Alaska Cruise – Day 1

In August, Dirk and I celebrated our 10^th wedding anniversary! I can't believe how quickly ten years have flown by! They have definitely been the best years ever and I am really looking forward to the next 10, 20, 30, etc years. We didn't know exactly what we wanted to do to commemorate this milestone but we knew we wanted to do something. It just so happens that my sister and her husband were planning a business trip to Alaska in September. They really wanted Dirk to go so they invited me along as well. It wasn't just any ordinary business trip either, it was a 7 day cruise. How do you say no to that? I really don't know actually, cuz we didn't! Our disembarking date was exactly 1 month after our anniversary so we decided that it would be a perfect time to celebrate! I know an Alaskan cruise doesn't sound like a big trip to a lot of people but for me it is huge! It is equivalent to going on a European tour for me, and probably Dirk too. Here is my journal of all the fun things we saw and did while traveling through Alaska!
Day 1 – Seattle, Washington

There is nothing like the first view of your first cruise ship. It is almost as exciting as Christmas morning when you were a little kid. I wish we had gotten a better picture of the boat. It truly had the most colorful paint job on either side. It was a little windy in Seattle Sunday morning. We started out with jackets but the day warmed up quite nicely to around 60©F. Since we couldn't board right away we walked through Pike Place Market. I do believe they said that it is the largest outdoor market in the USA. It was so much fun walking through and looking at everything. They had fruits and vegetables I never heard of and the biggest avocadoes I'd ever seen! Also the flower arrangements were gorgeous and so cheap. I wish I could have brought a bouquet home with me.

In the afternoon we boarded the ship but we couldn't go to our rooms right away so we did some exploring. First was the buffet. It was so crowded in there! Then we wandered the inside and found the Spinnaker Lounge with its comfy chaise lounges and walls of windows.

We explored outside and Dirk had to have a picture of the pool area that we never used.

I love this picture of the Seattle Space Needle taken from the deck of the ship.

Once we shoved off the guys decided to try their hand at golfing. They aren't very good.

There was a big shoving off party with lots of bbq and dancing. We had a blast. The adventure had begun!

Some 1sts

This post is going to celebrate some firsts for us in the last few weeks. Lexi started school a few weeks ago. So here is to her 1st day of 2nd grade!

She was super excited! Out of the 3 2nd grade teachers there was only one that Lexi was convinced that she would be happy with and she was lucky enough to get her!

Rayden was stressed when Lexi left that first day. He kept asking when he got to start school and why he wasn't going with Lexi. But the first week of school they do the kindergarten assessment. I admit that I was a little stressed and worried about how Rayden would do. He fights me every step of the way when it comes to school stuff. He surprised me by knowing almost everything that he was asked. Halelujah, he isn't behind!!!!!

He was so excited when he got around to his 1st day, and for the 1st time since my kids started school we did not have a brand new teacher. Not that there was anything bad about the new teachers, we loved them, but it is a nice change this year.

Simon also had a 1st experience. It was the 1st time he realized that he was being left out of something. We walked Rayden to school the first day and when we started heading home Simon got all upset. I ended up standing with the crossing guard for around 20 minutes trying to convince Simon to calm down and that he couldn't go to school. It was not a happy day for him and he still insists everyday that he needs to go to school so......

....here is Simon's 1st day! Yesterday we loaded up his backpack with lots of toys and snacks and we headed to the school. Simon was so exciteded. He walked the entire way by himself and didn't complain. No, he isn't in preschool but I volunteered to help out in Lexi's classroom once a week and it started yesterday. Simon was in heaven sitting with all those second graders and getting to look at their books and color on scrap paper. I am hoping that once a week school will keep this little guy happy this year. It is quite the adjustment being the one left behind, especially when he doesn't realize that he is littler than his brother and sister.

Boys will be Boys

I work on Thursdays, so the kids go to my sister's house where we share a nanny for the day. My kids think it is great to get to spend all day with their cousins and they absolutely adore the two girls who watch them. There are some consequences of having 4 little boys together so much. We have had all sorts of instances this summer. Today happened to be one of those. I picked up the kids and I was immediately informed of why Simon had a black eye. (I hadn't even noticed it yet!)

I think the picture says it all. The poor kid has quite the shiner. Apparently his 3 year old cousin and him got in some sort of an argument and his cousin through a pool table ball at him. The picture actually doesn't show how puffy his eye really is. We almost made it all summer without any huge hurts on Simon. Good thing he doesn't seem to be having any after effects from this. He is his fun loving, adorable self as usual!

What a Summer!

We had such a great summer! So much was going on and we were having so much fun I didn't take the time to blog at all.
We kicked off our summer with a trip to Lagoon. Rayden decided to stay behind with his cousin so it was Dirk, me, Alexia, Simon, and our two cousins Navy and Sidnee.

We had a blast and Simon was loathe to leave at the end of the day but Lexi had to be back in time for her play. She was a goose in Goose Girl! They had the cutest dance ever.

We did lots of camping this year. Lots and lots and lots....

This summer Dirk and I bought the kids 4-wheelers and we took them into the mountains as well.

Can we just say Rayden is a natural? He loves to ride his everywhere and last time we went he even built himself a jump that he used all day long.

This is what happens when you ride 4-wheelers all day long...you get branded! haha!!

We loved having Jake and Kaydence here for a few days. Lexi got a taste of what it was like to have a little sister. She loved every minute of it! I need to steal some pictures of their visit from the in-laws.

My gramma, who is 93, came out last week to visit aill her family in the west. We were able to have her in Cache Valley for a couple of days. It has been 5 years since we last saw her and it was great to see her again. We didn't do much but she won the kids over with her homemade sugar cookies! Here she is with almost all of my siblings and my mom. We missed you Ilse!

I can't believe summer is almost gone! School starts in a couple of weeks and the kids can't wait! Lexi is going into 2nd grade and Rayden is going to Kindergarten. They both got the teachers they wanted and that has added to their excitement. Poor Simon is going to be stuck home alone with me most days. I need to start now to plan some fun activities for the two of us!
I have to give credit where credit is due. Lexi took most of these pictures. She has been in love with the camera all summer. I may have to dedicate an entire blog just to her pictures!

There is something about this guy.....

....that I find fascinating and I want to share.

Yesterday was Dirk's 33rd birthday. We have been together for 10 years now and in those 10 years I have discovered so many things about this guy that make me fall more in love with him everyday!


He is:
D-daring. I swear he will try anything
I-inquisitive. He is always asking questions
R-reliable.
K-knowledgeable, he knows so much about a lot of things and if he doesn't he learns it, fast!


S-spacey, he wouldn't be him unless I had to repeat myself 3-4 times.
H-hilarious. He use to make his parents laugh everyday, now it is mine and the kids turn. He never fails us.
A-analytical, I have to throw this one in since it is his favorite word, trust me he is insane with it!
N-normal, a weird thing to love, I know, but I love that he is just a regular kind of guy.
E-easy-going.


S-sexy! I couldn't be luckier.
O-optimistic. To quote my father-in-law, "He sees the donut and I see the hole."
R-responsible
E-exciting. He makes you feel so good you just always want to be around him.
N-neighborly.
S-steadfast. We are so lucky to have him as the head of our family.
E-energetic.
N-nerd. and he is all mine!

Happy Birthday, Honey! We love you!

All About Alexia

So I am sitting here thinking of all the things I should be doing like the dishes, laundry, making dinner....my house is a mess. But instead I decided to sit down and catch up on my blogging a bit. So here it goes.

This month started out being all about Alexia. This girl loves when her birthday starts getting close. She has a countdown pretty much 5 months ahead. On her actual birthday I took her and her cousins, Navy and Sidnee, to go see Alice in Wonderland. It was a good movie so we didn't want the end to come,but alas it did. So we headed over to Coldstone to get some ice cream despite the ice crystals flying around in the air! It was so fun to hang out as just the girls!
Since Lexi's birthday was during Spring Break we waited until the next week to have her party. She has known since Christmas that she wanted a Moxie Girl Birthday. I was thinking sure, that will be easy. Hmmmm......maybe not so easy but well worth it! I let Lexi pick out a cake that she wanted by searching pictures on the internet. This child likes the big and grand!  My 13 year old niece came over and helped me put it together after I scaled it down a bit.

Lexi got to have 8 of her best friends come over and they had a blast! It was all craziness and fun. We had a fashion show where the girls got to show everyone their own particular idea of style. They got quite serious about this. Then we sang some karaoke to Taylor Swift. They really loved that the karaoke machine has a camera on it where they can see themselves on the tv. Talk about a lot of posing going on!!

The girls went crazy after that and they were all over the place singing and dancing. It was so much fun to have this group of girls over.

Lexi was way sad when the party was over. She cheered right up again when her Dad relented and finally decided that she could try having her ears pierced again. He was nervous about it since the last time she pulled them out and let her ears close up. She promised that she wouldn't do that again so I loaded her and her friend Ady up in the car and we headed to the mall. Lexi was way brave about the needles. (Trust me, she does NOT like needles!) She has cleaned her ears and twisted the earrings 3 times a day and is doing great. I think she will decide to keep them this time. If not, then she won't get a 3rd chance! I can't believe my little girl turned 7! She is growing up way too fast!

Watch Out Here He Comes!

So I have been very remiss on posting this momentous occasion in Rayden's life. It has been almost 2 months now since Rayden decided to take off and ride his bike without training wheels. Last fall he made his Dad take the training wheels off his bike but he didn't get the riding part down before the snow started to fly. He was a little wary this spring to try again. We took him to the neighbors house and let him practice on their 12inch bicycle to build his confidence back up. 15 minutes later he was all over the neighborhood on his own bike. As a reward we took him down to Layton and bought him a new bike! He was so excited to pick it out and bring it home.

This kid has been all over the neighborhood since. It has become his favorite pass time and he does not enjoy when it gets cold outside and he can't ride. Life is so rough when you are 5!

Easter Weekend

We look forward to Easter weekend every year. We just have so much fun getting together with family to have egg hunts, dinners, and to roll eggs. This year we weren't going to let a little bit of cold rain stop us! On Saturday we got together with our family on the Dixon side. We did an indoor egg hunt with all the cousins and had a wonderful luncheon! Whenever you get the cousins together it is a riot. They are so funny together! Simon fell in love with my brother-in-law's pool table. He thought he should be allowed to play with the guys. They gave him a half a cue stick and gave him a few shots. He was in heaven!
Easter Sunday we woke up nice and early despite the fact that we didn't have 9am church. Lexi was dying to find her basket and was so upset that she coudn't. She found Rayden's and Simon's but not hers. With a few hints from her dad she was abe to look high enough up to see where it was sitting. That Easter bunny sure can be tricky! Unfortunately for me, I woke up with a migraine and I didn't get to really join in on any of the fun. Dirk was sweet enough to take a lot of pictures for me so I could go back to bed.
During the first session of General Conference the kids dyed their eggs. Simon thought it was so cool that he could use crayons to color his eggs. I'm so glad that he preferred that method to the egg dye. Inbetween sessions we went to Gma and Gpa Sorensen's house for Easter dinner. Most of the cousins were there and they were thrilled to eat together. They were even more thrilled to get to play while us adults sat down to watch the second session of Conference.
Afterwards, we all went and had an egg hunt! They all came out with quite a stash! Towards the end the Easter Bunny stopped by to say hello. The older kids loved it while the toddlers, like Simon, didn't want to get too close.
Finally we went to finish off our Easter festivities with our all time favorite Easter pastime, rolling eggs down Old Main Hill. Even though it was cold the kids were not going to be deterred. They rolled all their eggs then ran down the hill to find the survivors. Even us adults get into the fun and start throwing these mini missiles. It was another great Easter and we can't wait until next year to do it all over again!

New Do's

Rayden has his buddy Jett over today. They have come up with all sorts of creative things to do to keep themselves happy and busy since it snowing outside. I walked into the bathroom to find them occupied coming up with a whole new look.

You gotta love it! I guess that boys and girls just aren't that much different! They all love to play with hair!

The New Bag

I have this amazingly crafty friend who got me back into embroidery lately. (Thanks Melissa!) For my first project in like 8 years I decided to tackle this wonderful picture I found online and fell in love with. When I started I wasn't quite sure what I was going to make it into but inspiration finally hit and I made it into a Primary bag for Sundays! What fits better than the Singing Time Specialist carrying around a musical heart? I found the bag pattern online and wha la! Don't look too closely because it is full of flaws but I love it and it holds all my stuff. It even has pockets on the inside for certain items I like to carry at all times on Sundays. Now I need to get started on my next project.....