Jared's Soccer Season

Jared played soccer this fall instead of football. After breaking his collarbone and football practice last year he has decided football is not the sport for him. So this fall Jared returned to the soccer field and played with the YMCA.

Jared is playing goalie and is ready for some action.

Jared out in the field going after the ball. It was good to see Jared get aggressive this year and go for the ball. He was one of the best players on his team.

Jared doing a goalie kick.

Jared going after the ball with some powerful legs and sticking his tongue out. The key to a good kick is holding your tongue just right.

And away it goes!

Jared defending the goal and keeping his tongue in proper position in order to get a good kick.

Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen came to visit us in October over General Conference Weekend and they had the chance to attend some soccer games. We were really happy to have them there with us. The kids were glad they could watch them play their games. Since we had 3 of them on both the Saturdays they were here, they got to see plenty of soccer and football.

Jared kicking the ball away.

Jared going for the big kick with his coach encouraging him in the background.

Jared doing some battle for the ball.

Jared running with his tongue in proper position.

Jared keeping his eye on the ball.

Jared doing another goalie kick.

Jared kicking the ball away.

Jared playing goalie.

Jared playing goalie being sure to keep his tongue in the proper position.

Jared getting ready to give the ball a huge kick.

The players on the opposing team should know better than to get in front of the ball when Jared lets the ball have it with his powerful legs. Here the ball hit the kid.

Jared going after the ball.

Jared receiving his trophy from the coach after his final game.

Ryan's 5th Birthday

Yesterday was Ryan's 5th birthday. Can he be that old already? Time is flying and we do not have a baby anymore. I started my Christmas Vacation so I could spend the day with Ryan. Brett and Jared had a short day of school and Ryan was really happy to have "the brothers" come home in the afternoon to play with him.

Ryan opened gifts in the morning before "the brothers" left for school.

Brett and Jared with Ryan as he opens his gifts in the morning.

Jared is doing a Flat Stanley project for school and so he joined us for the festivities that morning.

For breakfast Ryan blew out 5 candles in his waffles.

Ryan got a bike "trailer" for his birthday so we can go on big rides as a family. It is a little tougher to ride with him on the back than you would expect. Lori took him for a ride while I went to physical therapy for my knee and Lori struggled a bit with Ryan not balancing. I did better and Ryan is thrilled to go riding with me. I can say that it is a challenge but Ryan is still small enough. I took Jared and Brett for a spin on it because they wanted to try it out and they were a little tougher to tow around that Ryan.

Ryan is ready to go.

In the evening we had the Law and Selcho families over for a barbecue and birthday party for Ryan. Yes, you read that right, we cooked outside. We have been running our air conditioner as well. Those of you freezing in the snow in Utah can appreciate how nice these winters in Houston are.

Ryan blowing out his candle at his birthday party.

We all had a really fun day for Ryan's birthday. It can be tough to have a birthday in December, but Lori goes out of her way to make it special.

Ryan's Soccer Season

We were very busy this fall with sports and Ryan and Jared played soccer with the YMCA and Brett played football with the Greatwood Packers. Since I have not been posting much this fall, I will catch-up on the entire season in one post. This one will cover Ryan's Soccer Season.

This was Ryan's first season of organized sports and he was really excited to get his cleats and to have his own team. He has grown-up watching "the brothers" play sports and he was very excited to get started this year.

Ryan taking the ball down field. In the beginning it was a little tough getting him to take it the right direction down the field. He scored a couple of goals for the other team early in the season. They did not keep score so it was not a big deal.

Ryan playing goalie. He understood the "no hands" part really well and it was difficult to convince him he could use his hands when he was the goalie. He preferred to just kick the ball out.

Ryan taking the ball down field.

Ryan chasing the ball.

Ryan going after the ball. All our boys have been taught to be polite and share and so they have all struggled with not being too polite on the field and letting the other team just take the ball. Ryan did better than his older brothers at this age and did go after the ball once he figured it out.

Throwing the ball into play.

Ryan scoring a goal. This one was even at the right goal!

Chasing the ball.

Ryan all alone taking the ball down field.

Ryan is thinking about taking the ball away.

The Saturday after Halloween some of the kid still had colorful hair.

Ryan and his teammate going after the ball.

Ryan is focusing as can be seen by his tongue. It seems to run in the family as will be evident in a future post.

Ryan throwing the ball into play. It was a bright day and he thought he needed his sunglasses to play.

Going after the ball.

Some tripping action as the kids chase the ball.

Ryan throwing the ball into play.

Here they come!

Ryan running down field.

Speeding toward the ball.

It was nice to see Ryan get a little aggressive and actually go after the ball. I think having two older brother has helped him learn to be aggressive.

Going after the ball.

Taking the ball down the field.

Due to Hurricane Ike, the season was delayed so the last game we were playing in some cooler weather which required us to dress a bit warmer.

Ryan playing goalie and going after the ball with his hands but missing it. He is tough and just shook off getting hit in the face and kept playing.

Ryan kicking the ball.

Ryan with his trophy at the end of the season. He was really happy to get a trophy of his own. Unfortunately, he did not make it home with it in one piece but we were able to find the pieces and glue the guys foot back on. He is learning that trophies are made to look at, not to play with.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

We were a little bit late getting our Christmas Cards out this year because we had some printer problems and had some problems with our address data base. We did finally get most of them our and we are working on the rest as we are able to get addresses. Computers are so great but at times when there is a problem they can be a pain.

We took the kids to see Santa Claus at the mall. Although you cannot see it, Santa has a Texas-sized belt buckle that is great.

We hope all of our family and friends have a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I will be taking a little time off from work before the holidays and I might have some time to do some blogging to get caught-up on all our fall activities.

Election Day

Given the potential that our next President is a Socialist/Communist anxious to redistribute every body's wealth, take away our personal liberties, shut down the coal industry and cause us to pay even more for electricity, I thought I would share this quote from Winston Churchill.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."
-- Winston Churchill