London & Les Misérables

This one is an experience for the books. It was an adventure of a lifetime and such an uplifting experience I have to set it apart from the rest of our time with Darien.

Fristly, thank you to Emily and Charlotte for looking after our kids. Secondly, thank you Mom for encouraging us to go. I'm certain I would have backed out if you hadn't urged me to invest.

The morning was stressful. I had to get the kids up and dressed before Charlotte came to pik them up. I was very worried about all the pressure I was putting on her, and told myself I didn't disserve to enjoy the trip because her day would probably be rough. As I look back on that feeling, I regret it. My kids aren't little demons. In fact, they usually behave better for others then they do for me.

We hurried down to the train station and arrived in plenty of time. That was a good feeling. I often worried that we would miss our train and that would be a disaster.

But our train arrived right on time and things were still going off without a hitch.

When we arrived in London I was greeted with an awesome sight. The only way to describe it is to share a photo with you!

I had never seen a train station so large in my life. People in the US don't really ride on trains unless they're scared of flying. Plus it was awesome seeing the Olympic rings in preparation for the 2012 Summer Games.

Then we took the tubes down to Chinatown and the Queens theatre where we were greeted by this sight!

And to prove we were there...

We had some time to kill before the show started so we took a little walk down to Trafalgar Square.

Now that we were out of Chinatown, it felt like we were in London. We could see "Big Ben" in the background and we enjoyed all the hustle and bustle of a big city. The sights were awesome...to visit. I did mention to Ian on a couple of occasions that I was glad we decided not to live in London. It is very much a big city with all the good and bads that come along with it.

We walked back to the theatre and sat down to enjoy our show. It was fantastic! I had never seen Les Misérables on stage before, but it made all the difference. I knew the songs, but they don't mean what the mean when you see them in context. The theatre was small and intimate and I felt connected to the story. I'm not a big crier and there were a couple times where I was tearing up big time! As I pondered the themes from the show over the next couple days, I came to find that it was a very spiritual experience for me. I saw evidence of God in the lives of these people and felt like they very closely mirrored lives of real people. I could see evidence of the atonement working through the lives of the characters as well as the roles of justice and mercy. I was profoundly touched by the story and felt a greater love for Jesus Christ.

That being said, I highly recommend it! And seeing it in London if you get the chance, isn't a bad perk either :-)

After the show we had some time to kill before our train left, so we walked around a little more and found more treasures!

Big Ben. Surprisingly, not as big as we expected.

Westminster Abbey

The sign says it all!

Then we got back on the Tubes and headed home. I found my children asleep and well cared for. I found the caregivers had all their limbs and all their sanity. Finally, knowing that I shouldn't have felt as guilty leaving as I did, I was able to look back on the whole day with a glad heart and say, that was AMAZING! It was certainly an experience of a lifetime.

A Visit From Darien

We were blessed to have Darien come to visit us these past couple weeks. We enjoyed her company and the excuse to get out and explore a little more of England.

Frist, we explored downtown Sheffield and did some shopping.

We took a picture of these sweets instead of buying them. They are called dark chocolate liqueurs. By the name and shape, I'll let you guess what is inside. Needless to say, we looked, but did not partake.

This picture was taken after our stop at Thorton's. It's a gourmet candy shop owned by a family that lives right here in Sheffield. They sell their candy throughout England, but they choose to live in Sheffield :)

Next, we went to York! It's a really great old city with a lot of old architecture. We ran across buildings that are hundred of years older than the USA! A special thanks has to go to Daemon and Teresa Bamforth who drove us there and gave us the grand tour! They were so knowledgeable and kind and the whole day was wonderful. There are too many pictures to post individually, but here's a slideshow for your enjoyment!

Holly really enjoyed having Darien in her room. When she woke up in the morning all she wanted to do was snuggle. I think Darien enjoyed the snuggling in between all the morning moans.

We also visited the Sheffield Botanical gardens which were beautiful! It's only a mile from our house but we hadn't been there before and it really is a treasure.

Then, Ian and Darien made the trip out to Chatsworth House. It's the manner of a Duke (I believe he's the Queen's cousin). The estate has been used in a couple of modern films. Most recognizably it is featured in Pride and Prejudice (the Kiera Knightly one) as Pemberly. See if you can recognize anything that was used in the film.

Certainly, this wasn't everything we did, but I think the rest disserves it's own post :) Until later!

Halloween/Atley's Birthday!

So halloween was kind of lame for us. Our kids really didn't dress up and we didn't go trick-or-treating. Apparently they do all that here, but even an English halloween was too much for the Sorensen Family. We enjoyed our ward party and ate some extra candy, but until my kids ask to go trick-or-treating, I just can't get myself to do it. Maybe next year.

Halloween in England is kind of watered down. They do a lot of the same things we do in the US (trick-or-treating, dressing up, parties, etc.) but they don't go as big as we do. That's okay with me. I'd rather focus on Atley's birthday anyway.

Speaking of Atley's birthday, our little boy is finally 3! I've been calling him a 3-year-old for the last few months, but now he really is 3! Here are the pictures to prove it.

While the kids were napping we set out all the presents. Atley got a couple of things to draw with so Ian drew some neat pictures for him and a special "Happy Birthday" message.

I let him have whatever he wanted to eat. That resulted in apples and french fries. Go figure. I think he's a vegetarian. He has no desire to eat meat. It's kind of boring to feed him because he's so picky. Oh well.

Holly enjoyed Atley's gifts as much as he did. I'm pretty sure she thought it was her birthday too.

He really has grown an imagination over the last year. He often goes around the house crawling and I have to guess what animal he is. I say "are you being a tiger?" and he'll say "no, I'm an Atley bear!" Oh! My bad, Atley bear. To my defense he has about 4 animals that crawl on all fours and growls. Someday I'll get them all straight!

He's also getting really sweet. He loves his Mommy and has no problem saying it. He's still a little confused on how to properly express it. He'll come and give me me a hug out of the blue and say "I love you too, Mommy!"

We feel blessed to have Atley as a part of our family. He's loving and imaginative. He's Holly's best friend and worst enemy. What would we do without him?

Last is our video of singing happy birthday to him. I think he was more interested in the cookies (even if I did burn them!)

Potty Trained...?

Warning: This is a potty post. If you don't want to hear it, don't read it. You can scroll down to the bottom of the post and watch the fun video. Also, don't become a parent because well that's what parents have to deal with.

Potty training. I have no idea what I'm doing. I have never felt so hopeless as a Mother. I don't like using words like "tinkle" and "poopy." Even when I have to use them I grimace. Ian is even worse. He hates changing diapers (though he does it anyway without complaining) but he doesn't want to have to have the potty talk with the kids. I've been talking to both my kids about going potty for what seems like forever. I waited and waited and waited for them to give me a clue because I heard that they would let me know when they were ready.

While I waited I had a lot of funny days with Atley. Sometimes he would want a poopy diaper changed immediately. I would gladly change him and talk to him about how we should go on the potty and then we don't have to get diaper changes. One day I changed his diaper and when he was all cleaned up he said "Thanks, Mommy! Thanks for the diaper change." It was so sweet. He was perfectly happy keeping things as they were.

Last week, I got tired of waiting. Diapers in England are more expensive then at home. Atley's birthday is tomorrow (crazy, right?) and he'll be 3. He starts Primary and school in January. Do I want to send him in diapers? No.

So, what do I do? I take the bull by the horns and brace myself for a rough day. No diapers. Underwear only. We can do this. Shortly after my morning peptalk, Atley had an accident. It's okay, I tell myself, no big deal. When I thought he was ready to go again, I took him to the bathroom so he didn't pee on the carpet. He was playing in the bathtub when all of a sudden...he went! He looked at me slightly alarmed and I freaked out! I was so happy that he went potty someplace that was sort of normal. When he saw how happy I was he said "I do it again, Mommy!" Okay I think, we'll see. He went again! After high fives and treats, I thought we could really be on the path to potty trained.

The rest of the day didn't go so well. He had 4 accidents and only 2 successes before Ian gave me a look that I interpreted to mean "put a diaper on him already!" Fine. Diaper on. I felt like a failure and almost convinced myself that he wasn't ready.

The next morning when I went in to change his diaper, I expected to put another diaper on because the day before went so badly. He refused. All he wanted to wear were his big boy underwear. Wow. Okay, let's try this again. To my great surprise, Atley had a completely dry day. We even went out to the store and put a diaper on him which was dry when we got back.

What? Potty trained in a day? Way too good to be true right? Of course right! Well sort of. He knows when he has to go. But we still have some hurdles to jump over. He only wants to go in the bathtub and he won't go number 2 except in his pants. That is worse then diapers. But, the good news is, he's pee trained and I finally have hope for the future. I'm not a failure of a Mother and he won't be in diapers until he gets married. Our little Atley is growing up.

Here's the video I promised. Atley and Holly LOVE the Black Cauldron. I have no idea why. Atley always says "Mommy, I'm an Atley Taran. Holly's a princess Eilonwy." We even made him a sword. Holly is especially funny in this video because of how checked out she looks. Enjoy!

Riding the Stagecoach By: Ian

We have really started to feel like pros when we ride the bus or tram these days. We both have bus and tram passes; we just show our cards and can ride to our hearts content. We both are really starting to know where all the stops are, where we need to get on and off, and which buses and lines to take. It is a good feeling--its like we really live here, not just visiting. The kids like riding the bus, however, since there are no car seats, they feel an added measure of freedom, and always try to maximize it. Holly, for instance, always wants her own seat--far from Atley typically--and loves to just roam. This is a problem especially when we stop or the bus or tram jerks because she goes flying. We try to get her to sit down so she does not hurt herself, but she doesn't listen. No matter how many times we warn her, an "I told you so" is sure to follow.

Atley on the other hand, loves to press the stop button all the time--he is obsessed with it. The first thing he does when he gets on the bus is run to the stop button and try to push it. The worst is when he gets on the tram, and rushes to the "emergency help" button (which is right at kid level) and we have to explain to the driver that our son is just curious. Despite all this, they love the tram and bus, and we love to ride it with them because it reduces the walk with groceries and the toil of pushing a double stroller up a hill.


This is Holly and the family waiting at the bus stop on a sunday morning on our way to church. The stop is about .8 miles from our house, so its a brisk walk in the morning. Luckily there is hardly any traffic nor pedestrians, so we feel like we have the city to ourselves in the morning.



This is Atley in the front of a double decker bus (the iconic symbol of London and the UK of course, but ours is not red sadly). We are on the top looking out on the street. (Notice that we are driving on the wrong side of the road)



This is the tram. It is a very comfortable ride, and pretty easy to figure out the various lines of travel.



This is looking out from the Sheffield University tram stop. This is just down the hill from where we are living. It is only three stops from here to the Tesco grocery store, and about 12 stops from the mall.