Times and Sorensens

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Thursday, January 31, 2008

I've been tagged...

...by my friend Isa!

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B: Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago:
I was attending BYU as a social work major, working as a student secretary for a department on campus (Counseling Psychology & Special Education) and looking forward to Jake coming home from his mission in a few months.

5 things on my to-do list today:
Work out on my (beloved) treadmill, take boys to playgroup at the Dinosaur Park, do laundry, attend a meeting at Joshua's preschool, do this blog post!

5 Snacks I enjoy:
I really don't snack... I prepare pretty nutrient-dense meals, so I don't usually get hungry until the next meal. Last time I had a snack though, I had fresh Crispy Pecans I had made (yum!) and a banana.

What I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire:
I think the biggest thing I would want to focus on is funding orphanages in foreign countries. Making sure they were loving, safe environments for children to thrive in until they could be adopted. Or maybe I would try to change the whole system altogether so that there is a better alternative to orphanages. I would also want to work on the distribution of food world wide. I believe our earth can create plenty of food for everyone -- we just need to work on making sure everyone has access to it.

5 places I have lived:
Pittsburg CA, Provo UT, Sydney Australia, Livermore CA, San Diego CA

5 jobs that I have had:
Paper route, Swim Instructor/Water Safety Instructor (there is a distinction!), Life Guard, Student Secretary, Therapist Intern

5 Things people don't know about me:
1. I stopped watching TV nearly 4 years ago...it's been great.
2. In addition to my phobia of insects, I also have a tidal wave phobia (pretty random, I know).
3. I grew up in a Brady Bunch family, in that we had 3 boys and 3 girls. I was the Jan (I think it shows).
4. I had an intense desire to fly when I was a child. I didn't wish I could grow wings or anything, but just that my body itself could fly. It used to make me sad that I could not fly. I still frequently dream that I can fly. I read somewhere that to have recurring dreams about flying means that you're power-hungry, but whatever.
5. I absolutely loved, loved, loved Hair Bands back in the day. I loved 'em all. From the successful to the obscure (Enuff Z'Nuff, anyone?). I find it pretty funny now that they had one of their biggest fans in an 11 year old girl.
Okay, I know that people already know most of this about me (my family mostly), but it's kind of hard to come up with these things!


Hmmm, who to tag? 1.Viv 2. Tracy 3. Erin

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Shirts from Grandmas -- and a reality check for me

I wanted to do a post of Joshua and Daniel wearing some of the shirts their Grandmas have recently given them. I envisioned posting pictures of the boys smiling brightly from inside their cute shirts, with some sort of cute caption to match. What I got was something a little different...

In this first photo (taken yesterday) they are wearing the fun shirts Jayne brought back for them from the Buenos Aires Zoo. Let's just say they were not in the mood to model. Daniel was barely tolerant and Joshua got flat-out mad at me for trying to take a picture of him.


In this second photo (taken today) they are wearing the cute stripy turtlenecks my mom got for them for Christmas. Joshua was the barely tolerant one this time, and Daniel ended up completely passing out by the time I got around to taking the picture.


So, although I did not capture the "perfect" pictures I had intended, I think I captured life and my kids just being kids. I guess you get to see the shirts anyway, and the boys too -- smiling or not!

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Bubblebeard the Pirate

This is who comes to visit when you combine one pirate ship full of bubble bath with one little boy who loves to make us laugh!

Cove Walk

On the last day of my parent's visit we went for a walk along the trails by La Jolla Cove. It's funny because this typically seems to be the last thing we do with people when they come to visit, so now I get sort of a sad, longing feeling when we go there, knowing that our good times are coming to an end. I reflected on the visit we'd had and wished we could go back and do it again. This is so classic Leslie as I am incredibly nostalgic and remember having feelings like this going way back to my very early childhood. The gray, chilly weather seemed to lend itself to my mood and amplify the feelings. Well, and it also cut our walk short because we were all so freezing! But it was wonderful to be there with my parents and a beautiful way to wrap up our very special Christmas with them!





Wild Animal Park

We headed to the Wild Animal Park with my parents the day after Christmas. It had been a while since my parents had been and we always love going, so we had a great time! Jake provided the commentary to spice up these pictures:
One of the regular places to go is the lorikeet aviary, where you can buy a cup of nectar to feed the lorikeets. We've done this a number of times, but it's still fun! Daniel thought it was too bright and wore sunglasses, and kept a straight face because he remembered a lorikeet bit him last time. Joshua also remembered he'd been bitten last time, so neither was willing to hold a nectar cup.

Another regular location to visit is the "Petting Kraal" where you can pet some members of the Wild Animal Park's largest collection of deer in the world.





It must be the place for deer; on the tram ride we passed a group of Mule deer, not officially part of the Wild Animal Park but there anyway, munching on the grass and examining us as we passed right next to them. The fires last October probably burned away lots of their food in the surrounding hills. On the way to the park we passed a number of burned hills with black bits of scrub and partially burned cactus patches.

On our way to the tram, we checked out the lion exhibit. The male was sitting on a box right on the other side of the plexiglass! I bet Mary Ellen never thought she'd be this close to a real lion.

This is probably as close as we ever want to get to a lion. How often do you get close enough that you have to move away to get a decent picture of the lion?

The boys remembered these ears from some pictures we took with them a few visits ago, and insisted we do them again. Daniel in particular loved them, along with the giant tortoise shells kids can crawl into a little further on.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Christmas 2007 Collage

Christmas Lights

One of the first things we did with my parents during their Christmas visit was venture out to look at lights. We started out by driving around neighborhoods in the area and just enjoying the lights and displays people put up on their homes. I really enjoyed doing this with my family when I was growing up and love that we are keeping the tradition alive! We were especially impressed with one house we came across that had its lights synchronized to dance along with Christmas music. It was highly entertaining! We ended our drive at the temple grounds and there enjoyed the beautiful lights, a nativity scene, and a musical performance. There was a big turn out that night and it was wonderful to enjoy the atmosphere with so many others celebrating the birth of the Savior.