Let It Snow

It started snowing HUGE gorgeous snow flakes today!! Garrett was so excited!! He thought it was christmas again!

It started snowing right as we were leaving for the airport to take Gene and Jody to catch their flight. I guess everyone got scared and left work early so traffic are AWFUL!!! It took us about 2 hours to drive 15 miles. They got there on time and we left to come home....that was when the fun began. The rodes started getting icy and the snow kept coming! It took us FOUR hours to get home. A couple of times were pretty scary! There were wrecks EVERYWHERE, people walking, empty cars, cars sliding all over the place. I kept prayign for God and His angels to surround our car and protect us....AND HE DID!! We are home safe and sound. I enjoy the snow but I'll enjoy it from my living room window, next to my fire place!

Our street when we got home!!

New Camera

Right now me and the kids are in NW Arkansas visiting my parents (they are on leave for 2 weeks). We had Christmas with them and I got a NEW CAMERA!! A Canon Rebal XSi!! I LOVE it!! I'm still learning how to use it...I would like to take a Digital Photography class next semester...we'll see!! Here are a few pictures I've taken playing with it and just trying to learn how to use it!! My cousin, David (my mom's nephew) here in Arkansas is teaching me a few things and he helped me with the sunset pictures!!

AWESOME....huh?

Christmas Fun

On Friday our town had a Christmas Tree lighting!! It was a low of 23 degrees so we bundled up and went for it. I was babysitting two little girls from our church so their parents could have a date...so we had FOUR kids under the age of 4...A LOT OF FUN!! Their girls are really well behaved and sweet so it wasn't a big deal at all. We were also meeting some friends at the park so we had lots of help. Minus it being FREEZING outside, we had a great time. The kids (there were 7 total...Cassie-4, Grant-4, Garrett-3, Blake-2, Addy- 2, Serenity- 2, and Haylee- 9 months) just ran around and played while the adults got to talk.

Garrett is ready for our cold night on the town

This is the life....all bundled up in the stoller

mmmmmmm.....HOT CHOCOLATE

Getting a picture of 7 kids is IMPOSSIBLE

Suzanne, Julie, and me

Then on Saturday we had our church Christmas party. That was a lot of fun as well....it was INSIDE!!! The group of teens raising money for a mission's trip to Honduras served us a FABULOUS dinner and then we played a couple of games and socialized. The best part is they had a kids Christmas party AWAY from the adults!!!

One of the games we played...Who can wrap the present the fastest...we were connected!!

A Day in the Life of the SORENSON'S!!!

Erica-
Moving to Portland has been an exciting, scary, lonely, emotional rollercoaster!! I was very excited about moving somewhere new and experiencing new things, but I didn't realize that moving as an adult and moving as a kid are two totally DIFFERENT things!! I had responsibilities and I couldn't meet friends at school. I am now getting adjusted and really enjoying it up here. A typical day includes waking up between 6am-9am (depending on when the kids wake up), feeding the kids, and just hanging out with them. It is nice being able to be more of a stay at home mom (for the most part). I work at a HUGE children's hospital at OHSU (where Josh is going to school) called Doernbecher Children's Hospital. I work about one day a week from 11pm-7:30am. On the days I have to work I take a nap with the kids during the day, leave the house around 10:20pm for work, work all night, and then come home and take a nap with the kids during the day. Our babysitter has been watching the kids for a couple of hours in the morning so I can take a nap which has been a life saver. Occassionally we will get together with other mom's and kids and play which is really nice because I can have an adult conversation. We also go eat lunch with Josh occassionally. I am really enjoying the beautiful of God's earth up here. There are so many trees and everything is SO green!! The mountians are gorgeous and seem to be right there (there are really about 40 miles away). It has really been a wonderful move and God has really blessed us!!

Garrett-
I really like my new house. I miss my old house and my friends from my old church like Ryan. I miss seeing my Nana and Papa everyday but I have made new friends and I have my mommy, daddy, and baby sister so I'm doing good. I have preschool on Tuesday and Thursday's. I love going to church school. I also get to go to church school on 3 times on Sunday and on Wednesday night. I am learning so much and love to sing church songs. During the week I mainly just hang out with my mommy. We watch cartoons, play games like Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders, and play with cars, trains, and balls. When my mommy has to go to work I wake up to Ms. Lara being here and she is so much fun. She plays with me and lets me play with all my toys. I love living in my new house.

Haylee-
This huge move across the country has not affected me very much....because I have my MOMMY!! I usually wake up around 6:30am and drink a bottle then go back to sleep. When I wake up around 9am I eat breakfast and then play on the floor. I usually try to eat Garrett's toys or fight with the dog for her bone!! I eat lunch and then take another nap. I wake up and play some more, eat, and sleep....oh yeah I do poop too!! I'm pretty laid back...I'll go with my mommy anywhere! So has long as my mommy's around I'm good!

Josh-
I haven't really had time to think about the move; between school, my family, church, and about 2 mins of me time I don't have time for anything else. I usually wake up around 5:30 and try to leave the house by 6am so I can get to school early and study. It is quiet there with no TV, 3 year olds singing Old McDonald, babies crying, or mommy's saying "not right now!" Everyone is still asleep so I don't have to feel bad about not spending time with my family, but I am guarnteed peace and quiet. After a long day of lectures, clinic, and teachings I usually get home anywhere from 3-6pm where we eat dinner and spend time as a family....usually watching Go Diego Go or playing Candy Land. Because I'm able to spend time studying in the morning I usually don't have to study very much in the evenings...I could though...there are kids who spend the night at school which is crazy!! I do need to make it out of school SANE!!

Oh Christmas Tree

YAH!!!! It'sChristmas Time and what better way to start celebrating christmas by going and getting a christmas tree!!! Oregon is the number one state in the nation for real christmas trees!!! They sell five times more christmas trees than any other state and they are gorgeous!! We went to this christmas tree farm about 20 mins from our house and took a hayride up on this huge hill and got to pick our very own and then this nice man came and cut it down for us!!

Garrett is VERY excited about getting a tree!!

Going up the hill on our hayride

Daddy's turn for a picture!!

Look at all those trees...decisions, decisions!!

Garrett (Charlie Brown) thinks we should get this tree!!!

We found our tree but why are they cutting it down?!?

OHHHHH....I get it, we get to take it home!!!

TIMBER........

BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY!

I can carry this home....don't you think?

Waiting for our tractor to come pick us up

They had this cool machine that wrapped it up and then a bunch of guys tied it down to the top of car. We didn't have to do a thing....but PAY!!

Garrett got to put the angel on top!

From forest to house!!! What a GREAT day!!

Too Tall

Garrett came in our room today and said he was Too Tall from the Berenstain Bears (he's a bully in the picture above). This is what he looked like!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving EVERYONE! We all hope you had a wonderful and blessed day with your friends and family!! Today we spent Thanksgiving with our great friends Ivan and Emily. They came over early in the morning and we cooked all morning and the meal turned out PERFECT!! It was great. We watched the Macy's Day Parade (which Garrett really enjoyed!!) and just relaxed with our friends. It was a little weird this year not being with family but we enjoyed ourselves!!

Josh smoked a turkey and it was WONDERFUL!!

Garrett playing we were cooking

Ivan playing with Garrett

Emily and Josh cooking away

Garrett wanted to PERSONALLY tell everyone HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Emily, her sister Brooke, and me SHOPPING at MIDNIGHT MADNESS!! Yes everyone MIDNIGHT!! It was SO much fun and we found some AWESOME deals. Josh was bummed he had to stay home with the kids (NOT!!)

Days of Elijah

We sang this song the other day at church and I have had it my mind ever since, so I've been singing it and I playing it....well Garrett was playing and singing in his room and I went in there and he was singing "There's no God like Jehovah, There's no God like Jehovah,There's no God like Jehovah!" AMEN GARRETT!!!

Portland, Oregon

So we have been in Portland for about 5 months now and it is a different country up here!! It is SO beautiful up here but there is a mixture of good and bad things from New Mexico (just with everything else!!). We really miss everyone in Clovis...we had so many great friends in Clovis that we miss very much...not to mention a FREE BABYSITTER!! Some other things we miss is GREAT Mexican food, sunny weather, NO traffic (Clovis people, Prince St. is NOT traffic!!), and getting from point A to point B in about 5 mins NO MATTER WHAT!! We wanted to give everyone a visual idea of Portland.




House for sell....2 bed, 2 bath, 1400 sq feet $289,000!!!


Portland Streetcar!! These are downtown and they ride right along with the cars!! It's SO crazy. You will pull up to a stop light and this things pull up right behind you...kinda freaky!!


Portland Saturday Market under a bridge in Portland. It is kinda neat. There is food and booths set up. It's a little on the hippy side (right along with everything else in Portland). It is open every Saturday.


The streets downtown will drive you CRAZY!! Just about every street is ONE WAY!!! You get so turned around. The streets will also change names on you all of a sudden. You'll be at a light and turn left and the street will be Canyon St. and turn right and it will be the TV hwy!!


The Farmer's Market's are AWESOME here!! There are so many farms and fresh produce here that the markets are WONDERFUL!! Fresh fruits and veggies are SO cheap and fresh in grocery store!!


A weird guy at the Saturday Market. There are SO many beggars here!! I hate it because I want to help them all!!


Portland Bridges are really neat. There is a river that separates the east and west of Portland. I LOVE driving on the bridges you can see so much!!


Here is a map of Portland. We do not actually LIVE in Portland. We live in Beaverton (west of Portland). We go to church in Tigard (South of us on Hwy 217). And for those of you who watch Little People, Big World....they live in Hillsboro, OR....about 9 miles from our house (west of us)!!


A typical CLOUDY day in Portland


Bikers are EVERYWHERE here!!


They even have a biker's lane...which is hard to get use to because they are riding right beside you (even in the SUPER narrow rodes) but they get to get in front of you at the lights!!



So there you go....Portland in a nutshell!! We are really enjoying ourselves and looking forward to Josh getting a little time off to go exploring a little more. It is a gorgeous country and SO much to do. I forget I live in a city though...it's funny I still think about making trips to "Lubbock" when I need new clothes or something when I have EVERYTHING right down the street (except a WALMART!!!! The closest Walmart from our house is about 45 min away!! HOW CRAZY IS THAT!!)