Firsts

More firsts for our little boy! Atley started Primary and Pre-school!

The first Sunday of the year was the first day of the year and Atley got to come along with me to Primary! He's moved up from Nursery and is now in a class we call Sunbeams! IT's na excitin time for us because instead of playing with toys and eating snacks all through church, he gets to learn to sit reverently and listen to a lesson. After our first sunday we realized he still needs a lot of practice with that. Hopefully the older kids he's surrounded by will be a good example to him.

As is usual with Atley when things change, he cried. He just wanted to sit on my lap. Luckily for him, I'm in Primary every Sunday! I sat with him and even walked him to his class where he saw this:

This "Choose the Right" shield is his FAVORITE part of Primary. He associates it with being a Knight. On his first day of Primary they gave him his own CTR ring and he wore it with pride saying "look Mommy, it's my shield ring!" I was so grateful to be in Primary to witness the full of Atley's first day. Even though he had a hard time sitting still, listening, and taking turns, I was full of hope that by the end of the year, he might be professional at it!

Ian was good enough to stand with Atley so I could take a picture! He needed his hair combed, but at least we're looking at his face!

That same week was Atley's first day of Pre-school. I was so excited for him though I'm not sure he was entirely aware of what was going on. He was good enough to let me take pictures to my hearts content.

When he finally decided to get out of bed 8:30, he needed a good stretch and then was ready to go!

Outside his school and wearing his best for the first day of school. A new backpack and lunchbox are the perfect tools!

This is what his school looks like. It is a converted Victorian House made up to be a Nursery School. Atley is in the blue room and the first day they made him "Star of the Day" for his good behavior.

This is what our day looked like back at home:

Holly wanted to go to school so she got all dressed and ready. When I broke the news that we'd be staying home, she had a bit of a negative reaction! Crying, gripping her blanket, and sucking her thumb--I'm gonna say she's a bit young for school still.

The next day we made this video:

Holly's Great-Great Grandma turned 101 and so we sang her Happy Birthday. This video is always a good pick-me-up for me and never fails to bring a smile.

At about the middle of the week I wondered where all the extra time came from and what I did when Atley was around. Friday was his first day home and he was in time out for much of it. I remembered "Oh I must be punishing him all the time and that's why I never have peace!" Really, Atley is a very good little boy. It's my favorite part of the day when I go pick him up from school and he says "Mommy! Can we go home?" I respond in the affirmative and he goes down the stairs at school saying "Huzzah!"

I love that little boy.

A Sorensen Christmas

Christmas time is extra special for me. More special now than when I was a kid. This year was extra special because without the rest of the country waiting until after Thanksgiving to celebrate Christmas, we got it the whole month of November and December. It was GREAT! For the first time when Christmas was over I felt fulfilled and satisfied.

We enjoyed extra Christmas music, a Christmas film every night, Christmas parties of many varieties, and LOTS of scriptures and stories about the true meaning of Christmas. Our family was blessed to come closer together and form stronger bonds because of the blessings from this Christmas season. I'll give you a specific example:

Since Ian and I have been married, I've never been very homesick at Christmas time. We've always been away from home and enjoying a snowy white Christmas in Idaho. I must say, that snow on Christmas does add a bit of extra magic. But, for one reason or another, this year I felt very sad that we wouldn't be home. Actually, home is kind of a difficult concept for us right now, as our home is technically here in England, but we know it isn't a permanent home and the time for us to leave is rapidly approaching. We don't know where we'll be yet, and having said that, I'll repeat, home is a difficult concept for us. I guess that could be part of the reason why things were so difficult for me this Christmas.

As I got to feeling bluer and bluer each day, I found myself taking it out on my family--especially Ian. I felt like if he really wanted to, we could go home. We decided the expense was too much though and he was really good at reminding me of that. So, after at least a week of feeling frustration and anger with my situation, I realized I was the one causing all this pain and I began to take a hard look at myself. I thought 'being angry with Ian is making me withdraw from him even more, making my homesickness even worse!' So I made a choice to show extra love to Ian and cling to him and my children. You may believe it and you may not, but I have never felt closer with them in all the time we've been together. I no longer wanted to go "home" and began to realize that the home I was looking for was right here with the 3 people who need me most right now.

Our Christmas this year was pretty lean as we realized anything we got we'd probably have to take home with us. That was actually quite a blessing. I wasn't so worried about what I would be getting and really focused on the giving. It was illuminating and liberating!

We began enjoying Christmas as a family with a Christmas Eve dinner. It was small but with such variety, we were sad there was nobody to share it with. We enjoyed the leftovers on Christmas Day as well.

In the morning we opened presents and took some pictures before heading off to church.

Here are some videos of our Christmas fun!

Atley's special present from Santa was a sword. He knew what it was before he even unwrapped it and almost decided not to! He's really into knights which probably has something to do with where we live.

Holly was a good sport waiting for her turn and it makes it even better when she's excited about getting shampoo! Atley needed underwear. He didn't seem to care much.

Ian and I were so excited about this next English tradition. We'd never seen it before but were so excited to enjoy it and will probably keep it forever! Christmas crackers can be found in every store during Christmas time and they are filled with a variety of items. We were blessed to find a kit to make them ourselves so I stuffed Ian and he stuffed mine! As you'll see in the video below, I'm better at the assembly than Ian.

It took me 5 tries to make the cracker part crack. I was beginning to wonder if we were celebrating April Fools day!

All in all, we hope you all had a fulfilling Christmas, with the spirit of Christ prevalent in your hearts. Christmas still isn't over for us, as we are awaiting packages from family and the kids won't stop singing Frosty the Snowman. Maybe that's why I got enough of Christmas this year! Well anyway, Merry Christmas!