The Final Chapter

You know that feeling when you are waiting for the last book of a series to be published? Or when you finally get it and you are at the final chapter. Everything you wanted to know is about to be concluded and it is such a bittersweet moment. You want to know how it all ends but you are dreading the end. You don't want it to be the end. The story needs to go on because you feel almost like you have become part of the story. The other day I was thinking about all of this and how it can apply to life too. Sometimes it feels like you have waited most of your life for what you have always wanted. The time goes slowly and your dream starts to become reality and you couldn't be happier. But as that dream reaches its climax you realize that you are at that "final chapter" in this stage of life and it is such a bittersweet moment. That is where our family is at right now. We have reached a 'final chapter' so to say. We are so very excited but at the same time it is a little sad to be moving out of this stage of life. So I guess now is the time for plan speaking. The conclusion to the Sorensen family is coming in May 2011.

Yes we are expecting baby #4, and all of us are very excited. We feel so blessed to add this one last member to our family. As I compared this exciting news to my analogy I got thinking though of the one difference between this real life miracle and the excitement of the ending of a good book. We don't have to set the story down and guess how it would continue. We get to live it out and see where we end up. So, yes, I am a little sad to think that after this baby I will never be pregnant again and get to feel the wonder of a new baby, but I get to see where each of our four miracles will go from here and where they will end up. It is exciting and we are greatly anticipating our newest addition and the blessings we know they will bring to our family.

Thanksgiving 2010

I hope everyone was able to have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. We had such a good time with our family. Dirk, the kids, and I were the only ones this year at Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen's house for dinner. We were able to enjoy one another and the kids loved getting lots of attention from their grandparents. We played games, did puzzles, and did a lot eating. Family is what it is all about and remembering all of our blessings. The day before Thanksgiving the kids helped us make a Thankful Turkey. Each feather has something that we are thankful for as a family. It was a fun little project that helped the kids remember why we celebrate this wonderful holiday. Simon refused to have us help him write down his answers so some of the feathers are just his idea of words but I am glad he was trying.

Rayden Turns 6

Time flies. I swear this boy shouldn't be this old already. I asked Rayden what kind of birthday party he wanted and he told me he wanted another train birthday. I asked him if we could do something else since we did trains the last 2 years. So instead he chose a Lego Birthday party. I thought his cake was going to be easy this year. I was just going to make a rectangle cake with a couple of cupcakes on top to resemble a Lego block. No, Rayden found a different cake that he wanted. It was a little more difficult and a lot more time consuming. It didn't turn out exactly like the picture but Ray was happy and that is all that mattered to me.

Rayden invited his friends over and we played with lots of Lego's. We had a treasure hunt to find the treat boxes and the kids had a blast making towers out of their Lego candy!

The week after Rayden's birthday he was the hero for the day in his Kindergarten class. He was so excited to create his very own flag.

I got to go to school with him and hear all about why Rayden is a hero in his class. Then I got to share why Rayden is a hero at home. We got to read his favorite story to the class, 'The Little Engine That Could', then we showed them all lots of pictures of Rayden as he has been growing up and things he likes to do. I got a little teary eyed watching him sit in the chair next to me just beaming with pride! He was so stoked to be the center of attention for a few minutes. Before I went home the class lined up into two lines and Rayden got to run through them and give everyone a high five.

I am so glad that Rayden has such a wonderful teacher who finds what is special in each child and takes the time to celebrate them. To me that is so much more important sometimes then the other skills they learn and I am glad he got to experience such a great day.

The Rest of Alaska…..Finally

 I know, It has taken me 2 ½ months to actually finish writing about our trip. You would think I didn't enjoy it but it was the best time both Dirk and I have had with just the two of us for a long time. So here are the last few days of what we did and how much fun we had.

Day 5 we didn't port anywhere. We cruised through Glacier National Park and saw some of the most amazing glaciers! A couple of park rangers boarded the ship early in the morning and as we were sitting in front of the Marjorie Glacier they taught us all sorts of things that I would never have realized that ice can do. It was so fascinating that Dirk and I bought a book that is very kid friendly so the kids could hear all about it. We sat at the Marjorie Glacier for an hour. It was very cold on the deck, but we had to get some pictures.

This glacier is 2 miles wide and I forgot how tall but it made me feel very small next to it. Can you see how the glacier wraps up into the mountain? Cool huh?

Dirk spent most of his time taking pictures and he caught this awesome one of the glacier calving. That is when a chunk breaks off and splashes into the water below.

There was another glacier just perpendicular to Marjorie. It looks quite a bit different because it is a retreating glacier, which means it is melting and moving away from the bay. It was called the Grand Pacific. It looks completely different.

We saw other glaciers as we traveled through the inlets but those were the two we stayed by the longest. The other ones we saw were, the backside of the Marjorie Glacier (which was really cool seeing it coming down the backside of the mountain), the John Hopkins Glacier, and the Lamplugh Glacier. There was also lots of ice chunks on the water. Some seals were spotted on one but we were inside and the windows were too dirty to get a good picture. Some bears were also spotted on the shoreline eating off a whale corpse. We did get a picture but they were so far away that you can't see them in it. I really wish I had a better camera.
So here is the really cool story of Glacier Bay. Back in the late 1600's early 1700's the Tlingit (pronounce Klingit) people lived in this beautiful valley. One day they saw a gigantic glacier moving towards them as quickly as a dog can run. They were forced to abandon their homes and wait for the glacier to recede back into the mountains. It took around 100 years for the glacier to recede and when they went back to their homeland they found that the ground had been compressed so much from the glacier's weight that the entire area had filled with sea water.

Such a sad story for these native people but it is also a fascinating history. That huge glacier actually receded very quickly compared to most glaciers. By the late 1800's it was mostly receded and just the inlets were covered in ice. Who knew ice could be so fascinating?

So since we didn't get off the boat all day we had some downtime. We played games and read books and just hung out together. The men had a card stacking contest. It wasn't easy as they thought on a moving boat. Lots of fun to watch though!

Day 6-We docked in Ketchikan. This is the one day that Dirk and I had separate excursions. Liesl, me, and the girls all headed to the native village. The natives in Alaska don't let outsiders into their actual town but they had a visitors area all set up so we could see how life was for them. We learned a lot of their culture and they even had a small tribe dance ritual for us.

The huge backdrop they have was all hand carved by their totem maker. We got to meet him and see some of the totems he was currently working on. There are only a few people left who actually carve by hand still.

There were lots of totem poles as well. Our guide told us what the stories were that went with some of the poles. It is amazing how much you can learn from just a few images. This totem pole is the oldest one the Tlingit's have. There village use to be across the inlet on an island but they moved to the mainland after the white people came. 80 years after they moved they went back and collected some of their culture so they wouldn't forget their own traditions. This one is over 200 years old!

We also went to the Lumberjack show while in Ketchikan. It was a lot of fun watching these men compete against each other in all sorts of log cutting competitions. Have you ever seen the annual competition on Discovery Channel? It is fun to watch. Seriously, who knew you could cut wood in so many ways?

This guy actually climbed this pole and then literally free fell the 50 feet to the bottom. Ahhhhh!!!!!

We met the guys for lunch and had some of the most delicious clam chowder I have had in a long time. Seriously, the stuff is so much better when it is completely fresh! Dirk took these pictures of the town. I love the feel of these towns!

Day 7-We went to Victoria Canada. We didn't get there until early evening and the weather wasn't all that great but we still went to the Butchart Gardens. There wasn't a crowd there at all because of the drizzle so we were able to really enjoy the visit. The gardens are so lovely and pictures just don't do it justice. I loved when it started to get a little dark and we were able to see all the outside lights come on. A lot of planning and love went into this place.

On our way back to the ship our guide drove by some other fun places I wish we could have stopped at. We saw the world's narrowest alleyway. It is where they filmed the movie "Bird on a Wire" which I have actually never seen, but it has Goldie Hawn and Mel Gibson in it. We also went by the Parliament Building which was all lit up. I hear it is absolutely amazing inside but I guess we will have to save that for our next trip.
Day 8-We made it back to Seattle and disembarked from the ship. Back to reality but not right away. We still had 4 hours until we needed to be at the airport so we went to the Seattle Aquarium. I think Dirk took a picture of every single fish we saw. I am still thinning out all the pictures. We did enjoy the touch pools. Starfish and anemones feel really cool. The sting rays weren't quite as smooth as you think they are.

We were able to see them feed the puffins. The birds were fun watching as they dived through the water after the fish. The kids would have loved it. We are definitely going to have to plan to take them up some time soon. Also at the aquarium they were getting ready for their Hawaiian week so there were ladies there passing out Leis. Aren't they gorgeous?

They were fresh flowers too. Both Dirk and I got one. I carried them onto the plane and brought them home. The stewardess was awesome and wrapped them in wet paper towels for me so they would stay fresh. They sat in a glass bowl on my table for about 2 weeks after we got home. They smelled so good!

The trip was so much fun. We had an absolute blast, but I really missed my kids. I couldn't wait to get home and see them. Luckily my parents kept them up so we could spend a little bit of time with them before they went to bed. That was probably my favorite part of the entire week, feeling all the hugs and love from our 3 munchkins. Lexi just wants to know when we are going to take her to Alaska!

Alaska Cruise – Day 4

Juneau had beautiful weather but I was really excited for Skagway. We had booked an excursion to do a float trip through an eagle preserve. On Wednesday morning we got all bundled up because it was pretty chilly outside and drizzling. We had a little bit before our float trip so we wandered in town and I got this picture of the boat behind us. If you look at the top of the mountain you can see a glacier that the locals said had been descending and retreating all summer. How would it to be to just watch a glacier move around all summer long?

In order to get to the river where our trip began we had to ferry to the town of Haines. Bonus! One more town we got to visit. The ferry ride was 45 minutes long but that is significantly shorter than the drive would have been. That would have taken 6 hours! If I learned nothing else in Alaska I learned that you mainly travel everywhere by boat. Once we were in Haines we had a 30 minute bus ride to the drop in point. Don't we look so excited?

The river guides made us bundle up with an extra layer of clothes, rubber boots, and life jackets.

Each of the life jackets had a nickname on it. Navy was Boo Boo, Sidnee was Moose Calf, Travis was Otter, Liesl was Silty Britches, I was Cookie Monster, and Dirk was Meat. We were lucky enough to only have us 6 in our raft instead of the standard 8 people. We started down the Tsirku River and we saw tons of Bald Eagles. They were everywhere.

We were lucky enough to get really close to these two lovebird eagles. They were a mated pair. The female is the bigger of the two.

When we reached the Chilkat River we saw some bear prints. We didn't see any bears but I was ok with that after our river guide told us a story about early in the season when a bear charged one of the rafts. It stopped just short of them but gave everyone quite the scare. I was doing good with seeing bear prints. If I had seen a bear too closely I might have jumped into the 37©F water. Brrrrr.

Our guide also let Navy and Sidnee row the boat for awhile.

We learned a little about the tiny town also. It has 2400 people in the summer and 2100 in the winter. It has one of the smallest drop of population in Alaska. Also the movie White Fang was filmed there. When the movie was over the studio donated the set pieces to the town and they now use them as their County Fair Grounds. It is their little claim to fame and kind of cool. We explored the town for a little while but it is really small and not much to see unless you wanted to buy jewelry. Apparently that is a big ticket item in Alaska or maybe it is just on cruises period.

Alaska Cruise – Day 3

I had such grand plans for our cruise that I would sleep-in everyday. I somehow forgot to figure in the fact that we would be setting our clocks back by two hours so I found myself waking up between 5:30 and 6:00 every morning. Oh well, I guess that gave me time to do my yoga to the sunrise almost every morning. It was a beautiful sight!
So for day 3 we were going to be porting in Juneau but not until 2pm, so that gave us ample time to just lay around on one of those lovely chaise lounges in the Spinnaker Lounge watching the ocean float by. While being lazy we got to see a wonderful sight. A HUGE pod of whales was swimming near our ship. We went outside and caught a few pictures.

I was really hoping to get some pictures of one jumping out of the water but they never did.

I love this picture of a whole group of whales blowing out of their blowholes. If you look carefully you can count about 10, maybe 11 spouts of water.

About a half hour after I was already taking pictures the captain came on and announced that the pod had around 80 whales in it and he confirmed our suspicions that they were Orcas. I could have stood there all day watching them. It was amazing! Dirk and Travis got bored after awhile though and decided to try their skills on the hardest part of the rock wall. Doesn't Dirk look good in a hard hat?

Travis reaches the top in 2.03 minutes.

Dirk reaches the top in 1.16 minutes.

Alright so we made it to Juneau and we had one mission in mind. Make it to the top of the mountain via a tram. I wish I had gotten a picture of the tram and how high we had to go but I was paralyzed with fear because I hate heights. Another phobia was realized while in the line as well, claustrophobia. Yeah, they crammed us into the little boxes like sardines! Good thing it had no effect on Dirk and he got these great shots of the ride up.



Then he got this shot from the observation deck of our niece, Sidnee, picking up our cruise ship.

We visited the gift shop at the top and listened to a concert from the Alaska String Band, which is a family that plays local folk songs. Afterwards we went for a little hike and it was so beautiful and green! I thought it was going to be cold while we were there but the weather was so nice. It was about 62©F and I ended up wearing my jacket around my waist.


The trip down the tram was better because they sped it up due to the large volume of people in town that day but it was still the scariest 2 ½ minutes of the trip! We walked all over town and I discovered that I love the architectural design of the buildings in Alaska. They have such a small town feel to them. Another bit of interesting trivia that I learned was that you cannot drive to Juneau. You have to get there by either small plane or boat. How would it be to live in such a secluded and hidden from the world spot? Some days, it is very tempting.

Alaska Cruise - Day 2

Monday we spent the entire time on the boat. It was a little crazy getting used to the swells that caused the boat to rock a bit. You would be walking straight and then next thing you know you are walking sideways! And if we thought walking was hard this was even harder….


Yeah, we were bowling, on a ship, in the ocean! It was lots of crazy fun. We got laughing so hard because you would send the ball down the lane and then we would hit a swell and the ball's path would be diverted. I think next time I am going to need the bumpers!
My adorable nieces were on the cruise with us so we got a schedule for the kids club to see what fun activities they had. On this day they had family cupcake decorating. Dirk and I were lucky enough to get to join in on the fun, unfortunately I haven't gotten the pictures off of my sister's camera so there is no picture of me, darn!

Navy is so ready to chow down, too bad she doesn't like cupcakes, but that frosting was sooo yummy!

Sidnee dove right in. Can you see the frosting on her nose?

Dirk wasn't going to make one until he tasted that frosting!
While we were making cupcakes one of the counselors told me where we could find the bridge deck. Dirk and I wandered up there but the windows were closed so we couldn't see the crew sailing but they did have the history of the cruise ship with lots of pictures of it being built. In the middle of the room was a miniature of our ship. Dirk, of course, took a picture.

We did a lot of lounging around too. Dirk and I both read books. I should have gotten a picture of Dirk reading. It would be a first. He really enjoyed it though. I think Dirk visited the buffet about every hour….so I made him go for a one mile walk with me around the deck. It was right at sunset too.

Beautiful! Here is one with Dirk and me in it. Don't mind the fact that I have hair in my face. We were going about 20 knots at the time.

It was a wonderful lazy day. Day 3 is when we first went ashore and the fun begins!