Christmas Vacay 2010 (December 2010 pt2)

We had a great trip up north this Christmas. We headed up to Las Vegas on the 22nd to watch the Las Vegas bowl. The drive up was rainy and cold so we were a little worried about the game. After successfully located some ponchos and towels we drove over to the stadium. Luckily the weather cleared up right after kickoff and the evening wasn’t too cold. We got lucky with our seats and ended up on the bench right on the walkway that goes around the top of the stadium. It gave the kids a little room to play without getting in anyone’s way. The Utes didn’t really show up to the game but it was still a fun experience. I think the most memorable moment for me was when the two fighter jets flew over the stadium. We positioned so that we could see them coming straight for us through the national anthem. The sound was deafening as they flew right overhead. I think my heart stopped for a couple of beats. We continued north after the game and stopped for the night in Mesquite.

On the 23rd we were able to attend the big Sorensen family Christmas party at my dad’s parent’s house. We enjoyed the traditional caroling hayride, food, nativity play and presents. Here are the kids all bundled up for the hayride (Soren warmed up with some hot cocoa before this picture):

Soren quietly drank in the whole experience. Svea screamed until my dad took her after which she promply fell asleep for the rest of the ride:

I took a couple of pictures of the kids costumes before we left AZ. Good thing since I didn’t get a good one at the actual play! Soren was a wise man and Svea was an angel.

After the party we headed up north even further to my parents house.

We had a nice relaxing Christmas Eve and celebrated the day with a delicious turkey dinner and ice cream cake for Jesus’ birthday. This was a tradition from Erik’s youth that he wanted to start. He did all the baking and yummy was it delicious. The cake was enjoyed by all.

After a short Christmas Eve program, we opened up our traditional Christmas Eve gift of jammies and headed to bed.

Christmas morning was a whirlwind. Soren really knew what the present thing was all about this year and he tore through his presents at light speed. It was hard to get good pictures of the kids since they were both so excited about all the goodies. These’ll give you some idea of the fun!

The day after Christmas was Sunday, so we headed to church in some beautiful new Christmas clothes (thanks Grandma Linda)

Surprisingly, we had a brown Christmas this year with no snow on Christmas Eve or Christmas day. The snow arrived the day after Christmas and Soren couldn’t wait to go out and play. Svea HATED it. The entire trip she would start crying and run if we tried to put on her coat, or even if she felt the cold air blowing in from an open door.

After a nice visit with my parents we headed back down to Draper to visit Nana and Papa. We had a lot of fun in Draper as well as a lot of SNOW! We drove over to Heber and took a ride on the Heber Creeper. It was a pretty ride.

Svea wasn’t very excited at first

She ended up having a pretty good time. She played with Daddy and Papa and looked out the window at the snow, “No” and the water “Anee”. It was cute

Soren took a lot of beautiful pictures with his new camera

There were herds of deer all over

We were spoiled once again with more presents.

The snow up at Suncrest was crazy. We were drifted in for a day and a half. Soren was excited to watch Papa work the snow blower:

Once we were able to move the car, we headed down the mountain and treated Soren to his first game of bowling.

I was glad for the emergency leash in my pocket – Svea was ready to run everywhere to check everything out.

Soren had a blast. I think he bowled a 67 for his first game.

We headed back to my parents house for one last night where the kids were spoiled with a few more presents. We also got to spend a little time with my brother & his family. The kids LOVE Bridget and can’t wait for their new cousin to come in a few months.

Soren got some good practice on his new camera taking pictures of Svea. They really had fun!

We went to the Sorensen New Year’s Eve party for food, Wii dancing and fireworks, then woke up and had a beautiful lunch with Larry and Kristen in Draper for Kristen’s annual holiday crab extravaganza.

The drive home was loooong (12 hours) but it was all worth it. We arrived home to even more presents (!) and now we are still trying to get settled back into our routines. It was such a fun trip. Thanks to everyone for your hospitality and generosity. Happy New Year!

December 2010 Part 1

Here are a few pictures from November and December. I rediscovered an old kettle corn recipe I had. That resulted in quite a few movie and popcorn afternoons for me and the kids. Yummy!:

The weather was really nice and we spent a lot of time playing at the park and in the backyard. The kids can spend hours just playing together inside as well. Svea love her babies and stroller:

Mom is always cleaning, and lately Svea has taken an interest. She is a quirky little thing and I’m happy to let her help me sweep or shut cupboard doors. We’ll see if her “neat freak” tendencies last – definitely not one of my strengths!

We spent a really fun Saturday together to celebrate Erik’s completion of school. I can’t even remember how many years this second bachelor’s degree has taken. It is such a relief to have that done! Erik now has a BS in Civil Engineering from Arizona State in addition to his BS in Applied Environmental Geosciences from Weber State. I’m so proud of him for sticking with it even though it was a huge sacrifice for him. We celebrated by attending the Mesa Arts Fair where Soren got to play on a huge inflatable, decorate a pinecone and we all watched a juggler perform.

Afterwards we went to George’s Gyros for dinner and headed over to the Mesa Temple to check out the Christmas lights. It was beautiful. I felt so much joy spending that precious time with my three favorite people in the world.

The weather was beautiful in the middle of December and we were back in tshirts and shorts for a few days. Here are the kids eating popsicles outside. In December. Only in Phoenix!

Svea is really growing up. She’s getting close to 18 months now and I can see her brain making new connections every day. She is great at entertaining herself and can sit for 30 minutes just looking at a book. She also loves to sit and color (usually on paper) – that surprised me because Soren still shows no interest in coloring books. She definitely has her own personality. I can’t get enough of her captivating blue eyes and her big hugs. She is a sweetie and brings a smile to my face throughout the day. Her vocabulary is growing like crazy and she can use her words and hand gestures to explain what she needs or wants most of the time. She loves her Daddy and her Kitty. I think the words I hear most around here are “Hi, Kitty!” and “Daddee!” Oh, and I can’t forget “No”. She says No for No and No for Yes, so it gets a little confusing sometimes. She is walking, running, and into EVERYTHING. What a treasure.

Soren is also growing into quite the little man. His speech is becoming clearer and his vocabulary is huge. He loves to watch tv and play on the computer. He especially enjoys watching the Electric Company. It is pretty funny because there is a line from that show that Soren has adopted. In every episode of EC the main character of the episode runs into trouble and yells, “Hey, You Guys!” to assemble the whole group of friends. Soren has started going out in the yard and yelling (at the top of his lungs) “Hey, You Guys!” until a little neighbor kids pops his head over the fence. Sometimes this takes along time before the kid hears Soren from inside his house and gets outside and on top of his garbage cans. They have very interesting conversations about their baby sisters and their pets. I think it is hilarious that Soren thinks that people in real life yell at each other rather than calling on the phone or politely knocking on the door.

Both kids sleep all night long in their own beds most nights. Svea sleeps in her crib with the door closed and a box fan on for white noise. One morning I heard Svea playing in her room, then Soren opening her room and going in. I snuck up to the door and listened while Soren climbed into Svea’s bed and proceeded to convince her to let him rub her ear. Soren thinks that rubbing ears is the nicest thing you can do for anyone. He finds it very relaxing (just like a puppy) and will often put himself to sleep rubbing his own ear. After climbing into the crib, I heard him say, “No, Svea, it feels good, see?” and then he started singing the song “Fun to Do”. Stifling my laughter I ran and got the camera and captured this moment.

November 2010

I’m really playing catch up here, so bear with me!

Life charges on here in the Nilssen household. The kids, the house and running really keep me busy these days. We had a lot of fun in November. The fun included bubble baths (Svea looked so much like a little gnome man):

Wearing cold weather jammies (yes it did get a little chilly here in Phoenix in November, although we still haven’t turned on the heater):

A fun Thanksgiving visit from my parents and my sister, Jenny. We went out for a walk in South Mountain Park:

Ate way too much yummy Thanksgiving dinner:

Set up and decorated our tiny Christmas tree:

And ate way too much homemade pumpkin pie:

After my parents went home, our little family enjoyed some time at the Rio Salado nature walk near our house. The weather was crisp and the leaves on the trees in the river bottom were golden. It was beautiful and really helped me feel “fallish” this year. I can’t remember ever really noticing fall here in Arizona before – it was a fun experience. The kids LOVED stretching their legs and hitting trees with sticks.

As always, the kids (and Erik) keep my life interesting.

For Gramma Gerd and Papa Ralph

For Grandma Linda