Announcing Rylin Emma Sorensen!

Hey everyone...fantastic news!
Time: 2:14pm
Weight: 8 lb 7 oz
Length: 20.25 inches
Mother and baby are doing fine. This is just a sampling of the beautiful duo. We will try and post some more pictures when we get home tomorrow.

Quick Update

Hi everyone. We know that you are all awaiting any news from us. We are at the hospital. Andrea is dilated to a 6 and we are anxiously awaiting the new baby. So far everything is going really well. Andrea is happy and beautiful as ever. Based on past history we should have the baby this afternoon. We will be sure to post pictures and update y'all as soon as possible. Thank you to everyone who has been so helpful thus far and for all your calls, emails, prayers and help.

The event you have all been waiting for...its a boy...who has graduated from law school

Oh yeah, and Andrea is also two days overdue (and counting). Since we don't have baby pictures yet, I figured I would bore you with my graduation pictures from May 16, 2009. I walked for graduation at the Key Arena in Seattle; although I still have two more classes to take over the summer.
The last graduation I attended was for my high school graduation and the only differences I noticed were that the hat I wore this time looked more like a Christopher Columbus hat and all of the people who were graduating were much older looking. Other than that it was long, hot, and I made sure not to trip when I went on stage.




I don't have enough room in this post to thank everyone who has helped me, supported me, commiserated with me, encouraged me, laughed with me and challenged me to be better. But I do want to thank my wife who has done all of the above and more these past three years. Thank you Andrea! I couldn't have done it without you. And thank you to my kids who were so patient with me. I'm always grateful for the opportunity to further my education, but I am extremely pleased to have my JD completed and spend more time with the fam.


Okay Andrea here and I must pipe in a mention a few things before this post is published. First of all I have to give a super huge congrats to my amazing husband. Shawn was able to earn his law degree in just three years while working full-time. He attended evening class taking just one credit less then a full-time day student. I don't know where he came up with the energy to make it all happen. Shawn you are simply remarkable! Thank you for all of the sacrifices you have made to take care of this family. I love you!

The last three years have been tough! There were definitely times when I thought it would never end. As soon as the ceremony began and the graduates begin walking into the arena I couldn't help but cry. I felt excited, proud, grateful and relieved that this day had finally come. When we started out on this journey Kinsley was just one year old and we had only been in WA for two years. Without any family around I had to rely heavily on friends to help out when needed. Thanks to all of you for your support! Law school was a sacrifice but we were so blessed along the way. I can't wait to see what's ahead of us now. More than that I'm just thrilled for the simple things to come, like having dinner together each night. That my friends is satisfaction!

Too Cute

Had to post at least one pic from this session over here on my family blog. If you want to see more photos of this little guy you can head on over to my photo blog:
www.youreverycolorphotography.blogspot.com
I had the opportunity to take the maternity photos and newborn shots for this family too, who by the way are great friends of ours. I have to say he is definitely one of the cutest subjects I have ever photographed. He smiled so easily it was like I wasn't working at all. Can't wait for the years to come and to capture all his little changes. Thanks guys and so glad you're moving close by!

Kids + Cake + Ice Cream = Exceptional Amounts of Fun

All chefs have their favorite ingredients. Some favor one spice over another. Others prefer complimentary flavors. When a chef gets the perfect combination, they will rave that it has transcended ordinary to the extraordinary. Kinsley's birthday party seemed to provide those great ingredients in just the right amounts. The weather was superb, so we held the party in our back yard. Kinsley and all her friends got to fill up on sun, fun and of course, cake and ice cream. Kinsley had been looking forward to this day and it couldn't have turned out more perfectly.


She was thrilled with all of her presents. She enjoyed the crown and magic wand so much that after she opened the gift she spent the rest of the party turning her friends into frogs,horses, chickens, etc. She also really liked getting birthday cards. She starting to read and enjoys the challenge of trying to sound out each word.



The kids gathered around the card table to enjoy their cake and ice cream once they had all finished their portions they spread out again to start playing. Grant however decided to stick around to take what he thought was his fair share of the ice cream.

We had a great time! Happy Birthday Kinsley, we love you!!!!!

Happy Birthday Kinsley!

Oh she is so beautiful! Here's one pic from the party. They'll be more to come soon....

Happy Mothers Day

Saw this on another blog and tought it was great. Just had to share. Happy Mothers day to all of you mothers out there. We truly are superhuman!

Oh, if you missed it, GRANT IS 2!

If you are doing the math, you will realize that Grant's birthday was almost 2 weeks ago. We apologize for taking so long to post the pictures.
Grant loves Thomas the Train, so he was doubly pleased when his mother was able to create a Thomas the Train cake (especailly because it tasted like yellow cake and not iron and coal dust).
Grant liked to hear us sing happy birthday to him, and he has been to enough birthday parties to know that after the singing is done, you blow out the candles and eat the cake (he only needed a little help from his eager sister).
Once the candles were out, it was time for Grant to do what he loves most: eat and get the food he is eating all over himself.
Grant has quite a personality. He is understanding role playing and in Lion King mode he is Rafiki, Kinsley is Simba and Mom and Dad are Sarabi and Mufasa. We have awoken in the middle of the night to our little Rafiki crying out for Mufasa or Sarabi.
Grant recently has attached himself to some of his new toys, Rescue Heroes. One of them in particular, which Grant gave the name of Samuel (Fisher Price says his name is Bob Buoy, but don't tell Grant that) spends the entire day in Grant's hands and is only released upon exchange for food or water (and sometimes not even for that).

Highlights now that he is two:
1. He can now count to twenty, identify some shapes, colors, and letters, and loves to draw.
2. He loves his Lightning McQueen jammies, so much that he'll burst into tears saying "la mcqueen, la mcqueen back on" when we take them off.
3. He can shovel more food into his mouth than his dad. That's saying a lot for those of you who know Shawn.
4. His favorite food is strawberries, with grapes taking a very close second.
5. He loves to build mega block towers and spent the majority of his birthday party creating one Kinsley called their apartment.
6. He has the best manners always remembering to say please and thank you.
7. He's always very quick to comfort Kinsley when she's upset saying "Kiki, it's okay" If she doesn't respond right away he'll run through all of their pretend names: Simba, Dora, Boots, Puppy, Super Why,etc. until he gets her to react.
8. He loves to read books and can be found flipping through Mother Goose, Arthur, Dr. Suess, Cars, Nemo, Lion King, and more at any given moment.
9. He has the longest lashes we've ever seen on a little boy (thank you Sorensens!) and has become aware of the fact that others have taken notice. Now if he really wants something, or simply a chance to charm he'll blink rapidly and then make his request.

We could go on forever.....
Happy Birthday Grant we love you!