Bray Bray

Everyone keeps asking how long Braylon's hair is so I thought I should do a Braylon Blogg. Here is the little fireball posing for the camera. His hair is pretty long. He still has not had it cut ever, but we need to get him a trim soon. At first Stephen wanted wait to cut his hair until his parents returned from their mission in March, but I think I finally have him talked into a trim. I like Bray's long hair, I just feel bad when it is hanging in his eyes! It is so cute though! We love it!

I love it when kids get into the scrunchy face stage. Ya know, when you ask them to smile and they scrunch up up their faces and their eyes close! Ya, Bray Bray is in that stage and I absolutely love it! Aint he so cute!

Coralee's First Day Of School

I've been sad about this day, August 21, 2008, for the past five years! I thought that if I prepared myself and was sad for five years, than it would make Coralee's first day of kindergarten that much easier, but I was wrong. Last Thursday was a very emotional day for everyone, but also a very exciting day in the life of our little Coralee.

Coralee woke to find that she a received a visit from the backpack fairy. When she opened her packback she found a card, Hanna Montana notebook, two shirts, and an undershirt. She was so excited and had high hopes that the backpack fairy would return the next night. She learned that the back pack fairy only comes the night before the first day of school.

Then, she requested smiley face pancakes for her first day of school breakfast. There's nothing better than a plate full of sugar right before school. Poor Mrs. Twiss! After breakfast she got dressed in her new school outfit, got her hair done, and then came downstairs for more pictures and videos.

As I was videoing her before we got in the car I asked, "So, Coralee any last words before we leave for school?"

She looked at the camera and said, "Bye Mommy. Bye Daddy. I'm gonna (her voice cracked and she started to sob) miss you." She broked down and it was all I could do to not break down right there with her. I turned off the camera and threw my arms around her trying to keep my emotions in tact. I knew that if I cried it would make it worse so I just tried to console her.

We went outside, took more pictures and got into the car. Coralee was very scared to go to school, but I knew that as soon as she went she would love it. She cried some more when we got to school and the bell rang. She cried while she stood in line to go into class. She really cried when Stephen hugged her and said goodbye. But, she stayed in line with tears streaming down her face as she marched into the school turning around to wave goodbye to Stephen, Braylon, Landon, and me.

As we walked away, Stephen looked at me and said, "That was 100 times worse than I thought it would be." However, when Steve picked her up from school she said she loved it and had so much fun and that her teacher said that they were going to have even more fun the next day. She has been happy to go to school every day since!

It's hard to believe that she is old enough to be in school, but when you talk to her or watch her it seems like she should have been in school years ago. She is so grown up and sophisticated sometimes I cannot believe she is my daughter. It is so fun to watch them grow and develop even though it so hard emotionally!

Heritage Square

Poor Stephen missed out on all of the fun so when we got back from Nevada he took that Monday off and we took the kids to Heritage Square. It is this cute place up in the mountains that has kid rides, a dinner theater, alpine slide, mini golf, and shops. Steve grew up going there as a kid so it is fun to take our kids there and hear him talk about the good ol' days. It isn't the happenin' place that it was when he was a kid, but it is still fun to go and play and the kids love it!

Feed Truck

One of the most exciting parts of going home is getting go to the farm and ride tractors with Grandpa. Braylon was terrified of all the tractors, but Coralee and Landon loved it. Here they are helping grandpa feed the cows in the feed truck.

Sister

I love my Nona. It was so fun getting to spend time with her in Fallon. Sisters are the best and I am so blessed to have two of them. Even though we miss Carly like crazy, we are so grateful that she is serving a mission in England.

Cousins

We love cousins. It is so fun to finally have so many on my side. It is fun for Braylon and Landon to have so many boys and Coralee is in heaven having baby Leah. She wants a sister so bad, it is too bad that we cannot choose what we have!

Discovery Kingdom

We talked about whales when we studied the letter W for preschool last year. When I asked the kids if anyone had ever seen a whale, all of them answered no. When I told the kids that I had seen a whale Coralee became very curious. All she kept talking about for days afterwards was wanting to see a whale. Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen were kind enough to make Coralee's dream come true by taking us to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, CA. We drove down Monday night, stayed in a hotel, woke up Tuesday played all day, and then jumped back in the car and drove home. The kids were troopers along with gram, gramps, Uncle Cam, Uncle Bill, and myself! We had a blast and it was a great memory for Coralee and Landon. Braylon got to stay home and play with his cousins Braden and Kylan. We got to go on lots of rides, see lots of luny toons and super heros, and see lots of marine animals. Corlaee not only got to see a whale, she got to see dolphins, tigers, elephants, giraffes, a llama, and she even got to pet a sea lion! It was so cool. Out of all the people at the show, little Coralee got chosen to go up and pet the sea lion. It was an expereince she'll never forget. It was so much fun. We loved every minute of it. Thanks Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Bill, and Uncle Cam!

Posterity

My dad is the second youngest of six children. This family reunion is for my grandpa and his three sibblings posterity. It is a huge reunion, but it is so much fun for all of us cousins. However, it can be very overwhelming for all of the in-laws! Here is most of my grandpa's posterity.
I am the oldest of seven children. Here is most of my Dad's posterity. We are missing my sister Carly who is serving a mission in England.I have three children Coralee - 5, Landon - 3, and Braylon - 1. Here I am with my posterity.

Families are such an amazing blessing. I am grateful to be part of such a wonderful family and heritage. I am also grateful for the sacrifice of those who came before me so that I was blessed to have the life style and upbringing that I did. My life has been amazing and I have enjoyed every moment, the good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly, the scary, the comforting, the hard, the easy, and the list can go on and on. It is through all of my experiences that I have become the person that I am and I owe so much of that to my family. Thank you!

Lattin Farm

Our big Sorensen shin dig was held at Lattin Farms. My Dad's family did such a nice job. We had bounce houses, the big water slides, crafts, this train ride for the kids, lots of food, music, and lots of conversation and visiting. It was fun to see cousins that I hadn't seen for years and get caught up on how everyone was doing. Coralee, Landon, and I had fun posing as animals. Bray was not interested! He was too busy being cute!