ALL ABOARD!!!

The Sorensen clan decided to make a weekend trip up to Durango, CO to ride the POLAR EXPRESS this past weekend. It was a very memorable trip, especially because this city was a common family vacation spot for us growing up. Despite a few two year old temper tantrums, an otherwise fabulous trip!

I had always heard this was a great train ride, but what a night! Durango had just been hit by a huge storm and it continued to snow throughout the weekend. The ride Saturday night was a Winter Wonderland to say the least!


The troopers of the trip. Grandma and Grandpa braved the blizzard conditions for their dear Grandson Soren!!

It was a perfect night filled with hot chocolate and cookies. By the end of the ride Soren had hot chocolate all over his clothes, face and hands!

We picked Santa up at the North Pole, he boarded the train, and met every child. Soren was a little scared to be held by Santa, but he told him his Christmas wish for "a choo choo train". After Soren got to see Santa and got his bell, he was in heaven. He rang that bell all the way home, slept with it and rang it the whole drive home Sunday! Thanks, Santa!!Soren couldn't get enough of the snow! He had so much fun. Something about boys, snow and choo choo trains!!So funny story....Saturday morning I sat down in the hotel room to read the USA today newspaper while drinking my coffee and watching the snow fall outside. When suddenly I look at the front cover of the paper and there is Sarah Palin wearing THIS EXACT green hat I have on in these pictures. Great! Just what I hoped for.....a Sarah Palin look-a-like!!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year in Albuquerque! Suzanne, Matt, Stella and Matt's mother, Trish, all came in for the celebration. Trish came all the way from New Hampshire! It was a great time and Soren got to meet his 4 month old cousin, Stella, for the first time. Soren wasn't quite sure what to make of her at first, but very shortly into the visit he wanted to hold her on his lap and kept telling us that "Baby Stella was his baby"! It was pretty cute!

We also got pictures taken of Stella and Soren. I'll post soon. That was quite an adventure with a two year old and a 4 month old. Not to be attempted again for awhile. Let's just say that everyone in Albuquerque had the same idea as us to take pictures the day after Thanksgiving. Soren is also not quite into taking pictures right now. Whenever you tell him to smile, he gives you this cheesy smile and wrinkles up his whole face!

Overall it was a great trip with wonderful memories, time with friends and family, a wonderful meal up in Santa Fe at the Shed (minus the 1 1/2 hour wait), and getting to spend time loving on Baby Stella!

Well, in two weeks we are off to Durango, CO for a ride on the Polar Express with Soren. I can't wait to see his face when the train pulls up. Soren already has the whole story memorized, and Santa Claus will be a wonderful surprise!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Soccer, Trashman, and more....

Wednesdays are a great day for me (usually...wink, wink) because it's my day off from work and devoted to fun with Soren! We start the day off by waiting "patiently" for the 'Trashman'! Soren hears him coming and goes running to the front window to wait for him. If you ask Soren what he does on Wednesdays...he says "Soccer and Trashman"....it's a great day in his world.

Then we go to Lil' Kickers soccer at 10:30am, and Soren just loves it. He has 3 other toddler friends that go and they are learning all sorts of stuff about using their feet instead of their hands, saying their name, sharing, following directions, and of course making a soccer goal! Not to brag....but...Soren can dribble the ball all the way down the field! It's a whole new world for me with soccer since I never grew up playing it. They really start these kids out early here in Albuquerque. I'm not sure what Soren will end up wanting to do as he gets older in the way of sports, but he's having fun now and that is all that matters to me. It's also quite a workout for me....running after him for an hour!

Last....but not least...I had to post a picture of Soren in his new Spiderman underwear!!! We are starting the ever so painful task of potty training right now. Yeah!!!

Carving Pumpkins

Well, this weekend "Spiderman" and I decided to carve our pumpkins at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was so much fun! Soren is having a great time with Halloween this year and starting to understand things more now. He loves being in his Spiderman costume all the time....so I've given up on trying to get him dressed in normal clothes anymore. I guess you have to pick your battles with a 2 1/2 year old. It's really funny though because Soren keeps calling himself "Superman"...oh well. He picked out his costume at the store, so that's all that matters. He really likes ghosts...so we had to attempt at least one "ghost jack-o-lantern". I think they turned out pretty good!!

This time of year is such a neat time with Soren because he is really interested in all the holidays. The only books he wants to read are about Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. He is just obsessed with Santa Claus right now! It's really cute, so we are all looking forward to the holidays with Soren.

October in New Mexico

So October in New Mexico has to be my favorite time in this state. Balloon Fiesta, pumpkin patches, green chile roasting, and cooler weather!














Well, we didn't make the morning Balloon Fiesta this year due to my work schedule and weather, but we did attempt the Special Shapes Balloon Glow. Key word...."attempt". My friend, Rosa and I sat in 2 hours of traffic with our 3 young boys...and ended up just seeing the firework display...oh well...next year! At least Soren had a good time with his buddies, Dylan and Josh, in the Radio Flyer wagon!!

However, Soren did get to go to the McCall's Pumpkin Patch in Morarity with Aunt Debbie. What a beautiful day! The weather was perfect and Soren was so excited this year. We took the hay ride out to the pumpkin patch and got 3 pumpkins. Soren however was more interested in the rotting pumpkins with flies all around them...not the pretty orange ones that mama liked!

Soren got to see all the farm animals and ride the "cow train"! This was definitely the highlight of the trip. It was the cutest little train pulled by a tractor around the farm. All the visitors were waving to the kids as they rang their cow bells. Who wants more Cow Bell? Soren was in heaven!

Male Bonding

Well, Soren went over to Grandma and Grandpa's the other night and got a special surprise from Grandpa! Soren just loves tools right now, especially Grandpa's! So he got his very own workstation with all sorts of screws, bolts, a faucet...you name it. He also got a tool box that Grandma put his name on with all sorts of tools. Soren was in heaven!! He played by himself for quite a bit that night...which is a nice change for me to let him entertain himself.

Soren finished up the night with a good 'ol horsy ride from Grandpa. Soren really gives this poor horse a workout! Soren really loves his "papa"!

Summer 2009

This is the first official entry of Soren's Blog. I figured there are so many events and memories I want to capture, why not start a blog...everyone else has!!

As the summer has come to an end and we begin my favorite time of year, fall, I decided to start the blog by reflecting on the Summer of 2009.

We started off the summer with Soren turning two years old at the end of May. It was a great backyard party, full of bubbles, dump trucks, the sand box and sidewalk chalk. Soren had lots of little friends there to celebrate. The best of all was Soren's Elmo birthday cake. Soren blew out the candles on the first try!!
We had a great summer.....filled with days at the Zoo, lots of parks, the Botanical gardens to watch the "choo choo" trains, going to the library, horsy rides by grandpa, and getting a new tool kit to help mom fix things around the house! Also, in the last month, Soren's vocabulary has absolutely exploded. He started speaking in full sentences....his first sentence was..."mama I want to read a book". Good kid, huh!!





But, the best part of the whole summer for us was the birth of Soren's new cousin, Stella!!!