Let the People be Heard

I have been waiting for my parents to write a blog post for over a month now. I have been good, taken naps, smiled for the camera and even attemped to walk, but no matter what I do it seems like they are just 'too busy.' That's okay, I will take matters into my own small hands (which let me tell you-with only a 2 inch span, typing is tough). I have taken control of this blog and changed the password. So take a look at these new pics of myself and leave a comment if you like the new 'management.'
I am my own man! You may think that I am needing my dad's help in this picture to walk, but actually, if you look closer you will notice the clump of mud and grass that I have in my mouth. I had tricked my dad into thinking he needed to help me walk while I chomped down on some of my new backyard. It is tasty, not to mention nutritious- Grandma Sorensen would be proud of my 'green meal.'
Sorry to steal your spotlight Granty-Goo, but make room for your big sis! I want everyone to know how much I love my new back yard. My backyard is full of great things to discover and explore. I have a retaining wall of large rocks that has ferns growing out of it. I have a whole bunch of grass that I can run on (notice I didn't say eat- I am much more sophisticated than my baby brother!).There are a bunch of great plants too. We have a cherry tree in the south-west corner of our lot, along with various flowering plants. I can't wait for springtime when they all start to bloom. I even have rose bushes, but you have to watch out for the 'ouchies' that grow on them.
Can your back yard to this? I have jumped up and down all over this back yard and I am sure that there are no neighbors below who can hear me jumping- quite an improvement from the condo.

We're still alive....barely

To answer many of your questions. I feel like I have fallen off the planet! Life has been nutso since we got home. I'll be doing a catch-up post in hopefully another two weeks or so. Once we got home we got the plague, really the whole house was super, super sick for two weeks and then we got an offer on our house and are preparing to move this week. Yikes I just can't keep up with it all. I promise there will be more to come soon.

Miss blogging!

Andrea :)

Christmas in Utah!

We had such a wonderful Christmas visiting our family and friends in Utah. There were just to many fun pictures to share so I decided to make a collage. Travis and Megan came to pick us up from the airport and we ended up there a lot longer then we had expected. For the third time Southwest Airlines lost Kinsley's carseat so we spent an extra hour trying to track it down. They gave us a loaner until they could find ours, what a mess! By that time we were totally starved so we headed over to Wingers. I was very pleased as this is one of my favorite restaurants. My food was great, and so was Shawn's and Travis's. I say Shawn and Travis because I was so hungry I ate my meal and whatever Shawn and Trav didn't eat--what a pig! After dinner we went downtown to temple square and saw the lights. Kinsley pointed almost everywhere shouting "twinkle lights".

The remainder of our time we spent visiting family and friends. The Sunday after I arrived I went to the "Girls Annual Christmas Party". My girlsfriends and I have gotten together every Christmas since high school. It has been so great to gather together to hear and share stories. I luv ya ladies!

I set a goal for the trip to practice my new found love of photography. I just can't seem to get enough. I had my first photo shoot with a family in Lehi. It was a very last minute thing and I said I'd do it without pay, but I got paid anyway :) It was a big family group shot. It turned out okay but I'm learning it's hard to get creative with really big groups. Anyway it was an experience. The rest of my photo shoots were just for fun. I'll be posting the images from those shortly. I would totally appreciate any feedback.

I also celebrated my 25th birthday while we were there. I can't believe I'm 25! I feel old and yet young, anyway.... On Saturday evening Shawn's family threw a party for me. Marie made my fav, strawberry shortcake! On Sunday we went over to my moms who had invited my brother and sister and their families without my knowing. It was a fun surprise to have everyone over. After my moms place I went over to my Dads who had also put together a little party. Lets just say I was feeling really special. It's the first time in my life I've had three B-day parties in one year, wow! Kinsley loved it too, she was all about the cake. When Marie started making the shortcake Kinsley was the first to declair her desire for some. I told her that as soon as we sang the birthday song to mommy she could have a piece. No sooner did I finish the sentence and she was singing Happy Birthday. On Sunday evening we attend the Lundell family reunion where it was annouced that it was my birthday. Everyone started singing Happy Birthday and as soon as the song was over Kinsley shouted "I want cake!" She doesn't miss a beat! The best part of all my birthday festivites was Shawn's surprise. He got us tickets to the Desert Star Playhouse. It's a dinner theatre in Murray and it was a blast. We saw "How the Ging-Grintch Saved Christmas". Of course it was a parody and truly hilarious. It was so nice to go out on a date without the kiddos and spend some quality time together. Kuddos to Shawn! I totally loved it! Speaking of kuddos for Shawn he got another big A+ when it came to Christmas. My awesome hubby surprised me with a beautiful necklace. It was really a special Christmas.

Kinsley and Grant really enjoyed the festivites too. Their favorite toy was a basket of mini fake food like bananas, apples, hot dogs, etc. The best part is that it only cost me $1.00. I love their age group during Christmas time. You can spend partically nothing and they'd never even know it. Honestly, they each got a few small things and it turned out to be exciting for them.

That's all I can seem to remember of our great trip home. Happy New Year!

to see more pics from our trip visit http://picasaweb.google.com/thesorensenfam/TripToUtahChristmas07

Happy Holidays

We got together with the Baughs, Swensens, and Watkins the night before we left for Utah to do some Christmas caroling. Shelly, being the scraper that she is, arranged darling little song books for each of us to hold. I should have taken a picture of them! We sang Away in a Manger, Silent Night, The First Noel and more. We also sang We Wish You a Merry Christmas with homemade chimes from the Baughs. I must admit I'm not so good at the chimes. I kept missing my note. It was really embarssing because honestly how hard is it to hit a pipe with a spoon, oh well! Those we visited seemed to really enjoy our caroling. It was fun to revive an old holiday tradition.

The Subject of Sleep

Since we're on the subject of sleep here is today's nap!

Zzz.......

Kinsley has been falling asleep in the craziest places lately. After I finished getting ready for church this afternoon I came into the kitchen as Shawn was feeding Grant some lunch. I noticed that Kinsley was not with him and asked where she was to which Shawn replied "I thought she was with you". I headed to the back of the house where I stumbled upon Kinsley fast asleep over her plastic chair--hilarious and weird I know! The next two pictures are of her asleep on top of Grants activity blanket and upside down in the rocking chair. A few days previous she had actually fallen asleep on top of a ball. Unfortunately she lost her balance and came crashing to the floor. We were both totally upset, Kinsley because she was startled awake and I because I missed the shot! Anyway I thought I'd share what pictures I have of her crazy sleeping antics. What a silly kid!

Outside!

Today was the first day the sun has come out in ages! It snowed almost four inches at our place Saturday. By Sunday afternoon the snow had turn to rain and didn't stop until today. Many cities experienced flash flooding and power outages. With all the terrible weather we haven't left the house. Kinsley has been stir-crazy in our tiny condo. So today she was thrilled when we took a little trip to the mailbox after Shawn got home from work. Of course I couldn't resist the photo opportunity and am really pleased with the results. The lighting was perfect! These photo's have not cropped or edited at all. What a great afternoon for picture taking! I just love my camera, but more than that I love the smiles and the moments it seems to freeze in time.

To see more pics from outside visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com/thesorensenfam/Outside

Sleep 101

The human body requires a certain amount of rest each day to function normally. The average human adult does not get enough sleep. To compensate for the lack of adequate rest, some people ingest foods and beverages that contain chemicals known to increase alertness. Others, such as the subject seen in the photo above, multi-task by sleeping while babysitting a toddler who plays 'blocks' on his person. The ingesting of chemicals or the multi-tasking both have side effects.
One of the side effects of multitask sleeping is having your spouse sign you up for a medical study where wires are attached to various locations on your person and then you are monitored for a 24 hour period while you try to sleep and nap. On the Uncomfortable While Sleeping (UWS) scale, a toddler playing blocks on top of you is only a 4 while wires glued all over your body and a night vision camera tracking you is a 9.
The nurse who attached all of the wires on the test subject was a large islander from Guam. The next morning the nurse commented that he had never heard so loud of snoring come from such a tiny person.
These pictures come from my second visit to the Center for Sleep Disorders Clinic, which was November 23-24, 2007. My first visit was October 18-19, 2007.

Just Because

Shawn came home after work on Friday with these beautiful flowers! Why you ask? Just because! He's such a sweety. These are the kind of flowers I like receiving the best. They're the unexpected, the for no reason at all kind that really mean the most. I love my guy!

Picture Happy!

Just practicing with my camera. Taking pictures of Grant is so much easier than Kinsley. Grant just sits there and smiles at everything I do. Kinsley has to be totally coaxed to stay in one place. Even with a bribe all she do is pout for the pics. The first picture of her was taken under our kitchen table. She was under there hiding from me, the little stinker! I love the shot of her with her face buried in the corner. It describes in a nutshell how she feels about my most recent hobbies. Oh well she'll have to get used to it, I'll be doing it for years to come! I love photography! I don't know what the heck I'm doing yet, but what I've figured out thus far is really fun.

Picaso? No Kinsley!

Here's a short little video of Kinsley drawing. I recorded this about a month ago and have been meaning to upload it forever but I just couldn't get the thing to work! I realized after an hour of uploading this morning that I had chosen the wrong video. The other version is better but this will have to do! Anyway it's still really cool. She has taken to drawing faces recently and is improving daily. Ahh.... our little artist!

Boots

I bought Kinsley these cute new rain boots yesterday and she has been hooked ever since! From the moment we left the store she was shouting "I need my rain boots!" This morning when she woke up she put them on right over her pajamas, she looked so adorable. Later in the afternoon I decided to take her out to the parking lot and let her splash around. She had so much fun it took some major coaxing from me to get her back inside. While she was having a good ole' time getting wet (in the freezing cold I might add, why do children love this?) I was having fun taking pictures. I recently bought a Rebel XTI with some of my remaining Americorps money. I can't seem to put the camera down. Photography is fast becoming a hobby of mine. I better start saving my pennies because the equipment needed for great photography isn't cheap! It's totally addicting! That first good shot sucks you in, urging you to top that, then the next one, and the next......

To see more of these cute pics check out our web album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/thesorensenfam/NewBoots

Happy Halloween

A friend of mine helped me host a Halloween party at my place. We had so much fun preparing for the party and made some great food to go along with it. Kinsley and I were indians and Grant was a cowboy. Shawn went to work earlier in the day dressed as a nerd. After he took off the glasses the plaid shirt fit right in with our theme.



These were so yummy and so much fun to make!


Ahh... I just loved Kinsley's costume. When asked what she was going to be for Halloween she would respond with "an indian princess". The funny part was once she actually got in the costume and someone asked "Kinsley what are you?" She replied with "I'm a costume."

We set up a carmel apple bar and umm it was delicious!


We played games like Gravediggers and Poison

The Watkins went as Napoleon, Deb and Pedro


A cowboy and his horse. The Swensens were dressed up in the western theme too. Brent made the cutest little horse


Poor Shawn! While we were all playing he had to sit on the couch and work on a paper for legal writing. His teacher set the deadline for 11:00pm that night. I bet she was a witch for Halloween ha, ha!

To see more pics from Halloween visit our web album at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/thesorensenfam/Halloween07