Two Year Recap

 November 1st, 2014
Two Year Recap for Biennial Merritt Family Reunion

Picture after we bought our house!

(Our family photos haven't come in yet so this will have to do.)

The last couple years have been busy ones for the Sorensen family. Last time we met together as a family Andrew was just a little guy learning to crawl. Since then we've become first time home owners! We love having a place to call our own and all the space that comes with it. Andrew likes being able to go outside and having a yard to play in. It's so nice not having to listen to people walk overhead, or deal with shared walls. Daniel and I also bought our first vehicle together. We participated in a few of the Ragnar series races and a couple other fun runs. We will be celebrating 5 years of marriage in December!

Daniel is working for Mountain West Farm Bureau as a data analyst, training and taking tests to become their in-house Actuary. He passed one of many Actuary exams that he has to take in order to earn he title of Actuary. He spends a lot of time studying for exams. When he has free time he likes to watch sports, spend time with the family, fish and hunt. He recently got a job working in the University of Wyoming Football score box. He is loving it! Daniel's job sends us to a work conference each year. This year we got to spend a few days in the Florida Keys and last year we went to Williamsburg Virginia. He also had surgery on his knee at the beginning of this year that put a damper on quite a few activities, since there were complications. They've all been resolved now, but it was a long few months of recovery.

Jeslyn is still managing the Cowboy Village apartments part-time and also subbing for the school district. She graduated in May with a Bachelors in Secondary Education Science-Biology. She stays home with the kids, and is busy having adventures with them.
 
Andrew turned two this year and is busy as ever. He is talking really well and is always surprising us with new phrases. He keeps us on our toes. Shortly after we moved into our new house he managed to get on the roof while I was busy doing chores around the house. I had the screen door open and could hear him calling for me. I went outside and couldn't find him in any of his regular  hiding places, so I called out asking him where he was. He exclaimed that, " Momma I'm on the roof!" Sure enough he was on the tip top of the roof trying to show me all the birds and trees that he could see. He was on top of the world. He loves being outside and especially loves to fish. Next to fishing, he loves music, singing and dancing. He's a great big brother. He participates in a co-op "preschool" and loves learning.

Haizlee is eight months old and is just as busy as Andrew was as a baby. She LOVES her brother and follows him just about anywhere she can. She loves bathtime and playing in the water. She can stand on her own for short periods of time, but doesn't seem too eager to start walking at this point. She's a little monkey with a head full of hair. She likes trying new foods. She's a pretty serious baby, but when she lets herself laugh it is infectious. She's a momma's girl most of the time and has a spunky attitude.

Just a few short highlights from Wyoming. Here's to two more adventure-filled years! Until next time...

20 months

Andrew Language explosion
Acting out
Really getting going on girls camp
Adjusting to having Haizlee home-sleeps good, eats good
2 week stats-8lbs 6 oz
I'm feeling great!

16-19 months

Oh wow this semester has flown by, but it's been super busy as well. I didn't write down as many things as I should have, so hopefully I'm not missing anything major.
I'd like to start off by saying that I finished out this busy semester with a 4.0 GPA. I really didn't think I was going to be able to pull it off with the course load and balancing family, work, and callings. I did it! Now on to student teaching...now this could prove to be very difficult. I put in two weeks of student teaching in December to bank some time for after the baby comes.

Baby Girl Sorensen (yes, she still doesn't have a name...) is on her way. Everything is looking good, and I'm feeling great. Now if we could only decide on a name...Some of my friends threw a baby shower for me. It was fantastic and we finally got some "girl things" in our house. We've been putting it off. Angela Wilde made a beautiful and tasty cake. Amanda Cory, Sarah Bade, and Jacylyn Hyde put the party together and provided delicious treats.

Around Christmas Zak got hurt. He fell off a loader at work and broke his arm and hurt his leg pretty bad. We spent Christmas in Laramie this year. It was the first year that we didn't spend it with Daniel or my family. It was nice not having to travel. We relaxed and hung out with friends during Daniel's time off work. We drove around and looked at Christmas lights and decorated sugar cookies. It was a great Christmas all on our own.

Daniel had surgery on his knee on January 3rd. The doctor went into the surgery knowing that there was a tear in his meniscus, but not much more than that. They wouldn't know the extent of the damage until they got in there. The surgery went well, but...the expected recovery time was longer than Daniel had hoped for. This was just the start of a long sequence of bad events; during my student teaching no less. A couple days after Daniel's surgery he had his first physical therapy appointment. He told them that he had a pain in his calf. They therapist told him to go to the ER and get an ultrasound. He did as he was told and they found a blood clot. All of this happened while I was at school and so I hadn't looked at my phone. He left a somewhat cryptic voicemail telling me that I might have to pick Andrew up from the babysitter because he was headed to the ER. When I tried calling, and texting, and calling, and texting....I didn't hear from him and started getting really worried. Finally I just packed Andrew up and headed to the hospital.  Sure enough there he was in the ER getting blood thinners and finishing up discharge paperwork.

I was released from Primary as a teacher. I've been in there for over 2 years. It was sad and exciting all at the same time. I'll miss the kids, but now I'll get to know more people in our ward. I get to start working on Young Womens camp for this year. Last year was okay, but I learned a lot and hope that this year can be even better!

Andrew contracted Hand Foot and Mouth and got sick on Feb 12th. Talk about a not so fun experience. We first started noticing spots on his bum and then he got a really bad fever. Spots started popping up his arms and legs almost like chicken pox. He was pretty miserable for several days. He's all better now though and the spots are still healing. More on Andrew. He LOVES Frozen's "Let it Go" He sings it! It has got to be the cutest thing ever. Unfortunately every time we try to record him he gets more excited about the fact that we are recording him, and forgets about singing. He is learning so much, so fast. One of the words  that he tries to say is milk, only it comes out mumph. I can't even begin to list the things he is able to do. He loves clocks and counting.

Well anyway....until next time!

Baby Girl Sorensen is Here!

This post will be out of order since I'm behind, but I had to get something posted :)

Haizlee Mei Sorensen joined our family on February 21st, 2014 at 4:14 pm. She weighed in at 8 lbs and 3 oz. She was 20 1/4 inches long. She has a head full of dark hair and looks a lot like her brother! She is already very loved. So far Andrew has been a very protective and loving big brother. When he wants to hold her he asks to, "Hold it? Hold it?" It's very funny. When Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen wanted to hold her in the hospital, Andrew told them that they couldn't and immediately placed his hand over her as if to say don't touch my sister. He got upset when they held her anyway. We are home now and everyone is healthy and happy. The transition so far has been fairly easy. The real test will be when I return to student teaching in four weeks.

Welcome to our family Haizlee Mei! We love you!