The Sorensen's

Baby Mac

2011-11-02T20:28:00.000-07:00

I can't believe this, but my little sister is now a Mom!! This is the weirdest concept, but it's true. Lori and Ryan are proud parents to MacKay Ryan Beckstrom who was born on July 14th and the coolest part was that I was in Utah when he was born. That hasn't happened for awhile. Here are some pictures of us visiting the hospital. I love baby Mac and I'm so happy for Lori and Ryan!!

Sienna's first birthday!!

2011-11-02T13:18:00.002-07:00

Sienna is one year old!!! I can't believe how fast her first year of life went! I was so excited to have her birthday party in Utah where we could have all our family there. It was a big party! We went to Nelson Grove park for a polka dot party. I made a banner and pink lemonade cupcakes. We opened presents, played games and loved hanging out with everyone. It was so fun.

Sienna is such a funny little girl. She is very stubborn and knows what she wants. She says a few words very well, like thank you and mama, but communicates by nodding yes or no for everything. She doesn't like vegetables, but she loves cheese, yogurt and apples. She loves her treats, especially suckers. She is a very good sleeper, taking two naps a day and going to bed at 8. She is a mama's girl and also loves her brother. When Aiden isn't around, she gets very lonely. She loves books and being silly with Aiden. She loves music and dancing. She loves shoes and dressing up and getting her hair done. She also doesn't mind getting dirty, unlike her brother. It has been so fun to see her personality grow as she learns and develops. We love Sienna so much!!!

Wilson Crew

2011-11-02T13:17:00.001-07:00

I love going home. I love the excitement of seeing everyone after such a long time away. I love seeing every one of my nieces and nephews and how much they have changed and grown since I saw them last. I love seeing my sisters because I miss them so much being so far away. I love seeing my parents. I love the smells and the familiarity of it all, even after a few months. There is nothing better than seeing Aiden reunite with his cousins. They are so excited to see each other.

We got to visit Utah for a few weeks before we were meeting up with Trent's family for a reunion in Island Park, ID. It was such a great time. We had play dates, went swimming, went out to eat, hiked to Stewart Falls, met our new nephew MacKay, had a wedding shower for my cousin, got my hair done by the best beautician ever (Amy. NO one can color my hair like she can), went to Seven Peaks, watched baseball games and had Sienna's first birthday party. As usual, it was a lot of things packed in to a short amount of time, but it was so great. I love being home.

America the Beautiful

2011-11-02T13:16:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, my favorite holiday. I LOVE the 4th of July!!! This year we hung out with our "Texas" family, the Hickson's. We have gone there for the past few years because we love them and their parties. We went to their house for swimming, bbqing, eating and hanging out. I made homemade ice cream for everyone and we all filled up on bbq and other tasty dishes. We had a blast swimming. Sienna got into an ant pile and got bit all over her feet and legs, but didn't even cry. I thought she was covered in mud from stepping on the grass, but they were ants. Thank goodness they have a shower, so I just rushed her over and rinsed her off. I hate ants. They are one of the worst things about Texas.

After a big day of eating and swimming we came home, gave the kids naps, and headed back out for fireworks at a park near our house. As we were leaving, we had the misfortune of backing up into a mailbox and shattering our back window. I was leaving for Utah in two days so I had to get that replaced the next day. Not the way to go out with a bang. Even so, I love this holiday. I love the traditions we do every year and the new ones we make along the way.

Summer Time and The Livin is Easy

2011-11-02T12:50:00.000-07:00

It's no secret how much I love summer. It is the best time of the year, the time when I am happiest and this summer was no exception. We went swimming every day, sometimes twice a day. That's pretty much all you can do to burn some energy when Texas is going through a heat wave. It was a very hot summer. I think we set a record for the number of days over 100 degrees..70 days. That's crazy. But you aren't going to hear me complaining. Our days consisted of swim lessons (for two weeks), swimming, lunch, naps, and cleaning house, dinner and the occasional coaching. It was great. Aiden has become quite the swimmer, moving up a couple of classes in his swim lessons and he still wasn't that challenged, but it was fun for him. Here are some random pics of summer living.

Father's Day!!

2011-11-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

I love Father's Day! It is such a great reminder of the wonderful Father's and Grandfather's in my life. I am so grateful for my dad, who is my hero. I look up to him so much. He is the greatest and I'm so glad my kids will get to know him and how awesome he is. I am also so grateful for Trent's dad. He is such a great example of how to live and be selfless. He has raised the greatest father, Trent and I love him for it.

This year for Father's Day, I made Trent his favorite dinner of roast and mashed potatoes and rolls. We hung out as a family, took naps and just enjoyed our time together. Trent is such an amazing father. He loves his kids so much! He gets so excited to tell me stories about them and is never put out by them. He helps me so much and is such a hands on dad. He truly loves spending time with me and the kids and has made that a priority. I appreciate him so much. I don't know how I could do it without him. He comes home from work and starts cleaning or helping take care of the kids without me ever having to ask. He is the greatest husband and father and we are so lucky to have him. We love you!

Happy Birthday to me!

2011-11-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

The big 27! I had an awesome birthday this year. Trent let me sleep in, and then made me an awesome breakfast. We went to lunch at one of my favorite pizza places with Todd and Abby and then went swimming. That night we went on a date. We went out to eat with Hugh and Caitlin and saw the movie Thor. Such a great day filled with good food and people I love. Later, we had a party so I could keep on with the tradition of having chicken fajitas and homemade strawberry ice cream every year for my birthday. Trent made me a delicious cake. He is the Best! Here's to another great year!

Gymnastics

2011-11-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

We signed Aiden up for gymnastics class at the Little Gym for some much needed release of energy during the cold months. He loved it and it was really good for him to learn to focus and listen to instructions. Most of the time he thought it was just a race with the other boys to see who could accomplish the routine the fastest, but by the end of the classes he was doing much better. They did a little performance for the parents and Aiden did so well, it was fun to see him perform what he had learned.

Easter

2011-08-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to have Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen come visit and help us watch the kids while we had a couple club tournaments. We had a tournament here in Dallas over Easter, but thankfully we still made it to church and got to take some Easter pictures. While they were here we also dyed Easter eggs, had an Easter egg hunt, went bowling, went to the zoo, made a Costco run, ate lots of blue bell ice cream, watched movies, exercised and had a great time. Grandpa is the best handyman ever and fixes everything in my apartment. We all loved having Grandma and Grandpa here and were sad when they had to leave. Thank you for everything!! We love you!

Bluebonnets

2011-05-23T15:22:00.000-07:00

Here I go!! Time to catch up with what we have been doing all summer! I can't believe it is over, school has started, vacations are over, but the temps are still over 100 in Texas. I am almost ready for it to cool down, but we are still loving the pool. Bear with me until I get caught up. My old and slow computer and my terrible internet are the main contributors to my blogging absence. I'll try to do better.

In April we went with our friend's Abby and Todd to Ennis, Texas. We found some amazing bluebonnets, the state flower of Texas, and tried to get some family pictures. The light wasn't the greatest, and of course the kids were crazy, but the flowers were beautiful. Go Texas. Here are a few of our favorites.

Aiden is 3!!

2011-05-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

Aiden's Birthday was on March 3rd, so we had a little party for him. He was so excited about it. We did almost an exact repeat of last year, except I made cupcakes instead of a cake. We had a Toy Story theme, bought chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-a, and had veggies and juice. We ate, opened presents, played at the park and then had birthday cupcakes. It was a fun day for Aiden. He loves his friends so much and wants to play with them all the time.

That night for dinner we let Aiden choose what he wanted for dinner and he chose cheeseburgers! We went to Mooyah's and then came home and opened presents from Trent and I. He got some rain boots, a board game, a Sit n Spin and Monsters Inc.

We love Aiden so much. He has turned into quite a talker. He talks all the time, still has so much energy and is so fun. He is a great older brother and loves Sienna so much. He never lets her take a nap or go to bed without giving her a hug and a kiss. He helps me so much around the house and with Sienna. He has gotten very good at picking up his toys and tells me often that the house is messy and we need to clean it up. His favorite foods are strawberries with whipped cream, honey nut cheerios, string cheese and ice cream. He is very inquisitive and asks questions about everything. He is very independent and can do most things by himself. He loves telling me his schedule and likes to know what's going on. He loves to go to the park, the zoo, the library, gymnastics and play with his friends. He still loves wrestling with whoever he can get his hands on. He always tells me that I'm beautiful, his best friend and that he loves me so much. He is really building up my self esteem. I don't know what I would do without him, I am so grateful for Aiden!!

Grandma visits!!

2011-04-05T20:11:00.000-07:00

Trent and I had a club tournament in Omaha over President's Day. We were so excited that Grandma Sorensen came to visit and watch the kids, especially since we hadn't seen her since before she left on her mission 18 months ago. We had a great time with her going to Costco, the park, the zoo, playing games, visiting and eating lots of great food. The kids loved having their Grandma here and we didn't want to see her go. She is coming for another visit next week so I guess we can't complain too much.

New Car!

2011-04-05T19:56:00.000-07:00

We got a new car!! Not a car to be specific, but a van... yes I said minivan. I was one of those people who said I would rather die than drive a minivan when I get older. I also said my babies would never have bald spots... and that happened too. So here I am.

Being married to a very frugal, economical and thrifty man, there really was no arguing that a van was the best choice for us. The most car for the least money. I have to say that it isn't so bad. I actually really like it. I like the power doors on both sides and I like that I have lots of room for all the crap I haul around. Just so happened that I found it on Valentines day and it is a red Honda Odyssey, so we call it is our Valentine Van or Van of Love. Ha ha. I'm just glad to have a car of my own!

Poor Baby!

2011-04-05T19:42:00.000-07:00

When we got home from Utah in January, Sienna wasn't a very happy baby. I took her into the doctor where we learned she had double ear infections and RSV. I was so glad I took her in when I did. She had lots of medications for about 10 days, including breathing treatments. She got to the point where she actually liked them, probably because of the steam and the noise. I am glad we don't have to do those all the time. I am very thankful for my healthy baby!

Christmas Pictures

2011-02-04T12:28:00.001-08:00

I know..It is February, but I am catching up slowly. Here are some pictures from our Christmas spent in Utah. It was so fun to see family and do our favorite traditions. We went sledding, decorated sugar cookies and played games at the Headricks, saw the lights at temple square, had our traditional Christmas Eve Chinese food and opened Christmas Eve pajamas. We had such a great Christmas and got spoiled as usual. It was a great holiday. I was hoping this would be a record number of pictures for one post. There are a lot!

Aiden and Erica

Abby(11 months) and Sienna(5 months)

Aiden, Parker and Kylie

A football is a great present!

Smooshing her cheeks is really easy.

Christmas Pajamas

Aiden in Sienna's walker

All the women after our Chinese Food feast

Wilson girls

Ha ha, Jason loved sitting on Santa's lap

Everyone's reaction after Ryan announced that Lori is pregnant!

Mike and Abby

Carter and Tanner

Cameron and Kari

Steve and Parker

Grandma Startup

Thayne and Lola

Taylor, Aiden and Kenzie

Ready to decorate cookies

Sorensen Family party

Our best family picture at temple square

Steve and Andrea

Aiden and Paige

Thankful

2011-01-18T14:36:00.001-08:00

This Christmas we went to Utah to be with my family. We decided to drive to save money and we could also take a lot more with us, namely presents for the kids and the family. We left on the 17th of December, later in the day than planned, of course. We left our house around 1:00 and planned on staying in Albuquerque that night and driving the rest of the way Saturday. Trent and I took turns driving, stopping once at a rest stop and once for dinner.

I was driving when it started snowing in New Mexico. I didn't really think much of it, but after about an hour, the visibility started getting worse and I could tell it was icy. We were about an hour outside of Albuquerque when I hit black ice going faster than I should have and I panicked. I over corrected a bit and we slid off the road facing traffic, onto a hill and almost flipped the car. I was so scared and so grateful that the car hadn't flipped. Everyone was okay and there was a tow truck literally across the street finishing pulling someone else out of the snow. They came over, pulled us out and we were back on the road. I made Trent drive after this, we were both scared and it was still snowing. We both talked about how careful we needed to be, we had a nice scare.

Trent was driving in the right lane on a two lane highway. Cars were flying past us in very scary conditions, but we were being super careful because of what had just happened. He was going 25-30 mph max. All of the sudden we hit more black ice and felt our back end start to flip us around so we were head on with oncoming traffic in the left lane. I remember so distinctly what happened next, it was like everything was in slow motion. I saw the headlights of a semi truck right in front of us and remember thinking that we were going to die. I just thought of my kids and how I didn't want them to get hurt. The truck hit us almost head on, but Trent got most of the impact on the drivers side corner. Our airbags went off, both kids woke us screaming bloody murder because of the sound and I remember being thrown back and not being able to open my eyes for a long time. I looked around and asked Trent if he was okay and he asked me the same question. I remember seeing blood on Trent's neck, but I was most concerned for the kids. I started getting Sienna out of her seat and Trent was standing outside the car, in a daze. He was probably in shock, but I yelled to him to get Aiden and that snapped him out of it. The ambulance was there in a few minutes and we went through all the tests, answered all their questions and made sure everyone was alright.

Trent got the worst of the injuries which were minor for the accident we were in. Aiden's DVD player flew up and cut the back of his head, he got burns on his face from the airbag and his left leg got smashed so he had some big bruises on the bottom half of his leg. Aiden hit his head and got a black eye and some bruises from the shoulder straps on his seat. I had some bruises, but nothing major. Sienna was completely fine. I couldn't believe that we made it out with such minimal injuries. I know that we were blessed and I am so grateful to my heavenly father that we were all okay.

We didn't know anyone in Albuquerque that could come pick us up, and the roads were being closed so the firemen and EMT's gave up their beds for us at the fire station. They were absolutely some of the best people I have ever met and did everything they could to help us. We didn't have food, diapers, phone chargers and most of our things were still in our van. The next day we got a ride with a friend of Trent's sister and brother in law and had to figure out what to do from there. We were coordinating tow trucks, rental car companies, airline tickets, picking up our things from our car and trying to entertain Aiden and Sienna. It was a crazy and stressful day and we are so grateful to Jana and Henry for letting us use their house and running us around like they did.

We finally decided to rent a car to get to Utah. We rented the biggest, safest car they had and packed up ALL our stuff and made it to Cortez CO that night just as it started snowing again. We drove the rest of the way on Sunday. It was one of the longest trips of our lives. I remember saying a prayer about a minute before we slid off the road the first time that we would be safe. I don't know if I have prayed so much in my life. I don't think I can express how thankful I am that we were all safe. I love my family so much and they are absolutely the most important thing in the world. I hope I can remember this experience and always put things in the proper perspective. I know it could have been a lot worse than it was I am so grateful that it wasn't. As you can see our van was totalled, so if you have any info on a nice used car, send it our way.

The drivers side

We cut out the passenger airbag to hold some extra things.

This is the view from the front of the car. We slid 40 yards or so.

Happy Halloween

2010-11-05T14:23:00.000-07:00

This year for Halloween Aiden wanted to be Buzz Lightyear, so I decided that the whole family should dress up as Toy Story characters. Trent was Woody, I was Jessie and Sienna was the pig. I didn't realize that because Halloween fell on a Sunday, we wouldn't have that many opportunities to wear our costumes, so I spent a lot of money and time on costumes we wore for 2 hours. Oh well, at least we got some pictures and memories.

We went to our ward's trunk or treat on Saturday night. Aiden was loving the candy and was very polite saying thank you to each person. At one point, he even started passing out his own candy to the other kids. Sometimes he is such a sweetheart. We got to hang out with Danny and Sandy for a while before we watched the Halloween classic, Hocus Pocus.

Sunday we invited our friend Jennifer and her two boys over for our Halloween dinner of homemade chicken noodle soup and hot dog "mummies." I made some candy corn cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes. It was a great holiday! We hope you all had a good Halloween!

To infinity and beyond!!

At the trunk or treat

Aiden and Tanner

You got a friend in me! Woody and Buzz

The whole gang

Danny and Sandy

The Pumpkin Farm

2010-11-03T15:13:00.001-07:00

Last Friday night we went to a little place called the Pumpkin Farm. It was so cute. There was a corn maze, playground, hayrides and lots of photo ops. We let Aiden pick out his own pumpkin and walked around enjoying ourselves and being together as a family. It was a great night.

Whodi Reunion & CA trip

2010-10-28T15:36:00.001-07:00

We got to go on an amazing trip to California to see family and have a reunion with all of Trent's college roommates. We went for ten days at the end of September. We went to Palmdale for 4 days and had a blast hanging out with Todd and Jessica and Brayden. Then we were lucky enough to stay in Corona del Mar at Molly's parent's house right on the beach. It was such a fun trip. We went to Disneyland, took surfing lessons, had a bonfire, hung out at the beach and ate a lot of good food. It was so fun to see everyone and we had amazing weather the whole time we were there.

We also got to see Casey and Lexi and Catherine and Brad for a little bit, but stupidly forgot to take any pictures. It was so great to see so many people we love and haven't seen forever. Here are a bunch of pictures in random order.

Chunky!

2010-10-13T14:19:00.001-07:00

We have one chunky baby! At her two month checkup(she was 2 1/2 months) she weighed 16 lbs 4 oz and was 25 inches long!! She is in the 95 percentile for both weight and height. She is one healthy girl and is growing really fast. It makes me sad because my baby is not little anymore.

I wanted to see how big Aiden was at this age, so I was looking at older blog posts and was shocked to find that at his 9 month checkup he was 15 lbs 14 oz. That is crazy. I have pretty much polar opposites for children. We can't figure out exactly who she looks like either. Her hair looks reddish in the light, so she did get that from Trent. All I know is that I love this sweet baby girl so much!!!

Lori's visit

2010-09-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of updating to do! Lori came to visit us at the end of August, I was so excited to have her here. We had tons of fun. We went to the Fort Worth Zoo, worked out, went swimming, played games, went shopping and ate barbecue. We had so much fun, I almost didn't let her leave. I'm so happy she came, Love you Lori!

We blessed Sienna on the 29th of August. I was so glad that at least one family member, Lori, could be there. Caitlin and Hugh and our Tejas family came, so we were very grateful to have them there. Trent gave her a beautiful blessing, he did such a good job. We love Sienna so much and are so glad she is a part of our family.

Monkeys!

Elephants!

Aiden's awesome new face

Breakfast for Dinner

Let's Wrestle

The whole crew after the blessing

The ladies

The gents

Family Picture

Sisters!

Lately

2010-08-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how quickly time passes when you don't want it to. When I did want time to go quickly, it dragged on and on. Now that I want it to slow down, it is rushing by. I can't believe my baby girl is 3 weeks old. I don't even know what I have done for the past 3 weeks, but I do know I have some pictures.

My Mom came to help the night before I was induced. She was such a lifesaver. She cooked dinner every night, cleaned, did my laundry like only she can, went grocery shopping for me, watched Aiden, watched Sienna and helped us in every way possible. I loved having her here and haven't cooked since she left. I am in denial. My Dad got here on Sunday and they both stayed til Saturday morning. It was so fun having them here, even if we weren't that exciting. Aiden loved having Dad around so they could wrestle. The boys also went to a Rangers game, went swimming and we all went to Babe's for some southern cooking. Thank you so much for coming, I love you guys!

Since they have been gone I have been adjusting to life with two kids. We have watched lots of movies, taken lots of naps and let housework and all other responsibilities take a back seat. We had a nice incident that involved Me, Sienna, and projectile poop, I will let you see the pictures for details. Aiden got a cold/cough and I did my best to prevent her from getting sick. It didn't work, she got sick anyway, but it hasn't been too bad. Sienna is such a great baby. If all big babies are this good, I hope all my babies are big. She eats really well, sleeps a ton and started sleeping through the night at 9 days. She has woken up once or twice, but I usually put her down around midnight and she sleeps til 7. I am pretty lucky, I know. I am loving life and trying to enjoy every moment along the way.

Sienna Ray

2010-07-22T05:49:00.000-07:00

Our little girl is here! Sienna Ray Sorensen weighed 8 lbs 15 oz and was 21 inches long. We can't believe how much hair she has, it was a shock to see. She is so beautiful, we are so happy she is here and part of our family. I will post more about how things went later, just wanted to get some pictures up for everyone to see. Love you all and thank you for all your messages and support.

By the time Aiden got to the hospital he was passed out. He slept for an 1.5 before he got to meet his sister.

These pictures are from day 2

Aiden loves giving "Nenna" kisses and wants to hold her all by himself

Being soft

Being born in July, she is already very patriotic.

Fourth Festivities

2010-07-14T08:20:00.000-07:00

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays, tied with Christmas. I was so excited that we got to spend it with family in Utah this year, and it was even better because we got 3 days to celebrate. On Saturday we got up to see the hot air balloons take off and went to Molly's for breakfast afterward. Trent and Ryan decided to play in the volleyball tournament in Park City so Lori, Aiden and I went to watch for a while. Saturday night was Stadium of FIRE!!!! My favorite. This year was so good. Carrie Underwood was amazing. We decided not to take Aiden because it was so late and he wouldn't really remember it, so it was a relaxing, fun night for us.

Sunday was a low key day. We hung out with family, made sure we were all packed and played games. Monday we went to the parade and then had our Startup family lunch. It was great to see everyone and eat some good food. Our flight left at 5 on Monday, so we had to cut it short, but it was a great holiday. I love the 4th!!!

Sisterss!!!

2010-07-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

We had a sister's dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Pizzeria 712. It was great to be able to eat and talk without all the distractions we usually have. I love my sisters so much. I promise we didn't color coordinate our outfits, we just all think alike. Great food and better company. Love you all!

A typical Sunday afternoon

2010-07-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about going to Utah is the family dinners we have on Sundays. I love having all of my family together. We eat fantastic food, the kids play together and we have a great time. Here are some pics from our most recent visit.

Big Boy Bed

2010-07-06T15:49:00.001-07:00

Aiden has made the switch from his crib to a big boy bed!! It really is a big bed. We were debating selling our extra queen to get him a toddler bed, but we decided to keep it so people have somewhere to stay when they come visit. So Aiden's first bed is a queen (he is a little spoiled) I found some cute bedding at Target on sale and he has been loving it, we haven't had any problems with him getting out. So far so good on changes. We will see how he handles this next big one. I am due in 2 weeks 6 days!!

More travels

2010-06-17T16:43:00.000-07:00

I got to visit Utah for a couple of weeks at the end of May. It was so great to see friends and family and spend some quality time with them. I got there on the 19th and we had our annual ELK reunion the 20 & 21st. My family watched Aiden so I could get in some quality girl time. Friday we went and got pedicures and then made a fantastic dinner of bleu cheeseburgers and homemade rosemary Parmesan potato chips. Pretty awesome. We stayed up talking, reminiscing and laughing until early in the morning. I realized how much I miss and love my friends. It is such an amazing bond that we have and I truly cherish and am grateful for our amazing friendships.

Saturday morning we got massages. One of my favorite things in the world. The rest of the day we went to the Gateway and shopped and then had Thai food for dinner. One of our favorite discoveries was the Sweet toothfairy bakery. They have some amazing treats. I think I stopped there 4 times while in Utah. I love my ELK girls, I'm sad Kristin didn't get to come this year. We missed you! I don't have any pictures, but it was a great weekend. Can't wait til next year!

We celebrated Amy's, Emma's and my birthday while we were there, that meant we got some amazing food. I got to see old friends, hang out with Erica, Lauren, Taylor and all of our family. One of the best things that happened was a surprise from Trent. I was getting my hair done in the basement and Ryan came down the stairs followed by another person. Out of my peripheral, I couldn't tell who it was, until I turned and looked. Trent had totally surprised me and flew out to hang out for the week. It was so great to have him there. We went on bike rides almost everyday, played lots of beach(Trent) and ate great food. I am so glad I could be home for my birthday. My mom and dad spoiled me with my favorite meal of all time...Chicken fajitas and homemade strawberry ice cream. It truly was a feast. I am so happy we get to go back in a week one more time before our baby girl comes.

Pot Roast Recipe?

2010-06-17T10:57:00.000-07:00

To all you fantastic cooks out there, I need some help. Trent's favorite meal is roast with mashed potatoes, carrots and homemade rolls. I have made this before, but haven't found any recipes that I absolutely love. If any of you have awesome recipes for any of these things please help me out with a recipe. Thanks!!

Hey, What Happened?

2010-06-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

I know it has been for.ev.er! Like I told Lori last night, I have been busy. I apologize right now for my lack of pictures. I need to start taking my camera everywhere I go. I don't have very many pictures to go with these stories, but here they are. A lot has been happening lately, I will give a little run down. I started traveling at the beginning of May and it seems like I didn't stop until a week ago. I went to the Ellen mother's day show in California on May 8th and stayed at Lexi and Casey's house. It was amazing, we got some sweet stuff like a stroller, diaper bag, and 6 months supply of diapers just to name a few. Thanks to Lex who pretty much made that whole thing happen.

Next it was back Texas with Casey, Lexi and Cash. The club Trent and I work for had Casey and his partner, Kevin, to come out to give a beach clinic and of course I worked it out so Lexi could come too! We stayed in Bedford for the weekend, then headed to Austin on Sunday. We got to spend some quality time with Johnny Brown and his family, who of course showed us a good time. There were lots of games played (including a dangerous game of Risk which almost caused Trent and I to get a divorce) and a good 5 lbs worth of food eaten. That really happened. We went to 2 barbeque joints, the latter had the most amazing barbeque sauce I have ever had. Then we went to a burger place called Mighty Fine. It was so amazing, the best burger and milkshake I have ever had. We had a great time in Austin.

We left to come back on Tuesday morning because Casey and Lexi had a flight to catch around 3. On the way home our car was overheating, so we didn't use the a/c. Needless to say it was pretty miserable and hot. Lexi and I had the most beautiful windblown hair from driving on the freeway with our windows down. Finally we stopped in Waco (half way home) and discovered that we had a crack in our radiator and had to get it fixed. We had quite the dilemma to see what Casey and Lexi could do, but eventually they changed their flights and we waited out the car repair at an unsuspecting mexican restaurant down the street. Casey and Lexi stayed with us another week. It was so much fun having them here. Lexi and I worked out, cooked, shopped and hung out all week and Trent and Casey coached, played and worked out together. It was great. With the exception of Aiden beating Cash up every chance he could, the week couldn't have been better and we loved having them here.

Baby Cash

Everyone hanging at Johnny's house

Cash hating his bath with Aiden

Happy boys at Costco

Our first trip to the ER

2010-04-13T07:31:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago, Wednesday, was an eventful day. Coming home from my club team's tournament in Baltimore, I picked Aiden up in Utah and then flew back to Texas. My flight got in at 4:45 and I had club practice at 5:30. I went straight there and then with about 10 minutes left, one of my mom's came running up saying I had to go, that Aiden busted up his nose. So I grabbed my stuff and ran out the door. This is what I saw..

He was playing at the gym and bounced off a exercise ball into the wall and somehow cut his nose on a pole or a screw. I don't really know how it happened. From there we drove to Fort Worth to the Children's Hospital so they could stitch him up. We waited for 4 hours and then, luckily, a plastic surgeon was finishing up a case so he came and stitched him up. All I can say is thank goodness for the portable dvd player. He was held down about 3 times that night, once for his iv and twice while he was sedated and being stitched up. He did not like that. It is always hard to see your child in pain, but we were glad to get him taken care of.

He got his stitches out last Monday, he did pretty well. We get to be very careful in the sun this summer to prevent it from scarring even more. I am pretty impressed with how it looks, you can barely even see it, hopefully it stays that way.

The BIG 2

2010-03-08T15:38:00.000-08:00

I just got back from the doctor for Aiden's 2 year checkup. Of course I wasn't surprised to find out that he is 37.5 inches tall and 31 lbs. That means he is 99% for height and 90% for weight. He is a big boy, is anyone really surprised? Here are more pictures of what he has been up to lately.

Loving the Elmo blanket Grandma sent for his birthday

He loves playing in the clothes hamper with, of course, no clothes on

A great new spot just his size is the cupboard in our bathroom

I think he is growling like a shark?

At the Dallas Aquarium

Copying Daddy

Playing the piano

Happy Day!!

2010-03-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

That's how Aiden says Happy Birthday. I can't believe he is two years old! His birthday was on Wednesday and we had his birthday party on Thursday. On Wednesday he wanted orange juice and strawberries for breakfast, I added pancakes and eggs to that menu. After that we went to the doctor for an ultrasound. I am pregnant with baby #2 and we got to see his baby SISTER! We are so excited and completely shocked that we are having a girl. She will have to learn to be tough with Aiden as her big brother.

After that we went to Aiden's favorite place, the park, and let him play for a while. For lunch we had the classic pb & j with of course, more strawberries. After his nap, we had volleyball lessons and practice so he hung out at the gym for a while before Trent could take him home and make mini pizza's for dinner.

We had his Elmo Birthday party at the park on Thursday because our apt is so small, the weather was pretty nice and Aiden loves the park. We had cake and ice cream and then opened presents. We stayed for a while and played at the park and had a little accident that made Aiden's lips look like the lady from Best in Show...aka huge! Poor guy, he just keeps falling and getting hurt somehow.

Some of Aiden's favorite things are Elmo, Elmo movies, his Elmo blanket, cars, dancing, music, shoes, not wearing clothes, orange juice, treats, jumping, strawberries, the park, climbing in things, making messes, Sesame Street, singing, playing with my kitchen appliances, gum, phones, friends, and family (especially Grandpa's). He is constantly on the move and keeps us very busy. I laugh really hard at him at least once a day. He is talking more and more everyday and that makes it so much easier to understand and compromise with him. He loves helping us with whatever we are doing and loves to see what's going on. He loves babies and is obsessed with blowing raspberries on my stomach. He is going to be a great big brother. We love him so much it's unbelievable.

OCD?

2010-02-08T14:16:00.001-08:00

We were finger painting the other day and Aiden threw a huge fit because his hands were dirty. He has shown signs of not liking his hands dirty before, but this was a freak out. All I could do was laugh and get the camera. I hope he grows out of this.

Children's Museum

2010-02-08T13:11:00.000-08:00

Some of our friends got together a while ago for a trip to the zoo. When we got there we found out it closed in an hour and we did not want to spend the cash for only an hour's worth of sightseeing. Luckily one of our friends bumped into a friend who had passes to the Children's Museum in Fort Worth. A disaster trip was averted. Here are some pictures from our outing.

Christmas Break

2010-01-06T10:13:00.000-08:00

I am finally updating!!! We spent a great holiday in Utah with family this year. It was pretty busy, but we got almost everything done that we wanted to. We went to the Nutcracker, decorated gingerbread houses, went shopping, played games, went to In n Out and had our traditional Christmas Eve Chinese food, which was delicious. We loved being with family and having Aiden play with all his cousins (even though some of them are almost bald from all of his hair pulling). Thanks to my parents who did so much for us and to all our family for a great holiday!

Trent and Jana

Kailey, Tyler and Aiden

My dad's unbelievable excitement to see the Nutcracker

Excited about Chinese Food

The kids on Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Feast! Sooo Good!

Trent getting his ipod

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

2009-12-02T07:27:00.001-08:00

I woke up this morning to find...snow!!! I was ecstatic. It has taken me moving away from Utah to a place where freezing temperatures warrants warning signs and extreme measures taken, to appreciate snow. I never thought I would say that since I was one of the people growing up in Utah who hated the long winter months and suffered from seasonal depression every January through March, but I miss the snow! I now have come to appreciate all the seasons and welcome most of the changes they bring. I have figured out that getting in the festive Christmas spirit is a lot harder when temperatures are 65 degrees (even though the weather in Nov. was amazing). I want snow!! I want to sit by a fire and drink Stephen's hot cocoa. I want to take a nap in the glow of my Christmas tree lights and know that it is cold and dark outside. I want to take Aiden sledding and play in the snow. How happy the brief snow flurry in Bedford, TX has made me. I just pray that when I get to Utah in 2 weeks, I get some snow!

This is what I found

2009-11-17T07:03:00.000-08:00

On Sunday I had club volleyball tryouts during our regular church hours, so we were rushing to make it to the 9:00 ward. We were all ready to go, I just had to put my maskara on in the car. I was grabbing something and Trent was brushing his teeth. I came out to find this...

Grandma and Grandpa visit!

2009-11-12T08:15:00.000-08:00

We had a visit from Mom and Dad last weekend. They came into town late Friday night and stayed til Tuesday afternoon. We had a good time, but the visit was too short. On Saturday I got a babysitter so we could go to the Sixth floor museum in Dallas. It was very interesting to learn of all the controversy surrounding the JFK assassination. We took some pics on the grassy knoll, Elm street and of the window that Lee Harvey Oswald shot the president from. We went home and relaxed for a bit, then headed back into Dallas for some authentic barbeque. When we walked into the Baker's Ribs, there was not one other person there. We were all a little worried, that is never a good sign for a restaurant, but the food was very good. We got brisket, chicken, ribs and pulled pork. I am pretty sure there was a strip joint next door, but it was good food!

On Sunday I made a pretty good breakfast if I do say so myself and then we got ready for church. I had to teach Sunday School so Mom kept Aiden and was wrestling with him for an hour until he fell asleep. We went home and fixed the home cooked meal that only Mom can fix. Mom made chicken rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy and I did vegetables and a salad. I will never cook like my mom, everything she makes is delicious. It was a feast. Sunday night we pulled my dad's arm and took away all his techno toys so he had to play games with us. We ate massive amounts of blue bell ice cream. Thanks to Dad we found that the pecan pralines and cream is heaven. I think we ate 3 half gallons of ice cream while they were here!

Monday was very chill. We had an adventure finding my dad's journal, which was eventually found at our church building. We spent the rest of the day shopping and hit one more bbque joint before they left on Tuesday. This one was terrible in my opinion. We didn't want to drive as far and went to a chain restaurant, it was a bad choice. While my parents were here my dad fixed our printer, the clock in our car and my external hard drive. I mean there is nothing he can't fix! He is a wizard! My parents are so wise.

Aiden loved having Grandpa(Bapi) and Grandma(Mommy) here. As you will see in the pictures he smothered them telling them where to sit, pulling them where he wanted them to go, and constantly trying to play with their iphones and D.S. It was so good to have them here. We miss our family a lot. I'm just excited that we get to see them soon for Christmas! Love you guys!

Halloween

2009-11-02T05:10:00.000-08:00

This year we went to our ward trunk or treat on Friday night and went trick or treating with some friends on Saturday night. Trent and I were going to dress up with Aiden and have some sort of theme, but then we realized we really didn't have anywhere to go and didn't want to spend the money. We ended up using costumes we already had. Trent was Peter Pan and I was a female version of Where's Waldo. Aiden loved trick or treating and bypassed his usual shyness if there was any chance of him getting candy. I had to bribe him with treats every time I put his costume on because he fought me tooth and nail, which was fitting because he was a lion.

State Fair

2009-10-19T13:28:00.001-07:00

We went to the Texas State Fair again this year, and just like last, it was nothing but a good time. We went with our friends Hugh and Caitlin and met up with some other friends from work. You can't go wrong with a petting zoo, pig races, ferris wheel and of course some deep fried food. I had a corn dog and funnel cake and Trent had a deep fried snickers. Delish. I guess it's allowed once a year, right?

Quarantined

2009-10-09T06:56:00.000-07:00

Trent has had a lonely week this week after being quarantined to our room for the past 5 days. Aiden got sick last Thursday, I thought he had ear infections. I took him to the doctor and he tested positive for influenza A (most likely H1N1, but they didn't do another test). On Saturday Trent started coughing, had a fever, and looked pretty terrible. On Sunday, we tried to get him into Care Now to see a doctor. They called us and said it was a four hour wait, so we waited and went in at noon. After 2.5 hours there, numerous tests, chest x-rays, a shot and a breathing treatment we found out Trent had influenza and pneumonia. Of course the doctor said we needed to be very careful so Aiden didn't get sick on top of what he had...so that meant Trent was to be quarantined. He got lonely pretty fast. He told me how much he hated our room. I am just glad both my boys are feeling better and we can have him around again. It was hard not having any help with Aiden. I am glad he is feeling better and especially happy that I didn't get it!

Grandpa Wilson

2009-09-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

Life is full of high's and low's. I have really experienced this in the last couple of weeks. Aiden and I left for Utah once again on the 19th of Sept for my Grandpa Wilson's funeral. I am so glad I was able to go and spend time with my family and say goodbye to my Grandpa. I really loved hearing about his life and seeing old pictures of him. He was such a humble man, he never wanted any sort of spotlight on himself, including at his own funeral. He actually said that, isn't that amazingly ironic?

I will miss my Grandpa so much. I have so many great memories of him. I will miss him teasing me, his great advice and always telling me, "How keen I am." He was so stubborn and smart and always emphasized getting an education. We always knew what he was thinking and he supported me in everything I did. Here are some great pictures of him.

After I got back on Wednesday, we had a pretty relaxing weekend. Our anniversary was on Friday, so we got a babysitter and went to the melting pot. Sooo delicious. It was so nice to not be in a hurry and to get to enjoy the experience. I can't believe it has been 3 years, it feels like we just got married. It was so fun to spend some quality alone time with Trent and remember why we actually got married. I love that guy.

We got some things done around the house on Sat, went and played at the park, and then I went to the relief society broadcast. Today we found out that Lori had a layover at DFW! I love it when that happens. So we took some lunch and hung out with her. Trent let me have a fantastic nap and then we went to our friend, Kaitlin's, birthday party. It was a great weekend. Here are some pictures of Aiden, after he fell asleep. He was so tired he rolled over when I was changing his diaper and stuck his butt up in the air.

Like father, like son

Aiden and his new favorite toy

What's Happening

2009-09-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

We are alive. I have a lot to catch up on and it is a little overwhelming. I was gone for a month from July to August working volleyball camps and spending time with family in Arizona and Utah. While I was gone, Trent had to move apartment's without me. Our friends helped us a ton, we couldn't have done it without them. So when I got back I needed to finish moving in and let's just say it has taken me a long time to get everything done. Our balcony including our outside storage closet was falling apart, so we waited for a month for our management to get that done. Meanwhile all our stuff was in our front room. I am just glad our apt is put back together again.

We had a great weekend. On Thursday Trent's cousin, Travis, came into town for the BYU game. We had a great time with him. On Friday night we got some delicious barbeque and then went to Top Golf in Dallas, this place was really fun. All the balls have computer chips in them so your ball is tracked and you get points depending on where you hit the ball.

Sat we went to the park and then of course to the BYU football game. It was so amazing. First of all the stadium is unreal. My mouth dropped when I walked in. I will include pics later in this post. The tv is so large you really can't not look at it. I would forget I could just look at the field to see the play. The game was amazing, we are so glad we could be there. We got super into it and I was yelling at the ref's, OU fans, and the team. It was such a great game and best of all, we WON!

It is huge!

We randomly saw Josh and Brooke Allen, so good to see you guys!

The teams lining up to shake hands, notice the sea of Red. Tons of OU fans

I don't like this picture, but you can see how big the t.v. is in the background

We won!

Sunday was pretty standard, went to Church, took a nap, ate dinner and then we hung out and I made a killer peach cobbler for dessert. Monday we went to watch the Bingham vs. Trinity high school football game that was also at the Cowboys Stadium. It was fun to be there again. Aiden was mesmerized by the screen and eventually passed out and slept through the whole game. We want to thank Travis for such a fun weekend, we are so glad we could go to the game!

Fourth of July

2009-07-13T07:12:00.000-07:00

We had a great fourth of July this year. It is one of my favorite holidays and I was sad we couldn't spend it with family, but our friends here in Texas made up for it. We went to our ward breakfast, which was so good, then took Aiden to home depot to do a free kids project with his friend Tanner. I will post pictures later. After that we got some food together and went to the Hickson's house to barbeque, play volleyball and swim. We always have such a good time at their house. We played, ate and hung out til about 7 and we went and put Aiden down so we could wake him up again for fireworks. They have fireworks at a park right down the street from our apt. So around 9:45 we woke Aiden up and walked down the street to watch the fireworks. They were great, and overall it was a fantastic fourth!

Aiden's mayhem

2009-06-30T06:52:00.000-07:00

I was looking through my pictures and noticed that I have a lot of pictures of the messes Aiden makes. He is into everything and it is hard to keep him safe/occupied/holding still. Here are some pictures of what he has been up to. In the third picture he is holding the dvd player he broke. I still love him though.

Girls Night!

2009-06-30T06:37:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night Abby, Chelsea and I decided to have a girls night. Abby said she had a surprise for us and we met at her house not knowing what we were doing. Chelsea and I both were trying to guess where we were going, but we were way off. She took us to get pedicures for our birthdays! I love pedicures. Chelsea had never had one, so it was pretty exciting.

After our pampering, we came back to my house and had chocolate fondue and watched a movie. Overall it was an amazing night. We all kept saying how happy and content we were. Thanks girls for a great night!

It's raining it's pouring

2009-06-10T18:58:00.000-07:00

It literally is pouring buckets of rain here today. I took Trent to work this morning and when I got back it was raining so hard I sat in the car for ten minutes to see if it would slow down. It never did so Aiden and I got soaked anyway. The thunder is so loud here that it sets our car alarm off almost everytime. Texas has some awesome thunder storms.

Last night I was coaching a private lesson when we were all stopped and told we needed to move to the locker room. The tornado sirens were going off and the tornado was touching down in a couple places around us. It was a new experience for me, so of course we took pictures in the rain when we got home.

The way we live

2009-05-19T06:36:00.001-07:00

We have been having amazing weather here. Not too hot, not too humid, just beautiful. Last Sunday Trent and Aiden sat out on our balcony and just hung out and ate peanuts. Now Aiden is obsessed with sitting out there. That is all he wants to do. You can tell he really loves sitting in his chair from how excited he is. We have been having a lot of fun lately. Last Friday we went to a Rangers game with our friends the Hickson's and a bunch of people from TWG. It was a blast. Aiden was awesome, even though it was pretty late, we even got to stay for the fireworks afterword. I LOVE fireworks. It was a great night.

Saturday I had a baby shower to go to in the morning and then we layed low for the rest of the afternoon. That night my club team was having a party so we all went and hung out with my girls. They are so fun, they were playing dress up. We ate some food and then played a couple games. I loved my team this year.

Some of my girls

Alysa and Amanda dressing up

The Ranger's game

I Heart May

2009-05-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

May is such a great month. People might say that I love May because it is my birthday month. That fact may contribute, but I love May because it means the start of summer. It always brings back great memories, great feelings and excitement. Summer is the happiest time of my life. So I hope everyone has a great May and summer this year, I know I am excited!

Things have been pretty standard at our house. I have my last club volleyball tournament this weekend, I am pretty excited about it. Even though I love my team and it has been a very fun season, I am ready for a break and we are ready to have some nights to ourselves. I have been looking around at other apartment's to see if we can find something cheaper, but I hate moving so much, it would have to be a big difference in price to make it worth it. It is just such a hassle to try to work all that out, it makes me not even want to think about it.

Some other exciting news is that Trent and I got 24 Hour Fitness passes yesterday. We are going to cancel our cable and put that money toward our gym memberships. Time to stop being fat and lazy and get in shape! I am excited!

Here are some pictures from April, including Easter. My mom sent us the greatest Easter package EVER with See's chocolates (the next best thing since Startup's doesn't make chocolates anymore) and clothes for all of us. I didn't get too many good pictures because Aiden was super tired and I was trying to meet a deadline for dinner, but he looked so cute. I also loved my outfit, but didn't like any pictures of me.

Aiden thinking he is playing the wii

Happy Easter!

Grandma's Visit

2009-04-20T07:58:00.000-07:00

Grandma Sorensen came for a visit on the 25th of March. We were so happy to have her here! She came at the perfect time because I had a volleyball tournament in Atlanta, so she watched Aiden while I was gone. Although we weren't too exciting while she was here, we did do some fun things. We went on walks, went to the park to feed the ducks, and went to the Dallas Arboretum. Here are some of the pictures from her visit.

At the Dallas Arboretum

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Boy's Ranch

We loved having Grandma here! Aiden was spoiled because he always had someone to play with. We are so grateful for everything she does for us, and we miss her already. Love you!

I love you?

2009-04-06T19:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was flying home from a volleyball tournament in Atlanta with my volleyball team. We had just landed at the DFW airport and the group was gathering while people got off the plane. Just as we started walking out, I looked over at a man talking on his cell phone and thought he looked kind of familiar. Not wanting to stare, I tried subtly peeking at him to see if it was who I thought it was. Sure enough, there stood James Caviezel. I whispered to some of my players, that was there was a famous actor standing there and no one seemed to know/care/react fast enough as I did. I turned around, reached out my hand and said the first thing that came to my mind, "I love you!" He smiled at me, reached out his hand and said, "I love you too." Can you believe it?!! He loves me! I totally blame my behavior on my previous weekend hanging out with crazy, immature, 15 year old girls. I can't stop thinking about him, I really do love him!

Disneyland

2009-03-31T09:50:00.001-07:00

Wow this post is way overdue. I have been waiting to get pictures from my dad because I didn't take very many with our camera, so I will post with the pictures I have. We had SO much fun in California with my family! Here is the break down by day of what happened.

I flew in Sunday night by myself because Trent had to get in as much work as possible. He came on Tuesday night. Monday was a pretty chill day we didn't get too crazy. The girls went to Sam's club to stock up on food, while the kids and guys played basketball, golf and checked out the place. That afternoon we went and saw the tide pools at Crystal Cove beach, ate at Baja Fresh for dinner and had a big family FHE on tithing. After that we had a combined late birthday party for Tanner and Aiden. It is always hectic with 24 people in one room, but I loved the chaos.

Tuesday we headed to Huntington Beach and ate lunch at Ruby's on the pier. Their parmesan/blue cheese fries are amazing. It was pretty chilly that day so some braved the wind and even got in the water (Steve) after lunch. Some of us were hitting up the sidewalk sales at Hurley and Jack's. Amazingly, I didn't even buy anything, which was very impressive. That night we had a big barbeque for dinner with Moroni Turkey, salad, rolls, and rice. We had a low key night and watched our favorite shows with Biggest Loser on in one room and American Idol on in the other. I was getting good exercise running back and forth, but I think B.L. is my favorite show.

Wednesday was our first Disneyland day, we were so excited! We got there pretty early and the lines weren't too bad. I think our first ride was space mountain and the younger kids weren't so sure about it. They said it was scary and it went really fast. All the adults were assigned a "buddy" so we could keep track of the younger kids. Carter was my buddy and this system worked really well because if he wasn't by me, I would yell out "buddy" and he would come running and hold my hand. He is the cutest. We had a great day going on tons of rides. After we went on splash mountain and got soaked, it started getting cold and windy, of course. We had planned on staying to watch fireworks that night, but some of the little kids and the grown ups had had it. Trent, me, Amy, Mike, Mom and the little ones bailed early and let all the big kids stay late. We went to Panera Bread and got soup and sandwiches and hung out at the hotel. It was a great day.

Thursday we went to California Adventure, and thank goodness it was a little bit warmer for us. We went to Playhouse Disney first, but Aiden could have cared less, so I wish I would have gone on something else. We hit up the Tower of Terror, Soaring over California, and the roller coaster. Lori and Ryan had to leave early for her friends wedding so we had to say goodbye to them. They left too soon. After they left we waited in line for 45 minutes for the new Toy Story ride. That was the longest we had waited, but the ride proved to be pretty fun. We went on some of the younger kids rides until the Park closed and then went back over to Disneyland. We fast passed Thunder Mountain and went on star tours and space mountain. We stayed as long as possible and had a great day.

Friday was a low key day. We woke up late, ate breakfast and went to the pool. It wasn't super warm, but I think we all got a little sun. For lunch we went to the Crab cooker, a great seafood place. I got a shrimp cocktail and crab cakes. I LOVE seafood. After lunch we went and got some See's candy and headed back to the hotel. We just hung out until we made Tostada's for dinner and Lexi came to see us! I was so excited to see her and her cute belly. Lexi and I went shopping for a bit and then came back and we had a game night. It was so fun. We played the celebrity game, the brown paper bag game and did some rubber band races. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures. It was such a fun night. I was so glad Casey and Lexi came and hung out with us. We love you guys!

Saturday was a sad day because our vacation was over. The VanBuren's, my parents, and Trent and I all left. We actually flew out of the Burbank airport on Sunday, which was closer to Trent's parents house. We had my parents drop us off at the Sorensen's so we could stay with them for a day. It was sad to have our vacation be over, I had looked forward to it for so long, but it was so great to have my whole family together. I miss them and love them so much. It will be a great memory for all of us. A big thank you to my parents for making it all happen, you are the best.

We got to the Sorensen's, after traffic, at about six. They had a great meal ready for dinner and Todd and Jessica came over and hung out. Amy and Jason were in Pdale for their spring break so they came over after dinner and we had a game night. It was a lot of fun and good to see everyone.

Sunday we got up and had banana waffles, delicious, and then went to sacrament meeting. Our flight left at three so we had to come home and pack pretty quick. Amy and Jason came over one more time so Aiden and Emi could see each other. She is so cute, we tried to get them to kiss, but they weren't having it. Vacations with them will be so fun in the future. It was a short visit to the Sorensen's, but it was so great to see them.

Aiden and Lynzee

Mom and Dad squinting in the sun

Trent with his buddy Brevin, Hunter, and Aiden

Hunter and Parker

Andrea and Taylor

Carter

Tanner

Lori and Ryan

One year check up

2009-03-24T14:18:00.001-07:00

Today was actually almost Aiden's 13 month check up because I slept through his previous Dr's apt. The nurses and Dr were amazed to see how much Aiden had grown, they measured him twice just to be sure. He weighed 22 lbs (50th %) was 32 inches tall (95th %) and has a pretty average sized head. The hardest part was trying to get him to hold still for one second, this kid never sits still.

As you can tell from the above picture, Aiden is becoming a little bit of a challenge. He pulls hair, bites, and throws fits already. Despite all of this, he usually is a very happy kid who makes me laugh all the time. He is walking more steadily now and getting into everything! He still doesn't say mama, which I think he is doing on purpose. Everyday his personality gets stronger and he loves to play and wrestle and have fun. He especially loves his dad and gets sad when Trent goes to work. Aiden is the best.

The Big One

2009-03-04T07:14:00.000-08:00

Aiden is one year old!! Crazy to believe. He just took about four steps on his own, so I think he will be walking sometime soon. We had a little party for him on Sunday with a sports theme. I made cupcakes and we had some of our friends over. Aiden didn't really dive into his cake like I had hoped, but he would rather have me feed him anyway. He is spoiled like that. He got some new blocks and a fun bathtub basketball toy from our friends.

Yesterday was his real birthday. We had a fun day going to the park, eating more cupcakes, and when Trent got off work we went to Babies R us to look for a new carseat and some toys. We ended up getting him a leapfrog learning table which I think he will love. We got to eat out last night at Chipotle so it was a night off for me as well. I love nights off! Aiden makes us so happy. We are so blessed to have him in our lives. He has the best personality and sense of humor. We love him so much!

Okay so the basketballs look like spiders, but I did try. I didn't have the right equipment.

What's new?

2009-02-25T07:26:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated for a while so here is what has been happening at our house. The above picture is from Valentines night. We wanted to keep it low key and really didn't want to pay for a babysitter so we got take out from PF Changs and rented a movie from blockbuster. It was a great night.

Aiden and I have been having a great time at home. He loves playing with any type of ball, walking with his walker and getting into everything he shouldn't be. The pictures below are from the Fort Worth Zoo. We went with out friends Abby and Tanner and saw some really cool animals. The lion was huge. It was pretty scary too.

Aiden thinks this bucket is a hat. He likes to put it on my head and occasionally his own. He usually likes to play basketball with the bucket. Cheap toy, it's fine with me. Something new he has been doing this week is trying to bite my toes. He never bites them hard, he just teases me. I laugh so hard everytime because it's so funny, I don't know where he got that from. He probably will just keep doing it because I always laugh, but it is hilarious.

This is Aiden's favorite past time. He LOVES his bath. He usually screams when we take him out. He is getting so big. His birthday is coming up so I will post more soon!

14 Reasons

2009-02-05T20:15:00.000-08:00

I am trying to be a good wife and do nice things for my husband. Since Feb 1st I have been doing my version the 14 days of Valentines. Every day I try to do one nice thing for Trent that lets him know how much I love and appreciate him. For today, (the 5th day of Valentines) I am going to list just some of the reasons why I love my husband:

14- He has awesome hair
13- He makes me laugh everyday
12- He is pretty good at imitating people
11- He is just as big of a goofball as I am
10- We both share a love of volleyball
9- He is 6'7" so needless to say I can feel heels and still feel short
8- He is an amazing person
7- He works so hard to support our family
6- We share the same goals for our life together
5- He teaches me how to be better everyday
4-He is a worthy priesthood holder and loves the church
3-He is my best friend
2- He loves Aiden so much and is an amazing father
1- He loves me for who I am

I love you!!

I'm so excited....

2009-02-05T19:53:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited because in approximately one month my entire family is going on vacation to Disneyland!! I can't wait. We will stay in Newport and have so much fun. Erica introduced me to this commercial today and it describes perfectly how excited I am feeling. The countdown begins!

Lori's wedding

2009-01-16T07:49:00.000-08:00

This post has taken me a while to get up, but it is because I didn't take as many pictures as I thought I did and I was looking for more of Lori's wedding. What is worse is I didn't take ANY at the reception, probably because I was feeding my face with their amazing food. I think I ate for 3 hours straight. Anyway, it was an awesome day. Lori looked beautiful, Ryan looked handsome and everything went really smoothly. They got married at the Salt Lake temple early on the 30th. After everyone froze to death waiting for them to come out, they had their lunch at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Their reception was at our church and it turned out really beautiful, and like I said before their food was sooo good. I can't believe my little sister is married. We love her husband, Ryan, he is a great addition to the family. Love you guys.

The rest of these pictures are randoms from our trip to Utah. We went sledding on New Years Day, went to dinner with the family, visited grandparents, played the wii and went shopping. It was a great trip.

Babe's

2009-01-16T06:40:00.000-08:00

We went to a restaurant called Babe's last Thursday with the crew. It was so nice to get to hang out and have a grown up meal without having to worry about kids. The food was great, who doesn't love comfort food. We wanted to get together because the Griffeth's will be leaving us soon. We will miss them a lot. We are all getting together Saturday so this isn't goodbye..yet.

The honorary couple: Ryan and Kristin

Kristin and Grant trying to look scary?

Yours truly

Abby and Todd

Cleveland and Des

Chelsea and Todd

All the girls

The crew

A Very Merry Christmas

2009-01-07T10:27:00.001-08:00

We spent our Christmas in California with Trent's family, it was such a great trip. We got there on the night of the 23rd. While we were there we went caroling, played games, ate massive amounts of food, and just hung out. It was good to spend time with everyone even though we didn't get to stay very long. This was Aiden's first Christmas and I don't think he quite understood what was going on. He loved the wrapping paper and as usual liked anything that isn't a toy (like an orange) almost as much as his toys. Grandma and Grandpa spoiled him and gave him lots of new toys to play with. He loves them all and actually stays entertained for a while now playing by himself. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Bath time with cousin Kailey

Classic couples picture in front of the tree

Trent with his coin collection from Grandpa Senke

Aiden with his new cell phone

Christmas morning

Over excited close up

We had such a good time and wanted to tell Mom and Dad Sorensen thanks again for everything they did. It was a great Christmas.

Looking forward to...

2008-12-19T07:33:00.001-08:00

I am so excited for Christmas!!! We have had so much going on the last couple of weeks, it really hasn't sunk in that Christmas is in 6 days!! It kind of makes me sad that it is going to be over, but we have a lot to look forward to in the next two weeks. On Tuesday we are flying to California to have Christmas with the Sorensen's. We get back on Sunday and fly out the next day for Lori's wedding. I will get to stay a week in Utah, but Trent has to go back early to work one day. Being responsible is not fun.

I really am missing the snow this time of year. The weather has been all over the place here. Yesterday it was cold and foggy and today it is 75 degrees and clear. So weird. This weekend we have our first club volleyball tournament. I am nervous because we will have Aiden with us, I hope we can keep him entertained and happy while coaching all day. I feel like after this weekend is over, I will finally be able to relax and enjoy the season. Something I have been thinking about lately is really living in the moment, whatever you are doing. I have been trying to apply this to my life, but I haven't been doing a very good job lately. If we are living in the moment, we will enjoy what we are doing and be so much happier. Those are just some of my random thoughts. I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season! We are thinking of all our friends and family who are far away and that we won't get to see this Christmas season. We love you!

9 month check up

2008-12-09T09:35:00.001-08:00

I took Aiden in today for his nine month check up. Here are his stats: weight-15 lbs 14 oz, height- 28.5 inches. Surprisingly he is only in the 75th percentile for height and he is a skinny little boy for weight only in the 3rd percentile. The doctor was a little worried about him, but I am doing my best to fatten him up. He said the word chubby will never be used to describe him.

As you can tell by the picture, Aiden hits his head and face almost everyday on something new. The cut on his forehead happened when he fell over and hit the mirror in our bedroom. Sometimes I worry about the damage sustained to his head because he faceplants into the ground all the time, but he is pretty resilient.

Last week I had a very gross experience while changing a messy diaper. I gave Aiden my cell phone to play with so he would stay still while I changed him. The next thing I knew my cell phone had been plopped into the middle of the diaper with poo all over it. I kind of freaked out. I took the phone out and placed it on a bed of wet wipes and then finished changing him. I thoroughly disinfected the phone by using almost an entire package of clorox wipes and toothpicks to make sure every crevice was clean. Lets just say I won't be giving Aiden my cell phone during diaper changes anymore.

Happy Birthday Trent

2008-12-02T08:49:00.001-08:00

Trent turned 25 two weeks ago. I can't believe how old we are! We had a pretty good day. I made breakfast, we went to church, and then we had Trent's birthday dinner. He wanted steak, baked potatoes, and carrots. We had some friends over for cake and ice cream and it was a good time. Here are some pictures from that night.

The Birthday Boy and Aiden.

Grant and Kristin
Chelsea and Todd
Kristin and Preston

I love Trent so much. He is such an amazing husband and father. He works so hard to support our little family. I am so grateful for Trent in my life. Happy Birthday!

The little guy

2008-11-19T08:24:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted pictures of Aiden for a while, so here they are. Lately he is all over the place and into everything. He loves standing up on anything that is taller than he is. He loves eating paper and playing with everything that isn't a toy, such as my cell phone. He is fascinated by himself in the mirror. He still doesn't have much hair but he is getting his first tooth on the bottom. I tried to get a picture but he won't let me, so I will keep working on that. He keeps me busy and happy. I love this baby!

2008-11-17T13:58:00.000-08:00

HUSBAND TAG

Name: Trent Hans Sorensen

1. Where did you meet? Through friends at BYU

2. How long did you date before you got married? About a year

3. How long have you been married? 2 years

4. Who is smarter? He is smarter at Math, I am better at English and everything that goes along with those.

5. What is your favorite feature of his? His hair and calves

6. Who cooks more? Me

7. Does he have a nickname for you? Not really.

8. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Me

9. What is his favorite food? Homemade rolls, meat, potatoes

10. What is his favorite sport? Volleyball, but he really can play all sports. Not fair.

11. When and where was your fist kiss? Dec 2005

12. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Rent a good movie, make some treats and relax

13. Does he have a hidden talent? He is pretty good at imitating people and he has the biggest mouth ever.

14. How old is he? 24, his birthday is this Sunday

15. Who said I love you first? I did, he was being a pansy

16. Guilty pleasures? Dr. Pepper, junk food, anything sweet with a huge glass of milk

17. What do you admire most about him?His ambition and the way he treats Aiden.

18. Do you think he will read this? Eventually

Three's

3 Joys

1. Trent

2. Aiden

3. Shopping

3 Fears

1. Regrets

2. Losing friends

3. Not living up to my potential

3 Goals

1. Work out consistently

2. Be organized

3. Start and finish projects

3 Current Obsessions

1. Aiden

2. New recipes

3. Coupons

3 Random Surprising Facts About Me

1. I have never had a cavity

2. I despise lettuce

3. I want lots of kids (for the moment anyway)

Eight's

8 Favorite TV Shows

1. The Office

2. Biggest Loser

3. So you think you can dance

4. Project Runway

5. Anything on food network

6. Top Chef

7. Top Design

8. Kelly and Regis

8 Things I Did Yesterday

1. Woke up early and hung out with Aiden

2. Skipped breakfast

3. Went to church

4. Taught the relief society lesson

5. Made a birthday cake for Abby

6. Went on a walk at Boys Ranch

7. Made dinner (Baked potatoes)

8. Watched A lot like love with Trent

8 Things I Look Forward to

1. Going line dancing tonight
2. Thanksgiving

3. Going to California for Christmas

4. Going to Utah for Lori's wedding

5. Aiden growing hair

6. Having a clothing budget

7. Having more kids

8. Being debt free

8 Things On My Wish List

1. Lots of vacations with Trent, starting with a honeymoon

2. Take our family on many family vacations

3. Travel the world

4. Be faithful and raise a righteous family

5. Have a happy, healthy, close family

6. Stay active and in shape

7. Buying a house

8. Live a great life!

I tag Kari, Abby and Chelsea

Layover at DFW

2008-11-13T09:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I got a call from Lori saying she had a layover at the Dallas airport for a couple of hours while her team was on their way to play New Mexico. Yay!! I was so excited to get to see my sister, even if it was only for a while. We got to catch up on all the wedding plans. (Yes she is getting married on Dec 30th for those of you who didn't know) She got to see Aiden for a minute and his new tooth. I think he said Dada for her a couple of times. It made me realize how much I miss my sisters. It just makes me that much more excited to see them all when we go to Utah for the wedding. I love you Lori, good job having a layover at DFW.

Halloween

2008-11-03T15:00:00.000-08:00

The guys playing the rubber band game. They are trying to get a rubber band down to their neck without using their hands. Pretty funny looking.

Trent trying to eat his donut. He won, of course.

Aiden playing with his friend Preston. Preston is so cute and just lets Aiden attack him and slobber all over him.
Kristin and I trying to eat our donuts.

This year for Halloween we had two nights of fun. On Halloween night we went to our ward trunk or treat. It was fun to see all the kids dressed up. After that, some of our friends came over and we had some snacks and watched the skeleton key.

Saturday night we went to the Hickson's house where they had a huge party. All our friends came dressed up and we had a great time eating Halloween foods and playing games. Trent dressed up as Spartacus, I was a nerd and Aiden was a cowboy. Our costumes were kind of all over the place, but we had fun. It was a great Halloween, I am so excited for the next two holidays.

A cowboy and his truck.

Trent and Aiden at the trunk or treat.

Blogging Doldrums

2008-10-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have added a new post on my blog. My sister was bugging me that she was tired of seeing the zoo on my blog, but I have been in the blogging doldrums as of late and I really don't know what to write about. I guess this month hasn't really been super exciting, but I will give you some updates and get this post out of the way.

I have spent most of this month, and the last couple of months looking for a part time job that would work around Trent's schedule. I think that is hard enough, so it was a fairly frustrating process. I interviewed for a personal training postion, but realized the hours wouldn't work. I thought about being a layers or modbe representative, but I wanted a more steady income. Finally, my sisters were applying for seasonal help at Target and I thought that would be perfect because I could work overnight. It wouldn't interfere with Trent's schedule at all. I sailed through the first two interviews and was very confident that it was in the bag. At my third interview they informed me that they couldn't hire me because I would be gone for Christmas. I was pretty bummed. Trent and I had already signed up to coach a club team together, but it wouldn't be enough money to help us out.

Last week the club director we will be working for emailed me and asked if we would be interested in coaching two teams. At first I thought, of course not. Then we thought about it and talked with the director and figured out that it will work and be a huge blessing. It will end up being the same amount of money I would have been making coaching club and working at Target combined. I am so relieved. We have been praying about this for a long time and I know that this was a blessing from Heavenly Father. We really needed this.

We went to the Texas State Fair with some of our friends. It was so fun. We saw a bmx bike show, huge livestock, went on a massive ferris wheel and ate more fried food than I have ever eaten in my life. It was so good. We had fried snickers, corn dogs, and funnel cake. I have to get pictures from my friend, so more are to come.

Aiden is changing everyday. He now waves hi and bye, claps his hands, crawls all over the place, and is climbing up on me and any furniture he sees. He makes me laugh everyday and has such a great personality. I am so blessed that I get to stay home with him. Being a mom is the greatest blessing in my life.

Trent is doing really well at his job. He is meeting he met his monthly goal yesterday and is really getting the hang of things. We go play in a YMCA volleyball league on Tuesday nights and usually try to play sand on weekends. The weather here is still pretty warm. Overall, I really can't complain. We are being blessed and I know the Lord is watching out for us. Maybe I needed to realize that to get out of my blogging doldrums.

The Zoo

2008-10-08T09:15:00.000-07:00

While Trent's parents were here we decided to go to the zoo. One of our(my) goals while we were there was to find animals that we look like and take pictures near them. We ended up using statues because they were easier to pose with than the real animals. I think we were pretty dead on with most of them. We were somewhat disappointed when we didn't get to see some of the animals. The elephant, giraffe, rhinocerous and gorilla were already in their cages by the time we got to them. It was a really fun day, we were glad that we could spend time with Trent's parents.

This is the biggest snake I have ever seen.

Harry Walter Startup

2008-09-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

On my last visit home, my grandpa got sick and was admitted to the hospital. He was there for a few days while they ran tests to figure out what was wrong with him. They found cancer that was in the final stages. That came as a shock to us all. I was so grateful that I was home at this time so I could spend some time with him. I got to visit him in the hospital and hang out at his house. Even though he was sick he still had a great sense of humor and was joking with us. I loved spending time with them and seeing how my Grandpa treated my Grandma. He was always so sweet to her. It was really hard for me to say goodbye knowing it would probably be the last time I saw my grandpa.

Thursday night when we got home from dinner, my sister called me to tell me that my Grandpa died. It was something we were expecting, but it happened very quickly. It is very hard for me to imagine going back home and not seeing my Grandpa. He has been such an example to me of hard work, compassion, and love. He has always shown so much love for me and my family. He and my grandma supported me at countless volleyball matches and other activities and made a point of always being there for my family.

I have so many amazing memories of helping my Grandpa at the candy factory and the candy store. He loved making candy and making people happy. He was always giving and has taught me great lessons about giving, even when he didn't have much. I loved holidays at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Our favorite was the fourth of July. All the cousins would get together and sleepover on their deck. We would do fireworks, barbeque, go to the parade and usually the stadium of fire.

I will miss my Grandpa so much. He was an amazing man, father, grandfather and husband. He has taught me so much and has left a great legacy behind. If any of you have ever eaten a sucker with a wooden stick, it was most likely from my Grandpa's store. His funeral is Friday and I am so glad because Trent and I get to go. It will be good to be with family and celebrate my Grandpa's life.

Happy Anniversary!

2008-09-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

On Thursday Trent and I celebrated our two year anniversary. Trent came home from work and brought me roses and then we went out on the town. We are so grateful that Trent's parents are here and they were nice enough to watch Aiden for the night. We went to downtown Fort Worth, which was so cool, and ended up eating at a mexican restaurant called Cantina Laredo. It was very good and so nice to go out alone and enjoy each other. I love Trent so much and I'm so grateful for everything he does for me. I love you! Happy Anniversary!

Im baaack!!

2008-09-25T14:36:00.000-07:00

My blog has seriously suffered for the last month. I apologize for not having any new posts for forever. I went home to Utah for three weeks and just said I would update the blog when I got home. When I returned home our internet didn't work and we finally got it fixed yesterday!!

While I was at home I had a lot of fun hanging out with family and friends. We celebrated four birthdays and I got to watch Lori play in two volleyball tournaments. I got to work out almost daily because I had people to watch Aiden for me, which was so nice. My dad, Amy, Mike, Emma, Lynzee and I went bike riding up to bridal veil falls and took a picinic. I love the mountains and the amazing weather in Utah.

I will be posting a plethora of updates so stay posted.

Erica's Visit

2008-08-26T09:14:00.000-07:00

Erica came to visit us last weekend before she went to Germany for TEN months to play volleyball. It was so fun to have her here. I didn't want her to leave. When she got here on Friday night, we watched the olympics and ate pizza. Saturday we went to the Hickson's house and played volleyball and swam. I made huge strides in my swimming skills....I actually dove without plugging my nose. I was probably the most proud of my achievements. We came home, unclogged the sink and got ready to go out for a girls night. We went to Southlake, went shopping and ate dinner at Brio. Erica's dinner was amazing (I should have listened because my choices weren't so great). It was so good to talk to her and catch up, I really miss her. We got some gelato for dessert and reminisced about our travels to Europe and the amazing gelato there. Sunday we had stake conference and watched more olympics. Monday we watched Olympics, went to lunch and went shopping before I dropped Erica off at the airport. It was a really fun weekend and I'm so glad that she came to visit us before she went away forever. I love you Erica!! Have fun in Germany!!

Potato Skins clog the sink

2008-08-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

I learned my lesson. I'm pretty sure that my mom told me that you shouldn't put potato skins down the sink, but I didn't really think they would. They definitely clogged the sink, so Trent had to unscrew all the plumbing under the sink and pull dirty potato peels out of the pipes. I'm glad he is so handy. He wasn't that happy about it, if you can't tell from the pictures. I fully admit that it was my fault, lesson learned.