. We've been house-bound for a while and that has been a bit difficult since he wants to go outside and play. It's hard if the weather is really cold and he can't be out for more than 15 minutes.

This is at Halloween, we carved two pumpkins. Ash enjoyed spooning out the pumpkins.












Sonny & Ash showing off their creation!



















This is my favorite. I have it set as a desktop on my computer. When I can, I'll have it printed out on canvas. I love this in black/white with his surfer hair and Tiger.


















Sonny & Ash hamming it up for the camera. :)



















This is another of my favorite. This is still when we haven't cut his hair.


















Ash and his uncle. He likes to pick on Alex to play with his cell phone. We're at our grandparents for a nice visit.













Ash and his great-grandma, Evelyn. He likes playing with her cane. He thinks it's a fascinating toy!







Ash and his great-grandpa, Danny at christmastime.








We bought new sheets and blanket for our bed. Ash really likes it, hence, he's sleeping there! Right now he's sleeping in a mattress on the floor. He's finally out of his crib! A huge milestone to celebrate!














Ash and his mom on a quiet morning.














We made homemade play dough and Ash LOVES to play with it. He's always asking to play with it to the point we have to hide it! he's slowly learning his colors via playdoh and learned how to sign Tree, bird, etc from the cutters.


I have more photos coming later but I will send a e-mail update when I do get around to posting more photos!

Hey,

I've given Blogger the boot - go on over to www.rasmussenclan.com our new and improved website.

Ciao!
Angela

Cat gets trial, gets off with a hand slapping from Judge!

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/20/lewis.lives.ap/index.html

I think this is hilarious and ridiculous at the same time. I know one cat who lives for the pleasure of attacking people and Sam never went to court for this. I remember that Sam's owner, Jenna, told me that once, someone came in the house, I'm not sure for what and Sam jumped on his back and held on for dear life while the person jumped around trying to get him off and Jenna trying to get the deranged cat off. I loved that cat, that cat had personality!

Sam has attacked other people before, especially my dear friend, Katie. She was hicupping and holding 3 DVDs getting ready to go. We were all making fun of her to get her to stop hiccupping. I told her to watch me as I counted off to 3. At between 2 and 3, Sam jumped on her and grabbed her stomach with his claws. Katie flinged the DVDs and collasped off to the floor and Sam shot off with Megan chasing after him. We couldn't stop laughing and found that Katie stopped hicupping. Katie still has a reminder of Sam on her stomach.

Ah, the good ole' days!

Here's some more photos. Ashton and Amber is doing fabulously. Ashton treats Amber really well, no pulling or grabbing, that kind of stuff. In fact, Ashton doesn't really acknowledge Amber. Amber on the other hand, she likes to chase Ashton and jump at him. I'll have to nip that in the bud right away. Amber is still calm as ever, exactly like I asked for! Amber has this irriating habit or not wanting to go to bathroom on the dirt outside, she prefers the grass and has resorted to going on the rock landscaping. I can't wait for sod.

They finally installed sprinklers but we can't install fence until they add sod and I don't know when they'll be able to add sod. I'm so fustrated because Amber and Ash likes to run around. Amber is really good about staying with us. I mean, REALLY good, staying with us! Sonny and I were digging holes and implanting trees, Amber did not wander off once! Now, Ashton, he's whole another thing, he has to run toward the road or toward the construction site. I can't wait for fence so I don't have to worry about him getting himself into situations that he should not be in the first place.

I'm still struggling with housebreaking Amber. With my old dog, Paris, she got 100% attention from me but Amber probably only get at least 50% attention. It's quite difficult with no fence. I can dump Amber outside and not worry about her running off but I HAVE to be there for reinforcement. Ashton must follow me outside then he runs off which makes this entire thing no-good. I also can't leave him in the house if Amber makes a piddle on the floor. I'm afraid Ash would track it around. It was so much easier in the good ole days with wood floor. I could leave it there while I work with Amber to reinforce that no peeing in the house but we have carpet, we have to be incredibly quick about it which is especially fustrating. So far, we've gotten Amber last thursday night, Amber has only gone on the carpet three times since today. She has gone on the kitchen floor several times which is ok with me because that's easy to clean up and can reinforce but NOT ON THE FREAKING CARPET.

We have a large superyard blocking the kitchen and the carpet for those situations where I absolutely can't watch Amber. See Exhibit A.

Oh, please bring the damn sod and fence! I need it SO BADLY. I'm getting really angry at Stencil Construction - don't use them, they take forever. My house isn't even painted yet. I. Need. Sod. and. Fence. Period.

What else to say? Not much really. Here's some photos for your viewing pleasure.

Here's Amber and Ashton


Amber and Ashton again, they look like they're playing together but Amber is only in it for the pleasure of chewing up his book which I'm trying to discourage.



Amber and I, I'm trying to play with her but she's more interested in chewing my jeans. Every-time I bring her outsie, she likes to chase my jeans and hold on the jeans while I drag her around. She doesn't do that with Sonny. Go figure.


here's Ashton in his favorite spot. Mind you, he doesn't actually sit and watch the TV that close! He just likes to open, go in play with toys, get out, get in, get out, get in. He doesn't sit there for more than 5 min.


Here's Ashton running to his mommy for a hug.

AMBER!

That's her name! Get comfortable!

UPDATE:

We decided to change Crimson's name to something else. We haven't decided yet but don't get too comfortable with that name.

Here's one more photo:

Introducing...

*drumroll*

CRIMSON!!!!

*clash of cymbals*

Here's some photos of yesterday and today. She's a sweet dog, very calm, timid, and shy. She sleeps a lot.

Huh? I didn't realize Crimson looks a lot like Ashton.

Just kidding, I hadn't picked up Crimson yet. Ash was testing out the crate to make sure it's in good working order.


Too cute






As I said, Crimson sleeps a lot.

Two things today.....

10:30am - I have job interview with city of SF for Publication Specialist. Wish me luck! I have been running around like an maniac working on creating my portfolio. Yes, I have experience but I was stupid enough not to save everything that I created. I spent two weeks catch up and produced some work. I think the print-shop will take a chunk out of my pocketbook. I'm still not quite sure if the maniac frenzy and the $$ invested is worth it yet. I will find out at the interview. I'll give you a peek at some of my samples later.

3 to 8pm - I haven't figured out when I want to pick her up but we're getting a goldendoodle puppy. She'd be about 8 weeks old now and I bought the basic items but I forgot the most important thing - TOYS. I'll be making a stop at Petco today. Here's photos that her breeder took. The hat is silly and I'll never subject her to anything silly like that again except a harley davidson outfit.





Puppy with her sisters, she's darkest red of the bunch.

My dirt monkey! What compels babies to put anything small in their mouth? This morning, I let Ash roam around as usual because it seems like everything is child-proofed.

Word of tip: Measure your child! Ash probably made himself taller so he could get this pretty red box off the table.

Now, remember, it wouldn't be a big deal if it was 'just' a pretty red box but that's where we store stray coins. Ash was crouched by the couch where I couldn't see him but could see a shadow.

Word of tip: When your child is in the same place for at least 1 min, something is up.

I decided to investigate further, it's not like I have x-ray vision! Although that would be nice, oh - so many things I could do with x-ray vision! I found my child with the pretty red box with a lot of shiny coins scattered around him. It was a big 'gasp' moment. Images of choking flashed through my mind! I pounced. Shook coins out of his little grubby paws, tried to gather all the coins. All the coins were wet and slimy, what the heck?

As i gathered up the coins, Ash promptly grabbed few and stuffed in his mouth. He knew it was one of those moments that he'll never get again until he gets an allowance. I stuffed my fingers in his mouth to dig out the coins. I thought it was few but he had a mouthful of metal and I don't mean braces! All the coins came tumbling out. The coins were wet and slimy. Yes, I decided that he wasn't going to get his hands on any coins until he's allowance-age. He loses 6 months for every naughty thing he gets himself him. I'd say he's not going to get an allowance until he's 13.

Does he have a future as a banker? I really hope I don't find any surprises in his diapers.

No, I don't have photos because, really, you want me to take at least 2 minute of choke-ability photos? Nah.

Great weather tonight!


Ashton is really on the move!




He was trying to pull the wagon up the stairs but I missed the photographic opportunity!


He's pushing the ball up the stairs.

A few posts ago, I mentioned a website that I liked to go to just for laughs: www.cuteoverload.com. I go there everyday to see if any new pictures and this one just made me laugh because I have one almost like this except it's one cat.

From Cuteoverload.com


My cat, Abbie:




Don't ask me why her eyes are creepy - it glows like that every time I take photos of her. Let's just say that she's a normal cat with a weird photogenic problem, nothing more than that! I no longer have Abbie but every-time I come across her photo, I giggle because that's just so 'Abbie'.

Ashton is ONE!



Ash opening one of the presents.


Dad & Ash cooling off


Ash with Margie and Dick


Ash opening a present.


A picture of cake before destroyed


Ash opens more presents


Ashton and his uncle Alex


We're starting the birthday song!


Ash grabs and eat cake.


Don't put this hand on me!


Mom & Ash with cake on face


Ash trying out the rocker.


Ash trying out the new wagon


Ashton playing outside on the patio