Soren's school picture

Here is Soren's first school picture.   We weren't quite sure what to expect about how he would smile or look or whatever.  Then we picked the pics up and looked at them and said, "Of course.  That's him!"  You just can't get much cuter than this (at least we think so)!

New Year's Eve

It was a great New Year's Eve with our friends Susan, Mark, Lila and Lucy.  Mike especially loved the sound of the horns and noisemakers.

Christmas 2010

Soren loved everything Christmas-related this year -- from writing a letter to Santa, to decorating his first gingerbread house, to opening the presents.  The only downside was that he was sick for a week leading up to Christmas.  The next day we found out that he had pneumonia.  Thankfully, by New Year's Eve he was back to normal.

 

Thanksgiving in Minnesota

We spent a great week in Minnesota for Thanksgiving.  Soren loved playing with his cousins in the snow.

Halloween 2010

Soren had a great Halloween.  His favorite video to watch is "Rescue Heroes" and so he chose to be a Rescue Hero scuba diver.  Our great neighbor invited the whole block over for dinner before trick-or-treating -- it was great to see all the kids together.

At the end of the night Soren traded in all but 10 pieces of his candy for a Rescue Hero action figure toy.  We now know that he doesn't like Nerds candy, but does indeed like Reeses Peanut Butter cups and M&Ms.

First Day at Preschool

Soren is going to preschool 3 days a week now.  He really likes his teachers.

Camping on an Oregon Beach

One of the best things about Portland is that it is near the beaches of the Oregon Coast.  Last weekend we camped on the beach with two sets of neighbors from our block.  At the campsite we ran into two more sets of neighbors.  The 4 kids had a blast and we were greeted with perfect weather.  The neighbor's scooter was such a big hit that we got one for Soren the next day.  Don't worry, at home he wears a helmet and shoes whenever he rides!

Chicks, part 2

Soren and Tyler

Soren's friend, Tyler, from San Jose visited us.  The kids had a lot of fun playing together in their PJs.

The Chicks are Here

Grandma, Cindy & Hallie Come to Visit!

Grand Prize Chicken Coop!!!

When Mike bought his plans for his chicken coop, he bought a raffle ticket as part of the "2010 Tour de Coops"event here in Portland.  Once he had the plans, we made three trips to Lowe's to get all of the building materials.  The next day, he found out that he won the raffle and the prize was the same coop that he was planning to build! 

Neighborhood Block Party 2010

Sixty neighbors came to our Third Annual Block Party as part of National Night Out.  Soren quickly warmed up to the bouncy castle and had a blast in it for several hours.

Building Raised Planting Beds

Hobbies