"I'm Not Gonna Lie"

MerrY Christmas from US!!!!

2011-12-13T14:24:00.000-08:00

HUTCHINGS REUNION 2011 “THE PLACE”

2011-07-27T15:27:00.001-07:00

SAN FRANSISCO

June 23-26

We enjoyed chef made omelets, and a breakfast buffet to feed a king each morning. The beds were a little tiny….but that would be the ONLY complaint. it was We enjoyed chef made omelets, and a breakfast buffet to feed a king each morning. The beds were a little tiny….but that would be the ONLY complaint. it was

Every 2 years we each take a turn to be “in charge” of a reunion. Last Time we found ourselves being in charge and In Flagg. This year Mindy (my sister) and her Hubby jason were in charge..

We found ourselves in some of the loveliest accommodations in suites

We enjoyed chef made omelets, and a breakfast buffet to feed a king each morning. The beds were a little tiny….but that would be the ONLY complaint.

What a wonderful mini-vacation it was for us!

TREASURE SEEKERS!!! Girls Camp 2011

2011-07-13T14:58:00.000-07:00

Me and our YCL LADIES!!!

MEET YOUR MOM NIGHT

Stake Skit...I changed the words to sponge bob square pants to introduce camp rules...Cara played the tune on the piano

THE FEARLESS YCL LEADERSour phenomenal desserts-we are never WANTING in the food department with our PHENOMENAL cooks

This summer marked my 4th year of girls camp here in Arizona...(we won't count Maryland for now)

As the counselor over Girls Camp in our Stake Young Women Presidency I always fill in where needed, my first year I was assistant camp director

This year I got to be a YCL leader with my sister Amberlyn

We arrived to find these bear camps ALL OVER our camp since there had been bears in the cabins....umm and did you see where I was sleeping above?

on the AIR MATTRESS on the cabin deck since we did not have enough room for the leaders insideI stayed up for a good portion of the night hearing noises

and then the second half of the night because THEY DID CATCH THE BEAR and he howled and banged on the trap all night...not too mention the hound dogs they brought inStill no sleep is part of camp AND THE SHOW MUST GO ON!Here we are getting seasick at the beginning of our stake skitTHE PEG LEG PIRATE TANGO (using plungers)

Sometimes I think we laugh at ourselves more then others do!What would camp be without our HIKE!Then is was skit night with our bishops and they did not disappointThese are the 80 girls from my ward and guess who they asked to do their hair and help with make up? ME#!

I guess I am getting "old"

I am a hula dancer gone joker as we did "our wards got talent"

and did a backwards limbo

And here is our LEADER CHEER SQUAD

AND LIKE I SAID NONE of the BISHOPS DISAPPOINTED!!!

Throw in gaining 10 pounds, tipping in a high winded canoe kinda day (and losing my cell phone and camera in one expensive swoop), SERIOUS great FIRESIDES and programs (the family one and Emma Smith I could not keep my eyes dry), testimony meetings, cheers, chants, tears, crafts, letters to and for our dads on fathers day....

I would say it was ONE SUCCESSFUL YEAR O' CAMP!!!!

(and I found out I had mono the whole time....no wonder I felt a little bit more "tired" this year)

UTAH Wedding bLiSs

2011-06-30T12:02:00.000-07:00

This story starts back in High School

I played on my varsity High School softball team. I was the relief pitcher with always the potential of more

but...

my heart was in basketball, so I never focused the time needed to pitch.

However, my coach did not "give up" on me and had me pitching any chance she could get her hands on me-in hallways, as a teachers aide, at practice

AND

every pitcher needs a catcher-and my catchers name was Melinda Baum...or lovingly referred to as Baumers (as she could spank the ball pretty far)

Melinda and I spent any an hour together. Melinda became interested in the gospel while hearing me talking with some other team members about the church.....

and so skip forward a few years at Christmas break while Melinda attended West Virginia University and I headed out to Brigham Young University.

Melinda was baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It came at a high cost and with allot of defending,

BUT she did it

Skip forward a few more years. She went on a mission to Washington (BEFORE ME) and I went on a mission to California.

Baumers transferred her life to Utah to finish her education and I returned to BYU.

Melinda's entire family had been baptized by this point when they had been vehemently opposed to her membership.

Our lives took different courses. I got married. started a family. moved to Houston and Arizona

She got two masters and bought a home in Utah
BUT whenever we would get together we just picked up where we left off.

Melinda's Father passed away a few months ago after she had gotten engaged.

She asked my dad to be the witness for her dad. Our family always loved Baumer and she loved them.

We felt it was important for Cara and I to be at her sealing in Utah

(unpredictable Utah weather did NOT let us down- hail for temple pictures and perfect for reception later that day)

We were so glad we did.

We got to play with her mom and brother whom we had not seen in YEARS

It was a beautiful wedding, catered with lotsa YUM!

Between the wedding and reception Cara and I took a little jaunt to our Alma mater creamery and bookstore- GO COUGS!Where the reception was held

Look what our little trash digger found!?

Too bad it is not real!We took Ryland and Dacie with us to lessen the "load" at home on Aunt Amberlyn

(since those 2 did not get to go to California to see Uncle B get home from his miss this winter)AND Dacie LIVED IT UP with her sister cousin LOLA! (thanks for watching her Amy!)It was a QUICK TRIP but so WORTH IT!

(We had to get home for girls camp and reunion! Whew!!!)

FuN JUNE

2011-06-29T15:35:00.001-07:00

DaDdY's 35th BiRtHdAy!!!Home-Made Red Velevet Cakeand a SURPRISE Friday Night Panda Express Game Night with kindred friendsFATHERS DAY

(while I was away at Girls camp)

CUB SCOUT DAY CAMP!

....and there's MORE!

MeMoRiAL DaY WeeKEnd

2011-06-15T12:37:00.000-07:00

For MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

we headed down to Grandma & Grandpa Sorensen's

for....

a TEMPLE TRIP

WEDDING DRESS SHOPPING

&a SUPER DUPER WATER GUN FIGHT

started by Grandpa

Rhett had some serious ANIMAL LOVIN'Aunt Selena and uncle Russ's new dog, Domino

and Grandma and Grandpa's BIG Mommy and Daddy turtles

(as they have a batch of the cutest babies EVER each year)

AND and early celebration of DADDY's BIRTHDAY that coming week! FED WELL+SLEPT WELL+ TEMPLE+ FAMILY= HAPPY LONG WEEKEND

BaSeBaLL is OvEr! (FINALLY!)

2011-06-06T11:19:00.000-07:00

Once again we interrupt the last two months for BASEBALL!Colton played on the minor league this year...

and typically played 3rd base, center field and relief pitcher
he also wants me to make sure that I tell you he got a homerun this season as well!Ryland and Sterling played on the coach pitch team together.

I moved up Ryland a little early so I would not have 3 different teams and game times!Ryland rarely hit, and Sterling had a successful season (which was good for his self-esteem)We were at the fields for games or practice at least 4 out of the five days a week!We also have had the

End of season parties, trophies, snacks for games, etc.AND RHETT always WENT ALONG FOR THE RIDE!!! :)We were ready to SLOW DOWN- (since the season lasted until June 2nd!)

SCHOOL is OUT!

2011-06-05T16:55:00.000-07:00

(Amy, Avery, Cele, Dacie, Anslie, Kylie-Dacie's last day of ladies preschool)

SCHOOL IS OUT!!!AND SUMMER IS DEFINITELY IN!!!!!

He can LAY IT ON THICK!!!

2011-06-03T16:51:00.001-07:00

Who could resist a face like this?

Guess who has learned the "sad face" when he does not get his way? :)

FUN and Trashy FAMILY HOME EVENING!

2011-06-01T21:23:00.000-07:00

As some of you may or may not know our sweet little Ryland is addicted to trash!

He LOVES to find things to build and create....

in fact, the other day I ran to the garage and heard a commotion in our trash can, thinking it was something gross in there I became nervous,

BUT OUT POPS A LITTLE BLONDE HEAD

Ryland was in there collecting "treasures"SOOO It is no SUPRISE that for his turn in Family Home Evening he had us create something from the gospel with his collections from the recycle'ing bin!

Dacie at her pulpitMy tree of lifeRy's Book of MormonSterling's TempleDan's Golden PlatesColton's Tabernacle

Just hanging around and getting trashy!

HaPPy MoThErS day...to ME!

2011-05-31T21:16:00.000-07:00

This year I was not a "let down" for MOTHERS DAY!I got breakfast in bed, the kids clamoring to shower me with hand-made cards and gifts (even a hand made quilt from Colton), beautiful talks in church, the primary kiddos singing, and a flower from the wardDan even made me some yummy chocolate chip cookies after dinner...just in time for Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen to drop by on their way back from Winslow!

AND as I drove in from church, look what awaited me in the garage?!!

I have had my eye on this Texas Star for quite sometime at a local old town shop....I heart MY MAN!I AM GRATEFUL TO HAVE THE OPPROTUNITY TO BE A MOM!!!

April Showers Bring May Flowers, Facials, and Sleepovers!!!!

2011-05-26T21:23:00.000-07:00

I heard Dan tell a friend that he is realizing that we got this house so that I could have parties...

I do have to say that is a pretty fair statement.

ALTHOUGH we did NOT buy it for parties it HAS come with the TERRITORY of a bigger home

being the social being that I am I do not mind a bit!This month was my turn to help HOST POKENO.

OF COURSE 'my ladies' had to see the new house!

So we held it here with the theme, "April Showers Bring May Flowers"

we won flower bows sold from my creative momma friend Nat Ipson.

We had breakfast for dinner

I got to host with a great bud Anita Dutton

and

I baked flower and umbrella sugar cookies the day before

and

Cara and I spent all day icing them

(Cara is the master icer, thus all her cool looking ice jobs got eaten before I snapped a photo-darn!)

Because I was hosting we got to invite whomever we wanted and I extended the invite to those ladies who normally cannot participate-so we had 20 something coming and going all eve

It was too much fun!

Earlier that same week, we held the RELIEF SOCIETY ACTIVITY at our home

it was home-made spa night (that would be a blueberry mixture on our face) and guiltless desserts!

They asked if they could use our home the first week I went to Relief Society

(people tell me we should fill our living room with furniture quick- ha ha)Dacie thought it was GREAT that the Young Women took a liking at the sleepover to her sippy cups-she did a whole photo shootsome young woman got a hold of the camera and her own feet...choice :)The Friday before the week of PARTY's

we held the YCL GIRLS CAMP SLEEPOVER at our houseMy sister Amberlyn got called as their leader.

The other lady had to drop out, so being the rep in the stake over girls camp...I slipped right inSo we partied like pirates ALL NIGHT LONG!I would not have it any other way...I enjoy being surrounded by great people.

Our house got cleaned three times in less then a week- That is progress!

Some FUN photos!!!!

2011-05-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

Who says you cannot have FuN when it is BEAUTIFUL SPRING weather

even if you are getting ready to move!

One of the well-wishers who came to say good-bye by perching on our trampoline

During this month...Rhett has serious amounts of drainage. It lasted for more then 3weeks and a cough set in. We believe it was seasonal allergies (tis the season!) BUT I KNEW there would be an aftermath for that long of congestionRhett got super sick and ran super high fevers, when he became listless I knew I needed to get him in

He had severe double ear infections

and they thought he may have pneumonia-so we had to go get x-rays

Luckily, it was only on bronchitis and our little bud was back on a breathing machine

(3rd time in his life-we just bought one finally!)

BOW DOWN to BOOBOO!

2011-05-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

We have affectionately always called our sister Amberlyn, BooBoo

The name stuck when she was a baby from BooBoo bear.

As many of you may or may not know, she has moved to Cottonwood and has been here for quite sometime

APRIL WAS A BIG MONTH FOR HER

SHE MOVED IN WITH US (in our new home, in the guest room with her own bano...it helps her, and offsets the new mortgage)

SHE RAN THE TOWNS HALF MARATHON

She FELL IN LOVE, and was almost ENGAGED (it happened in May)

SOOO we went wedding dress shoppingAND SHE GOT HER MASTERS IN SECONDARY EDUCATION w/ and emphasis in the Spanish Language

SOO we had a hair cutting and highlighting party till the wee hours of the morn the night before

(cara and booboo got it done, I was the cosmetologist:)

It was a VERY WELL DONE commencement exercises.

My favorite had to be the bagpipe marching band...they were pretty much phenomenal

This is what we did to kill some "boring" commencement time

We went out to eat right after at Texas Roadhouse

(The ONLY sad thing about it all-was her wallet was stolen from her purse-LAME commandment breakers)

WE HEART BOOBOO!!!!!!!

It has been a fun month to focus on her

EASTER~Sorensen Style

2011-05-08T17:34:00.001-07:00

Easter proved to be a busy time for us.

It fell on the week after we had moved out and turned the keys over to our new renter
My Brother Shaun and his wife Cat stopped by on their way to Arkansas for his new job.

SOO we decided to have a little bit of fun...

We went to the annual City Easter Egg Hunt

we had sworn those off since our first year here (about 7 years ago) proved to be a mob rush scene

BUT we thought we would give it a second chance and were much happier with the results

They divided it up according to ages

For RHETT's AGE GROUP pretty much sat and watched the kids eat candy and feed it to one another.

He was in HEAVEN

DACIE'S AGE GROUP

Aunt Cara (in the mustard yellow) had her covered. She even got 2 glitter eggs on top of a basket full of candy

RYLAND's AGE GROUP

He also nabbed a glitter egg

(that were all filled with gift certificates to local fast food places)

STERLING's AGE GROUP

He was in the oldest division

(Colton could not participate this year...good thing he baseball practice) other celebrations included... The traditional SPONGE CURLERS and AFRO's

EASTER EGG DYING PARTY

Amberlyn and her "soon-to-be fiance" Nathan FINALLY graced us with their presence that eve!

Aunt Cara is always a permanent fixture in our home :)

Daddy finally joined us after a quick snooze on the rocking chair

(after taking on a second job- he is super tired) Dacie's creation

Some of my favorites

While the kids slept the EASTER BUNNY made the rounds

and we had a hutch full of happy bunnies the next morning!

We had the INDOOR FOIL EGG HUNT

AND the OUTDOOR HARD BOILED EGG HUNT

THEN THE MATCHING church EASTER OUTFITS

(thanks to Grandma Sorensen's help)

We ended the day with church meetings and a focus on the true celebration of Easter,

Christ's ressurection!

and a happy family dinner

It was a HAPPY SPRING DAY OF EASTER!

a "W"onderful Day of PRESCHOOL!

2011-04-03T11:39:00.000-07:00

This last week, I switched with another mom so that I could teach that week, and not have preschool this coming week, when our home will be a literal upheaval. OUR LETTER of the day was "W"

Soo we tried on my WHITE WEDDING dress and took pictures

WE did WATER experiments-WATCHING ice melt, and freezing Popsicles turning WATER into a solid.

WE WASHED WHEELS on our cars (and then packed them into a box!)

Rhett even got in on the action!

(thats probably why he has been super sick this week!)

WE LOVE PRESCHOOL!

BIRTHDAY BOYS! The Spring Break Finale

2011-04-01T08:59:00.001-07:00

Dan had taken off the last Friday of Spring Break...we had submitted that request long before we knew we were moving....

we decided to use it to enjoy being a family and celebrate the boys birthdays

AND we headed down to Phoenix

Friday afternoon we got our teeth cleaned and Dan and I went and did sealings at the temple that evening.

SATURDAY was RYALND's (6th) and RHET'sS (1st) real BIRTHDAYS So we packed up kids, water, sunscreen, Grandma and Grandpa and spent the day at the PHOENIX ZOO

It was a PERFECT DAY weather wise

That zoo is so big and beautiful,

with beautiful grounds

I had made the boys special t-shirts to wear that day

AND the animals did not let us down!

When we got home, Rhett took a MUCH NEEDED nap

while Ry went shopping with Grandma to build-a-bear workshop

We stuck around to watch the BYU game, take showers and blow out some candles before heading back up to Cottonwood that evening. Rhett LOVED the candles, but wanted to grab them

SOOO RY had to do the honors this year

SUNDAY EVENING we had a little family party/dinner and opened the presents with Cara, Amberlyn, and John

It was a WEEKEND of PARTY for sure!

What a FUN way to spend spring break

Rhett got the traditional piece of cake to do whatever he wanted to it

I had made GINORMOUS cupcakes for everyone!

RY even lost his 2nd tooth during the party!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RHETT AND RYLAND

(as my dad puts it, its a day of R &R)

SiLLy FACES of ST. PATTY's

2011-04-01T08:56:00.001-07:00

OTHER FUN STUFF-Spring Break part 3

2011-03-31T11:26:00.000-07:00

Some of the OTHER things we did for Spring Break were... DUMPSTER DIVE for boxes so we could "start" the moving process

While Amberlyn and I cleared out the attic and shed, Aunt Cara took kids on afternoon field trips to THE LIBRARY

for arts and crafts day

We have a PHENOMENAL new library with

PHENOMENAL KIDS SECTION

Cara also took them swimming one afternoon at the indoor rec center pool!

So our kids CANNOT say they did not have fun during BREAK!

ONE YEAR!!!!

2011-03-30T08:07:00.001-07:00

Our SWEET RHETT DOUGLAS SORENSEN turned ONE this month...

and what a ride it has been!

*My creative friend (Angee) has 2 sets of twins and documents them throughout the year by taking a picture with a sign each month mark, and then does a complete collage at their one year birthday...well, I attempted it-and you will see, some months I got it , some months I had to 'substitute' other pictures!

Lets take a RIDE down this YEAR!

~ NEWBORN

ONE MONTH

TWO MONTHS

THREE MONTHS

FOUR MONTHSFIVE MONTHS

SIX MONTHS

SEVEN MONTHS

EIGHT MONTHS

NINE MONTHS

TEN MONTHS

ELEVEN MONTHS

TWELVE MONTHS

We have battled another severe reflux baby, that had severe food allergies.

I battled a medical challenge I never saw coming...it has been the hardest year of my life.

BUT amidst all these challenges, there has been pure happiness and bliss as I have not experienced in a lifetime. Heavenly Father has sent earthly angels to our aid. We have been blessed beyond measure in troubling times.We have made it through the closer and wiser too. We have found solace in family members who stepped up and saved our little family

and although it is not OVER we are on the tail end, and see the finish line, and for that we are grateful.

Hope sustains us.

AND...

I would do ALL OF IT OVER AGAIN to have RHETT in our FAMILY!

SPRING BREAK and ST. PATTY's DAY- spring break part 2

2011-03-29T13:11:00.000-07:00

Another FUN THING about SPRING BREAK

is that..

St. Patrick's Day is always celebrated during it

The Activity Day Girls in our ward threw a party for the primary kids at the park...it was GREEN FuN! They gave us beads, read us stories, let us color, played some Leprechaun games

AND sent us on a treasure hunt to find the pot of gold!

We also had some yummy green snacks!

our friend Afton, has the ultimate leprechaun as her son!

I thought this year the leprechaun might be nice enough to leave us alone since our house has been in such a disarray already...

no such LUCK!

NOTHING is ever too messy for the leprechaun!

There is NO REST for the moving

he even left us a cool poem this year!

and dumped our honey all over the counter!

AS USUAL the "gold" was the kiddos favorite part!

We also had FUN taking green pictures and watching the GNOMEMOBILE!

RACE ON OVER-SpRiNg BrEAk part 1

2011-03-24T14:37:00.000-07:00

Ryland's (and now Rhett's) Birthdays will always land during spring break.

That can be a virtue and a vice

CUZ' this year was Ryland's "even" year, and time for his friend party

MOST FRIENDS make travel plans over spring break....

so we decided to KICK OFF spring break and hold his birthdayparty the last day of school, in the evening
with a pizza party to boot!

He wanted a race car theme...so we RAN with it

(invites above, cake below)

The Decor!!!

(we heart our new dollar tree store in town!)

AND oriental magazine

(GoodyBags- Below-full of balloon racers, tattoos, race car suckers...)

THE GAMES

included a race car rally, with box cars Ry and I decorated

and the team added the embellished details

Ry's cute friend Braden

Can you see the tattoos and face paints on them that we did when they first arrived?

AND what a relay race it was!!!

Little Dacie even got in on it!

was a switch of teams and another tire relay race

The brothers got in on the fun this time!

Isaac and Makena (above)

Sweet little Martin (marteen) above

and Ashton below

LAST but not least,

was a rowdy game of race, race, win (duck duck goose)

THEN it was time for presents, cake and ice cream AFTER each winning a medal

THE PARTY was NOT OVER for the grown ups...we played a mad game of settlers which the newbie won!

AFTER ALL it was the first day of spring break!

HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY,

HAPPY SPRING BREAK

RY!

RHETT's ROUND!!!!

2011-03-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

Babies change SOOO fast!!! SO I thought I would document a few of the things Rhett has been doing as of late
I WISH he was sleeping more.
Night-times have gotten pretty near perfect, BUT day-times have worsened.
HOWEVER on this glorious day he "crashed" in his jumper with out so much as a peep. We walked in and turned around and there he was.
This pretty much NEVER happens (not in the car, not in a stroller--he is another Sorensen "box fan" I want my crib baby)
it may be my doing, BUT who cares if it got me sleep!?

Colton has been entrusted more with his care, thus the reason for the backwards diaper change!! AND it was even a poop (good older brothers)
Dacie has taken to him being her doll!

Rhett seemed to grow 8 teeth overnight

for awhile there

he was sporting the TEAM RHETT vampire look

He IS crawling FINALLY at 11 months

SO now he is obsessed with opening and closing cupboards, doors

AND cleaning out everything he can get his hands on-I can pretty much tell you his track:

First is the videos and cd's, off to the LR trash, then into the kitchen under the microwave, and closing with the shoe baskets in the cubbies

Laundry Baskets have become his thing. Whether it is being pulled like a train in one OR we set him outside in one for quite awhile filled with toys (home-made play pen)

You can always flip one over and keep him entertained for quite awhile!

We have done about 2 really bad 'bouts of a cold this winter!

WE {HEART} RHETT!!!

DR. SEUSS pLaYgRoUp!

2011-03-23T07:45:00.001-07:00

March also starts off with one of the kids favorite days...

Dr. Seuss's birthday--READ across America Day!

The kids wear the pj's to school, grab a favorite blanket or animal

and

plead for me to go to breakfast with them (so they can get a prize)

while they eat green eggs and ham and watch a Dr. Seuss movie

while the ones at home always feel a bit neglected in the festivities

WELL...

the last few years playgroup has pulled through for them
and we have our own little playgroup celebration

My favorite "Martha Stewart" friend Cami was in charge of this one, so I knew we would not want to miss it.

They had a good story or two read to them, while they made their Dr. Seuss Hats
We had a WHO FEAST!
with much better green eggs and ham then at the school

Then it was off for a FUN game of catching Thing ONE and Thing TWO...if you wore the red vest (that was cutely decorated) everyone chased you!

HaPpY DAY!

THE PiNeWoOd DeRbY

2011-03-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

The first week of March is always a BUSY one as we prepare for the PINEWOOD DERBY

we had 2 THIS YEAR!

they both placed 2nd place in their division

(not bad for throwing it together last minute)

THANK HEAVENS for GRANDPA S's tools.

What took DAN HOURS last year was done in a matter of minutes with Grandpa's good wood tools.

Sterling opted for a pick up truck (3rd from left, on bottom row-above)

Colton went classic with a few layers of paint

(Colton is 3rd from the left at the bottom-above)

It was a FUN family evening--after spending all day in Prescott getting Dan's knee checked and our car fixed...whew!

NOW on to moving-blah!

EXTRA, EXTRA- READ ALL ABOUT IT!

2011-03-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

(above is Colton doing his speaking part for the veterans day program)

So the last little bit Colton has appeared in the newspaper numerous times.

I thought I would collect em' , scan em', and do a little post for posterity!
(Colton won an art contest for local businesses and he had a complete page write up- here is his picture above)

(Here is his picture that won above)

(this is an explanation of the contest-above)

(Here is Colton getting his picture in the paper shooting at one of his rec basketball games)

(AND , just solely posterity, here is a picture of me in the recreation magazine for classes they offer for aerobics..I know, its sexy)

READ ALL ABOUT IT!

SORRY...We were LATE to church BECAUSE...

2011-03-17T14:25:00.001-07:00

Sorry, if we came in a little late to stake conference and disturbed you

BUT...

it SNOWED for the first time this winter

AND we knew it would be melted when church got out

( as dan says the way snow should be)
SO...we LET the kids play in it for a few before getting in their church clothes

YEAH FOR SNOW!!!!!

WeLcOmE HOME UNCLE B!!!!!

2011-03-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

My youngest brother, Brendon, returned home from his mission to Independence Missouri

(he spent a majority of the time in Kansas-thus the OZ theme for his signs)

In February

Out of 9 siblings in my family-he made the 8th to have served

(my youngest sister may still serve)
Since my oldest children are boys and they are going to have the opportunity to serve,
I feel like it is important for them to have a a good example of someone they love, serving a faithful mission. Since they will not have an older sibling to look up too.
Colton has always been close to my brother-as my brother is closer to the age of Colton then he is to me.
I thought it was important enough to drive 12 hours to and from, for my oldest 2 boys to see him come home from his mission.
So Sterling, Colton, Amberlyn and I took off for a long weekend in California.
and I was grateful we chose it!

On our way to the airport

Patty Play pal was our favorite person to dress up in Dacie's clothes and make a Dorothy sign holder.

Anxiously awaiting Brendon's arrival at the airport at 11:30pm

(we had to wake Sterling up to go)

Just kicking back

and goofing off

He FINALLY made his way down the escalator as one of the LAST people!

Mom gave us the reaction we wanted- ha ha

(2 years is a long time for a mommy)

Colton was absolutely in awe

He was the first one to wait for him

he even got squished between the first hug-as he jumped right in

The whole night my boys just literally looked up to Uncle B and stared

(which they typically do not show allot of emotion that way)

I am so grateful for my brothers righteous example

and for the opportunity we had to welcome him home!

It was a quick weekend of shopping, exercising, luncheons, pictures, homecoming talks, church

BUT we LOVED every minute of it!

WELCOME HOME BROTHER, WELCOME HOME!

THE SPELLING BEE!

2011-03-10T17:29:00.001-08:00

In January Colton briefly mentioned to me "oh yeah, I am in the school spelling bee this week, I won for my class." Luckily we have Cara in town so I could make it happen last minute...AND I am glad I did not miss it!
BECAUSE he won for the whole school!

It is luck of the draw sometimes, but he was SOO HAPPY! and his class did a big cheer for him at the end and his teacher gave him a McD's happy meal. The school gave him and electronic scrabble game

SOOO off to districts we went!

It went to a whole new level there.

Spelling Bee's are SERIOUS stuff!

It is a once in a lifetime experience

They were held in Sedona so we did not have to travel too far

AS many of you know Sedona has ALOT of money in the community...so that means their school facilities are PHENOMENAL

They just built this beautiful auditorium and I was amazed, chandeliers, beds of gems...the works-with a killer view to boot!

Sadly Colton got out on the word "feldspar"

he got confused when he asked for the alternate pronunciation and the "d" went silent.

It was the 2nd round and he tied for 13th place out of 51

Below was a pretty dejected Colton when he got out

NOT bad for a 4th grader competing against 8th graders, home school, private, charter the works!

It was an ALL DAY affair. I was so grateful I got to spend a day with my little man! I was so proud of him. He really really practiced- read the dictionary, went online and did mock spelling bees, we even did it for family home evening, he looked up words and sought out hard words- he did his best!

Aunt Cara made it for the spelling rounds

His saddness over losing was NOTHING a little ICE CREAM could not fix!

COLTON and the BEE!~

Valentines Day in the house!

2011-03-06T21:11:00.000-08:00

Valentines arrived at our house with all the usual LOVE and adoration

We could not decorate as we usually do (because we are attempting to sale or rent our home...and had a open house a few days before), BUT we did NOT forget this special holiday to let each other know we love em'!

We made roughly 90 Valentines between school and family!

A few Days before Valentines arrived we held a playgroup in our back yard
It was titled "Sweet and Simple"
We all brought sugar cookies and I provided the toppings...
We iced and ate and chatted to what proves to be beautiful Arizona winter weather

There was some jumping involved as well.
Would you like some sugar cookie to go with those candy hearts Ryland?
Guess what Rhett's favorite part of the holiday was? SUGAR COOKIES
(we have recently been feeding Rhett ALL KINDS of food-we think we are growing out of his allergies...HURRAY!)
There was the typical small gift and love notes on the table that morning!
Dacie's love notes

Ryland's Love Notes

Rhett's love notes

Dan's Love notes Sterling's Love Notes

Colton's Love Notes We also did the traditional Valentines Bags the Family Home Evening before...where we decorate our own paper bags and leave love notes for each other all week long

Here are some of my LOVE NOTES from the kids

They put allot of thought and creativity into them this year...I LOVED it Here are some of the other contents of my bag

Sterling Wrote the SWEETEST note to Rhett I just had to take a picture of it to document!

Dan also had the day off of work...just because!

That would have been good enough for me,

BUT he gave me breakfast in bed and sent me to get a red pedicure with little hearts

Later, while the kids ate heart shaped pizza with Aunt BooBoo and delivered a Valentines to her "crush"

while Dan and I went and stuffed our faces at one of our favorite Chinese buffets, as we have not done that in a while... I have now lost 22 pounds!

We went to bed with full hearts and tummies

HAPPY LOVE DAY!

5,6,7,8...GO BIG RED!

2011-03-05T13:09:00.000-08:00

One of of my GOOD FRIENDS is the Varsity High School Cheer Coach in town.

for a fundraising activity the squad held cheer camp for one week with a performance at half-time at a girls basketball game that Friday

My friend has girls Dacie's age in preschool, and all I had to do was mention it to Dacie

AND WE WERE IN!
It was ABSOLUTELY her element.
Dacie was one of the very youngest there.
There was not and ounce of fear in performing
and most days she enjoyed going to practice if we did not have to wake her from her nap for it!
I was so IN LOVE

I could have easily ended up with a Tom Boy and I got ALL GIRL!

NOW many of you know I am a SPORTS GIRL

BUT

what you may not know is that I did varsity cheer and competed nationally in my "off-season"

time

SOOO I would LOVE Dacie to be a cool cheerleader (not a silly one)

You can find her performing about anywhere and pretty much anytime she is giving out orders around these parts they always start with

" 5, 6, 7, 8- go clean your room"

It is hilarious

She points out the High School every time we pass it now, as there is my cheer leading class.

She speaks fondly of her short week stint, wish we could afford more!

They did age appropriate dances, and she danced to under the sea, even with a little bum wiggle

and a group ending number to HS musical 2

They also did some group cheers like "WHATS UP...GO BIG RED"

she yelled with all her little might

GO SWEET DACIE!!!!!! WAHOO

4 EYES & BRACE FACE all in ONE YEAR!

2011-03-05T12:37:00.000-08:00

Dan commented to me a few times that I needed to get Colton into the eye doctor because he seemed to struggle while reading sometimes during family scripture and prayer.

Knowing that he LOVES to read and is fine academically...I FINALLY remembered to call and make an appointment.

Sure enough, after a thorough eye exam, Colton is far-sighted (as opposed to me who is extremely near-sighted, and his father who is none) with a slight astigmatism.

I commented how I was not far-sighted nor have any astigmatism, and that Dan has nothing...and the doctor said this very well could be corresponding with his growth spurts and he could very well grow out of it.

Colton thought it was pretty cool to get some glasses. He only needs to wear them for reading, computer, school work type stuff

GLAD we have eye insurance! Dilated Eye

Colton pretty much thought it was super cool to get his eyes dilated...so he snapped himself a few pictures before and after! Un-Dilated Eye

THE FINISHED PRODUCT

our pre-teen son COLTON!

He is our MOST EXPENSIVE child thus far with kidney surgeries, Braces and now glasses. BUT I sure do love him and hate seeing things that make him look so much older!

BLUE & GOLD BANQUET

2011-03-02T14:30:00.000-08:00

Our Cub Pack Troop had their Gold and Blue Banquet In February

the boys decorated a cake with Dan (kinda, I baked, placed and made the icing:)) and auctioned them off to earn money for the troop

I am HAPPY to say Sterling got his BobCat

(maybe we will get quicker with each boy...thanks to a super organized AKELA)

Here is our cake we auctioned
It is so cute to see my 2 boys bringing in the colors and being on a color guard together
(Colton by the American Flag and Sterling by the Cub Scout Flag)

Some of the other cakes that were being auctioned.

Sterling getting his Bobcat award

and US giving him a "round of applause"

Who said Scouts is not fun!!!?

AND then she was....4!!!!!

2011-02-27T20:42:00.000-08:00

Dacie is so LUCKY to be surrounded with a darling group of girls her age

One of our HaPpIeSt celebrations in January is our families "only girl" and Princess

DACIE ANN!

This year she turned 4?!!!

I turn around and see the little women she is and cannot believe it!

SINCE it was an EVEN birthday...she got to have a "friend" party this year

Tangled was her chosen theme!

(I got most my help from supermom moments blog, so I can hardly take much credit for this fun)

THE INVITES!!!

THE FOOD

Since her birthday included LUNCH and CAKE

we had some YUM:

sailboat jello/orange treats (below)~like the one they rode out on the lake to watch the lanterns, grapes, little hot dogs, chips

THE DECORATIONS

which included solid colored table setting (with tangled stickers on the cups...much cheaper)

A tangled braid on the front and back of the door

(that fellow pokeno gals helped me braid until midnight the night before)

BANNERS, BANNERS everywhere.

The town always went all out for Rapunzel's birthday...so did we!

AND LANTERNS too! THE GAMES

as Party favors to go home, we sprayed lanterns with twinkly paint, glued on some tangled suns, and lit them with a battery operated candle!

We colored some Tangled Pictures while we arrived

We had FUN making Rapunzel's pet friend chameleon out of party blowers!

AND WE BRAIDEDJust like Rapunzel got her hair braided in the towns square by cute little girls

MY DEDICATED momma friends came over and helped braid EVERY party go-ers HAIR with flowers included!

THE CAKE and PRESENTS

It was a HAPPY SUCCESS!

HER REAL BIRTH DAY!on the actual day of her birth, we celebrated simply with family Dacie has been asking FOREVER for SHIMMERS in her hair for her birthday...so we broke down and went and got a few We were going to make and ice Tangled SUN sugar COOKIES for her party...but I ordered the cookie cutter too late So we had COOKIES instead of cake that evening!

As if a table full of presents was not enough (we only let her open one a day)

We added a few more presents to the mix. Above she is playing with one of her favorites...the leap frog scribble and write pad from mom and dad.

I SLOWED down a little bit that day to take her to Carls JR. for the, traditional birthday happy meal lunch
&

To paint her toes a much anticipated Rapunzel purple that she had been begging me to do all week.

I am IN LOVE and am certainly grateful we get to CeLeBrAtE our DACIE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY my sweet little girl!!!!

A BRAND NEW YEAR!

2011-02-22T13:32:00.000-08:00

The Church comes out with a NEW YOUTH THEME every year

and when that happens it falls under a program called

"A BRAND NEW YEAR"

Our stake turns it into a winter youth conference type event.

This year was NO DIFFERENT

with me being in my favoritest calling ever (shh! don't tell)

as 2nd counselor in the stake Young Women's
I get to help plan and run the event!

This year our service included picking up some older singles in our area and having dinner with them.

I spent most my time in the kitchen cooking, but got to come out and serve food and visit with my good buddy Verona
Then the youth taught them some line dances

AND the older singles taught the youth how to polka

AND partner dance

There was also GAMES

A little "missionary" tag

AnD... MINUTE TO WIN IT games

AND Each ward MADE THEIR OWN MORMON AD VIDEO

(which some were submitted to SLC via You Tube)

We came up with some spoofy OSCARS for each

It was a GREAT EVENT!!!

I LOVE to SiNg!

2011-02-22T13:06:00.000-08:00

(please excuse all the "devil eyes" in the pictures)

Sterling L-O-V-E-S school. I cannot tell you the number of times he has told me that he would rather be there then at home (that can be a little disheartening to hear as a mom).

BUT he THRIVES on schedules, calendars, reading and learning

BUT

what you might not know is he LOVES music too!

He ALWAYS follows the choir teachers directions precisely and stands with his arms straight to his sides, does the movements to the song with exactness. It is quite humurous and touching to see how serious he takes his assignments from school.
He also has a GREAT memory and when given a speaking part he memorizes quickly. In fact, they switched his part to a much larger one the day before the performances, because he could "handle" it and get it done.

Just because he loves it does not mean he does NOT get NERVOUS (above) nor does it mean he runs away from the microphone always on his last word!

BUT WE {HEART} his enthusiasm and faces

We have so many things he could be in this world...maybe music will be one of them

He is now begging us for piano lessons!

SING ON little MAN, SING ON!

100th DAY of SCHOOL!

2011-02-22T12:41:00.001-08:00

For the 100th Day of SCHOOL

the KINDERGARTNERS always

GO ALL OUT!

The only TAKE HOME PROJECT they have all year is to make a poster

with 100 items

Grouping them by 10's

AND being creative

Colton did 10 kinds of cereals (10 groups of 10)

Sterling did 10 kinds of pastas (10 groups of 10)
AND RYLAND did...
100 hot wheels race cars (with real live pictures of daddy's collection)
That they turned into racing flags!

It was a fun project for them to do together....

at least Dan could show off his "collection" right?

HAPPY 100 DAY OF SCHOOL!

Christmas in PHOENIX

2011-02-07T15:33:00.001-08:00

SO THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS we hurried and packed a family of 5 to head down to PHOENIX for a SORENSEN FAMILY PHOTO SHOOT.

This was Dawnsters Christmas Plea...I am always a BIG fan of GREAT PICTURES!

(Luckily, Russ Married a professional SELENA!)

so I was willing to make the sacrifice of packing and gathering our entire clan during the holiday chaos to get down to the valley

We also headed down to the valley so that Dan could get his torn miniscus (3 tears) repaired.

We used all our holiday vacation days for him to have surgery and post-op healing.

The sexy gown and stockings!

Dan's pre-surgery shaved and pretty knee

Dan's post-op bruised and "dr. signed" knee

I was so ready for a traumatic recovery with me taking on allot of responsibility. BUT Dan was so BRAVE. I think he took 2 pain pills the whole recovery and was walking on it the very day.

He now faithfully attends the gym daily and rehabs it. The swelling did cause him to lose allot of muscle, but it feels much better then it did!

SOOO while we stayed down there we made a holiday of it!

We had a Sorensen Family Talent Show for Family Home Evening.

Colton played the guitar

The girl cousins did a whirling, swirling, twirling dance dressed as princesses.

Ryland break danced all over the family room floor

Sterling played the piano

I showed the picture video I had made of Sterling's life for his baptism earlier that month

People SURVIVE Phoenix Summers for their winters

we got quite a few days of happy weather (before a serious cold front swept in)

so we played at the neighborhood park before Dan became a "gimp".

Rhett was out of sorts on and off the entire vacation. I thought it might be because of sleeping arrangements...BUT we returned to Cottonwood with 5 NEW TEETH!

Colton got plenty of play time on his new Santa remote control car.

We made the classic graham cracker gingerbread houses.Sterling's gingerbread house

Ryland's "HI" house (check out the fence)

Mom's patriotic masterpiece-with a fire in the frontLola's Lovely

Dacie's Cute cottage

(we don't have a picture of Colton's house because he promptly ATE IT!)

We celebrated NEWY YEARS as wellwith a firecracker show from Grandpa's stash...

the boys stayed up until midnight and then we ran outside to join the entire neighborhood for more firecrackers and NOISE!

(can you tell who did not like the LOUD firecrackers?)

IT WAS a GREAT DESERT RETREAT!

....now back to the daily grind!

Haul out the HoLLy!!!

2011-02-02T15:28:00.000-08:00

I have a cute cousin who takes pictures of her holiday decor. I thought that was a great idea...so I snapped a few photos of some around our house. I did not realized how much i missed....but you can get the drift from other photos!
I LOVE Christmas Time and all the decor that comes with it.

Christmas Part 2: Christmas Day!

2011-02-02T12:38:00.001-08:00

Christmas Morning is always so much more anticipated and magic with little children at home

We LOVE IT!
There was the well thought out notes written to Santa in school and a few at home!
&
Buddy The Red Elf's appearances to give Santa progress reports of the kids behavior

Christmas Morning we always just take our time going through one present at a time and exploring a few of them-My heart is happiest just enjoying others reactions to their gifts and seeing the thoughts and ideas others had for them.Its the BEST!

OF COURSE, we video the kids waking up Christmas morning...very little surpasses their first glimpse of Christmas morning!

Santa hit the nail on the head for Rhett's stocking this year...

a sound stick, teething ring, and new pacifier clip with his name on it!

He is SOOO SMART!

I am soo glad we have one girl around these parts. She very much fills the princess, pink Barbie order for gifts...I LOVE watching all the cool girl things!

Dan won this bear in a slot machine grabber game MONTHS ago. All the kids voted to give it to the baby~ they felt he was old enough to finally enjoy it at Christmas. What do you think?

You could tell that Rhett approved of his gifts by how quickly they ended up in his mouth!

Of Course, we spend a majority of the rest of the day playing with our gifts...

and cleaning up the morning aftermath!

Playing some new wii games in the garage/toy room

CHRISTMAS DINNER is always a great closing chapter to a perfect day

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL...HECK YES!

Christmas Part I

2011-01-27T10:56:00.001-08:00

Of Course Christmas-Time is one of our favorite times as a family!
We did our traditional Christmas Nativity Pageant for Christmas Eve
(L to R bottom: Ryland the Donkey, Dacie as Mary, Big John as Joseph, Rhett as Baby Jesus, Sterling as a wise man, Colton as a king-fu wise man
L to R top: Dan the angel, Cara as the shepherds
Not pictured: Mom as the narrator)

We rang the bell for Salvation Army one warm evening as a family, all adorned in Christmas hats and all!

Saw some beautiful sunrises

Had church parties and programs to get us in the mood

Just Relaxed & Hung Out!

AND goofed off

AND ate

Had Sleepovers under the tree with friends

(Ryland filled his jar and had his friend Ashton sleep over as a reward)

Made Grandma Roth Sugar Cookies

and sweets and presents we delivered to friends

This is probably my favorite picture from Christmas...Cara was so "afraid" of the angel of the Lord.

The angel

Caroling and a Family Home Evening at the "light house" show in Cornville

Our holidays lacked nothing

We were happy!