Lucas Turns 3!

Lucas had a great birthday this year.  We were able to extend the celebration over a couple of days which I think made it feel pretty special for him.  We did cupcakes and ice cream Sunday night and then presents and Out of This World Pizza Monday night.  He played his heart out and I think I can safely say it's his favorite place ever.  He does absolutely everything there is, including the stuff that's meant for older kids.  He's pretty fearless.  I so wish I hadn't forgotten to bring the camera so you could see him in action (well, most likely you'd see a blur of him as he ran by).  I'll have to leave it to your imagination as you picture him in complete 3-year-old little boy bliss.

Such sweet beginnings!

 He really has come a long way!

 
Thank you for being ours, Lucas!  You are such an important part of our family and I can't imagine life without that smile of yours.

Yeah, that smile!

Christmas 2011

Here's a collection of photos documenting our Christmas season this year.  We had such a lovely time, sharing it with my brother John, his wife Molly and their three sweet girls.  I'm sad it's all over but what great memories we made and it's really nice to have these pictures to look back on and reminisce.

It all started at the Christmas tree farm.  We got a pretty sweet tree this year

We celebrated their cousin Sara's birthday 2 days before Christmas!  Lucas and Joshua are helping Sara arrange her gifts.  We of course headed to Out of This World Pizza after she opened them and had a fabulous time!

And thus began Christmas morning

I love all the vivid colors and patterns in this one

Scooters for Joshua and Daniel, round two.

An outing to feed some hungry ducks

Festival of Trees

Joshua and Daniel had the opportunity to participate in Portland's Festival of Trees with their violin group a couple of week-ends ago.  It was a great event raising money for cancer research and I'm glad we were able to be a part of it.

So, miracle of miracles, I've actually managed to get some footage of the performance up on the blog to share with you all (with massive amounts of help from Jake, of course!).  

The first segment is about 8 minutes of footage from the middle of the performance which I felt were the highlights (they were playing most of my favorite pieces, anyway!).  The second shows Daniel being a "jingle boy."  He didn't like doing it but did it anyway and did a good job so I'm proud of him.  He and the other two older boys he was doing it with are too new to the violin to have done much else and I'm glad their teacher had ways to include them.

The Lineup

Deck the Halls*

The Holly and the Ivy

Minstrel Round

Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Us Peace)

*I just have to give Joshua credit for the harmony part he played on Deck the Halls .  This arrangement had the melody and two different harmonies going on and Joshua was assigned the second harmony with another student that is more advanced than he is.  I was stressed when I found out and wondered why in the world their teacher would pair Joshua with her.  But bless his heart, he picked up that harmony almost as if it were nothing and did a fantastic job.  It's the blond girl behind him that shared the same harmony if you want to watch for it.  

On each of these arrangements there are always several different things going on with harmonies, rounds, and simpler variations for less advanced students.  I even got the accompanist's hands at one point because I really want to learn the accompaniment for that piece!  It is fun to watch for all the different parts, who's doing what at any particular time.  At least for me, I find it all very interesting and am proud of these kids and their teacher for putting this all together.

Alright, enough of me talking.  I hope you enjoy the playing.  It's so festive!

Nine Months

Caden is nine months old today and I have always felt that the nine month mark is a special one.  Now he has spent as much time with us on the outside as he did inside of me and I think I've emerged a better person out of these collective 18 months.  We've both learned and grown a lot, that's for sure. 

I am so thankful to have a baby this holiday season.  It has made it a very meaningful time for me and yes, I tear up whenever I hear a Christmas song that tells of the Mother and Child.  I think having a baby boy renders me even more susceptible as he can't help but turn my thoughts to the Savior, born as a baby boy so innocent, cute, sweet and cuddly (like mine!) all those years ago.

 "I recall, as a boy, staring long at a painting that I know

Where a mother holds her baby

And I stayed for a while

And I thought that I could hear that mother sigh

"Good night, my love" way out beyond the stars above"

Peter Breinholt Noel "Wake up Little Child"

Merry first Christmas, Caden!  We're so happy to have you with us to share this special time together as a family.  I can't wait to see you be so excited and happy on Christmas morning!

Five Years Ago...

It's been five years since Joshua, Daniel and I participated in a little photo shoot at Mesa grad student housing at UCSD.  There was going to be some sort of presentation made to the Board of Regents and they wanted to show what life was like at student housing.  They must have especially wanted to showcase what it was like for families since it was a few of us moms that were recruited.

It turned out to be a fun experience and we have these great pictures for it!  I'm not exactly sure why I'm posting these now but I'm in the middle of a huge picture hanging project around our house, of which 2 of these are included.  When I realized it had been 5 years since these pictures had been taken it just seemed like a fun thing to share.  Enjoy a stroll down Sorensen Memory Lane!

(Just FYI Daniel was about 17 months and Joshua was 3 1/2ish when these were taken)

I love Daniel's sweet little face in this one!  Click on the pic if you feel so inclined to enjoy the full sweetness :)  Apple slices are still one of his very favorite snacks!

This is one of the two going up on the wall.

This is the other one going up on the wall.

Piano

Jake's Grandmother gave us the piano that graced her home for the last 50 years and we are so happy to have it!  It is beautiful and was given the best of care over the years.  It's the piano that Jake's mother learned and practiced on every day and I love that it has a family history because it makes it more meaningful for us.

Doesn't it look so natural in that spot?

I have managed to play it every day since we've had it and it's been great!  My plans for it mainly involve myself* since the violin is such a great fit for my boys, but I would love to be able to accompany them and really look forward to making music together!  Also I would love to make myself useful at Church, giving all those people who play the piano and have been stuck in pianist callings for forever a break.  I've had my break these last 20 years and feel that it's only fair :).

Lucas is especially drawn to it and even composed a little song called Flower the first day it arrived.

 As an adult I've felt bad that I let my piano playing skills go at the tender age of 14 and I see this as a chance to redeem myself.  So far I've practiced every day since we've had it and I'm amazed by how much I remember from all those lessons all those years ago.

It is slow going for sure what with being the mother to four young children and all, but I love the snippets of time I am able to steal for practice each day.  It is so refreshing to be doing something to develop myself personally and with the yoga, walking and reading I do I'm starting to feel downright well-rounded!  It's a great feeling but comes tinged with some guilt.  Should I be getting to do these things for myself while my children are still so young?  Hmmm....I'll keep thinking about it but until I come to a conclusion, I'm going for it!

*Jake's plans involve learning to play Werewolves of London on it ;)

camo pants

Who says shopping for boys isn't fun (yes, I'm looking at you R.W. ;)  I'll grant that it's probably not as much fun as shopping for girls but I know for myself that it is fun in its own right.   Take these fleece camo pants I got over the week-end, for example.  Fleece camo pants!  Adorable!  And made doubly so when sported by a certain little mister ;)

The pants must've inspired this army-crawl!

Halloween 2011

For Halloween this year we had a pair of Ninjas, a Knight in Shining Armor and a Baby Tiger.

I was so excited for Caden to wear this tiger costume.   Each of our babies has worn this costume for his first Halloween!

And here's a bonus pic!  Jake and I went to a party Friday night as Mr. and Mrs. Vampire.  I wish I could blame my lack of preparedness for this photo on the kids but no, it was all me.  I was trying to give our babysitter instructions on how to use the camera which she apparently didn't need.  But doesn't Jake look dashing in his cape?

At the Aquarium

We had a great time at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport.  The boys got to see and do lots of really neat things and I loved getting to watch them absorb it all.  It was an interesting place because it was set up more like a zoo, with lots of outdoor space and exhibits, just all featuring sea creatures.  Luckily it was a great day to be outdoors, slightly chilly in the morning and then perfectly mild all the rest of the day.  I'm really glad we made the trip!

They had a really neat shark tunnel.  The boys thought it was super cool.

It's not that Lucas was afraid of the shark teeth or anything, he was just having a meltdown at this point.

Check out this massive star fish (in the middle of the picture)!  One of the employees said that they found it under the boardwalk.

Daniel was really hoping to see seahorses and I'm so glad his wish could come true!

We let each kid choose a souvenir and each baby have one chosen for him.  This shark was too cute and is now a favorite crib mate of Caden's.  He loves to wrestle with it!  (Jake especially liked its evil eyes).