Kohl's Kids Who Care Scholarship Program

We found out today, that Adalyn has been selected as a local store winner in the Kohl's Kids Who Care Scholarship Program. She was selected for collecting donations, and helping to organize our trip to distribute them to the Casa De Elizabeth Orphanage in Imuris, Mexico. She was the only winner selected out of over a thousand candidates! She got a cool certificate, a $50 gift card to Kohl's, and will be in the newspaper in June. She will now be considered for the regional scholarship for $1,000.

Congratulations Ady! We are all so proud of you!!!

Blog Privacy

I have decided that I am going to switch our blog to private. I know that it is kind of a pain for everyone, but I post alot of information about our kids. There are just to many weirdos out there. Anyway - if you would still like to read our blog, send me your email address so that I can add you!

All About Alysa

Back in February, Alysa got to be "Student of the Week". Yes, I know February was quite a while ago, but I have been cleaning her room and just found a picture of the poster that we made. I decided it would be fun to post it, and all of her answers to the questions on her poster.


Fascinating Facts About Me!
I am 7 years old.
My birthday is March 28th.
I live in Las Vegas.
I am in the First grade.
I get to school by: my mom's car.
When I grow up I want to be: a plumber - just like my dad.

These are a few of my favorite things!
Color: Purple
Animal: Cat
Food: Quesadilla
Book: The Littlest Angel
Sport: Soccer
Thing to do in school: Recess
Thing to do at home: Swim

I am a star because:
I am good at gymnastics and dance.

Write three super-cool facts about yourself:
1) I have two dogs.
2) I have a scar on my forehead like Harry Potter. I got it when a cat scratched me. I had to go to the hospital!
3) I am good at Rock Band.

Random Memories: Grandpa and Grandma Sorenson

Growing up, I had the best grandparents in the world! Ned William and Hazel June Butterfield Sorenson. My mom tells me that I have been a "grandpa's girl" from the day I was born. I believe her. I used to love spending time with my grandpa more than anything growing up.

My grandma and grandpa moved to a little house in Gunnison when my mom was just a senior in high school. My mom stayed in Herimann and lived in the house my grandparents owned there, until she graduated. Then, after a short stint at Snow College, my mom and Sam got married. The lived in my grandparent's Herriman house afterwards. About a year after I was born, my grandpa got my dad a job at the coal mine, SUFCO, where he worked. That is when we moved to Centerfield.

Because my grandparents lived so close, I got to spend alot of time with them when I was little. I remember my grandma used to watch me while my mom continued her education at Snow College. I loved to go outside and "work" with grandpa in his shop - both in Gunnison and later, in Herriman. He would give me pieces of scrap wood and an engraving pen and I was content. He was an excellent craftsman. He made us all kinds of furniture and wood toys growing up. I still have a wooden duck puppet, and a rocking horse that he made me when I was very little.

The strongest memory I have from their time in Gunnison, was of a dust devil in the lot across the street from their house. I had seen The Wizard of Oz and was terrified that it was going to blow the house away. Grandpa didn't try to explain that a dust devil couldn't blow the house away. He just grabbed his pitch fork, and explained that a pitch fork would destroy a dust devil. I believed him. We sat on the front porch with the pitch fork defending the house, until it went away.

Only a month before I turned 5, my grandma and grandpa moved back to Herriman. My grandpa had retired, and they built a house next door to their old one (which my uncle Richard had bought from them). I was devastated. I missed them so much! We visited them often, and I cried every time we had to leave - even when I was a teenager.

For a few years, when I was a little older, I would spend a week every summer in Herriman with Grandpa and Grandma. They spoiled me. They took me to the zoo, the circus and Lagoon. I loved being able to spend all day with my cousins who lived next door. I was always really jealous that they got to live so close to our grandparents!!!

Another thing I loved about summertime in Herriman, was grandpa's raspberry bushes. He had a million of them! He loved raspberries. And so did I. My grandma would can them, and we would eat them in the winter when we visited. Canned raspberries are the best!!!

My grandma also had raspberries patches growing up. She and her siblings would have to go out and pick them to sell. My grandma said that during the great depression, times were hard and her dad came home one day and said that they were going to have to raise the price of raspberries a whole penny. Her mother cried and cried over that.

Grandpa had a hanging swing on the deck in back of his house. He had taken an old boat seat cushion, and screwed it on to the wood, so it was nice and comfy. We used to love to sit out there and swing. He used to tell me stories about his childhood.

He told me about his brother who died when they were just kids. Before his brother died, he was always really sick. One day, he was feeling a little better, and went outside to sit on the porch. He was watching my grandpa play when some neighborhood kids came by and started to make fun of his sickly brother. Of course my grandpa had no other choice than to beat them all up. :)

He also told me about a horse he had as a kid. One day he got on his horse, and it started to run. He pulled on the reigns to try and stop him, but the horse wouldn't stop. So my grandpa started kicking him to make him go faster. The horse ran all over town. Every time it would slow down my grandpa would kick it make him go faster. Soon, he was so tired that he had to stop. Which was was my grandpa was shooting for. He said after that, the horse was to afraid to ever do it again!

Grandma used to tell me stories too. She told me about how they used to cut blocks of ice from the lake in the summer for the ice house, to keep their food cool. They would have to keep the ice covered with sawdust, so it would last through the summer.

She told me alot of stories of growing up during the depression. She told me about how they would save everything. She and her mother would make dishcloths out of flower sacks. And the kids had to help out with everything. Except, the girls weren't allowed to go out to the farm in the spring when the animals were giving birth.

Her dad was not impressed when she started dating my grandpa. Although most of their "dating" was done through the U.S. Postal service. My grandpa was in the Navy, and serving during WWII. My grandma sort of "eloped" with my grandpa. She left Herriman, and met up with him in California, where they got married.

My grandma liked to tell me about the first house they bought in Lark, when they moved back to Utah. They got a GI loan for it, and their payments were $50 a month. My grandma was so worried because it was so much money, and she didn't know how they were going to be able to pay that every month!

My grandma was always quilting, and always sewing. I have several quilts, pillowcases, dishcloths, tablecloths, etc. that she has made for me. I get so many compliments on them! I am also kicking myself for never having her teach me how to quilt!

My favorite thing that she ever made for me was my "tooth pillow". It was a little pillow with a pocket in the front that you would put your tooth in when you lost it. I still have my tooth pillow!

My grandpa passed away in January 2000. But my grandma is still alive and living in her house in Herriman. I try to call and talk at least once a month. She is doing well, and keeps me updated on all the Herriman happenings! I really miss my grandpa and am sad that he never got to meet my kids. My grandma assures me that he did meet them, in heaven before they were sent here. She says he would have insisted on it. I am sure that he would have!

Mother's Day 2009

This year for Mother's day Brian arranged a babysitter and took me down to the Strip to see a magic show at the Flamingo on Saturday. It's the first show that I have been to in Vegas. It was really good. We had alot of fun! Even better was the fact that the tickets were free - one of the many benefits of giving blood regularly!

On Sunday, Brian got up early and cleaned the pool. We have several rose bushes and a big messy tree, and a pine a tree close to the pool. That, combined with the all the wind we have been getting, means that pool is almost always filled with petals, leaves, and pine needles. Usually, I am the one cleaning it, so I really appreciated Brian getting up and doing it! We spent the rest of the day, just hanging out in the backyard.



I also wanted to take a second to write down how blessed I am to have so many wonderful "mothers" in my life. I know it is a little late, but I guess better late than never, right? I am so thankful for my mom (Virginia) and Brian's mom (Josie). They are both the most wonderful mothers that anyone could ever ask for.

My mom has always been such a great example to me. She has been through so many trials in her life, but all of them have made her a much stronger, better person. Some of my favorite memories are of just hanging out with my mom, and my sister. We always have alot of fun when we get together. I can also honestly say, that she is one of my best friends (along with Brian).

I am also so very thankful for Josie. She too is also such a great example to me. She has always been so good to me, and made me feel like a part of the family. We love going to Gunnison and hanging out with grandma and grandpa and all the cousins! And the kids and I love it when they come and visit us in Vegas!

I also want to thank Merri Lynn for being my "second mom" to me growing up. She has always been there to help out, especially when my mom had cancer. I always took it for granted and never really appreciated all that she did, until I became a mother myself. Then I realized exactly how difficult it must have been for her to help take care of us, and take care of her own family as well.

And one more quick "shout out" to Austin's mom, Trina, and Taylor and Michael's mom, Holli. They are both wonderful moms! I know that it probably isn't easy for them to share their boys with me, but I am so grateful that they do. I love our boys to death, and am so blessed to get to be a part of their lives! I look forward to this summer, when I get to spend a little more time with them!

Random Memories: Hawaii

Since I have never kept a journal, or even a scrapbook I have decided that I need to write down some of the great memories that we have created in the past. There are alot. So once in a while I am going to pick one and write about it.


Yesterday, my sister in law Misty was telling me about the Hibiscus flowers they have growing in the backyard of their new house in Phoenix. It made me think of Hawaii and the great memories we have of our vacation there with our friends Rhonda and James Sherrat.


We booked the vacation about 8 or 9 months in advance. We went on a 7 day cruise that went to all four of the main islands - Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai. We were all so excited to go. Brian was especially excited to fly, since he never had before. I was even nice enough to trade him seats so that he could sit next to the window on the plane.


But the whole time we were planning, and making arrangements there was this huge anxiety that kept creeping in the back of my mind... we were going snorkeling and I am terrified of water. Well, not all water. Just natural bodies of water like lakes, and the ocean. I don't like the feeling of not knowing what is under my feet. I am terrified of the thought of fish swimming around under me - I keep picturing them coming up to nibble at my toes. And seaweed sicks me out. The sight of it makes me need to throw up. But worse of all, I was terrified of sharks. I read Jaws in junior high and it gave me this fear that I never got over. But I had decided that I was going to snorkel. I had to do it. I wasn't going to let a really irrational fear keep me from doing what I knew would be one of the greatest experiences of my life.


It wasn't until day four that we ported in Maui and were going to Lahiania to snorkel. I was panicking. For months before I had looked up everything about sharks on the Internet. I knew I had no reason to panic, that sharks didn't come up to the shore, that shark attacks were rare. But still, the fear was there in the back of my mind.

On the way to the beach, I made the mistake of telling James and Rhonda about it. Well, the mistake of telling James about it. He said, "Sharks? You're scared of sharks. What you should be worried about is Moray eels!" He then proceeded to tell me about how Moray eels hide in the coral and they are aggressive and attack people for no reason. And that they had razor sharp teeth that really hurt. Well, I guess the positive side was that I wasn't to worried about sharks when we got there!


I did go snorkeling. I ran right into the water, so that I couldn't give myself time to think about it. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. And I am no longer scared of the ocean. But I am still not a big fan of lakes.


Hawaii was one of the greatest times of my life! Some of the other great memories of that trip:


1) Words of the day! The ones I remember: giddy, rental rape, catragedy
2) Our video spoof of Dog, the Bounty Hunter
3) Hiking a million miles to a really small, lame waterfall
4) The never ending Road to Hana
5) Brian rescuing me from a sea turtle
6) Wild Chickens!
7) Brian peeing in the bushes at the Luau
8) Kayaking a mile against the current - my arms felt like they were going to fall off!
9) Watching lava fall into the ocean, on New Years Eve
10) James paying $10 for a coconut
11) Rhonda and I freezing to death under the waterfall in Kauai
12) Rhonda and I refusing to swim in the 7 sacred pools after we drove half the day to get there
13) un-natural obsessions with Spam
14) Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. - I swore I would never eat another piece of shrimp again
15) James explaining that "rare Tuna steak" on the menu did not refer to how it was cooked, but that it was a uncommon species of Tuna. Not true.
16) the Deja Vu guy
17) The couple sitting next to Brian on the plane ride home making out. And Brian getting really pissed off!


Good times!!!

I think next time, I am going to write about memories with Centerfield Second Ward!

Marc Kahre Day

Every year, the girls' elementary school honors Marc Kahre - a police officer who was killed in the line of duty - with a Marc Kahre day celebration. So after lunch, Brian and I loaded Brylee and Scarlett (the little girl I tend) into the stroller and walked down to the elementary school for the parade. It was really cool! They had police cars, motorcycles, the Swat team vehicles, the Police Dogs, Police horses, and even a helicopter! My favorite part was when they did the dog demonstration. I like to watch the dogs attack. They behave so well! I am sure that it takes alot of training to get them to follow commands like that! Maybe Eddie and Makayla should go to police dog boot camp for a couple of weeks!

Here is some pictures of the day's highlights:

Watching the parade

The Police Horses

Ady's class in the back of the SWAT van