Week 34-Job Offer

The true New Beginnings for the Sorenson's start NOW. 

After weeks of intense interviews with the SAME company:

Couper was offered and accepted a job with Sidewalk Inc./Campusbookrentals.com 

toward the end of August.

Starting date, after Labor Day.

CHEERS TO THE FUTURE!

What a handsome man. Well done Coup. We sure love you!

Week 25-Anika

There is nothing that compares to welcoming a sweet newborn into the family. 

We were so excited to meet our sweet niece baby Anika (Monica - "M") Erin, born June 16th.

Couper went down to nanny Anika's brother and sister for two days while I took care of some things in Logan. Em and I were so excited to meet her two days old! We were in awe of her tininess and the special Spirit that was present in her hospital room. She was born into an amazing family with outstanding parents, and we already love her to pieces!

Seriously? What a doll! (So sad Couper didn't take any pics with her or the kids!)

It was a very special/unique week otherwise as well, which I feel important to note. 

Events including but not limited to:

*Celebrating Father's Day and the amazing Daddy my eternal companion is!

*Lots of prayers and love sent out for Logan Bear and his delicate heart

*Bees game with outstanding company and a loopy Em

*Cousin fun and more Anika time after the Gelter's arrived home from the hospital

*Sleepover at Uncle Ben and Aunt Lissie's

*Kalia and Ryland's baptism at St. John the Baptist's Parish

*Soccer/authentic gordita celebration in honor of the World Cup

...quite a week I tell ya!

Week 22-Lava

A Lava Get-away...

I was somehow able to keep this trip a surprise for almost three months! Way to be.

As a special way to say "Congraduation" and "I love you, has it really been six years?" I booked us two nights at a quaint Bed and Breakfast in Lava Hot Springs, ID. A big part of the surprise was that it was just going to be an adult trip. Em had her first sleepover with Grammie-Debbie and mom and dad (we) couldn't stop thinking about her our whole time away; but were able to rest easy knowing she was in good hands :).

Our first stop was Smiths...I've always wanted to raid the bulk aisle and just buy a teeny bit of a whole bunch of things I want to try...so that we did! (...we had more than half of it left over upon returning home...over excited much?) If you had this urge/it's on your weird bucket list, follow through, it's worth it in stares and fun.

Not gonna lie..we were a bit confused with our first B&B experience...having no idea what to expect. We had a great time and our Inn Keepers were super friendly and accommodating. Luckily we're pretty good at going with the flow and pretending like we know what we're doing. My recommendation to you other B&B amateur's is to read up on B&B etiquette beforehand...just to feel prepared.

Our favorite things probably consisted of: non-stop Rod Stewart and Michael Buble serenade, and our first breakfast in a small, European-esque parlor type dining area seated next to three elderly women speaking German whilst eating crumpets and drinking coffee.

Despite wicked allergies amongst a white (dandelions) golf course speckled in green (not kidding...really not very well kept, I took one look and my sneeze sneezed...if you know what I mean), I had an enjoyable time letting Couper coach me through my first real nine holes of golf....he was very patient :).

The springs were...hotter than we remembered. But relaxing and pretty vacant. We loved "discovering" the walking trail that leads above the hot pools into the "Sunken Gardens" and looking out over the cute town.

Our "fancy" evening out with live music was...much different than anticipated! Haha, we had a lot of laughs as we were served expensive food whilst sitting in a small basement by ourselves (the majority of the time), by our waitress wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and serenaded by one guitar playing musician...five feet away from us. LOL. Not much could have prepared us for the whole of it, but it was still fun to have a "date-night". And we actually ended up quite liking "our" musician; check him out: Lang Termes.

Hope you know how much I love and appreciate you Coup! You're my best friend.

These pictures pretty much speak for themselves; but I'm pretty sure Em didn't mind her first sleepover at Grammie's! Her stay pretty much consisted of all of her favorite things (minus horses, haha).

(so glad M strategically kept things modest ;) )

Week 19-Six Years

Has it really been SIX years since that beautiful May day that we were sealed in the Salt Lake LDS Temple?

I couldn't have found a better match. I love you Couper. I'm glad you're mine for eternity!

(Since we're not always great at getting pictures together these days you get to remember the past with me.)

Week 17-Defense (dih-FENS)

So proud of this handsome guy for blowing his review board out of the water with his Thesis Defense! I loved attending and watching him in his zone. He put countless hours into that project; so great to watch the final product unfold.

"I believe that we will win!"

One of Couper's uncles thoughtfully pointed out that Coup is an education pioneer in his family; the first to receive a Masters Degree. Congrats hubby; you worked hard for it, and deserve it.

 So glad our children have him to look up to.

(I can't deny it, I find way too much joy in photographing the two people that my world revolves around.)

Graduation to look forward to this week! We are True Aggies through-and-through! Utah State will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Week 9-Not a Leap Year

Did it not feel like February came and went in the blink of an eye?! How is it that a month only being 2 or 3 days shorter can feel like you just went over a small speed bump, and then just as quickly it's behind you and you've forgotten about it? I'm kind of perplexed it's over, but I welcome March and the hopefulness of spring it brings.

~    ~    ~

We had a spontaneous visit from cousins Annie and Charlotte. Annie and I are just a few months apart in age, and so are our girls (you may recall seeing them here). Living almost two hours apart, and leading busy lives, has left our play-dates few-and-far-between! So grateful for some sunshine and Annie's willingness to leave her house at 6 in the morning so that we could have a breakfast/morning play-date. Seriously, doesn't that just make her the most awesome cousin human being on the planet? It felt like it to me. I sure love her and our sisterly/cousinly bond. Can't wait to watch a similar friendship unfold with our girls.

(Side note: Em loves balls and would play with them all day long. She's getting a pretty good arm, so, we're grateful that warm weather is approaching and we can prevent any major damages by playing outside.)

With every tearful episode there needs to be giggles and smiles to exceed the sad, or at least even it out. We finally had to cave and purchase Em a convertible car seat this week (is this a painful experience for anyone else?!). The jumungo box the car seat came in was the perfect size for Em's first cardboard house. (Some of my best childhood memories were made in such houses.) Said house was the perfect remedy to a tearful afternoon. Throwing balloons in and out and playing peek-a-boo through the window were just what the doctor ordered.

In other news, Couper had his last home game with the WBB team Saturday night. Before he left, he leaned over to kiss me goodbye and said, "It's weird, tonight is kind of like my "Senior Night" too." Very surreal. I'm glad they could pull a fun win and that Em and I, along with many family members could attend to support our Coup.

(This pic was taken before Christmas.)

Our 14 month Em


*Getting sillier and smarter everyday.
*new signs: bread, bird, poop (which we joke looks like "ole!"), and she created her own signs for binky and music/dance, I think they both fit the mold quite well.
*words noises: "bye," "da-da-da," "mam! (amen)," "kkkhh (yuck)," "wussat? (what's that?)" but..if we're going to be honest here she mostly grunts and uses her signs.
*She cracks us up with endless jibber-jabber and fake laughing, usually on car-rides.
*She's a little too good at the stairs (only up, still working on down).
*She is skillful at testing our patience: standing in the tub, getting into the fridge, baby-wipe parades, food confetti off the highchair, all of which provide good learning opportunities.
*She is fixated on remotes and phones and can locate them immediately up any room she enters.
*Two of her top teeth are trying to make an appearance but are being bashful, so she still only has two teeth!