A Quick Trip

Kai and I took a quick trip to San Diego over this weekend to attend the San Diego Angelman Syndrome Walk-A-Thon. My parents were very invovled in pulling off this great event. I'm really glad we were able to be there and be a part of it all. It was a beautiful heat wave (80's for San Diego) weekend. In addition to the walk we got to hit the pool a few times, try out Kai's new bike for "grandma's house", do lots of puzzles and play lots of pretend with grandma and grandpa, eat some yummy food, and visit the second grade. It was a short trip, but we are excited to go back again later in the summer and get to spend a little more time.

At the Walk:

Mom and Dad in Their Green Volunteer Shirts:
Loving the Firetruck Part of the Walk Festivities:


Play Time:

Happy Mother's Day 08

Happy Mother's Day to our wonderful Moms, Grandmas, Sisters, Sister-in-laws, and Friends! I had a nice day and felt very loved and appreciated by my boys. I am grateful for all of the wonderful women in my life that have served as great examples.

Recent Kai Quotes

We figure we better write these down so we don't forget what a funny 2 year old Kai was.

1 & 2 are signs that we have recently been introduced to Diego and Dora on TV and are now fans:

1) In nursery on Sunday Kai's class was playing a game where they walk through the pretend forest and share what animals they are seeing. One kid saw a bear, one kid saw a bird, then..........

Teacher: "Kai what do you see?"
Kai: "I see a Puma."

2) In the hotel room in Las Vegas Kai was being cautious about getting out of his make shift bed and suddenly called out to us in an urgent tone "Ayudame". ("Help Me" in Spanish")

3) Last night Kai wasn't minding after dinner as we were getting ready to go outside for a walk.

Lance: "Kai listen or Mommy and I are just going to go"
Kai (in a wimpering pathetic tone): "But I would cry cause I love you guys."

I don't know if anyone else will find these funny, but they sure have made us laugh. From the mouth of babes.

Vegas

Lance had a conference in Las Vegas Wednesday night through Saturday night so Kai and I tagged along for a quick get away. The Conference was at the Red Rocks Resort which is about 20 minutes off the strip. This was actually a plus for us since a little Vegas tends to go a long way in our book. Highlights of the hotel included a great pool with ground entry, 2 flat screen tv's in each room (including one over the soaker tub), a super cool kids play area, a movie theatre, a bowling alley, numerous restaraunts and a food court..... The pool and the tub were really our favorites. We did head to the strip one afternoon to check out some of the hotels. The Venetian and the Bellagio fountain show were awesome. It was nice to have a little get away- even if Lance did have to go to a bunch of meetings. The pool made us feel even more ready for summer to get here. Here are some pictures from the trip:

Kai's perfect make shift bed out of the cushy room chairs:


Can we go to the pool yet?:


The only person in the pool first thing in the morning- this is Las Vegas. Later it would be packed:



Daddy Time:


And Some From the Strip:

A Choice Encounter

We had a special experience last night. I've decided that this Blog serves as a great family journal opportunity for us so I want to write about it while it is still fresh in my mind.

Lance and I were heading to our Ward (neighborhood Church) Temple night at the SLC Temple. To do this we park under the Conference Center in the underground structure, ride an elevator up a few floors, and then walk across the street. As we jumped on an elevator, some people were getting off which left just a family of 4 (Mom, Dad, Son in wheelchair, and Daughter) still on there.

The family was trying to figure out how to get to the top of the conference center and the people getting off were telling them that they were on the wrong elevator. So, as we got on the family asked us if we could direct them. We told them to go with us and we would help them find someone who could help them on the ground level. I was talking to the Mom and daughter who were on one side of the elevator so my back was to the Dad and Son.

It was a quick 5 second ride but out of the corner of my eye I noticed that the Dad had his arms resting slightly on the son's arms from his wheelchair pushing position. This is something I have seen my own Dad do millions of times to my sister so as to make sure that no one gets an unexpected love grab in a confined elevator space. As we got off the elevator, the Mom was explaining that they were touring the conference center and were trying to get up to the top to see the beautiful gardens. They had been told they could skip the formal tour since their son wouldn't have the patience to sit through it. I laughed and told them that I too had a special sister and Lance and I thus completely understood. That is when I got my first real glance at the son. I immediately said to the Mom "Do you mind me asking you what his disorder is?". She said she didn't and said "It is actually called Angelman Syndrome". I immediately told her that was what my sister had too and started to quickly tear up.

When my sister was diagnosed there were 400ish cases known in the United States. That was 399ish more than we could imagine, but in the spectrum of things that is a VERY small number. Since then the awareness has greatly improved and more and more kids are being diagnosed, but it is still a VERY rare disorder. To most of us meeting another family is somewhat like meeting a long lost family member. Often when I travel in an airport, go to a place like Disneyland, or just am in a busy place I have imagined how neat it would be to run in to another family- sort of a needle in a haystack type moment. Thus, my tears were of love, joy, excitement and gratefulness at this oppotunity to have such a choice encounter at such an unexpected moment.

We got them to someone who was ready to help them and chatted for a brief moment as we both were needing to rapidly get on to our destinations. The family was visiting from NV. The son was 12 and had the same light skin, freckles, and big smile that Whitney does. He reached out for me as I bent over to say hi to him. Before the Dad could pull his arm back I quickly reached out and gave his arm a squeeze back. I didn't need the assistance- I'm well familiar with such love grabs. :)

The Temple is a place we go to feel closer to God and to help us feel a little less lost in this big world. The chances of all of us being on that exact same small elevator at just that moment had to have been next to nothing. As one friend repeated last night when I was telling her the story- "There are No Coincidences". How special it was to have such a choice encounter- especially literally steps from the Temple.

Speed Racer

Good Job Daddy!

So we seem to have a trend in our house. Two notable things appear to happen when we are preparing for a new baby to enter our family. I get semi obsessed with getting projects done before the new addition gets here (otherwise known in the pregnancy world as nesting I suppose) and Lance gets on a running kick.

When I was pregnant with Kai he was really disciplined with his running and was covering distances that I think of as quite as quite a way to even drive. Unfortunately, shortly after Kai was born Lance entered the world of new attorney billable hours and the running was mostly put on the back burner. Now we are expecting again and he's apparently decided that he can sleep even less in order to find a little time for running.

So yesterday he participated in the SLC Marathon 5K for fun. Kai and I were very impressed by how easy he made it seem. Keep in mind that we are still having occasional snow these days so it isn't ideal training weather in my mind. This is where it should be noted that I grew up in CA.

Now if only his running could do something for my growing baby belly. :)

Multi Sport Man

The snow has finally melted so Kai got to set-up and try out the basketball hoop he got for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa Utah. He loves it!





His other favorite activity these days is begging Daddy when he gets home from work to go do somersaults on the bed.



Kai conversation of the week:
Ash: Kai are those Shamus on Diego?
Kai: No Mommy. Those are Orcas.
Ash: Oh, right.

Reading Time

Here are some fun picture of Kai doing some familiar reading in his chair (that was mine when I was little):

Happy Birthday Ashleigh!!!

This was a big one. I hope you had a wonderful day. Kai, a yet-to-be-named baby girl and I love you.

Hope you enjoyed your cake and the time spent with your in-laws, nephews and nieces.

It's A.........

GIRL!!!

We're shocked but thrilled. Kai seems to have known all along. Isn't that amazing? The technician and the doctor both came to the same verdict separately so.... Guess we can start thinking pink. How fun! :) They said everything looked good so we are now feeling able to take a very grateful deep breath.

Here is her first picture:

Happy Birthday Jack and Jake!

Happy 1st Birthday Cousin Jack!


Happy 5th Birthday Cousin Jake!


It was fun to get to celebrate with you both! Hope you had a great day!

Kai spent most of the party riding on/ driving Kennedy's Jeep. It is way fun!

Tomorrow- Blue or Pink???

So tomorrow is the big ultrasound day. It's funny how you wait and wait for something and then it seems to just suddenly sneak up on you. We are excited to find out what we will be having, but we are also just as anxious to get a look at this little one. This is one of those times in life where you feel like you are getting a sudden huge glimpse at your future. It is strange to have so many strong opposing emotions (excitement, nervousness etc.) all at once. Our hope is just to have a little one that we can meet in person at the end of the summer and get to watch grow up.

Looks like the poll is 50/50 at this point. Classic! Our extended family members seem to be pretty evenly divided as well. In our neighborhood and our friends from Pep there seems to be a a lean towards boys being born- as in most are having or have had boys. Kai has said it was a baby girl since day 1- we have no idea where that came from but he has stuck with it. If it's a boy it is going to take some convincing to get him switched over. :) Either way (girl or boy) it is going to be an adventure. We'll let you know how it goes tomorrow!

Busy Week

I had a big work event on Tuesday of this week so Kai got to hang out at his buddy Andrew's house (that is where he goes the one morning a week I work), get picked up by Daddy and put down for his afternoon nap )so Daddy could work from home for a few hours), and then taken to Grandma and Grandpa's so Daddy could attend the event with Mom. Needless to say he had a blast.

The following day he and I were feeling rather tuckered out. After a solid 3 hour nap I woke him up and brought him up to the couch. I went in to the kitchen for a minute and when I came back this is how I found him. Talk about a sleepy head. :)

Prayer Sheriff

Mommy (during prayer): "Fold your arms."

Kai: "Close your eyes."

Kai is the Proud Owner of his first ...

Passport

One of my proudest achievements

We drove home tonight from Costco along 2100 South from 300 West to 2500 East and hit all green lights. We cheered through the last 4 or so. Kai thinks I'm the coolest.

Happy Easter 2008!

Decorating Easter Eggs with Daddy last night:




On the Hunt:






The Big Find:











Many thanks to Beckham and Hudson for tipping off the Easter Bunny about the scooter. We hear that B &H have upgraded now to to bigger kid ones, but we don't have big kids around us to figure that out from yet. Kai is already the envy of many of the kids in the neighborhood- these haven't hit it big here yet with the 2+ year olds due to the fact that we are just getting to play outside again. Kai would also like B & H to know that he is still carrying around the mail they sent him a few weeks back. It is so exciting to get mail!!! The scooter was the ultimate incentive for Kai- he has been talking about it for weeks now. We're not sure this scooter really calls for a helmet, but Kai has been asking for one since last summer (see some previous posts) so it seemed like a good enough fit. Kai has always been a safety first kind of a kid. :)

Happy Easter to All!

*We also want to point out to anyone interested that we have put up a poll on the side of our blog where you can take a guess at whether we will be adding a boy or girl to our family.

Helping Spring Along!

Is it Spring Yet?

This weekend we had a snow storm again. It was beautiful, but we had had a few nice days the week before that made it less appealing at this time of year. Needless to say we are all feeling ready for some warmer days so we can enjoy some outside time. Since it is only March we still might have a few more storms to go though. Here is a picture of Kai today which I feel like further illustrates this desire.

In other news we had a fun time at the FLYNN (Lance's grandparents) family St. Patrick's Day party last night. Kai's favorite color these days is green (green spoon, green bowl, green cup please) so he has been appreciating all the green.

I'd also like to say congrats to one of my best friends Rebecca and her husband Joe on the arrival of their first baby on Friday. Charlotte was due in April so she made a slightly early arrival. We are so excited for this new little family.



Congrats also to the Mullins who just found out that they will be welcoming another little girl to their family come July. Kirsten and I are once again expecting about 3 weeks apart in July and August. These cousins around the same age sure are fun.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Weekend Wrap-up

We headed to Provo this weekend to watch Pepperdine play BYU in Volleyball. On Friday night we made the trip with Lance's parents and on Saturday night our friends Wes and Amy joined us. We had a great time both nights despite the fact that Pepperdine lost. Kai loves adventures with his grandparents. He also thinks Wes and Amy are so much fun. He pointed out that Wes has a beard just like Jesus. :) One of Lance's friends and teammates (Scott W.) is now an assistant coach so it was fun to get to visit with him as well. He also hooked all of us up with tickets for both nights which was great. Another neat fact was one of the current players on the team has a brother with Angelman Syndrome. Now that is really a small world.



One of the things that assisted Kai is the drives back and forth from Provo was his new "ipod". "Just like Daddy" he keeps saying. It has been a good under $5 purchase for us because the ear phones are small enough for his head and also work in our portable DVD player for the car which we use for longer trips.



And lastly on Sunday night Lance and I were making dinner in our little kitchen and I realized that Kai had joined us. I guess he just wanted to be a part of it all. So far he still seems to be mostly using his left hand for coloring, throwing etc. It will be interesting to see if that sticks. Lance and I are both right handed so....

Sunday Night at the Sorensons

Daddy on phone.



Daddy hangs up.



Kai: "Who was that, daddy?"



Daddy: "Multiple Sclerosis."



Kai: "Huh?"



Daddy: "Multiple Sclerosis ... Can you say Multiple Sclerosis?"



Kai: "Mupitle Spleroso."



Daddy: "Good."



[pause]



Kai: "What did he want?"



Daddy: "Money."



Kai: "Oh."



Mommy has sprite in nose from laughing.