2010 = 10 Years!

It's the year 2010 and we all know what that means, right? Just in case you've forgotten, it means Jake and I have been married for 10 years! Getting married in the year 2000 was pretty smart of us that way ;). Our actual anniversary was back in May, the 12th of May to be exact, but life being as it is I am just now getting around to posting about it.

Jake's parents came to stay with our boys so Jake and I could enjoy a getaway up in Seattle. Jake planned the whole thing and he did a fantastic job. We took the train and it is such a beautiful ride between Portland and Seattle.

Here's a view from our hotel room. We had a lovely view of the water and got to watch the ferries coming and going:


We of course did the space needle and here we are at the top:


We had the most amazing food on this trip. Jake had scouted out the restaurants beforehand and they all turned out to be exceptional. Here's Assaggio, one of our favorites:



And here's another one I would highly recommend if you're in this part of Seattle, Brasserie Margeaux. I had my absolute favorite here -- roast duck! Sorry the picture's all washed out -- it was the best I could get:


Also, you should really go to Top Pot Doughnuts. Their donuts are really good and it felt quintessentially Seattle. Plus, they offer glazed chocolate old fashioned, Jake's Holy Grail of all donuts:


We did lots of touristy things. I highly recommend going to Pike Place Market if you have the chance. This is the place where you can order fresh fish and they'll throw it to you. We didn't see it happen, but we saw humongous salmon, crabs, etc. and I could only imagine. I don't think I'd want to be around for it. Anyway, we had some very tasty food there and also bought some fun stuff. Sorry no pictures of it.

We also headed to the Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum (they're housed in the same building). We actually didn't like going there very much. I think Jake hit the nail on the head when he said it felt like we were caught in a tourist trap. But I felt compelled to take a picture of these furry boots that belonged to a lady they tried to convince us had been influential during the early Seattle music scene:


And here are just a few pictures from the Sci Fi museum. Here's Jake with some paraphernalia from Bladerunner, which came from what is probably Jake's favorite book and author of all time...


...Phillip K. Dick, who is featured prominently in the Science Fiction Hall of Fame:


And here's a picture that's mostly for our boys, to prove to them that we saw "the real" Artoo.


Ahhh...it was a wonderful trip. We had such a great time and now we have the memories to bask in. Thank you so much Nick and Jayne for staying with Joshua, Daniel & Lucas so that we could go. We appreciate it SO much!

Yay for Lucas!

Lucas is now 18 months old and today was his first day attending nursery at church. I know this is our third time around and all, but it's still pretty exciting! It just feels like such a milestone to me, knowing all that has gone into helping Lucas reach this point in his young little life.

His teachers told us he did great and that he actually helped out quite a bit by playing independently and being happy the whole time. Jake and I both peeked in on him a few times an he really did seem to be having a lot of fun. Speaking of which, Jake almost caused an "incident" when he was checking on Lucas at one point. He had been watching Lucas through the window when someone passed him in the hall and said hi. Jake said hi back and when he turned back to look through the window, Lucas was looking directly at him. Jake quickly turned it into a game by ducking down and then peeking in again, making Lucas think it was an impromptu game of peek-a-boo. Thank heavens Lucas went along with it and didn't cause any fuss when Jake left!

It's funny because I remember when Joshua first started nursery and he just seemed so grown up to me. Now having my older two for comparison I can see that children who are just starting nursery really are still babies. But babies who technically are toddlers and who are ready to learn and grow in their own little class, designed especially for their needs and stage in development. I'm so thankful for great nursery workers who are willing to work with these little ones, to play with them and teach them the gospel. What a blessing for our family!

'Tis the Season...

...for another July birthday in the Sorensen household! We had a really nice time celebrating Jake on Thursday the 8th!

Here he is opening some of his gifts (with a little helper):

Joshua and Daniel decided they wanted to fool around in some of the shirts we'd gotten for daddy:


And the best part was getting a babysitter and going out to eat at Pastini. I'm pretty sure I can say by now it's our favorite place (Jake?). Seriously, if you live in our area you must go eat here. Great atmosphere and Italian food you will crave fortnightly. We had our favorite server Ted take this pic:

While out on the town we of course tested out the new car stereo Jake got for his birthday and inaugurated it with none other than Green Day (American Idiot), Def Leppard (Two Steps Behind (electric version!)/Miss You in a Heartbeat) and Ratt (One Step Away). Ah, it totally took me back to our college days...cruising around in Victor (Jake's Buick Le Sabre), enjoying the a/c he provided during the brutal Utah summers (my car Simon didn't have a/c), and listening to this "great music" Jake had found. Admittedly I had "discovered" Def Leppard like, 10 years prior to that time, but Jake somehow scared up these great albums I had never heard. Good times, good times.

Happy Birthday Jake! You are the best husband ever and I love you and the fun we get to have together!

4th of July Birthday Boy!

I'm so glad Daniel turned 5 on Sunday because it has taken a special occasion such as this to help get me blogging again! It is so fun to have a 4th of July birthday in our family because it always makes it feel that much more festive and there are always fun things going on.

On Saturday our neighborhood held its second annual 4th of July Parade. It was a lot of fun to participate even though barely anyone from the neighborhood came out to watch as we paraded around. And the few who did came under acute attack from some over-zealous kids who wanted to throw candy out to the "crowd." That'll teach 'em to support our neighborhood kids :). Anyway, even without many onlookers, the parade itself had a great turnout and it was a lot of fun to get together with neighbors and friends. Our family even ended up winning a prize (totally unexpected)! It was for "Best Team Effort" on a float. Here is our "float"


That evening we took the kids to Out of This World Pizza to do the non-Sunday portion of our celebration. Sorry no pictures. I brought the camera, but it seems like we've been often enough that it would feel unnatural to take pictures. I think Lucas being in a terrible toddler mood may have had something to do with it as well. Sorry to make excuses, but either way I didn't get any pictures. Joshua and Daniel had a great time though and we were so glad.

On the actual day of, we went to church where Daniel got to do some birthday stuff in Primary. When we got home we forced the boys to have lunch first and I put Lucas down for his nap and then we got down to some serious present opening. Daniel was so excited about everything he got and I'm so glad that little kids are open books in a lot of ways and that we know what we can get that will make them happy.


Daniel designed these birthday cupcakes completely himself. I actually made them, but he chose the flavors, the colors and even the pattern of sprinkles! I think they turned out really fun.


We ended the day with my doing a little extra reading to them at bedtime. Daniel chose a Berenstein Bears book and then I read them a little extra in Harry Potter #4. We just started the chapter with the Yule Ball and my guess was confirmed that Viktor Krum was Hermione's date. I knew it! My guess was either him or Dobby. The kids seemed to intuitively know somehow that it wouldn't be Dobby, but I wouldn't have put it past Hermione. The boys were interested in the idea of a "ball" and I told them that someday they would want to take a girl and go with their friends to a ball. Joshua responded with a squirrely , "No! I won't want to do that!" Well, we'll see if he changes his mind. Anyway, our reading stoked the flames even hotter for their getting to play Daniel's new Lego Harry Potter Wii game the next day -- a smash-hit of a present (like I said, an open book...)!

I am so thankful Daniel joined our family 5 years ago. It feels like it's been longer, almost like he's always been with us. He is such a neat, special person and we are so blessed to have him. I'm very glad we could show him how much we love him and that he is such an important part of our family all on his special day.

P.S. Jake and I "caught" Lucas playing with one of Daniel's presents, the Titanium Command Rig. One would typically think that toddlers and Legos don't mix very well, but he was actually playing with it instead of just ripping it apart. I think we're seeing progress here, folks! (Believe me, this is a huge step in our family!)