Olympics style Blast from the Past

SALT LAKE CITY

WINTER OLYMPICS 2002

To get to this point was quite the ordeal.  If you will remember

the Olympics in SLC took place just a few months

after 9-11 and security was at an all time high.

The Sorenson's are known for carrying pocket knives

on them all the time.  Big NO-NO at the olympics.

The line to get in was 2 1/2  hrs long because of security.  

30 minutes before we get to the front of the line 

Brittany remembers she has a pocket knife

on her key chain so in the trash it went.  Does anyone else have a 

pocket knife or any kind weapon on them?  Sheepishly Alex 

reaches in his pocket and pulls out a pocket knife.  

Ok throw it in the garbage.

  No mom this is the Buck knife that grandpa gave me, 

this one is special.

Erik took pity and offers to run the mile back to 

his car and leave it there. 

Yeah Erik who has a really bad cold and is not feeling well.    

Erik got back just in time to get in the gate with us. 

Whew.  Now we can go in.  

The gates are guarded by military carrying machine guns and side arms. 

 It was very intimidating. They all had stern faces with frowns.   

BEEP BEEP  BEEP  Sir could you please step aside.  Not to bore you with 

the details they take Bryan aside and after several 

attempts to get through he had to strip down to a shirt and pants.

Meanwhile we are trying to get through with the rest of the family.  

BBEEEP  BEEP BEEP.

Crap Alex do you have another knife.   No.  

Remember this is right after 9-11

2 big Army guys surround poor little Alex and scare 

the wholly crap out of him.

I now have a husband over in one area 

under guard and my little 10 year old 

surrounded by guards in another area.  

Wow a whole family of terrorists.  

Poor little kid was shaking and lower lip quivering because 

he was so scared.  Finally a ranking officer comes over 

and excuses the big scary guys 

and bends down to Alex's level and asks 

Alex if he has any weapons and what is in his pocket.  

Alex reaches in his pocket and pulls 

out a ............wait for it...........drum roll......

5 1/2 inch  x 5/8 " BOLT.  Well now 

there is weapon if I have ever seen one.  

The army guy was relieved, and wanded Alex with 

no beeps and let us go.  We just had to wait for Bryan

 to get dressed.  His weapon of mass destruction 

was a pair of Montana's official outerwear

..CARHART coveralls with metal snaps  and brass zippers

( you have to own a pair to live in Montana ..State law).

Erik and Tasha attend the  women's figure skating

finals (cardboard cutout and mural audience,

but hey they look real).  Erik loves to cheer with Mickayla.

They are on the very front row.

Alex on the winners podium after

winning GOLD in the luge.

Alex Sorenson - Ireland - Gold

Here is a picture of the actual medals they got to bring home.

These are Alex's for luge and curling

The Curling stones were alot heavier than we expected.

Brittany in the semi-finals.

Alex is pretty serious about this curling.

He is in the finals here.

Mickayla in the semi-finals.  She needed just a little help

from her fellow olympian (big sister Brittany).

Tasha last slide to take the bronze in the finals.

And the Winners Are....

Tasha Sorenson -USA -Bronze

Alex Sorenson - Ireland - Silver

Brittany Sorenson - USA- GOLD

Notice Alex and Brittany also got to

carry the Olympic Torch.

Tasha looks a little bummed about 3rd place.

Oh well better luck in 4 years.

We all had a great time and most of it was FREE!!!

We love free.

Thanks Brittany for calling us and telling 

us we just had to come down.

Prom 2010

Tasha and her awesome date Justin.

Tasha Singing Finally.

Tasha's solo at the Valentines show
click above

Proof is in the Picture!

We just had to take a picture of the first 

BIG Event of 2010

ALEX reading a book. A real book with text and not just

pictures.  You are right in thinking it must be a book about hunting 

and fishing because it is!!  It is by Pat McManus and if you enjoy 

the outdoors and humor his books are a must read.

NEW YEARS EVE 2009

We are ready to ring in the new year.

From left to right: Brandon Dewey, Tasha, Alex,

Missy, Mickayla, & Bryan.

This year we decided to try Missoula's "First Night".

You buy a ticket and then can attend as many of the events

as you can pack in for free.

We started off by ice skating. One of our family favorites in the winter.

This is of Bryan and Tasha playing chess with the

"Octopus". His name is Greg Nowak of Missoula and is a

certified national chess master. Greg plays multile people

simultaneously and makes his moves between 5 and 15 seconds.

Needless to say both Tasha and Bryan lost. However

Bryan did have him pause and think a couple of

times which was pretty cool.

Off to the Carousel.

We ended the evening by dancing to a big band and

going to Denny's for a midnight snack.

I thought it was definitely worth the price and we were able

to go ice skating, watch a mime show, a hypnotist, view ice sculptures,

ride the carousel, listen to some musical groups (one was really funny),

listen to bagpipers through the door (we were too late to get in),

and just have fun being together. How many teens do you

know that will spend New Years Eve with

their parents and pretend they like it?

Done with Braces! Wahoo

Big Day

Finally the braces come OFF.

Dr. Silcher beginning the process.

Yeah. Look I get balloons and a pack of gum.

Mickayla's favorite assistant Rhonda. She is Awesome.

We really like Dr. Silcher and his staff. They are Top Notch.

Grand Champion

September 2009

Tasha entered a number of pieces of her artwork in

the Ravalli county fair. All of her pieces took a ribbon.

Most were a blue or red but on this one (my personal favorite)

a scratch art beauty, she received Grand Champion.

She was quite surprised but she deserved the status.

This picture does not come close to doing it justice.

Mickayla entered in the adult division of photography.

A hard category because there are so many. She got

reserve champion! Wahoo. The girls have done a great job and

we are proud of their artistic abilities.

Don't know where the picture is of Mickayla, if I find it I will post it.

Family Photo Shoot 1B

I thought everyone might enjoy seeing some more pics

of the family. I always love to see everyones pictures

of their families so I think everyone else does too.

We think this skewed face of Alex's is so funny.

A 1/4 of Alex's life is spent thumbing through the Cabelas catalog.

I remember when I was in Italy we met a lady from Australia

who had a son who's dream was to one day go to America

and go to a Cabelas store. And he was 23.

So I guess this phenomenon is all over the world. Go figure.

I don't even want to know what Tasha was thinking.

We were just goofing off and then as we were going through the

pictures Mickayla said she really liked this one. Me too.

The kid is crazy.

I like the month on Mickayla. It is a perfect little wavy month.

Notice when the rest of us take pictures of the

photographer the color is not always the best but

I liked this picture of Bryan anyway.

Our attempt at Gingerbread houses.

This is Tasha's perfect little gingerbread house.

Of course she was at the table long after everyone else was gone.

Everything she does has to be a work of art.

Even when we make personal pizzas for dinner, the rest of us

have made ours and eaten them before she

has hers ready to put in the oven.

Mickayla's house. She worked and worked on a fence that just won't

cooperate so she finally gave up and left it unfinished.

I still think it is cute. I love hearts.

So Alex and Bryan had one to decorate together but Alex decided

they lived in a duplex and split it right down the middle.

You will notice they even have 2 different roof styles.

Crack me up. This first one is Bryan's side

and he wants to point out HE has a chimney

for his wood stove in his half.

This is Alex's half. Wouldn't ya know it... a log cabin. With bears

guarding the front. He even has icicles coming down.

Please take note of the gate, he was pretty proud of that.

I wouldn't be surprised if someday I pull

up to Alex's for a visit and it looks just like this.

I of course was the General Contractor and supervised the

construction and made sure they did not run out of building supplies.

I also was the camera crew to document the construction process.

(my way of getting out of making one).

Finished home photos were provided by Sorenson Photography.

The New Griz Football Cheerleaders!!

These pictures were taken at the height of

the "Grizzlies going to the semi-finals" frenzy.

I had already purchased these for Christmas but Tasha

got invited to one of the games,

(she could care less about football but it was her first Griz game)

and didn't have any Griz wear so I broke out the

presents a little early and we had a photo shoot.

Everyone loves a good hoodie!!

Notice we can't get rid of the camo from

one of our cheerleaders. I'm sure the shirt

underneath was camo too. Can you wear camo

on your mission?

How cute are these cheerleaders?!!!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving 2009

Brittany and her family made a surprise visit for Thanksgiving.

I had NO idea they were coming up and we were all

a little sad that Erik, Brittany and their families couldn't make

Thanksgiving but.... Britt surprised us. The only thing

that would have made it perfect is if Erik and crew would

have been able to make it. We really missed them.

This pic is all the cooks using the new kitchen

to cook up some fabulous food.

Calvin, Oren, and Elizabeth ready to chow down.

Elizabeth is the only 3 yr.old who when asked what

her favorite fruit is says GRAPEFRUIT. So Grandma always

makes sure she stops at Costco and buys the ready

to go grapefruit cups for Lulu.

The dress Lulu is wearing is Brittany's old Sunshine Generation

outfit. Lulu loved wearing it til it gave her a terrible rash.

Playing Hungry Hungry Hippo. Calvin really liked this game.

I love Goodwill here and their game selection.

Games are cheap and almost always have all the pieces.

Of course Thanksgiving in Montana is never complete unless

you go hunting for something. Alex just had to go duck hunting.

So before the rest of us were even finished eating

Alex is ready to go. That kid just quacks me up. haha